On my way to to a ski trip in NH thursday I stopped in at a Tractor Supply to look around a bit. In the chain saw section I looked behind me and saw a lawn tractor lift, it lifts up to 500#. I wonder if anyone has converted this lift to lift logs to the horizontal splitter?? It looks like you could fit a couple decent size rounds onto it and hoist it to the right level. I was just looking at the outside of the box and thought I would ask...
Wondering about the speed… and $$$ vs. a hydraulic lift arm for your splitter… if it can lift 500 lbs though, weight isn't an issue for a couple or more rounds. Had to grin at the beginning of your post… your on your way to go skiing and that steering wheel went crazy (again?) and just landed you at a Tractor Supply… what are the odds?
My truck does stop at weird times! I was on Rt 3 in Merrimack and I stopped at a bunch of places on my way north. As far as the log lift idea goes, if I can lift bigger rounds with this thing I could avoid using the splitter going vertical altogether. Speed at the size of these logs wouldn't matter to me, I'd be concerned about safety and if it would work at all.
Anything that us realistic that can help save your back. Most of us don't do 8 hrs of hard manual labor every day. Our backs just are not designed for us to be beast of burden. Once you back is injured, recover is slow and eventual arthritis is all but certain. Work smarter!
Initially speed doesn't seem too important, but it doesn't take long before a lack of it can be very frustrating. Is that a foot pump or old fashion arm pump. Foot might not be too bad, but I would hate an arm pump. I changed my press over to an air over hydraulic jack & never looked back. My shoulder really appreciated it! Common round lifting options: 1 - hydraulic log lift. 2 - Log lift using a winch to pull it up. 3 - Log lift with a cable connected to the splitting cylinder which pull the lift up while the cylinder cycles. (Some do it on the extension & some on the return stroke. 3 - Davit/Crane arm. (May have a winch or hydraulic jack.
All really good ideas for the "muscle" to operate any type rigging. I built the crane set-up with a cheap truck lift to start, added a 10' piece of 2"x2" steel as a boom, added a 12v winch and use it to pull a rope lift line that I rigged 3 to 1 with pulleys to get more speed (winch is too slow), but less lift capability (don't need a lot, maybe 150 lbs), then a light duty log tong set-up. When I'm using it next time, I'll get pics of it. It's buried under snow at the moment.
