A different firewood splitter design

[Hilltop366]

I came across this video today, I thought others might like it.

It is a box wedge but the wedge moves instead of the log, I like the idea of being able to put more than one stick in at once. No conveyers needed on loader but if this was stationary it could have a constant feed of wood without stopping.

Holzspalter, Schichtholzspalter, Schichtspalter, Logsplitter, Eigenbau, Frontlader - YouTube

[moodnacreek]

Same old story. The machine has to match the raw material. That machine would never work here with our wood and If it did not for long. There are places where they sell 'pine' for firewood but you would be tarred and feathered here.

[stavebuyer]

To me the "machine mounted" splitters/processors add hours on a very expensive carrier to do what a 5hp Honda would do at a fraction of the cost even if you have to run a second one for an elevator. Also box wedges produce a lot of trash and its all dropping right into the load. Gets rid of it; but doubt the customers appreciate the mess. 

[KEC]

I wondered how the customers would feel about all that waste, too. I'd like to see them put a gnarly big piece of real hardwood in there. And, I suppose, they might be able to sell that softwood as campwood at a campground.

[Tacotodd]

But if you could catch all of that sap and let it dry, it'd be a great fire starter. I'd think that it would be similar to regular pine pitch that we have around these parts. 

[Nathan4104]

I've looked at the various machine mounted processors, splitters etc and had the same thought as mentioned already.... Why put hrs on a big hp machine when 10-20-30hp would do? Maybe a separate piece or 2 but way less fuel and leaves the tractor to other tasks like bringing wood to you or moving the finished product.   
As for the pine.... Please feel bad for some of us, that's almost as good as it gets for us!!   Jack pine is a bit better than white pine for heat, and our only hardwoods in these parts is typically White Birch! Or poplar (Aspen) if you can call that hardwood!
Knotty Spruce can be knarly to split if it's dried out a bit but likely not as bad as a tornado twisted piece of southern exotic hardwood!  
Ah, pine and spruce keeps us warm at -40, (and I ain't talking windchill) we don't need no giant hard to split hardwoods  

[sawguy21]

Sounds like you are in Alberta.

[barbender]

I spend a lot of time in the mountain West. When I'm in a cabin with the woodstove full of lodgepole, I could swear I'm just as warm as when I'm by a hardwood fire😁 
  Nathan, those big gnarly, knotty spruce...I think more btus are spent getting it ready to burn, than you get from the wood. Nasty stuff!

[Hilltop366]

I think that the design has merit, the extra "kindling" is a issue. I'm not sure if it is true or just perception but it looks like a "V" shaped box wedge seems to make less fines. A stationary splitter like this would in my mind be a better setup if selling wood so you could clean the wood before loading.

I have seen video of some box wedge splitters split up some pretty nasty looking hardwood and I would not want to be the one to wrestle it on a regular splitter. I'm sure one of this design could be made to handle most.

I have heated with "free" spruce and fir for years, it has only been the last few years that I have bought some long length hardwood and yes I do like the hardwood better but I will still use some softwood.

[HemlockKing]

The good thing about NS forests is its really quick to regrow and fill in! Never a shortage of softwood or red maple to burn. Although oak much better, but I can't burn that as it's not like the dog hair fir and spruce grows. What species of hardwood log lengths you trucking in? 

[Hilltop366]

It's a mix (maple, birch, oak, beach, ash...the usual suspects) and dependent on were it comes from, the last batch had more beach than usual, that will be for next year.

I get a 1 bunk load around 5 cords, that does all my heat other than what I get from the sun in the house and small shop with a indoor wood boiler.

[Southside]

That's the same concept as the Woodmizer splitter they came out with a couple of years ago. 

[Hilltop366]

Similar wedge design but with the WM ones that I have seen the pusher moves the wood and you have to reposition the block after each split.

With this one the wedge pushes through the wood so once the block of wood is put in the box you are done handling it. 

[mike_belben]

Why put hrs on a big hp machine when 10-20-30hp would do? Maybe a separate piece or 2 but way less fuel and leaves the tractor to other tasks like bringing wood to you or moving the finished product.  

I am starting to go the other way. Tractors are rising in value faster than the hours is hurting resale.  

