revamping my wood splitter

[muddstopper]

I have been thinking about doing this ever since I saw this one,
a couple years ago. Since I already have the splitter and enough metal laying in the scrap pile, it shouldnt take much money to covert my 6way adjustable to the fixed 4 way like in the video. I am just having a hard time deciding how far apart to space the 3 upright wedges. The top horizonal wedge will be 5inches and I am thinking trying to space the knifes so the splits are 4x5. To big, to small?? I'll probably just use the regular control valve since all the hydraulics will stay intact, but do plan a auto cycle valve in the future. I think this design will save me a lot of heavy work since I usually split big wood that always needs resplitting, even with the current 6way.

 

[dave_dj1]

I hope you have the power to push it through. I'll be watching.

 

[rarefish383]

I split my wood kind of small. I like it so I can grip a piece in one hand and throw it in the trailer or stack it in the pile. With my stove I can get way more wood in the box if it's small too, and I have a couple older customers who can't lift big pieces. Maybe a little bigger than a 2X4, 4X4 at the max. I also split all Oak so it's a little heavier than Maple, Poplar and such. What ever fit your needs. You could always build two boxes in case you get customers that need it smaller.

 

[muddstopper]

Little pieces are easier to put in the stove, and it does dry faster. I like bigger pieces because they dont burn as fast or as hot. As for power, I have a 5in cyl. I actually believe that the wood will be easier to split because your not trying to split the entire round at one pass, just nibbleing pieces. At any rate, I can split large rounds into 6 big pieces the way things are now, so I hope the wedge design wont make things any harder. As for building two boxes, That would take a little more engineering to accomplish. I will be welding the new wedge in a fixed position. Not sure how I can make it where I could change the wedge out for another one. Hadnt thought about doing that until just now. I got the splitter in the shop, I might have to stare at it for a while before I drag out the cutting torch.

 

[Big_Eddy]

To make an adjustable box wedge, the thing to do would be to make the box wedge section such that it can be raised or lowered relative to the "tray" on which the block initially rests.
The width of each piece would not change, but the height would. For example - with the vertical wedges at 4" apart, if you lower the horizontal wedge to 2", you get a 2x4. Lift to 4" and you get a 4x4. Lift to 6" and you get 4x6 chunks etc. It would not be difficult to design a splitter where the box wedge that can be raised or lowered as a unit and still be sufficiently braced to withstand splitting forces.

If you're doing a box wedge splitter, be sure to include a pull back bar to return the rest of the block to the splitting location.

The one thing I notice when watching the videos of box wedge splitters (and I have watched most of them) is that they make a lot more trash than standard splitters do. There always seem to be small portions of each round that get peeled off and end up as junk. After weighing the pros and cons, I ended up building mine with a 4 way.

http://absbiomass.com/products/autosplit

 

[KiwiBro]

Eastonmade have an open box wedge idea. The general idea has merit, me thinks.

 

[Cody]

Eastonmade units are damn nice.

I think if you angle your top plate, and your two outside upright wedges it takes a lot of pressure off of splitting the wood. Some of the ones I see seem to waste a lot of energy just trying to push through the "box" due to poor design. There's no reason a 5" cylinder can't push four small splits with the right design. As for all the splitter scraps, the more the better IMO, work great to start fires. I have multiple bins that I throw mine in, and I don't even keep them all the scraps. I cannot for the life of me remember the splitter producer, but it splits both ways with just the box splitter and would be nice, but it's one of those that seems to lose a lot of power to friction in the wedge design.

 

[KiwiBro]

I cannot for the life of me remember the splitter producer, but it splits both ways with just the box splitter and would be nice, but it's one of those that seems to lose a lot of power to friction in the wedge design.

Perhaps Tempest, bought out by Woodmizer?

 

[Cody]

Perhaps Tempest, bought out by Woodmizer?

You are correct, I wasn't aware they were bought out either.

 

[muddstopper]

My problem with making an adjustable box wedge for this splitter is there is simply nothing to weld to. When I originally built the splitter, my 6x6 beam was too short. The current wedge is mounted off the end of the beam and held on by flat bar and channel iron. To even mount the box wedge, I have to add 1in spacers on each side. to attach the outer two upright wedges to the beam. Nothing to weld to but the beam flange, 1/4 thick. I got to stare at it some more to figure out the best way to do it. I have a piece of 8x8 hbeam that might be easier to just build the beam and wedge from scratch. My current beam is bolted onto its trailer so I could have the 6x6 off in just a few minutes. I would just have to make a new pusher slide and the rear cyl mount. Dont know if I have enought heavy plate to make the pusher out of.. Got to go cut a danger tree now, so sometime this evening I will get back to my sitting and stareing and try to come up with a plan.

 

[CUCV]

Post a picture of your existing beam and wedge. Take a look at the TW7 box wedge, it's removable. 5 years ago I started building an SS with box wedge. Life got in the way and the project came to a crawl. The original wedge design was very similar to the Eastonmade, I spend some time in CAD trying to get it to be "open" and not cause excess wood drag. I ended up simplifying the design further just to get the splitter functional. One of these days I'll take a video and pictures. I get 3 pieces out of the bottom and large piece off the top. I ended up making a mistake welding on the top wedge so it splits a bit later than I wanted. In turn I often get extra "free" splits.

