Eucalyptus splitter.

[simonsays]

I have been splitting firewood pretty much since I could walk. I thought I had split everything..... including many different varieties of eucalyptus. I recently ran across some old growth Red Gum Euc that was next level! The hydro splitter that used to get me through splitting almost everything was brought to its knees. I have seen some awesome home built machines on here so I thought I would ask everyone's thoughts on the ultimate setup for the gnarliest of wood.

It seems that many of you are Midwest so I am not sure if eucalyptus grows there. It is definitly all over the west coast. I would not doubt that you have something similar. I'm sure Midwest has some of its own challenging wood. Some of the attributes of red gum are that it's SUPER heavy green and seasoned. Very hard but not extremely dense if that makes any sense. It's stringy when wet and shatters/cracks when dry under the knife. It can be very knotty and/or a twisted grain.

My design that I think would work best.
VERTICAL BEAM- due to whe weight of the biskets
5"x24" RAM- think that is capable of 37ton
18-22 HP ENGINE- surplus center sells a 22 hp vertical for $520, I thought that was reasonable
28 GPM PUMP-
I already bought a 6"x8" H beam. It's approx 9/16 thick.

As you can see I want to build a beast. You may be asking: "why do you want to split that crap?" It is very plentiful here in SoCal and it puts out impressive BTUs.

 

[Baby Grand]

Welcome to TBN! Real nice first post.

Out here on the East side we have this thing called elm. Gnarly as the day is long. When I used to split with a sledge & wedges I had a wedge get spit out 4 or 5 ft in the air after being driven deeply into a round. I haven't had the chance to try splitting any with the new hydraulic splitter, but I look forward to trying some maybe this weekend.

Good luck with your build and I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

 

[BHD]

I have elm as the most avaible wood,

and my splitter is not as much HP and using a 4" cylinder, I have at time wondered if one could connect a second cylinder at could be kicked in and out and only used when needed to power through the nasty's on a standard 8" diameter round it will usually power on through if not a knot or crotch of a tree, many times tho it will not come apart as there are strings of wood still connecting each halve.

set up with two valves one power beyond or some thing to run the second cylinder just make so it would come in and hit a notch so it would not cycle ever time, but still be secure in it push,

 

[beeforty]

As a side note to splitting twisted/knotty wood, I try and make sure that I split from the BOTTOM up as the tree grows. You get curved slices out of your wood sometimes, as the wedge splits the wood as it grew and branched out.

 

[simonsays]

Welcome to TBN! Real nice first post.

Out here on the East side we have this thing called elm. Gnarly as the day is long. When I used to split with a sledge & wedges I had a wedge get spit out 4 or 5 ft in the air after being driven deeply into a round. I haven't had the chance to try splitting any with the new hydraulic splitter, but I look forward to trying some maybe this weekend.

Good luck with your build and I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

Thx Baby G!

Thanks to the others for advice.... I agree about splitting with the way the tree grows

 

[bcp]

I find that if I have one hard to split, it is easier to just cut it up with a chain saw.

If I had lots like that, my thinking would probably change.

I once knew someone who called it "you caly peet us.'

Bruce

 

[muddstopper]

With a single wedge, I think our 5'cyl should split thru just about anything/ I use a 5' cyl and never have a problem on 30" dia rounds, splitting 4ways. I recently added another wedge for a 6way split and it doesnt hardly slow down on anything I put thru it. Sweetgum, Ash, Whiteoak, locust, it doesnt matter.

 

[Oliver1655]

If you check the "Log Splitter Wedge ripped off" thread, you can see how I did my wedge system. (No since boring folks by having them read the same info twice.)

 

[CHDinCT]

Welcome to TBN! Real nice first post.

Out here on the East side we have this thing called elm. Gnarly as the day is long. When I used to split with a sledge & wedges I had a wedge get spit out 4 or 5 ft in the air after being driven deeply into a round. I haven't had the chance to try splitting any with the new hydraulic splitter, but I look forward to trying some maybe this weekend.

Good luck with your build and I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

I gave up spitting American Elm on my 27-ton splitter. It will do it, but the wear and tear of splitting a load of Elm is just not worth it to me. Tried splitting it when green and when dry and it mostly just slowly sheers through the wood rather than splits. On the other hand, what I have left from two years ago hasn't rotted any, so I might just cut it into cookies and burn it that way. If someone tries to give me elm now, I politely refuse it.

 

[muddstopper]

If I ever visit up north again, I think I will try and find a piece of elm , bring it home and see what all the fuss is about. . I have split oak, hickory, ash, oaks, and just about everything else that grows around here. Often use the splitter to shear off a short piece if the round has been cut to long to fit in the splitter. I find it hard to believe that anything can be so hard to split that people wont use it for firewood