Wood splitter design

[jmur1]

Nice Job 21incher!  I like the overall neatness.  That is hard to maintain in this business.
Excellent looking build.  Can you lift the hood for us?  or opposite side pics?

jmur1

[21incher]

This is an old video that shows most of that.
My Homebuilt Left Handed Vertical Log Splitter - YouTube
The only  reason  I built it was because there were no splitters with  any kind of ergonomics at the time. Not fast but very comfortable  for me to use. Sometimes building the item is the only way to get exactly what you want. Everything on this was cut from 1/4 surplus plate steel with a Bosch jigsaw and a whole bunch of metal cutting blades. Can't believe the jigsaw survived.  
Sorry JoshNZ for posting  this in your  thread. 

[JoshNZ]

No trouble I'm interested in seeing it all.

I wondered with the return stroke detent, could you put holes with a locator pin for your approximate rounds height, so it doesnt retract all the way to the beginning of its stroke? I imagine the detent pressure trigger is pretty low and wouldn't need much of a pin?

[Hilltop366]

Some of the vertical splitters I have seen locate the valve near the back or side of the vertical beam and have a foot pedal to keep both hands free, with the valve in the right location you can gear it up so that a adjustable rod on the slider can push on the valve to kick it off at the desired height. The foot pedal or valve leaver is spring loaded so that when you take your foot off it it automatically moves to the return position and stops at the set height. For this setup you can use a regular valve it does not need to be dented and a added bonus is the hoses will be shorter with the valve closer to the tractor.

[21incher]

They make c shaped spacers you can put on the shaft to limit the stroke but to pop a stuck log off with the big ones I have to back the wedge up into the eject plates so the spacers  wouldn't  work for me on  big logs with wild grain that have to be rotated to split in half the way my ejection plates work. If you can find  some elm for testing you will find its springy and doesn't always split straight or pop apart.  
I started  out thinking  about a foot pedal but really  never wanted  to have to watch 2 hands. If I didn't  need one hand to do final positioning I would  have used a 2 hand deadman system for safety. I feel  foot pedals and hydraulics can be distracting and dangerous  because you're constantly changing your  ballance on a machine like mine. If you had a chair to sit on they wouldn't be bad.

[moodnacreek]

The simple answer to getting some production out of a wood splitter is conveyers.  Blocks coming in, split wood going out. Nothing wrong with a lift table but a long level chained table, foot operated bring the wood in at waist level regardless of how it gets loaded is a big help. The object is to stand in one spot and produce at all costs. Foot operated machines means both hands free and if you get this far you will never go back.  For chain an old silage wagon or manure spreader will have sprockets and #67 chain.  If I had to buy new it would be 188 or 78 steel chain with 2,609 pitch sprockets. You can make these sprockets from 1" plate with a cutting torch and hole saw the eye and weld to shaft.

[JoshNZ]

How on earth do you make a sprocket with a cutting torch hah 

[doc henderson]

 

 

[JoshNZ]

Lol I assume he's meaning a handheld oxy set doc. Get outta here with your fancy computer robot machine  :D

[doc henderson]

It is 3 am what else you going to do!

[Tacotodd]

Doc, either you need some coffee, or LAY OFF THE COFFEE :D ;D

[doc henderson]

It is diet Pepsi, till 7 am (my night) then maybe a double IPA before going to bed. had coffee before I cam to work last night (my morning)

[Tacotodd]

Well, you're forgiven ;) Beer before bedtime, Indian Pale Ale. Between the wife & I, SHE is the one that likes her beer but I've never developed a taste for it. Fact, I'm just almost nothing about alcohol but rarely I do, just not my cup-o-tea.

Now I'm just waiting for food to creep into the splitter talk :D

[doc henderson]

I am not much for tea, although I like it.  have a good friend who is a pain doc, and he brings us back tea from China.  I often have a beer in the evening, after work (work at home or the hospital).  I am not really on call, but really kind of always on call.  everything in moderation.  a beer in the morning helps me sleep when it is light outside, and the dogs bark at the ups guy around noon.  I am on four nights, so I have to get some good sleep in there somewhere.   8)

[Tacotodd]

Coffee is MY drink of choice  and it actually puts me to sleep, even if it's highly caffeinated, I don't know why. Now tea, iced & sugar sweet ;), it's how I grew up (if I ever did ;D).

[Hilltop366]

I'm boring, water for me and the occasional beer, a case last me 4 months or more.

Back to the splitter, I don't see the foot pedal control as a safety concern just learn to always keep you hands on the sides of the block. Locate the the pedal where you are not going to bump it accidentally.

And ideas for making the splitter stroke adjustable and still being able to use the log stripper, make the entire beam, cylinder and wedge moveable so it can slide up or down in the frame independent from the table and a large pin to hold it in place at different levels. Or if using a adjustable rod to kick off the valve on the return make it so the kickoff can be turned out of the way to allow you to bypass it to use the log stripper.

