Took the leap, bit the bullet,,,,and found one in stock which is a feat all its own. American CLS 26 Super. Nice machine for the price point. Also one of the easiest out there to modify. Plans are to put the hitch in the back where it belongs. Fabricate a set of self steering wheels in the front like a zero turn design. Then comes the box wedge. Originally planned on cutting the height of the original wedge and support down and welding a fixed box wedge to it. Now that it’s shiny new I’m rethink the possibility of leaving the factory stuff unmolested. Adds complications to the build but,,,,,, there’s a lot to be said for leaving things as original as possible. Biggest problem is the round above the box plate will get split vertically from the protruding wedge. Hoping I can design a wedge and retract arm that can overcome that as a real PIA for operation. We shall see. Also intend to make a short chute for loading a trailer or truck. Idea is a box wedge only push’s out a single layer of splits which should be fairly stable. The ram should push them a distance without a need for separate conveyor belt and motor. It’ll take some tweaking I’m sure. Also tossing in the picture of the “traveling FHC sign”. Recently came to my house for a brief stay from none other than Buzzsaw Brad himself. Along with the steel cut out sign from metalcutter which Brad added to the collection. I’m not sure how many members actually know it exists so I thought I’d attempt to get pictures of it in general circulation. It will need to start traveling again soon. Hoping I get some ideas as to which direction it should restart its journey.
Nice new toy. As much as I like my splitter for the capability of splitting both horizontally and vertically, the fact is that it's no fun being crouched on the ground wrestling large rounds onto the splitter foot. That hydraulic lift gate looks like the real deal.
You will live that machine. I bought the same basic machine about 5 years ago. Zero issues, smooth starts, and rarely will it not split something. I be t one of the output trays slightly, but I would say that was fault!!! Enjoy!!!!
Tried that vertical thing once. Way too much trouble and work getting things on the foot. My spine just won’t allow me to wrestle bent over. Never again.
Nice toys!! Nice view too!! We don’t get much of that in Ct. Funny,,,,older cousin left Ct about 40 years ago to run a ranch in Montana. Came back for his brothers wedding about five years ago. Was supposed to stay a week. Left after three days. When asked why he just said he felt trapped, couldn’t see anything at a distance LOL
I was concerned with the small hydraulic tank. Two summers ago I ran it hard on a sunny 90 degree day, never skipped a beat. Looking forward to hearing your experiences. Did you get a 4 way wedge?
Do you have the 25? I was concerned with the small tank also. Only because my DHT 28 ran so hot it’d burn skin off ya if you touched the Ram body. No idea why, it doesn’t run that hot anymore. Nor does it have the power it once had. Most likely the pump I’d imagine. I got the six way wedge. Figured I’d learn more about how much power it has before I start modifying anything. Not a fan of a floating six way wedge. The splitters on the bottom need the edges to be angled downward. Plus they are also angled down which jams wood. This puts upwards pressure on the wedge and also allows pieces to get jammed underneath. Normally not a problem on a push thru, the next round will jam them through. But with a floating wedge it will often lift the wedge 3/4-1” and not come back down. Next round will lift it even further. Before you know it it’ll flop right off. I’ve only used it on knotty pine so far. Stuff my DHT split too but wasnt very happy about. It did just fine at little more than an idle. The six way May be happier without all the knots tho.
If you think that's a small hydro reservoir, you should see the one on my old splitter. That amount of hydro fluid / res size wouldn't worry you one bit of you saw that. It's probably a gallon reservoir. Sure it gets warm, but never been an issue.
I honestly do not remember the model, but I seem to remember 25h. I will check tomorrow. I know it was over $5,000 with the boonville woodsmen field day how price. I spec’d it out at the show with a deposit. The owners, Sue and I sometimes think I want a 4 way wedge, but I try to keep splits big. The owner s Larry and Sue were great to deal with. I split a lot of hickory, so I test it well. I think it was hickory that I was splitting when I bent the tray slightly. Once again enjoy!!
