Log splitters

[Furby]

This past week I ended up getting roped into helping an older couple down the street from my parents place. A friend of mine that lives nextdoor to this couple also had his services volunteered.
This couple had a guy come out and knock over most of the trees in their front yard. We were talked into cutting the trees into logs hauling and stacking. Well they took out about 8 or 9 trees total. 1 or 2 Red Oak, 3 Maples (1 was figured/spalted/birdseye and was cut for firewood  :'( :'( ), and the rest were White Oak. Well by the time I got caught up in all this, another neigbor from down the street was also invoved. I was hoping to get a log or two, but was told they wanted it for firewood. It was really hard to see this really nice wood go under the saw but we did.
What was even worse was going over there Monday and finding that the other neighbor guy had come by on Sunday and cut up what turned out to be a REALLY nice maple.  :'(
Anyways as they started to see how much wood was really there, we started talking about renting a log splitter.
Plans were laid to split as much as possible today.
As it turned out we had a fair amount of help. The older couple of course (he's 85 and still picks up a chainsaw and cuts wood   ), she brought her brother over, myself, my friend, the neighbor guy, and the friend of us all that put all of us together (she's 75).
My friend and I took to running the splitter, and got a good rhythm going only running the ram as far as we needed. Partway through the RO we saw the steel bars that hold the wedge to the I-beam were really bent as were the bolts.
We stopped and flattened the bars back out and replaced one bolt that was bent way to far. Started back up and my friend noticed the bolt that holds the ram to the wedge was loose. We stopped to tighten it, and found that it had snapped in two in the middle. We replaced the 5/8" bolt with a #8 bolt and went back to work.
Later we noticed the steel bars were bent again. We stopped fixed them, and replaced a couple more bolts useing #8 bolts, but the old nuts.
Now the RO was a breeze! We were flying faster then the guys hauling and stacking, could. We moved over to the WO and hit TROUBLE!!! That stuff DON'T come apart!!!!!
We got another big chunk in place and I was bogging down the motor when it SNAPPED. At first I thought it was just the log as we had a lot of them do that, but my freind told me to shut it down and showed me the #8 bolt missing the nut. We had pulled the nut clean off the bolt and also had both sides of the wedge guide messed up really bad. We got them as flat as we could and replaced the bolts we needed to and tried to make it look like it was when we picked up the machine.

My question through all this is.......... is this normal? Did we abuse the machine? After having to fix it the first couple of times, I was watching really close that we weren't getting any wood behind the wedge plate and not letting the logs pull the wedge, but we still had problems.
Do those of you that use these splitters have these types of problems a lot, or could it just have been because the machine was a rental?

[ADfields]

Nope.   I have had my splitter for about 8 years now, splitting from 10 to 60 cords a year and never had that stuff happen to it.   I have killed 2 motors, bent the foot plate, broken hyd. fittings and hose, and had lots of flats but no bolt and nut troubles at all with it. :-/   My splitter don't give me many rest brakes due to breakdown. :   The wife split 2 cords with it just today and all it asked for was gas and oil. 8)   We wont go into what the wife asked for!
Andy

[Stan]

Mine sprayed me with oil when I tried to split some 19" sweet gum, but it sails right through anything else. Except that pesky crotch wood.  :-/

[Duane_Moore]

 ??? ???Question.... Best to push the wedge or the plate? Duh---Duane

[tawilson]

My splitter pushes the plate. I like it cause I can add a 4 way splitter if I want. I don't like it cause it moves the wood and I have to follow it to catch the piece on my side. I guess I have mixed feelings.