[doc henderson]

be sure if you make a rod stop to trigger the detent, it is substantial.  I once tried some schedule 40 pvc as it seemed it required just a little bump to trigger the detent.  I stood back 30 feet for the maiden voyage, and it still hit me in the groin as it flew off the rod.  detent set at 1,000 psi.  mine are aluminum halves with a spring clip holding them together around the rod.   8) >:(

[jmur1]

Well that is a cool video 21 incher.  The detents can be challenging to trigger early.  I have see on other channels those C rings causing serious damage to the cylinder seals before kicking of the valve.  I enjoy the whole topic of the conveyors to and from the splitter.  I always wonder why nobody tackles the wood after the split.  Someone needs to come up with a little (lightweight) box or tray that holds split wood in a jig so it can be placed in a stack when it is large enough.  Anyone seen anything like that?

ps: my 4th coffee of the day generally comes right before my mid afternoon nap!

jmur1   

[doc henderson]

on my second cup of French roast but I go to work at 7pm.  there are some homemade, and some commercial wrappers. (what up dog!) I drop into the metal frames that surround the ICB plastic 275 gallon totes.  then move out to store, and bring to the house for use in the winter with the track loader.

[jmur1]

I have a plan this winter to build a box splitter unit.  I will definitely use some of the ideas I have seen here for the infeed conveyor.  On my processor build I went to a farm scrapper close to me and got the whole run of an old bale conveyor for my log infeed.  I have to admit that it does normally work well; but any binding of the logs at all results in a broke chain.  I do think it would be more than heavy enough for a chunk conveyor though.  Maybe Ill redo the processor with a heavier version of chain and salvage that chain for my box splitter infeed conveyor.  

I have been watch the videos and going over a plan in my mind for the single split unit.  I think if I run some channels off the end of the box knife I can build a little frame to capture the splits and then index it down when 1 level is full.  Repeat that process a couple of times and there would soon be a 1/4 face.  4 of these together stacks nicely and so on.  This should be fun to try.  Maybe Ive been watching robots for too long but I believe it can be done!

Planning on a nice 24 horse Onan and 28 GPM 2 stage pump.  I will also use the complex valving I have seen out there for this machine.  Now just need a couple of free minutes to get started...  

jmur1  

[mike_belben]

I think youre saying an accumulator elevator to catch the split wood.  Look at how pallet scrag mills accumulate for some ideas on that. 

[Crusarius]

Most of you guys hare tractors? right?

I had a plan a long time ago to make firewood racks out of steel that would hold 1 or 2 face cord. Have them setup with fork pockets, and make them modular so you can connect a tongue and wheels to it then drag it around or just lift it up using the fork pockets.

Unfortunately my cost to build them and sell them I think was to high. most ppl wouldn't want to pay for it. But in my mind it would be great to have a rack with the option of wheels or fork pockets parked out of the way then bring it to the house when you need it. the thought was also to add a cover to it.

Be nice to ha ve a series of these racks right next to the splitter and load them as you go. then move them out of the way. that way you are only stacking once and not having to constantly move them.

[JoshNZ]

We have kiwifruit bins readily available in this area so that's what our firewood is stored in. Stacked 6 high in the shed. They're untreated pine (because fruit go in them) and each of the ~6 pack houses in the area must have 60,000 each in rotation. So it's never hard to come by them once they're getting tired.

I bought that forklift second hand start of last harvest for bugger all, because it had a smokey engine. New rings and a hone, and it has been a real honey of a workhorse, lives at the mill now.



 



I had another thought regarding my conveyor ramp idea, I never really pictured it with small rounds but they would just topple over when you pulled the lever. Could probably make a fold down foot so if you're dealing with small rounds you set it up as a level infeed table. Am I trying to be too fancy for my own good should I just have a lifting platform?

[doc henderson]

that is what we do with the tote crates.  conveyor into the crates.  store out of the way moved with the track loader, and back when needed.  can move on the sidewalk with a pallet jack.  the wood can dry as it is dropped loosely into the crates.  the only time I handle it by hand is on the splitter, and loading under cover by the house, and of course to bring in the house and load the stove.  I cut the plastic cube into covers with grommets so they can be strapped to the top of the crates of wood to shed water.

[Hilltop366]

be sure if you make a rod stop to trigger the detent, it is substantial.  I once tried some schedule 40 pvc as it seemed it required just a little bump to trigger the detent.  I stood back 30 feet for the maiden voyage, and it still hit me in the groin as it flew off the rod.  detent set at 1,000 psi.  mine are aluminum halves with a spring clip holding them together around the rod.   8) >:(

If you use a non dented valve with a spring to hold the valve in the return position, the rod turns off the valve. (it's better than getting hit in the groin )