Need a recommendation: log splitters

[ericm979]

My Oregon splitter has one serious drawback that I think a lot of H/V splitters share. Tree debris falls off the rounds on to the splitter. When retracting the ram the back of the wedge pushes them up the beam where they fall off and land on the hot muffler. I once quit a splitting session and then came back later to find that the tree litter on the ground around the splitter was smouldering! I was lucky that it didn't start a fire.

After that I made a shield for the muffler out of a scrap cookie sheet. It's ugly but it works. It catches the litter that falls off the beam and is cool enough that litter on it does not smoulder.

 

[dodge man]

Just curious what modification you are planning on making?

 

[Advil]

We got the Champion 27ton from HD about a year ago. Have split several cord so far. Did a lot of research on affordable splitters before buying. It's enough to split a pretty large log when you need to, and it has a fast enough cycle time (11 sec) you don't wait all day for the cylinder to move. It has auto return or you can throw the handle to stop it closer to the next length log. There's nothing we feel the need to modify right away.

It's a great item to burn some HD gift cards on if you collect points that work there.

 

[beowulf]

Just curious what modification you are planning on making?

Dave - I watched a lot of videos of all the units that I was considering. It was an interesting journey. Anyway, based on one of many videos I watched, a guy built a 'guard' of sorts to protect parts of the unit which were somewhat below the rack where split wood was above and could fall from - he did that to prevent wood from falling onto those parts and causing damage. It made sense and is a simple modification. This is the video I watched regarding that:

champion log splitter video re modification - Search Videos

www.bing.com

 

[dodge man]

Not a bad idea, I have had pieces bounce off my engine. No damage yet other than a dent in the gas tank.

 

[Locoweed]

I see that one of the other responders did not like using a splitter in the vertical mode, something that I share. If you fit into that category also I strongly recommend a splitter that is big enough that you can comfortably work with it while standing erect, not having to bend over a bit because it is too low.

 

[EddieWalker]

One of my future projects is to build a log cutting table. I want to put the logs on the table with my grapple, then cut them into rounds on that table, and then be able to pick them up from the table and put them on the log splitter without ever having to bend over. If they are too big for that, I'm just putting the entire log in the burn pile and not messing with it for firewood.

In my opinion, the hardest part of splitting firewood is picking up the rounds from the ground and putting them on the splitter. Turning the splitter so you can split the rounds on the ground isn't much better. I want to be standing straight up when splitting wood.

 

[Duds13]

One of my future projects is to build a log cutting table. I want to put the logs on the table with my grapple, then cut them into rounds on that table, and then be able to pick them up from the table and put them on the log splitter without ever having to bend over. If they are too big for that, I'm just putting the entire log in the burn pile and not messing with it for firewood.

In my opinion, the hardest part of splitting firewood is picking up the rounds from the ground and putting them on the splitter. Turning the splitter so you can split the rounds on the ground isn't much better. I want to be standing straight up when splitting wood.

Not sure when you plan on completing your project, but until then you should look at getting a Log Ox for picking up rounds off the ground.

 

[ericm979]

Once you have placed a giant round on the splitter, you still have to wrestle with it as part of the splitting process. If it splits cleanly then you have two giant chunks to deal with. I have gotten good at pulling the closer one off and letting it fall on the ground. But a lot of times a giant round does not split cleanly. If it's huge and the wedge is only splitting one side, the other side may not split. This depends a lot on the wood species. A couple if the species I split are stringy and resist splitting.

If you have a half-split round you'll find out why there are strippers next to the cylinder. That will get it un stuck from the wedge. But then you still have to finish the split. If the round is not too big I flip it over and line it up so the wedge can split the other side of the first split. If it's really big you're kind of stuck.

This is one reason why I prefer to make big rounds smaller before they even get on the splitter rather than engineering a way to get big rounds on the splitter.

One thing that this reminds me of is that you really need a log rest or shelf on the splitter. At least on the off side from the one you stand on.

Also I'll second the poster above who said that the working height of the splitter is important.

 

[Advil]

Yes, as part of our splitting system we put a small table on the far side from the operator that's at the bottom of a rolling conveyor. That helps protect the engine from debris falling.

It's based on what these guys did in this video, same general setup as this:

I load the log rack with the tractor.
Instead of what these guys do, loading the wood into a custom bucket to move again (they process commercially), I put one of our IBC totes right next to the operating position of the splitter. Split wood, stack piece in tote. That's the last time it has to be touched before burning in the stove. The tractor moves a full tote into the garage as needed and takes the empties out.

The system keeps it so that you don't have to pick anything up off the ground once the processing begins.

It's both fast and insanely simple with not much to maintain mechanically. Just an ordinary chainsaw with a hole machined in the bar and simple metal square tube and bolt to safely hold it just like the video, and the splitter which works just as it is.

To head off the questions at the pass, we got the conveyor tables from Ultimation. Way cheaper than Uline. Had them shipped to our local freight terminal and picked the box up there. They loaded the box on our trailer.