opinions on 4-way wedge

[ssupercoolss]

in the splitter thread, i saw a bunch of guys using a 4 way wedge on their splitter. i am kind of interested in fabbing one for my buddys splitter, (not out of the kindness of my heart, i use the thing too)

pros and cons??

maybe some pics??

 

[gink595]

How big is the splitter? I built one last year with a 4-way and it works fine for stuff up to 16" but after that it's a toss up if it will split it or not. I had to build it a couple times to get it to work good, that kinda sucked but it is much better now but still needs some tweaking. I have a 11 gpm pump with a 5 hp motor, it really needs to step up to a 16GPM 8hp motor to work better.

 

[pickwood]

I have a 4 way on a NT 20 ton splitter-works great and saves time. It works best on the 12"-14" stuff- tried it on the large pcs and it slowed down the splitting process- the NT 4 way bolts on to the side of the wedge.

 

[Swamp Yankee]

Fixed wedge or wedge on ram?

The 4-way on the Timberwolf and American splitters work very well. You can run big wood through the 4-way on a 20 ton machine, you'll need to learn to read the wood before splitting. Making sure the ends are square or at least the end being pushed helps as well.

I've used one 4-way on a TSC 35 ton unit that was custom made. First issue was modding the strippers to clear the 4-way. The backing shoe needed to be enlarged. It works, but IMO no where near as well as one mounted on a fixed wedge.

Take Care

 

[trialanderror]

they're nice. gotta split nice straight stuff if you got a tiny setup. (20ton or so)

i'm using a cylinder with a 11" bore. i can 4-way some serious ugly pieces, but, maybe i just like build my stuff big

 

[avalancher]

Cant imagine doing without a 4 way wedge, splitting would be so slooooowww without it.I have a 27 ton set up, and unless its a real knarly piece of wood I have no troubles.even then,it takes less than a second to slip it right off the wedge and go with the single wedge.