Log splitter mods!

Mike, Looking Good! A word of caution on the wheels. The bolt together wheels like that have a tendency to have the center hub tear loose. There is just not enough thickness to the metal to hold up. I have tried them in the past & now buy HF - Haul-Master - item#37767 for small tire needs like on the dolly under the tongue of my avatar. That photo was before I added the landing gear to my splitter.

My splitter has a lot of tongue weight so I used 2 "No Flat" wheel barrow tires.

When connected to a vehicle, the landing gear is pushed all the way forward where it is pinned in place for transport to the small piece of flat in the upper right corner of the photo.

 

I almost bought those tires. But at 5.99 (4.50 after coupon) I figured I would give these a try. Hopefully by being able to rotate they won't tear out. I have a similar set up on my aerial lift trailer that is self propelled. The wheels on it have taken an incredible amount of abuse... Tore the tires off the rims a few times but never damaged the rims.

I wanted the wheels so I can push/pull the splitter a few feet at a time with my tractor bucket as I'm splitting -- they shouldn't see too much abuse,

 

Wish you the best Mike.

 

Maybe I'll hook it up to my tractor tomorrow and take them for a torture test.... Will see if they honor the 90 day warranty! (And test my welding ability)

 

Looks good Mike. The test will be on uneven bumpy ground.

 

Should work fine, the splitter doesn't look to be very heavy.

I'm curious to see how the log lift works out. I'd be concerned a bit that it's going to want to tip over with a heavy log. Hopefully the engine will be enough weight.

 

Now that thing is perty… nice job Mike…

 

So the weak link on the northern splitters is the bolt to hold the wedge to the rod... It tends to break when a log gets really jammed on the 4-way when you retract it against the log "stripper".

Not a big deal to replace it except they use a 7/16 socket head cap screw... Nothing else will fit or work right. Problem is only one hardware store around carried the 7/16 ones I need. And now they only have 3/8 or 1/2" and nothing equivalent in metric

Amazon to the rescue 100 for 7.50 delivered. I was paying over 2 bucks a piece. I must have gotten lucky because they are currently unavailable. (Removed right after these shipped)