School me on 4 way wedges

[c5rulz]

I have a Speeco 28 ton splitter.

Is it worth going to a 4 way wedge?

Most of the wood I split is well in excess of 16" in diameter up to 30".

 

[motoman3b]

Not worth it with that splitter, the 4 way wedges for those and the huskees the wings are so short unless its super easy straight grained wood it wont even split the log 4 ways.

 

[jrider]

Not familiar with that splitter but it has plenty of power for a 4 way. If you can buy/rig up a good one, do it and never look back. You will be amazed at how much quicker it is.

 

[Russ Melampy]

I have the Northstar 37 ton with a 4 way and it really speeds things up. However, if the wood is crotchy or stringy like elm, I take off the 4-ways or it bogs the engine (honda gx270) down. I always have the 4ways on, though, and just save some of that wood in a special wood pile that I may (or may not) split later.

 

[Steve NW WI]

4 ways like your splitter takes work well on the smaller end of stuff, that you'd normally quarter anyway. When you get into big stuff, it's just not going to be very efficient, when you have to resplit most of your pieces anyway, along with taking more force (more time in "low" stage) while splitting.

Bottom line, it's worth it to the guy splitting 12" pole wood, but in your situation, save your money.

 

[c5rulz]

I get a lot of hickory and white oak, it's mighty stringy and often the wedge must go completely through the round to break all the fibers.

 

[MN Ripper]

I've got a 25T Speeco and I had friend extend the wings on the 4 way so it would split the rounds all the way across. Here is a video I made of it doing some fresh stringy cottonwood. The only catch with extending them is the wedge can't retract behind the welded knockoff bars, but I don't cut my pieces longer than 20" so its not a problem

 

[lmbrman]

had the 4way attachment for mine and sold it as it was not productive

you get that 394 for noodling yet?

-dave

 

[reaperman]

A four way will bind the bottom two splits on the splitters I-beam as the wedge travels forward. Making the splitter work very hard to try and push the wedge to a full stroke. There simply isnt anywhere for the bottom two pieces to go until the wedge is all the way to the end. Four ways are better suited when they are mounted to the end of the splitter vs on the pusher side. That allows the splits to simply push off the end of the splitter onto the ground without any resistance from the I-beam.

 

[Oliver1655]

If you build your own 4-way wedge adapter:
Make the horizontal wing from 1/2" x 8" x16" plate. Bevel only the upper/top edge & it won't cause the split to wedge against the beam. I like to have the vertical edge stick out around 2" in front of the horizontal wings to the round splits in 2 stages; Vertically then horizontally. I use one on my splitter 95% of the time. I posted photos of the wedge system I built for my splitter in the "wedge broke off" thread.

 

[Evanrude]

The 4-way for that splitter is beveled on the top edge only. I often think about ordering one just to see if it would work good or not. I have the Huskee version of the 28 ton.

 

[c5rulz]

had the 4way attachment for mine and sold it as it was not productive

you get that 394 for noodling yet?

-dave

I called him 20 min ago and no answer. I am going to cut a load before the rain sets in and it gets GREASY.

 

[Evanrude]

I addition to my post above. The pic that I attached is actually the HD version of the Speeco 4 way. They also make a slip on unit (which I've attached to this post). The one above REPLACES the current anvil and is much stronger from what I've seen.

 

[c5rulz]

Thanks Evanrude,

 

[cmsmoke]

You can keep the bottom wood from getting stuck by simply picking it up slightly, leaving a space between the beam or foot on the wedge. Most of the wood I get isn't straight enough to use them until working on the lower part of the tree. It seems that I get more twisted or crotchy wood than straight. Unless your wood is straight grained...Forget it.