Log splitter mods!

Here's what I use for a log cradle......works great

 

How has that held up?

My splitter came with small "wings" originally but they have gotten pretty beat up, not sure they could hold up with a table attached.

 

Mike you have a good start. To go a few steps further:
- Change the wedge from the cylinder to be fixed to the beam. This would be a great time to consider having a 4-way wedge. You could make it adjustable or just a fixed height. I know some folks who have 6-way wedges but feel they leave too much trash behind unless you are only splitting straight grained rounds. I like a taller narrow wedge versus the wider blunt wedge that is currently on the cylinder. Mine with the 4-way is 21" tall made with 1/2" thick 8" wide flat bar.
- Make a removable out-feed table. This will allow you to have it out of the way while towing the splitter. You could weld some 2-1/2" sq tubing to the sided of the beam below the moved wedge the out-feed table could slide into like the receiver hitch on the back of trucks. As Dex pointed out, if you don't have to pick wood back off the ground it is much faster & easier on your back.
- Add a log lift. It is really not hard to do & makes life so much easier. Instead of a 90° bend at the bottom of the lift, make the lift longer using a 120° angle so you can use it to stage rounds on. Mighty handy! It also makes it easier to load large rounds on.

 

You read my mind -- that is pretty much exactly what I plan on doing. I'll probably add an auto-cycle valve as well (safety police aside) I also will add a hydraulic filter since they cheaped out and don't put them on the north star splitters anymore

I just ordered my first welder and plan to make a log lift as my first project. Hopefully I will get to the point where I feel comfortable with my welding ability to cut the end off the beam and change to a push plate on the cylinder by next fall. I'll probably copy the timberwolf design for an adjustable height 4 way.

 

This is what I was envisioning -- a hole on either side to put even pressure on the backside of the push plate

 

Some of the mods I made to my Huskee/Speedco 22 ton splitter:

Before:



After:




I added four inches to the height and 1 1/4" to the width. Makes splitting of stringly wood like walnut much better! I'm very pleased with this mod!

 

Mike the way your tongue is now, you may have a challenge with the adjustable wedge.

There are a lot of good videos on YouTube for welding. If you know a welder, having them give you pointers to start you off on the right foot would be prime. I have a Harbor Freight auto darkening $40 special & it does fine. Mighty handy to have.

 

I may switch the tongue to the opposite end and weld it directly to the beam. But I am worried about the balance and tongue weight. There are a couple other designs that I am considering that would leave the tongue facing the way I have it now, but I think I would prefer to have the splits fall off the end opposite of the tongue. That way I can leave the splitter attached to my tractor and just pull it forward a little as the pile gets too big and not have to stop and stack every 15 minutes.

 

when i got my splitter it had the tong on the end off the beam
and was to low, it drove me nuts. I would split and pile up wood and the splitter was stuck tell the wood was moved. I like it much better now that i can back up to the pile and i got the height right.

 

Thanks Mike. I've seen them do pretty well on some yellow birch, that I know I'd have had an awful time with.
With the amount of different splitters around here, I'm sure I could try your suggestion.

 

Anyone thought of or seen a log splitter that has four wheels? Like a miniature version of the running gear on a hay wagon??

 

I made a dolly for my huskee 22 ton.

 

Pallet, looking good!

Next add the out-feed tables & you will be saying, "Man I should have done this a long, long time ago!"

 

I found a free piece of exercise equipment. Figured I would tear down for the hardware and use the scrap metal for practice welding. But the more I looked at it the more ideas I came up with. Should have enough parts to replace the cheesy log cradle, relocate the valve to the top of the cylinder and have a good start on a log lift .

 

You got that thing done yet?

 

FEVER - SPRING FEVER HAS HIT!!!