I'll be watching this one. I'm not getting any younger and my wife will probably get sick of splitting at some point (she loves it now, but it's only been a couple years).
After splitting 3 cord of wood a year since the late 1970's with a splitting maul, 3 years ago I bought a Troy-Bilt 27 ton hydraulic splitter from Lowes. It's a basic splitter with a sliding wedge attached to the ram with a welded cast end plate. In my mind not bad but the wedge and plate are azz-backwards. I've thought about reversing them and have the skill and ability but for now I focused on adding a couple of tables on the existing design. I created the framework out of 1" box and some 1 1/2 angle. I bolted a couple of stainless plates as shown below and have to admit it's a major improvement. . .
If you reverse the position of the wedge and plate, you will not be able to use the machine in a vertical position. That's why all vertical models have a plate at the far end of the beam, and no auxiliary table or grate for splits off the end. If I were to consider a vertical splitter, I would like one where the split table is at or near waist level and it's always set up vertical, rather than a convertible model.
This answer here! My splitter has a log lift & 4way wedge, but the wedge is on & off manually. I shimmed it up to make bigger splits for my boiler & it works, but dealing with the big rounds is still work. Auto cycle is a must. Also pay attention to table/catch tray height. Firewood Bandit 's table is mashed & so is mine. Big splits & rounds catch stuff & bend it.
You are correct. The catch tray is homemade. The previous owner made it and it has been damaged prior to me purchasing it.
That's exactly how I would go if I got a different splitter. We have an mtd H/V one, and the old Didier horizontal only one. The mtd rarely ever gets used in the vertical position, and that only ever happens with large rounds.
Improvements fall into two main categories, those that increase speed and those that reduce strain. The former are nice (important if you're selling wood) while the latter are essential if you intend to do this for a long time. Being 68 y/o, I have focused on the latter. Some form of log lift and processing table are at the top of the list. Anything that reduces back strain will extend your processing years. My splitter is a puny little 5-ton Homelite electric. Here are the improvements to reduce strain. Stand and processing table (with truck) to eliminate bending over. Log lift to get rounds into the truck without back injury.
As with anything it comes down to budget and time I started out years ago with a licikty splitter I have had a collection of different ones over the years currently have a iron and oak commercial with a log lift and 4 way ,and a old licikity which I still use the only thing with a 4 way is you tend to generate a lot more splinters and you bury yourself real quick unless you have a conveyor or someone to help most of my splitting is now resplits the wood I get is very large trunks and knotty junk any nice logs go for my sawmill the game changer for me was the upside down splitter for the skid loader I chunk up all the big stuff into pieces that I can lift easily the rolling of big rounds onto the log lift days are over the thing that is nice is most commercial splitters are auto cycle and that saves a lot of time over standing there holding the lever to split I saw mention of a didier that by far was the slowest splitter I have not heard mention of those in years they made them for John deere for a few years JB
Yes it is an Iron and Oak, 22 ton fast cycle. The wedge is much taller than most, I am guessing 14"? The taller wedge is nice on bigger rounds. It's OK, I wanted Alex from A.E. Metalwerx to build me one but he didn't have time. But this was 1/3 the money too.
While a hydraulically adjustable 4 way is nice, no 4 way HAS to be that way. I’ve had an Iron and Oak 22 ton with the 4 way for just over 11 years now and have run around 1400 cords through it. I do one of two things with pieces that only need to be split in half: either hold the piece up above the 4 way (the tall main wedge is usually high enough to split the log in half or I pick through the rounds and leave all of the small ones to do at once. Then I just take the 4 way off and toss it to the ground.
[/QUOTE] I also have a home made unit for the 3pt hitch on my tractor worked great many years.This fall I bought a Split Fire unit also for the tractor(Org for skid steer but I changed it for tractor 3pt hitch) .It splits in both directions and you can have ether a normal wedge or a 4 way unit.They swap out real easy just lift one off and drop the other in its place.I find the 4 way is nice when the wood only requires a single split,if I keep the 4 way on for the bigger stuff I end up with smaller pieces. so I just go back to the single wedge.I like that it splits in both directions but takes getting used to as I find my self still reaching to return the ram which now is the wedge.
Yep. That's be with the Didier. It's slow. But a predator 6.5 hp did help speed it up vs the old 5 hp Briggs it had. Very well built heavy duty splitter. It's also really low. Low and slow. I process all of my wood at the house with it. The much newer mtd h/v ( just like backwoods savages) stays up north at the cabin. One of these days I'll buy mom an electric splitter and take the mtd down home for me to use here.
I process log cut offs from log landings. The pieces are very large and generally have very large branches in them or other wise defective. This makes splitting with a 4 way impossible.
I started with a DHT that has the 4 way and that still works well. I bought a super split a couple seasons ago and it was a game changer for me. Great and efficient machine. The only thing that could be different is if it had a log lift incorporated. I also did buy a skid steer splitter so I don't have to noodle or wrestle the big rounds anymore. If I was to buy a new one I think I would go with the Eastonmade 12-22 with a box wedge. I am more and more impressed with not only the equipment but with his honesty and the way he handles things.
This is a home build and we use the log lift to hold rounds to split and have a solid table on the end the one thing that we did wrong was that it’s really hard to operate it from the lift side. But I wouldn’t want to not have it
Most of my wood is from tree services so it’s not a whole lot different. You have to know what pieces to feed through the 4 way and which ones not to
