"Troy Bilt" 27 ton log splitter, add winch? (Not 20 ton. Helps to know your own equipment)

[Sawyer Rob]

How about a boom pole with a set of log tongs ?

How about just using the tractor to load all the rounds on a wagon or a trailer, then roll them right onto the splitters beam, it saves another back breaking step!

I even cut the logs into length right over/in my trailer, which saves even more backbreaking work!

SR

 

[pycoed]

Have a look at MartyT's solution:-

 

[pycoed]

Also

 

[pycoed]

How about just using the tractor to load all the rounds on a wagon or a trailer, then roll them right onto the splitters beam, it saves another back breaking step!

I even cut the logs into length right over/in my trailer, which saves even more backbreaking work!

SR

Rather than a lift, I tend to agree with you & this bloke:-

 

[bvanek]

Lots of comments on using a winch, but have you thought about how long it would take to split wood using a winch to load the splitter one log at a time? I'd be surprised if you could split a 1/4 cord a day; hardly enough for anyone who uses wood for anything more than a romance fire.

yes

I am an old guy (73) and I have been splitting wood manually since I was around 11 years old. I came to this thread because I have been on the fence for awhile (on getting a splitter) given my age. I have wooded property and for the last 35 years have been heating my home with this readily available resource. You make a good point about output and time consumed. I suppose it's about what is practical depending on each situation. I usually have 10-12 cords in varying stages of seasoning. Once I empty a spot I started to refill with fresh cut and then burn accordingly, driest first.
my point ; I cut logs into rounds in the woods, roll them into my tractor bucket and carry them next to my wood shed where I tip them on edge and split with a maul. Its pretty fast and efficient with my time.....But I am retired and can do this at my own pace. It only slows down because I am slower and less physical.....still can't bring myself to go the mechanical splitter route beause it doesn't seem that it can improve on the old school method. Again age will be a factor, but so far I only have trouble with the gnarly pieces. Much of the wood I cut splits with one whack and the exercise doesn't hurt either. (sometimes)

 

[WranglerX]

yes

I am an old guy (73) and I have been splitting wood manually since I was around 11 years old. I came to this thread because I have been on the fence for awhile (on getting a splitter) given my age. I have wooded property and for the last 35 years have been heating my home with this readily available resource. You make a good point about output and time consumed. I suppose it's about what is practical depending on each situation. I usually have 10-12 cords in varying stages of seasoning. Once I empty a spot I started to refill with fresh cut and then burn accordingly, driest first.
my point ; I cut logs into rounds in the woods, roll them into my tractor bucket and carry them next to my wood shed where I tip them on edge and split with a maul. Its pretty fast and efficient with my time.....But I am retired and can do this at my own pace. It only slows down because I am slower and less physical.....still can't bring myself to go the mechanical splitter route beause it doesn't seem that it can improve on the old school method. Again age will be a factor, but so far I only have trouble with the gnarly pieces. Much of the wood I cut splits with one whack and the exercise doesn't hurt either. (sometimes)

You must have soft woods.... I have oak rounds that causes my 20 ton splitter to groan..... Last time I tried using a wedge in the oak the round spit he wedge out and it came looking for me....At age 77 I don't need the pain of splitting.... Got a used splitter that had blown motor and got new motor and hoses and wheels/tires a have about $550 invested and never looked back....I do one maybe two cords a year of only hard woods....

 

[MossRoad]

How about a truck bed crane like this and add an inexpensive electric winch?

Pickup Truck Bed Crane with Hand Winch - 1000 lb. Capacity

Amazing deals on this 1/2Ton Capacity Pickup Truck Crane at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

Or add a high cubic inch low speed hydraulic motor and spool and plumb it into your log splitter hydraulics? Would be much more expensive, but you wouldn't have a battery to maintain and no duty cycle to worry about.

Add some outriggers to keep the crane from tipping over.

 

[joea99]

Thanks for lots of suggestions and other idea. I'm just hitting 76, so some of them will not be practical for me. It's been a long while, for instance, since I split with a maul or wedge and sledge. But, it was fun back when. but these days, I need to be a lot more careful how I exert myself, or pay the price for getting too frisky.

I'll keep watching and eventually do something.

 

[Fxfymn413]

.still can't bring myself to go the mechanical splitter route

My hats off to you; folks like you are my heroes! Better to wear out than rust out.

Like WranglerX I split lots of hardwood and my splitter still runs into pieces that it will not go through, typically stump pieces over 24 inches in diameter. I bought my home made splitter many years ago when i was splitting some hickory and the logs just laughed at me when I used a wedge and sledge. Since then I have basically replaced everything on the splitter but the frame and tank to make it faster and more powerful. My last addition was to build and add an adjustable four way wedge.

Unlike you we bring 10 to 12 foot long logs that we gather all year when we find them back to the wood yard using a dump trailer and the 4060 to load them. We stack them and then buck and split them once a year in early fall or early spring. That way we do not handle short rounds more than we have to since we pick the logs up with the tractor and buck them right next to the splitter. Cut, drop, roll onto the log loader, and split.

I am fortunate that the wood splitting and gathering is a neighborhood project for three families so we can have five or more of us doing the bucking and splitting. I like splitting the wood, but it's nice to get it all done in one or two weekends and even nicer to look out at the back yard and see 6 cords all neatly stacked in IBC cubes.

 

[2manyrocks]

Thanks for lots of suggestions and other idea. I'm just hitting 76, so some of them will not be practical for me. It's been a long while, for instance, since I split with a maul or wedge and sledge. But, it was fun back when. but these days, I need to be a lot more careful how I exert myself, or pay the price for getting too frisky.

I'll keep watching and eventually do something.

I think it all boils down to what you are doing and how you can become more efficient given your budget and workflow.

There was a post here that went back to a winch discussion thread in which Smokeydog raised some questions about the safety of capstan winches. Someone else had mentioned that they can grab a rope unexpectedly if the pulley gets a burr. He went on to raise some other issues. I don't know anything about them myself, but I respect him as a poster enough that I thought I should mention this.