HF Shop press as log splitter

[bcarwell]

Hi folks, I was wondering with a little adapting if a cheapo HF shop press might do double duty as an "in a pinch" log splitter. I have never seen the specs on the movement rates of the cylinders and suspect that is the real issue, but maybe if you are doing more than 5 -10 logs for a weekend. And I suppose there is a safety issue with there being no lateral support for the log (although I suppose you could put the log horizontally). Obviously due to the "shop" location of the press, not an ideal place to be splitting wood. But I hate to invest in a dedicated log splitter when, here in Central Texas although we have Blazing Saddles we generally don't have much need for blazing fires other than for cosmetic purposes. So I go through enough wood to make it a hassle to do manually but not enough to justify a wood splitter other than my son. My shop press would be in my outside shop so messing up an already messy shop is not an issue.

Anyway, just a thought. The HF 6 to 20 ton splitters are very, very cheap relative to conventional log splitters...

Bob

 

[ayelvington]

I have a 20-ton arbor press that I use as an arbor press and as a cider press. I just can't see splitting wood with it! Have you looked at the HF 3-point hydraulic splitter? I have one for my BX-24 and it is a very good deal with a discount coupon.

 

[Danno1]

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It would be an INCREDIBLY slow way to split wood. I would do it w a splitting maul bef I used a shop press.


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[Diamondpilot]

I did the opposite. I built my splitter 5 years ago from scratch after not being able to find what I wanted in a 3 point splitter. I made it with a fixed foot and the wedge is attached to the cylinder. I also made a shop press adapter that fits in place of the wedge. Here is a few pictures of the splitter and you can see the press adapter sitting on it in the last one.

Chris

 

[Brad_Blazer]

I've seen one of these manual hydraulic splitters in action:
- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

They have 2 pumps and you can use both hands but one is high volume and one is high pressure for when the going gets tough. They are not nearly as strong as a motor driven hydraulic splitter and the stroke is pretty short so you need to back it up and insert a push block if the wood is stringy.

It's okay if you have kids who want to operate it but a maul (called a go-devil around here) is much faster.

A standard hydraulic press would be slower yet and more tedius but of course it could be made to work. All of that pumping will get old real fast. My pipe bender gives quite a workout and I rarely make more than a handful of bends in a given project.

With a regular axe I could probably outperform a hydraulic press by at least 3:1.

 

[GE222]

I have a nice log splitter that I built. If in the winter I need to split a few pieces, I usually use the splitting maul. Frozen wood splits pretty easily.
A little exercise is always good.

 

[mojoinco]

This sounds a lot faster: Chopper One Axe - Log Splitting Tool
Beats a maul hands down. Liked it so much I found (another) used one and sent it to a buddy.

I had a buddy make a splitter wedge to go over the ram of my HF press (10 or 20 ton H frame). Bent the frame up pretty good. Took a couple of hours with a bottle jack, some chain, and a sledge to get it pretty straight.

 

[radioman]

It does sounds feasable to use your HF shop press. However, if you stop and think about problems you might run into, not the saftey issues mind you. The shop presses jacks are single acting, using a spring for return. If you are splitting a knotty, or curly, or strandy like wood - you are going to have a piece of wood stuck in the jack/wedge portion. you need a double acting cylinder to force the ram to come out of the stuck peice of wood if you can't split it or unable to add another piece to keep pushing through.
I would hate to think of taking a sledge hammer to the shop press to whack the stuck piece out if it won't go through.

Just my 2 cents. If you know you have only straight grained wood, easy splitting, wouldnt it be faster and easier to use a maul?

 

[beenthere]

bcarwell
Interesting that you ask, as I was at HF yesterday looking at their shop presses with that exact purpose in mind. I want something quiet, simple, and on my bench in the garage to re-split larger firewood pieces into smaller (for starting fires). Don't care if it is slow, and don't need much force. But glad you brought it up. Good comments, some I hadn't thought about. I don't like using the splitting maul on the garage floor, or have the pieces flying around between the cars and toys.

In a pinch, with just a few logs, a chainsaw can be used to both buck the logs to firewood lengths, and to do the chore of "splitting" for further breakdown. I often do this with knarly grain pieces that do or that I think will hang up on the splitting wedge.

Glad you brought this up. Didn't realize that the HF frame might twist up splitting a log, but there are a lot of forces in play.

I like the idea of adapting the splitter to some "press" capability. Have to salt that idea away.

 

[jinman]

Hi folks, I was wondering with a little adapting if a cheapo HF shop press might do double duty as an "in a pinch" log splitter. I have never seen the specs on the movement rates of the cylinders and suspect that is the real issue, but maybe if you are doing more than 5 -10 logs for a weekend. And I suppose there is a safety issue with there being no lateral support for the log (although I suppose you could put the log horizontally). Obviously due to the "shop" location of the press, not an ideal place to be splitting wood. But I hate to invest in a dedicated log splitter when, here in Central Texas although we have Blazing Saddles we generally don't have much need for blazing fires other than for cosmetic purposes. So I go through enough wood to make it a hassle to do manually but not enough to justify a wood splitter other than my son. My shop press would be in my outside shop so messing up an already messy shop is not an issue.

Anyway, just a thought. The HF 6 to 20 ton splitters are very, very cheap relative to conventional log splitters...

Bob

Bob, if you were closer, I'd say bring a trailer full of unsplit rounds over and I'll send you home with a trailer full of firewood. Since you are a couple of hundred miles away, that's probably not an option. So I'd suggest you check with a few local rental yards for a splitter to rent. I know what you mean about not having to use a lot of firewood. I use about a cord and a half per year and get plenty of firewood from deadfall in my woods. I also have plenty of scrub oaks around 4" to 6" diameter that don't have to be split, but they do have to be cut, stacked, and dried before using. Before buying the splitter, I just used a 2# sledge and a iron splitting wedge. I think that would work a lot faster and easier than hassling with a press.