Meanwhile small engines, pumps, reservoir, filter, cooler, hoses, fittings, battery and oil has doubled or worse.
for each machine to have a power system has become really expensive.  A 22HP predator is about a grand now.  Im pretty certain mine is going on a steel fork pallet with all the fixings and it will get moved from machine to machine.  Or rather several machines will get stationed in a hub around the power unit. 


 That way one power unit to maintain. One fluid, one battery and alternator, one fuel tank to keep fresh or drained.  Each machine will end up with a set of male/female hose swivels up high so oil doesnt pour out when connecting.  And just the right valveset for the application.   If im running a wood processor im not using a screener plant or a mixing tub or a hydraulic press or chipper etc.   Keeps the tractor free and keeps one power unit from sitting.  


The biggest problem i have with equipment is too many engines and sporadic use.  You park it running.. 2 months later hey i need the blank... And its got an issue when you need it. Its not that theyre getting worn out or abused.  Its literally park it running, and then next use its got an issue.

[Hilltop366]

I have a 3PH wood splitter that runs off the tractor hydro but recently picked up a self powered wood splitter for two main reasons, 1) so I can use the tractor bucket to move the wood as I split to reduce handling. 2) to be able to bring a splitter to the camp without bring the tractor. An added bonus is the splitter is much faster than the tractor one.

It was pointed out to me that running the splitter was probably the easiest thing the tractor was going to do.

[Nathan4104]

" Im pretty certain mine is going on a steel fork pallet with all the fixings and it will get moved from machine to machine.  Or rather several machines will get stationed in a hub around the power unit. "

That's a great idea Mike. Too bad more things weren't designed with that thought in mind.  
I had an RC plane years ago that had a tray with all the fixings mounted on it, including the engine so it was swappable to another similar airframe with the mounting rails. It worked good! 

[Downstream]

while i was the head of product development for a lawn and garden company we looked at a the concept of developing a power unit/attachment style system you are suggesting for exactly the reasons you stated.  Most of us have many different motor driven pieces of equipment that never are used at the same time so huge waste of space/time/$.  There are nice high end systems like the BCS that are used in Europe and US homesteaders.  Nice but overkill and too expensive for the average homeowner or 2+ac estate properties.  We even found an inventor from Chicago that has developed their own system with power unit and a mower and snow thrower attachment.  It was pretty simple but needed more work than we were willing to invest to bring it to market.  Also the average homeowner buys all of their various machine over a number of years as individual decisions vs committing to a long term systems approach by buying a power unit and then attachments  over time.  Interesting when you get into the discussion with the sales group about how customers make decisions about when/what to buy.  Much easier to market a specific machine to a specific customer with an immediate want/need vs the long term systems approach.  I personally prefer the power unit/attachment model, but was never successful in getting sales to support that direction. 

[Downstream]

Another comment on the box style splitter that started this thread is that as noted earlier they are too efficient at producing kindling.  The can split high volume firewood, but at that increase speed you are also producing kindling at that pace too.  I do not remember the exact number, but we actually calculated the %scrap(kindling) produced when we were evaluating different splitting technologies and it was surprisingly high I think above 10%. I do really like the ability to split directly into a storage or hauling unit as shown in the original posted video since splitting just like sawing is mostly a material handling process.

[thecfarm]

I like the idea of a movable motor for attachments. There was a guy at my other job that did that on a small scale.

[Don P]

VITA or one of the aid organizations developed a pallet mounted hydraulic power unit and a series of machines based around it for the same upkeep reasons in third world countries.

[mike_belben]

Don are you thinking open source ecology?  Theyve designed module based backyard ag stuff intended for 3rd world. 

[Don P]

VITA was a Kennedy era NGO, I just found a pub list here ;
VITA publications list (journeytoforever.org)

They had some good stuff.

[Iwawoodwork]

Don,  Thanks for posting the VITA info, great resource.

[Hilltop366]

A "V" shaped movable wedge.

Binderberger SplitFIX - vollautomatischer Schichtholzspalter - YouTube

[Don P]

Don,  Thanks for posting the VITA info, great resource.

Hero to zero  :D The links were all dead on my end.

This is another list of the publications, I clicked one link and it came up. 
VITA document and link list - Appropedia: The sustainability wiki