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Log Splitter Build Questions

Started by fasttruck860, November 29, 2021, 12:19:57 AM

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fasttruck860

Those splitters are pretty sweet although the splits are pretty long.

I've convinced myself the box wedge with lift table would be the best route for me. I'm just trying to figure out if I can do a single wedge that's adjustable manually. That way I can have it for the knotty wood, then lower it down when I'm using the box wedge and it'll just become the center wedge. How to anchor the box wedge is a different story. That would certainly simplify the setup and save some cash on a cylinder, valve and hoses. I don't see myself switching setups that frequently other than crotch wood or possibly the larger hickories I have. 

fasttruck860

Quote from: Joe Hillmann on December 01, 2021, 06:34:49 PM
If you want to speed up your cycle times you can plumb your cylinder so that when you are extending both sides of the cylinder are plumbed together and both get pressure.  The side without the rod has more square inches pushing on it so it will overpower the side and cause the cylinder to extend.   As it extends the fluid on the rod side has no place to go and is forced into the non rod side.  The rod will extend very fast but have very little power.

Then once the wedge hits the wood you only put pressure on the non rod side and it will have power when extending again.

I don't know if the extra complexity and the need for an extra valve is justifiable for the extra speed.
I'm going to go with standard plumbing for now and see how it performs. If I end up with a real issue I'll take a closer look. According to the calculator I found online the setup I'm thinking about is 8.4 secs cycle time if I use a 5" cylinder. The 4.5" cylinder drops that down to 7 seconds which is pretty fast.

mike_belben

Use a car scissor jack for moving the wedge box
Praise The Lord

doc henderson

my old boss used to say, "keep it simple stupid".  i agree with a wedge and a cylinder.  lots of variables like RPMs.  cylinder length, adding back stops.  you can do work while the detent is working.  you can get auto forward and detent valves ect. got a two-stage pump 28 gallon pump.  with a 5 inch cylinder, I work fine at an idle and talk above the noise. 
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

doc henderson

there is a company named split eze.  they have great products and James is very knowledgably.  He will tell you if a bypass dump valve speeds things up...prob. not but reduce heat and wear and tear.  and they sell then as well.
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

Al_Smith

It all depends on how resourceful you are for parts .It doesn't have be lightning fast like it's a race .Some think it is though for some reason .
Here is a picture of my homebuilt made from basically repurposed junk .Tilts,lays flat built solid as a battle ship and with a 5" cylinder will split anything .The cycle time will out run me at slightly above engine idle speed .That pile of EAB killed ash took me a little over an hour working at a snails pace because I need to rest every so often .It's around two face cords ,enough to last me 2-3 weeks .This thing is not pretty but highly functional .


mike_belben

i noticed this morning surplus center just started carrying a very economical new brand of single spool splitter valve. "dirty hand tools" is the brand and a valve is only $60 new.  ymmv, just thought id mention it.  
Praise The Lord

doc henderson

"This thing is not pretty but highly functional"
Kinda like us Al.  Doc :)


Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

Al_Smith


moodnacreek

Copy Power Split international, that's what I would do.

stavebuyer

You mentioned that you built a grapple for your tractor; I would build two splitters. The first for the tractor. I have split many a oversized round. Trying to roll them around under a vertical/horizontal unit is a pain. Having them up in the air is dangerous. Everyone worries about the wedge cutting off a finger. Reality is falling blocks will break your foot and turning the oversize chunks will mash your fingers between the round and the work table. Reduce the big rounds to halves or quarters where they sit with an inverted 3pt tractor splitter and then work the manageable size blocks to size with a horizontal.

Box wedge is great for productivity but does generate an enormous amount of trash and uses a bunch of fuel doing it. Red oak is heavy but actually splits fairly easy. Having been through a single wedge box store unit, skid steer inverted, Eastonmade 22-28 with box, 4 and 6-way wedges, Supersplit Heavy Duty Kinectic, and  Dyna SC-14 Processor what I found is the inverted single wedge for the big ones and the kinetic for the rest is the sweet spot for rounds. If you have a boiler and can use big chunks the multiwedge works fine but for stove-wood splits you will be re-splitting and the big hp/cylinder is a liability instead of an asset. If the kinetic is too fast for kids something like the fast cycle hydraulic design that Eastonmade markets to compete with the kinetics might fit the bill. 

Al_Smith

If you cut to the chase on home builds you are only limited by your pocket book and imagination .Plus of course your fabrication skills .
If you are selling fire wood in volume a faster unit ,perhaps even a box splitter would be better .However just doing enough to keep the home fires burning that would be way too much over kill in my opinion . 

