Long firewood splitter

[Gadgetman]

Has anyone seen a spitter for handling 8' logs? My idea is to split and dry 8' for ease of handling with equipment then when it is dry, cut to the customers length. I watched a YouTube vidio where someone put a splitting wedge on an excavator, seemed to work fine.

[OH logger]

I think cord king and bells each make one. git your wallet out :(

[mapleveneer]

The problem as i see it is with a conventional design splitter you will need an 8 ft space for the log next to at least 8 ft of hydraulic ram.  Suddenly, you are into something 20 ft or so long and quite heavy.  If you have that excavator available that you mentioned, you might consider one of the tapered screw type splitters mounted on the end of the boom and powered by a hydraulic motor off the auxiliary hydraulics.  I saw a youtube video of a couple like this once.  Then you can split your wood sitting down and not have to load an 8 ft log onto an unwieldy piece of equipment.  Drive right up to the log and split it where it lies.

I have a conventional style splitter mounted on the end of the boom of my mini-excavator but it is only 24 in.  It works wonderfully on big blocks cut to 20 in. length.

[r.man]

If you watch European videos about firewood processing you often see piles of split wood that appear to be 3 to 4 ft or so long getting recut to a shorter length. I always assumed that they did it that way to cut down on the number of pieces they are initially handling and to produce a stable pile that is less likely to fall over. This video is primarily about a re-cutting and moving system but what I find interesting is the length of the dry stored split pieces of wood in the pile.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2D2CVfymlc

[mapleveneer]

This compny claims to have a unit for 10m logs.  That is about 30 ft.

http://www.kegelspalter.com/en/product_category/cone-splitter/

[Gadgetman]

Yes I have seen those videos with the 4' wood and a circular saw with a slowly rotating barrel on top of it for cutting to stove length. Haven't been able to find how they are splitting that length though. I really like the idea behind it, very efficient way of handling and drying wood when you sell in multiple lengths.
The cone style splitters would probably work well but are pricey and not something to build yourself.

[lopet]

I just had a local welding shop building this splitter for me , after I had gathered all the component over the last three years. We are using a double acting telescoping ram out of a garbage truck.  The tag says it pushes 66000 lbs and has a stroke of 156 ". The knife and push plate are made out of 1  and a 1/4  steel.   
I always wanted something to handle the big butt logs , so once they're quartered I can run them through my block buster processor.
No idea how it's gonna work out.  Still have to add some transport wheels and wings on the I beams, but it's on the back burner right now.

If I had a excavator kicking around I would had considered that option too, but then again I guess it depends how fine you want to split your 8 footers.



  

[Gadgetman]

That looks like it should work real good. Guess the speed will depend on your pump size, let us know how well it works. If my excavator splitter doesn't work out , I will probably go that route too.

[Farmerjw]

I'd take the bucket off of the excavator, mount that splitter on the excavator hanging upside down, then just set it on the log using the excavator's arm and split.  Could be REAL convenient!!

[mapleveneer]

That is exactly how mine works.  If it is at all cold out i need to put more clothes on when i go out to split wood.  My next excavator will have a cab with heat and AC...

[711ac]

I wondered about an excavator for making split rail fence by making a knive that bolted vertically to the ex. u/c frame in the middle, with a "shoot" or some type of guide to get the log to the "knife" and just pull (push) it through with the arm with the next log finish the pushing.
It wouldn't be a very expensive experiment if you already had the excavator.

[thechknhwk]

Don't know if it's 8' or not, but here's one.

https://youtu.be/YuQK85vE9ic

[DeerMeadowFarm]

If you watch European videos about firewood processing you often see piles of split wood that appear to be 3 to 4 ft or so long getting recut to a shorter length.

This is because in Europe, wood is bought and sold by cubic meter. A meter is 39.37 inches.

To the OP's question, why wouldn't you use a cone splitter? Then you could split whatever diameter or length you wanted?
http://www.totallandscapecare.com/landscaper-praises-german-made-wood-splitter/