 

[muddstopper]

Got a few pics of current wedge setup. The adjustable wedge is currently held up with the straps because the battery was dead and I needed it up so it wouldnt drag while I pulled it home.

I think I have it figured out how to make the box wedge. The current wedge is 32in long overall. I will just remove it and cut the wings off and cut to lenght for the top horizonal wedge. I have another piece of the same plate I will cut and weld in where the adjustable wedge slides down into the beam. The back plate I will just cut to the required height to let the wood slide overtop without splitting the top half of the round. That will make the first vertical wedge about 18in deep. The additional wings I will just weld to the top plate and let hang down. If I have enough metal, I will let it hang to the bottom of the hbeam and weld another piece of plate across the bottom.. This should keep it from twisting and allow more than enough room for the split to slide thur. The wedges will be angled out at the rear as well so this should prevent binding as the wood is split. I will then remove the cyl and control valve for raising the adjustable wedge. Splitter might even get a coat of paint this time around.......Maybe not.

 

[Brad Burnette]

My problem with making an adjustable box wedge for this splitter is there is simply nothing to weld to. When I originally built the splitter, my 6x6 beam was too short. The current wedge is mounted off the end of the beam and held on by flat bar and channel iron. To even mount the box wedge, I have to add 1in spacers on each side. to attach the outer two upright wedges to the beam. Nothing to weld to but the beam flange, 1/4 thick. I got to stare at it some more to figure out the best way to do it. I have a piece of 8x8 hbeam that might be easier to just build the beam and wedge from scratch. My current beam is bolted onto its trailer so I could have the 6x6 off in just a few minutes. I would just have to make a new pusher slide and the rear cyl mount. Dont know if I have enought heavy plate to make the pusher out of.. Got to go cut a danger tree now, so sometime this evening I will get back to my sitting and stareing and try to come up with a plan.

I tend to catch myself doing a lot of sitting and staring as well. I've came up with quite a few ideas this way and it drives my wife nuts!

 

[muddstopper]

I tend to catch myself doing a lot of sitting and staring as well. I've came up with quite a few ideas this way and it drives my wife nuts!

I need to be standing and sweeping while I think. Bout time to hunt up all my tools and put them back in the boxes before I start this project.

 

[muddstopper]

Theres a reason I havent posted any pics of the splitter modifications. I havent worked on it. I thought I would post a couple pic's of my logging winch I built instead. I have a total of $18 invested in the setup. I got the winch in a trade a couple years ago. I got the 4ft scrape gave to me a few weeks ago. I had to sit and stare at the darn thing for a while trying to figure out how to mount it and then said screw it, threw it on top of the blade and welded in place. Works pretty well. I have stalled it a couple times, but I was trying to pull 30in+ dia oak trees, 50-60 ft long thru a creek and up a steep bank. Good enough for who its for, Me. It is only rated for 8000lbs which should keep it from hurting the tractor or breaking the rope. The 4ft scrape had been turned around backwards and welded in place. It will dig into pavement. Only thing I think I will modify will be to add some sort of pulley up high to get the logs off the ground when skidding.

 

[rancher2]

Mud now that the creative juices are flowing it's time to grab the torch and start cutting the old wedge off and building the new one.

 

[muddstopper]

Wedge is already set off. Going to shorten it and use it for the center knife. Found a piece of plate exactly 24inches long I am going to use to go across the bottom of the beam to support the other 4 vertical knifes. I got to find a piece long enough and wide enough for the top horizonal wedge. Its going to look ugly and patched together, but without spending a bunch of money on steel, it will just have to do. Should be able to split 24in dia rounds with ease and bigger if I hand turn the logs until it drops all the way down inside the box.

 

[muddstopper]

Got up this morning with plans to work on splitter. Son calls and says, You wnat to go fishing?. Your kidding right, I mean its pouring down the rain, flash flood warnings, wind howling. Nah, rain will be over in a couple of hours. What the heck, when you be here. Bout an hour. Ok/ So I head to town and get some crickets and run to wally world for a rain suit. He gets her and we hook up and head to the lake. Still raining, but looked to be clearing up. Put boat in and head down the lake and it stopped raining. First cast and hooked a nice bream, son catches on about as quick. Fish where biting. We fished until about 6pm, probably caught close to a hundred. Losts of good size bream, several catfish and quite a few bass. Brother called while we where fishing and asked where I was at. Told him we where fishing and to bring some bait and a pizza. We met him at the ramp putting in when we where getting out. Didnt bring any pizza tho.

Needless to say, not much work got done to the splitter. Maybe tomorrow, if it rains, and the fish aint biting.

 

[babybart]

What happened to the processor build? Did I miss the completion?

 

[kevin j]

Time with others is higher priority than the splitter. Ain’t retirement great?