[ladylake]

Duane I'd vote for pushing the wedge. Those big blocks that you can hardly lift are still on the splitter after you split them once, not back on the ground.
Furby
Nothing should break that much, must be a piece of junk. I've had to weld on mine once in 20 years.  Steve in MN

[Deerlope]

  Most rental equipment is not well maintained anyhow. The best time to rent one is when it is new and no one else has ever used it. The only thing that I ever wore out on my splitters is the engine. Over the years I have built 5 and kept 2. Finally gave one away and am down to just one. I was splitting 40" sugar maple with it yesterday. I had to 1/4 the blocks so I could move them around. I figuared that every 7 blocks made a face cord. Sorry hear of all the problems you fellows had by just trying to be a good neighbor.

[shopteacher]

Sounds like the machine wasn't well engineered.  I use to build splitters when i was a steelworker and never had one come back for repairs to this day. ( Did have one guy with engine problems, found out he was standing the thing vertical for storage). I always used grade 8 nuts and bolts on the slide that was machine from 1"X 8"X 8" angle with triangle gussets and a 1" block drilled for the clevis end of the hyd.cyl. The under beam slides were machined from a solid 1.5" x 2.5 steel block and drilled and grooved for greasing. The wedge was cut from 2" X 10" solid steel with the cutting edge hard surfaced with abrasoweld used on heavy equip. teeth and cutting edges. Had to be ground to sharpen, but never got dull. ;D
   Mine were all hor. and pushing the wood type, but I think it personal preference as to type. If it well built you shouldn't have any trouble with the structural part of the machine.

[WV_hillbilly]

  Must have been a piece of junk splitter you rented . I have a homemade one and in 10 yrs of 30-40 cords a year only the motor pump and one hose needed replaced . it was used when I got it so it has seen alot of action . I'm gettin ready to build a bigger one now   I got an 18 hp vtwin motor for hauling it away . So I'm going to build one with a hydraulic loader multiple  wedge  so I don't have to pick those big pieces up . I prefer a horizontal type that pushes the  wood  into the wedge . I've got some pieces stuck on the wedge and had to pound them off with a sledge  but hopefully with more hp and a bigger pump this won't happen on the new one  .

[Stan]

Mine pushes the plate, the trouble with that was picking up the pieces that fell on the opposite side, so I welded on a catcher. Now I just return the half I'm holding to the pickup pile and resplit the piece the catcher caught.  8) 8) 8)

[wiam]

WV  sometimes mine will stick, but I found that if you put a chain around the block (on top of the wedge) and the push plate you can pull the block off the wedge with the hydraulics. ;D

William

[Ed_K]

 William, thanks for that advise ;). I'll try it the next time I get one stuck, better than wailing it with the axe .

[shopteacher]

Put a set of J hooks on the chain and catch each side of the stuck piece continue  around the slide and back the ram up.

[WV_hillbilly]

  I like to use the sledge . It lets me take out some frustrations sometimes . Just don't get too wound up , miss wood and hit the splitter . :D

[Duane_Moore]

 8)Thanks for the Ideas guys, got a 8' chunk of railroad rail main line type, and wanted to make one( someday) will run it off my tractor P.T.O. did not know  witch was the prefered.  Duh---Duane

[shopteacher]

Duane: Rail isn't the best piece of structural steel to use for a splitter. RR rail was intended to lay flat on ties for support. The small web compared to the heft of the upper track portion of the rail might over  come the strength of the web and bend. A piece of 6X6 (12 ton splitter) or 8X8 (25 ton splitter)  wide flange or H beam is a lot better choice.
  It's a lot of work building something and find the main piece wasn't right.  Just my 2 cents worth.

