Log splitter questions

[Ed K]

First of all there is no single solution to fit all needs. For example: my property has been logged over the years such that most all of the hardwood is under 14-15 inches in diameter so there are no big heavies that demand a vertical splitter. Some folks might have a lot of big stuff on their land.

Secondly I have a 68HP 4wd tractor that not only is a great material handling machine for moving logs, catching the outfeed splits in bucket, etc. but I'll be darned if I'm going to stack the hours on it to power a splitter when a Honda engine costing 2.5% of the investment will do the job.

Lastly, a good friend of mine had his dad killed by a screw-type splitter. The worst that can reasonably happen in a hydraulic is get your hand caught. There is plenty of danger felling, bucking, etc. - no need to add to the danger inherent in the process.

I've observed that everyone doing this for a while develops a process to suit them and they all vary a bit. I used to palletize everything but found that too time/labor intensive. I now have a 1/2 cord bin that I can load from a remote stack when needed, fork lift to the house and into my walkout basement, then pallet jack over to the stove.

Oh the splitter!
I am in a partnership with one other individual on mine so it's available to me 6 months out of the year which is plenty. It was fabbed 2-3 decades ago by a local welding shop a little before I had bought my 1/2 share. It is based off a really big I-beam sitting on a truck axle with leaf-sprung 15" 8-lug wheels. The cylinder is from an excavator so it is heavy-duty but not so large it is slow with proper choice of hydraulic pump. We wear out engines so the current craigslist special is a Kohler off a riding lawnmower. Maybe the best part is that my share was $150

[redneck1]

I believe I've mentioned this before but I have two splitters . one with a gas engine and one with an electric motor .

I use the gas one to tote along for wood that's bigger then I want to handle .
The one with the electric motor does 90% of my splitting . its quiet , starts with the push of a button and doesn't need gas or oil changes .

I think I have about $300 invested in it , if you split your wood close to electricity and don't mind looking for a used splitter with a bad motor its a pretty simple thing to do .
I drilled four holes bought a lovejoy coupler and bolted on a 7.5 electric motor in about 20 minutes

Oh yea , I used a 1750 rpm motor , both splitters are 20 something ton huskee . its just as fast as the gas motor even though its rpm is slower . a person could use a 3400 rpm motor easy enough .
I don't think you'd need a 7.5 HP motor either . it was what I happened to have . 3-5 hp electric will outwork a 6.5 hp gas engine all day long

[Petrol & Powder]

Lots of good input on this thread.
It appears the consensus is a stand alone unit.
Somewhere between 20-28 tons seems to be the norm. Cycle times are more important over the course of a day than that maximum force only needed on rare occasions. I think my old splitter was in the low 20 ton range and I never needed more.

I hadn't thought about electric but that makes a lot of sense if electrical power is available. Less maintenance, less noise - does the same work.

[lksmith]

I have the harbor freight model, bought it about 5years ago when I couldn't split the wood as fast as I was burning it with all the other things i have going on. You do have to lift the logs, but it has a table so you only have to lift once. It has a double sided wedge mounted to the cylinder. So far it works great, it does have a small design flaw in that the chips tend to fall and go into the gland but no leaks yet. Certainly makes it easier to unstick logs. Gas powered, and has enough power to bend it's own frame. The engines on the HF tools are honda clones, so most parts interchange

[Thumbcocker]

Thanks for all the input. We went with a northern tool with a Honda engine.

[Petrol & Powder]

I think you'll be happy with that rig. Those Honda engines are outstanding and give yeoman like service.

[lightman]

Its been my experience that a smaller tractor is going to be slow when working a splitter. A friend has one that he connects to a 180-200HP John Deere thats not slow. I'll 2nd the Honda engine and the vertical style. Its just less lifting.

[Mal Paso]

A neighbor bought an electric splitter. It's mechanical not hydraulic.

You'll be happier with a stand alone splitter.

The best improvement I made to my splitter was adding an 8 foot exhaust to get the fumes away from the operator. I used 1 inch stainless gas flex with the plastic jacket cut off brazed to an adapter plate. Couldn't find flexible exhaust, "They" probably disappeared it.

[brass410]

I burn about 30 cord of wood heating a workshop (6600 sq ft) for the last 10yrs. I have flipped back and forth between a stand alone wood splitter that split bi -directionaly and a 3 pth splitter on my 40hp Kubota, both worked well but still tedious back breaking work for 2 of us. Yesterday i purchased a small wood processor I realize this is more than most budgets could do, but when it takes my wife and I 2 weeks straight ahead sawing and splitting, time becomes a factor. The only problem with 3 pth splitters is most tractors don't have enough pump flow to cycle the ram effiecently, 7-8 seconds is a good cycle time, any less is like watching paint dry, any faster you need to need a couple of 17 yr old ranch hands to keep up.

[lksmith]

stand alone is the way to go for sure

[Three44s]

We use a DIY stand alone.

It will run vertical or horizontal. We run it vertical but anyway you go at it you get a lot of handling.

I can see fabricating to a different tune more like a processor as my wife and I age.

We use a 70 horse Kubota for chores and have the skid steer quick change on the front loader with a 3rd valve on it. For wood and lots of other chores we run a grapple and those are great!

We get the logs loaded with the grapple and unloaded at home. We saw the rounds off the grapple, bring the rounds to the splitter which is under the roof where the wood is stored, again with the grapple. That saves moving the split pieces again. Just stack them. Here is where you get it in the back as they are on the ground, but you are handling the small pieces just once.

I replaced the mast of the splitter with an I beam that’s 11’ long so I can move the cylinder to reposition it to for doing 4’ shop wood or even split fence posts. It raises hydraulically with an auxiliary valve for vertical work.

I have thought of building a HD table, raise the splitting cylinder to a mid height position and split waist high on that table. I would raise the un split blocks up with a side arm or have a HD table set up to store the blocks there to be rolled off from prior to the split.

The grapple could set the blocks onto that larger table.

I have access to a LOT of hydraulic cylinders and just the plumbing would have to be bought. Much of the steel is here surplus as well to build a sort of “live table” to manage the transition from grapple to splitter transition. For the splitter to stack, it would come off waist high right into the stack.

I think you guys have just inspired me onto a mission!

Best regards

Three44s