Horizontal vs vertical devotees are staunch in their opinions and I respect that.
We use a 1970's horizontal Didier - splitter beam sits about 12" off the ground. Ugh some will say - too low! Well, we sit in lawn chairs when splitting.
However, I am looking into raising our splitter and since hubby doesn't necessarily remember how to weld (dang! he was a certified welder at one time) I'm looking into simply jacking up the splitter and putting cement blocks under it. The
main reason for raising it up means I can back up our trailer to the end of the splitter and have splits just drop right into our trailer - less bending to pick up splits, etc. Age has it detriments - repetitive bending is not a recommended activity!
So, while I love Jags lift design and will continue to look into how I can get something like this fabbed up (welded) the outlook seems dim in this respect. If I could figure out if simply bolting pieces of metal together would work I know I could cut the square tube stock & drill/bolt it. This idea would require multiple drilled holes through the splitter beam and I'm not sure if drilling the beam is a good idea or not. (Anyone have thoughts on drilling the beam? I figure 4 holes (2 each) for the two pillow blocks/hinge area and at least 2 more for the upright winch support.
In the meantime, I'm also looking at this hydraulic table from Harbor Freight:
http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb-capacity-hydraulic-scissor-table-cart-93116.html Yes, the table is still 12" above the ground but it raises to 34-1/2". I would gain work table space at the same time the table would fit to whatever height I raise the splitter and would then be able to drop splits right into our trailer.
So, I'm thinking/planning about how to make splitting a little easier for us - we are not getting any younger!
Shari