3 Point Splitter? Anybody Got One?

Anybody here have a 3-point log splitter running off their tractor PTO?

 

I have a 3pt splitter,but it runs off tractor hydraulics

 

Thanks Skeeter. I am familiar with those. But I've seen a few YT videos of guys running a couple of types of PTO splitters. One type uses a splitting cone, the other uses a fairly hefty acme screw-type splitter. I'm curious mostly.

 

I'd love to make a kinetic splitter running off the PTO.

 

I have one, but it is homemade. It works really good because the speed of the hydraulic ram can be sped or slowed down by the throttle position of the tractor. It does however add hours onto the tractor rather needlessly (versus that of a small gasoline engine). It also requires a little more hydraulic apparatus as a person has to add a reservoir tank, filter which is not required on a woodsplitter hooked to the tractors hydraulic remotes.

I have since moved it from a 3 point hitch configuration however to that of an upside down woodsplitter.

I was not unhappy with it configured as a 3 point hitch splitter, I just had a log loading trailer and realized mounting it upside down on the boom would enable me to split from a seat instead of lifting up rounds, splitting them, and then throw the split pieces into a truck or trailer. Always trying to make things easier, that is all.

 

I thought about that. I even suggested it to split second in a thread on here. After thinking about that, by the time you bought a gearbox and a PTO shaft, you buy a gas engine to run the splitter.

 

Wow. Love it Lodged Tree. That is awesome!

Several things appeal to me in thinking about a kinetic splitter running off my PTO. For one, the rpm is low enough that a gearbox probably won't be necessary. And I'm thinking there is enough rotating mass that a flywheel might not be necessary either. Although the point about adding hours to the tractor is a valid one. Right now I'm just thinking about it and planning some "what if's".

 

Ok, didn't take me long to nix the idea of using the rotating mass of the tractor's drivetrain as a flywheel. That would transfer all the shock to the drivetrain... don't want to do that. So looks like I'll need a flywheel and if I do this I'll probably use a pulley/belt system to transfer power from the PTO shaft to the splitter. I'd want some way for the belt to slip a little if the splitter jams up. Still just playing with this idea, but I like it.

 

Here's something for ideas. Looks to be European.


I have a buddy who has a 3pt splitter that uses remote hydraulics. I had asked him how he liked it at one point and he said he'd rather just have a stand alone unit. Wear on the tractor and having the tractor tied up with the splitter when needing it for other things. Also, makes splitting in any locale besides where the tractor lives very difficult.

 

Ya just keep teasing us with that there picture of you working hard at splitting wood!But man that is one cool trailer/rig!!!

 

Well JotulYokel is new on here so he has not see it. Now if I could only get a picture of Katie splitting wood on that thing with her Little Red Dress on, now that would be a Firewood Hoarders Club classic photo! I'll see what I can do when it comes time to do a photo shoot of it with my new Feller-buncher head on it!

The kicker is, I built that thing and have never really used it. I have a pot bellied stove so my wood is 6 inch blocks at most! I just cut the wood right into the dumpbox any bypass the splitter altogether.

 

I think that would be easy enough to build, and would be really good at noodling down the big stuff. If a person put the big rounds up against something you could back into, then made the bottom plate a little more tapered so the wood would slide into the threads, it would break down big rounds without lifting. Kind of awkward to use as backing up with precision can be tough sometimes, but if a person had a lot of big rounds and a bad back, it might be worth building.

 

Now fellas, since I am new here I think I need to see pictures of Katie splitting wood with that little red dress on.... or ANY pictures of Katie in that little red dress.... or several pictures of Katie in that little dress.

 

Well, despite opinions to the contrary, we have a set of standards here as this is a logging type of site.

Soooooooooooooooooooo...this is Katie as Little Red Ridinghood, a photo taken just before she is saved by her hero the great logger Lodgedtree who might have bested Paul Bunyon, but unfortunately lived up to his username...lodging trees!

 

All kidding aside, she started a new job on Monday at a bank and I guess it is Weinstein Bank and Trust, because after only 3 days, she has been hit on twice despite her wedding band. I am not sure why???

 

Hahahaha. It's great to see you have a sense of humor LodgedTree. I will try to send you a joke through PM.

 

You can get by with out a gearbox if you the ram so it runs perpendicular to the tractor. That will make it hard for a helper to load. If you add a 90* gear box you can run it in line with the tractor and some one can lay wood on the splitter for you to split.

I'm not sure about the shock load. Think about a tractor out using a rotary cutter cutting saplings. I would have a shaft with a shear bolt or preferably a slip clutch.

My biggest concern is the power of a tractor. If you take a 20hp tractor, with all of its rotating mass, how does that compare to a 6.5hp engine with 180lbs of flyhweels. I have a feeling the 20hp tractor is going to be more powerful. If you go with a rack and pinion setup like what is usually on a splitter. The tractor may tear it up. I thought about building my own kinetic splitter. I gave up on the idea when I hit $2000 in estimated parts and that was not everything. There is a guy on youtube that built one. He had the flywheels spinning too fast and bent a rack, which was a costly mistake. I couldn't see making one and risking tearing up something expensive when I could buy one for not much more.

Those screw type splitters have been around for a while. There was a brand called bark buster. They quit making them because they were dangerous. There was no safety/ shut off. If you got tangled up in it someone had to shut the tractor off and then it was too late. I've heard they make a mess off the wood since it screws in and pulls it apart. Supposedly it leaves the wood real stringy making it easy to get splinters.

 

I scrounge a lot of stuff. I've got an adequate rack for less than $30. Calling a place for a suitable pinion tomorrow. I have a nice big scrap pile behind my barn with 50 years of scrap steel, etc. on it. I may not do this, but heck, I've already got the rack. I'll probably give up on powering it off the PTO tho... too many potential problems, and I can buy a small military surplus motor--a 2A-016, which is the same kind I powered my buzz saw with.

 

My father fabricated a winch many, many years ago and its clutch was from the tractor. My grandfather was winching out wood when the tree dug into a root and the tree was winched on top of his ROPS less 1958 tractor pinning him. It shattered his leg, and may have killed him, but a tractor dealer was delivering a hay rake, had the windows down in his truck and was driving by slow and heard my grandfather's yelling. So we learned about having a separate clutch for safety!!

I can still see a screw drive for noddling because it would break down bigger rounds, but honestly I just do not cut big trees for firewood in the first place. BUT for someone that has a tractor, gets big rounds routinely from arborist's friends or something, I could see it being built...super easy fabrication.

 

I got a book from 1896 that has all kinds of mechanical movements and shows how to make a stroke twice the length by use of a rack and pinion. I always thought coupled to a hydraulic cylinder it would make for an excellent woodsplitter. A person could use a 5 inch cylinder, but keep the length at 16 inches or so, yet get a 32 inch round split. The hydraulic/mechanical combination would mean a person would get the 35 ton plus power of a 5 inch cylinder, but yet the speed of a smaller tonnage woodsplitter because the cylinder is not as long. In short the best of both words: power and speed...the holy grail of woodsplitting!!

Of course all this has nothing to do with a kinetic energy woodsplitter so it has no relevance with the exception of having a rack and pinion.

I will admit that the book is neat because it came out when patents were out on things we take for granted now. That meant people had to come up with ingenious mechanical inventions to get around patent infringement rights. Due to the simplicity of manufacturing then, much of the mechanical movements can be readily homemade. Of course being a dumb sheep farmer just means I am easy to entertain!