[ADfields]

I agree on the RR rail.   I had a home built made with 2-6" channels put back to back and stitch welded into an H beam and that worked very well.   The one I have now is factory made on an 8" H beam and don't feel any stiffer.   I like the vertical type a ton better as you set a round in front of it and plant your butt and go to work, like this you can even use your feet like a monkey some. ;)   I use a yard rake to drag the rounds over so I don't need to get up and you don't need to lift big stuff at all, just roll it on over. ;) ;)   I have owned both kinds over the years and find the vertical to be faster and much less work to run then horizontal.   Saturday the wife split 2 cords by herself in about 2 hours with our vertical splitter, she flat refused to run the old horizontal by herself. :-/   Also the verticals spit the stuck wood off by themselves when you run it backward into the plate it has on it made just for that, no need for chains, hammers axes or what not. 8)
Andy

[shopteacher]

My next on is going on the front of the skidsteer. I seen a video on the web someplace with a splitter attachment for the skidsteer. The wedge and ram are on the bottom of it and you can drop the beam on top of a chunk of wood and put light pressuse to pick it up and move or reposition it. Give it full throttle of the system hydraulics and split the biggest pieces ya got. No lifting at all. My kind of machine.
  Got to locate a 6" X 30" cylinder and I'm in business.

[Stan]

My Dad did something like that with a backhoe, when his splitter died.  He welded a wedge to the boom, put a plate over the bucket mouth and did all that stuff from the seat. Of course he was smart enough to split wood when the splitter was set at chest height and he didn't have to bend over. I wonder why, having seen that I ain't smart enough to do it.  :-/

[lamar]

Great stuff". Im looking high and low for the right price on a splitter that will hold up to a two family deal.The wont buy into the 4200$ one I want,so been looking at mtd(some say there no good) and harbor fright :D.They look good and have a hor shaft 8hp motor 24ton for 900. Im not sure about the mtd(vs troy-bilt) cast iron wedge. I also like the log cradle. Im glad someone  said you have to chase the wood when pushing the wood thru the wedge.I am now convinced to get hor-vert if you cant get all the good stuff.I also like the idea of buliding a super one .Some realy good advice

[jimc]

I've had a Harb. Freight  Horiz/Vert. 5hp.for the last few years, It's OK  if you are a welder & know what to check.
Crappy (hollow !) wedge design & the ram seal was incorrectly assembled.
Once I 've gotten it sorted out, it is pretty good.I've only stopped it a few times , and split loads of 36+inch  inch red oak .
Most any cheap splitter needs bolts checked & replaced from time to time if you work it.
I'm on my second motor, so it has worked for me.
You pretty much get what you pay for.
I'm definitely in favor of the moving wedge type.
  

[Furby]

Yesterday I went back over to stack the rest of the wood, and finish clearing the brush.
I asked if the rental company had said anything about the condition of the splitter and they said, nope. I guess the guy looked it over and then told them that the splitter was sold to someone. He got $800 for that thing.

Hey, it was still working!!!!  ;D

[ADfields]

Mine is a 25ton MTD and like I say I have had very very little trouble with it at all.
Andy

[Frank_Pender]

I use a unit I designed and a friend helped me build.  There are three splitters that can operate on a 3/4 ton Ford pickup axel.  One unit runs horizontal and pushes the block into a 4 way wedge made of T one steel.  The wing span on the horizontal knife is 20 inches and the vertical above is 12", while the bottem wedge is 2" thick and 6" high.   The second unit is designed to run vertical and has the wedge push through the block.   The block sets on a 24" lazy susan that inturn spins on a 3" to 2" tapered pies of old lift truck fork.  The third unit is semi portable one end attatches to a reciever hole that acts as the main anchor point and swings out to set on a pedistal.  Its hydraulic hoses attatch to quick disconnects and I can use the valve that operates the
horizontal unit.   The third unit is similar to a cabage slicer that wouldhave a box mounted above where the knife is located on the slicer.  This unit is designed to make kindling.  All three units have a out a back time of 5 seconds each.  I am not able to operate all three units at once. :'(  The powere system is a 20 horsepower Wisconsin engine with a Zeneth propane carborator.  I can usually produce about 5 to 6 cords of wood with a 7 gallon can of propane.

[lamar]

Hi ADfields, Is your mtd like the ones they seel at lowes etc.? Does it have a cast wedge? Also is the cyl. mount cast ? Ive got to check on harbor freight add I thought they said their's is solid steel.Could they of updated.