PTO Log Splitter

[Industrial Toys]

There are many acceptable and dangerous machines around. Some with very high inertial forces. A table saw comes to mind and those quite frankly scare the bejeepers out of me. I hardly think the slow moving ram on a hydraulic splitter is a great potential hazard. Sure, some really stupid person will manage to hurt himself on just about anything! I do have not one but two big mushroom type safety shut down switches. Even illuminated and flashing! I say it's for "safey" but really it just adds to the cool factor.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I never said it would be any faster. As far as my project goes, I am simply going to save time by not having to stand there and watch the paint dry, so to speak. I can be doing something else like getting new rounds or stacking wood. It's not the speed of the remote operated splitter that is the problem, (as I see it) it's that usually you have no choice but to stand there operating it.

oooooh ok, this is what you said that I thought you were thinking running it off the loader that would make it faster...

But PTO splitters are always so slow! My solution, and it's coming together, is to build a splitter that runs off my loader hydraulics but is controlled electrically.

SR

 

[ovrszd]

I'm not a fan of auto split valves. I want to push/pull the handle to split. So when I want to stop the ram all I do is let off the handle. I love auto return. I also have an emergency kill switch for the engine right beside the splitter valve handle. And I never considered my Honda V-twin 630CC 4 stroke engine as a screaming engine.

 

[4570Man]

I have rear remotes on my tractor. They are more GPM and more PSI than my wood splitter pump. I don't want my splitter on the back of my tractor because I move the big logs with a backhoe thump. I just bought a B7100 17 hp diesel, I might put my splitter on that tractor. I think a kill switch on a wood splitter is worthless. Even as slow as they move they are far too fast to feel it hit your finger, and then hit the stop button. I have an auto return, but auto split sounds dangerous.

 

[ovrszd]

I consider the kill switch as a safety against splitter problems more than finger problems. If my hand is in the splitter, last thing I want to do is shut off the engine so I can't get it out.

 

[4570Man]

I don't think there would be any problem getting your hand out because the other half would still be laying on the other side.

 

[LD1]

Just running a saw in general is dangerous. Dealing with loaded wood under tension and compression, kickback, felling trees, etc. More dangerous than a quick hydraulic splitter.

 

[blucoondawg]

There are many acceptable and dangerous machines around. Some with very high inertial forces. A table saw comes to mind and those quite frankly scare the bejeepers out of me. I hardly think the slow moving ram on a hydraulic splitter is a great potential hazard. Sure, some really stupid person will manage to hurt himself on just about anything! I do have not one but two big mushroom type safety shut down switches. Even illuminated and flashing! I say it's for "safey" but really it just adds to the cool factor.

The safety issue with a splitter is not to protect a "stupid person " from putting their hand in the danger zone intentionally, it is to prevent anyone or anything from getting bound up for whatever reason. Suppose you put the splitter in auto split mode and walk away to grab more wood and your kid or your neighbor kid comes along and sticks their hands in there or your dog runs up and sticks it's snout in there for some dumb reason, or maybe you put it in gear and you slip on ice or trip on your own feet and fall in such a way that your arm or maybe your head is caught in the splitter? Maybe you will be that stupid person who is maimed or killed or maybe it will be someone else who is ignorant of the danger because you felt it a good idea to bypass a safety control that should be there.

Ya sure every piece of equipment can be dangerous but over the years people have learned to engineer safety devices into the equipment to minimize risk as much as possible, failing to do so is ignorant.

 

[LD1]

No one is arguing that a double detent or auto-cycle can be more dangerous.

The question is: is it an acceptable danger given the other dangerous equipment around the farm of a typical log splitter user.

It is no different than a dog or neighbor kid running up and getting caught in your 3ph attachment or running across the road and getting hit. Or slipping and falling with a running saw.

Its about acceptable levels of danger. I don't view a slow hydraulic system with autocycle as very dangerous. We can't all live in bubbles or nothing would get done.

 

[rswyan]

Just running a saw in general is dangerous. Dealing with loaded wood under tension and compression, kickback, felling trees, etc. More dangerous than a quick hydraulic splitter.

Yup - and saws become even more dangerous the older and less spry one gets ...

My days of climbing onto and over wood piles and bucking logs are coming to an end ... same as cutting in inclement (wet) weather. Just not worth the risk.

 

[ovrszd]

Just running a saw in general is dangerous. Dealing with loaded wood under tension and compression, kickback, felling trees, etc. More dangerous than a quick hydraulic splitter.

True that. I got knocked out and a broken nose couple years ago while running chainsaw.

 

[blucoondawg]

No one is arguing that a double detent or auto-cycle can be more dangerous.

The question is: is it an acceptable danger given the other dangerous equipment around the farm of a typical log splitter user.

It is no different than a dog or neighbor kid running up and getting caught in your 3ph attachment or running across the road and getting hit. Or slipping and falling with a running saw.

Its about acceptable levels of danger. I don't view a slow hydraulic system with autocycle as very dangerous. We can't all live in bubbles or nothing would get done.