Don P

Quote from: stavebuyer on December 10, 2021, 04:15:06 AMReduce the big rounds to halves or quarters where they sit with an inverted 3pt tractor splitter and then work the manageable size blocks to size with a horizontal.


Now that's an interesting thought. Is there a skidsteer mount one? I could see driving around busting the big stuff then pushing it into a pile by the horizontal.


stavebuyer

Quote from: btulloh on December 13, 2021, 06:37:59 PM
https://www.skidsteers.com/log-splitter-upside-down-skid-steer-attachment/?gclid=CjwKCAiA-9uNBhBTEiwAN3IlNC0fp46HlvqCoYDE81G4aaKdVQ_lLjqDC_VVTRwf5hy7V826IRz01RoCccgQAvD_BwE
I have a different brand but same principal. The cylinder needs a push plate with the wedge fixed at the end so you can use the next block to push the ones that invariably hang on the wedge. I kept my SS model and bought a 3pt to SS adapter for the back of my tractor. Works fine although a little slower since much less flow.

stavebuyer

Quote from: Don P on December 13, 2021, 06:29:36 PM
Quote from: stavebuyer on December 10, 2021, 04:15:06 AMReduce the big rounds to halves or quarters where they sit with an inverted 3pt tractor splitter and then work the manageable size blocks to size with a horizontal.


Now that's an interesting thought. Is there a skidsteer mount one? I could see driving around busting the big stuff then pushing it into a pile by the horizontal.
When you get used to it you; you start the split where the block lays and then pick it up and pile as you finish. Too slow do small blocks but a real time and back saver for the bigunns.

doc henderson

you can pinch a little to carry them where you want them and then split them in half or quarter to save your back.
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

Al_Smith

You can break down some pretty good sized rounds with a tilt up . Roll them in place and have at it .You certainly can't lift a 36" round of white oak .Lots of wood in this big rounds but you have to work for it .I might do a couple rounds and sit down, drink a cup of coffee or annoy somebody on the internet for sport .I work for myself by myself and at my own pace .Fact I might drag up a few logs and do another partial cord tomorrow if the weather is fit .

Don P

I enjoy that method so much I've debated breaking out the CSM and taking a 12" deep slab off the top  :D.

beenthere

Quote from: Al_Smith on December 13, 2021, 07:56:32 PM
You can break down some pretty good sized rounds with a tilt up . Roll them in place and have at it .You certainly can't lift a 36" round of white oak .Lots of wood in this big rounds but you have to work for it .I might do a couple rounds and sit down, drink a cup of coffee or annoy somebody on the internet for sport .I work for myself by myself and at my own pace .Fact I might drag up a few logs and do another partial cord tomorrow if the weather is fit .
I use a chainsaw to make the big rounds and then use that chainsaw to divide them up into smaller pieces for placing on the splitter. 
Also roll some of the rounds onto a pallet and lift that pallet up to the height of the horizontal splitter for easy, no-lifting splitting.
(place the splits on another pallet for moving to the drying yard. 
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

mike_belben

To quarter big rounds manually (which i rarely have to do anymore) you stand it up like youre gonna split with a maul.  Cut a phillips head slot in the top until the whole bar depth is just buried.. 4 inch or so.  Pound a steel wedge into the far side sapwood kerf until the wood groans. 

Give it one mean wack with the maul on the near side sapwood in the saw kerf. Pops right open unless its black gum.  If its black gum push it over the hill or give away.  Not worth breaking your splitter. 
Praise The Lord

Al_Smith

I've never had much luck with a maul .Tough ones a couple of steel wedges and an 8 pound sledge do better .I do have some big chainsaws that noodle real well if it comes to that . It's very seldom I get much over 3 feet in diameter which I can roll in place .However I do have a big fat standing dead shag bark and a wind blown ash that will require some special attention .I can tell by looking at them those are 4 cord trees .Just one of those would hold me the entire year .

711ac

Fasttruck,
Bring us along with your build when you get going.  8)

brewdog

build them safe /no side tray to hold wood before u split .not to fast on stroke/ use a H BEAM and u dont have to hold the block,put the open part of H up ,noone has to be neer that block.ALWAYS HAVE A HELPER even if there not working .ive had a splitter 4  thirty years used in sugarwoods and furnace .lost a good friend who split hundreds of coards with one this .like doc says be safe. :new_year:

fasttruck860

Quote from: 711ac on December 20, 2021, 11:23:53 AM
Fasttruck,
Bring us along with your build when you get going.  8)
Will do. It'll take me a bit to collect all the parts, but once I do I'll post photos.

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