It has nothing to do with living in a bubble, it is common sense. When you are using a 3 point attachment you are sitting on the tractor as the operator, you have the ability to stop and start the equipment and to watch what is happening around you, or do you put it in gear and let her go on her own?
Saws have guards and kill switches and used properly risk is minimized. A kid running across a road and getting hit by a car is a far cry from a kid getting caught in a splitter because you flipped the switch and walked away to do something else. I use splitters all the time and have never found a time when having it split on its own would be useful or speed up the process enough to make it feasible to accept the risk.
You all do what you like, I wouldn't use a machine like that unless I was **** sure nobody could get into the work area

 

[LD1]

It has nothing to do with living in a bubble, it is common sense. When you are using a 3 point attachment you are sitting on the tractor as the operator, you have the ability to stop and start the equipment and to watch what is happening around you, or do you put it in gear and let her go on her own?
Saws have guards and kill switches and used properly risk is minimized. A kid running across a road and getting hit by a car is a far cry from a kid getting caught in a splitter because you flipped the switch and walked away to do something else. I use splitters all the time and have never found a time when having it split on its own would be useful or speed up the process enough to make it feasible to accept the risk.
You all do what you like, I wouldn't use a machine like that unless I was **** sure nobody could get into the work area

You make it sound like you flip a switch and go in the house for a coffee break and the thing keeps running. IF you are splitting wood, you aint going far in the 10-15 seconds it takes to complete a cycle. You also make it sound like once a cycle is started there is no way to end it

You are right there. You can pull the lever and kill the thing just the same as a tractor, saw, or whatever.

I have seen far more dangerous splitters than a slow hydraulic one with an autocycle valve. I hope you never look at a supersplit.

 

[blucoondawg]

You make it sound like you flip a switch and go in the house for a coffee break and the thing keeps running. IF you are splitting wood, you aint going far in the 10-15 seconds it takes to complete a cycle. You also make it sound like once a cycle is started there is no way to end it

You are right there. You can pull the lever and kill the thing just the same as a tractor, saw, or whatever.

I have seen far more dangerous splitters than a slow hydraulic one with an autocycle valve. I hope you never look at a supersplit.

The 10 to 15 seconds it takes to complete a cycle isn't the issue, a cycle is one full stroke, what I am saying is if you engage the splitter forward and walk away to get more wood or stack some wood and in the mean time something gets caught in the stroke you aren't going to have the time to stop whatever is caught from being crushed or severed, once a hand is caught to the point you can't pull it out it's only another second if that before it's crushed or severed, if you aren't standing next to the lever it's not going to be good.
I also am not talking about you standing in proper position to run the machine and getting caught and having time to disengage. The stated use for this valve was so the operator didn't have to stand there and wait for it to finish its stroke, hence be off doing something different while the splitter is working, there is no way you will have the time to run back and disengage the lever if you are working 10feet away once someone is already caught unless your splitter is so slow that it wouldn't pay to have it.
Ya the average person knows where not to put their hands and how to stop the machine in a bad situation but not every situation is perfect, accidents happen and people who don't know what their doing or kids can get involved and accidents happen, even with safety features, removing them is foolhardy.

 

[LD1]

An autocycle is no removing any safety features. It is just a different design of a machine. And allowing you to be "off doing other things" really means turning aroung and grabbing another piece.

And I don't know what your procedures are, but I don't split wood with a bunch of kids running around the operation. Moving parts, hot parts, pieces sometimes pop and fly...

Again, around the farm type setting a splitter is normally found, I can think of a lot of things that are far more dangerous.

 

[jimmysisson]

I'm one who thinks a slow cycle time is dangerous, since your mind wanders, or you get impatient. Wandering means not paying close attention to what's in front of you, which is risky with the power involved.
Impatient makes you try stuff, like stacking smaller rounds to be split, or making dangerous piles on the wait-table. I actually think the Super Split type of splitter is safer, since you're aware of its speed always. My $.02
Jim

 

[oldtimer 66]

OVRSZD I had the same thing happen to me about 25 years ago. I never knew what hit me. It took me a couple of years to get over that.

 

[ovrszd]

OVRSZD I had the same thing happen to me about 25 years ago. I never knew what hit me. It took me a couple of years to get over that.

I had fell a large tree into a bunch of smaller saplings. I bent down to cut off one of the saplings that was bent over and stuck under the log. When I sawed it off at the stump I saw it coming at me but didn't have time to duck. Hit me straight on in the face. Next thing I knew my face felt wet and I had dirt in my mouth. I was face down in a puddle of my own blood with the saw sitting about a foot away idling. I sat down on the large stump and adjusted my broken nose before it started hurting. Sat there an bled for about 15 minutes. I ended up having to go to a doctor to get my "rocks" put back in place. Suffered from Vertigo real bad. Had dislodged the little stones in my inner ears so my ears weren't working in unison. Any quick movement of my head made me nauseous. I then re-evaluated my age and judgment. I also increased my situational awareness about everything I do now.

 

[Dead Horse]

Blucoondawg......... I agree with you 100%

Not like wood cutting isn't already dangerous enough with out some yahoo encouraging less mental engagement.

 

[rswyan]

An autocycle is no removing any safety features. It is just a different design of a machine. And allowing you to be "off doing other things" really means turning aroung and grabbing another piece.

Yup ... pretty much.

And I don't know what your procedures are, but I don't split wood with a bunch of kids running around the operation. Moving parts, hot parts, pieces sometimes pop and fly...

Same here ... I'm even pretty selective about the (supposed) "adults" I allow in the vicinity ...