Bobcat Skidsteer What Size Woodsplitter will it run.

[tomscarpt]

Looking to buy a woodsplitter for my bobcat. Have a 743b model and the aux flow is 11gpm.They have the inverted log splitters for skidsteers models so I can leave the log on the ground .Any body running one of these, How are they? Not sure if mine will run the 30 ton model thinking 20 ton.Most of the wood we split is oak and very large diameters 24 to 36". Will a 20 ton work for this?
Currently using a 27 ton gas model and it works great.So i hate to downsize to 20 ton but if it saves my back and its a little slower its worth it.
Is adding a 4 way wedge pushing it on the 20 ton model?

 

[Steve NW WI]

You can run either with your machine. Tonnage is a function of cylinder size and hydraulic pressure. Your speed will be slower with the bigger splitter, though - assuming 24" stroke on both, and a 4" cylinder on the 20T and 5" on the 30, you're looking at roughly 13 seconds for a full cycle on the 20 ton, and 20 seconds on the 30 ton model.

I'd probably stay away from a 4 way on the smaller one, not saying it won't do it, but it's probably built lighter than the bigger one and might not handle the extra stress well. A 20 with a single wedge should split everything you throw at it though, if that's the way you want to go.

 

[Jakers]

:agree2:

Your bobcat will run any size splitter you put on it. its just the speed that will change. that said i wouldnt recommend slapping a full blown processer on the front of that thing. whatever fits your budget will work fine. and if you break the smaller one with the 4way it just gives you an excuse to fire up the torch and welder to make it stronger:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[Butch(OH)]

We bought one and use it for one thing only, huge chuncks that bust your butt to even roll around. We now pinch the large rounds in SS splitter then use it to carry the rounds to the other splitter then bust them 2 or 4 ways so they can be handled. Ours came from Neon Equipment in Cleveland (they also sell on Ebay) and so far is is proving to be OK . They sell 4-5 different syles. Mine is 30" opening and upside down only. They also sell one that can be flipped over and you can use it like a regular splitter if you have somebody to sit in the skidsteer and run the controls. Like about all the other skidsteer attachments you get what you pay for. One thing I saw right off the bat on the cheapos was the cylinder was unprotected, no way for this herky jerky operator! Only problem I have with ours is I wish they would have put the wedge on the cylinder, that would save chasing the resplits around so much. As another tool in an arsnal they are a nice toy that saves your back.. As an only splitter they would suck. We dont have a huge or hy flow SS either, 2040 Mustang. It handles it just fine even with some very large wet Sycamore we have been into.

Link to one like ours
New Log Wood Splitter Attachment Inverted Skid Steer Loader Tractor Tree Shear | eBay

 

[Dan_IN_MN]

Threads like these, I like to post this:

[video=youtube_share;X0-1Rx1NNDY]http://youtu.be/X0-1Rx1NNDY[/video]

 

[stratton]

Splitter

Tomscarpt

I have a Splitfire 4490 splitter.
check them out. i cant say enough good things about this attachment IT ROCKS !!!

 

[owbguy]

I like the wheel to wheel design. Don't own one, but it looks more convenient.

I'd love to see some opinions from people who have used both styles. Anyone out there have or use the wheel to wheel style? opcorn:

 

[splitter77]

You can run either with your machine. Tonnage is a function of cylinder size and hydraulic pressure. Your speed will be slower with the bigger splitter, though - assuming 24" stroke on both, and a 4" cylinder on the 20T and 5" on the 30, you're looking at roughly 13 seconds for a full cycle on the 20 ton, and 20 seconds on the 30 ton model.

I'd probably stay away from a 4 way on the smaller one, not saying it won't do it, but it's probably built lighter than the bigger one and might not handle the extra stress well. A 20 with a single wedge should split everything you throw at it though, if that's the way you want to go.

Steve is about right on here with cycle times etc. On inverted splitters the 4 way wedge takes quite a bit more time changing out as you have to bolt on and off the slide each time you change it. You can see some here:

20-Ton Skid Steer Wood Splitters | Bobcat Log Splitter
30-Ton Skid Steer Wood Splitter | Bobcat Skid Loader Log Splitter

 

[sam-tip]

oh my 11 gpm would be slow. I am running 21 gpm and think that is slow. I have two pro tm splitters. A 24" 4" and a 30" 5". I use the 24" with 4" cylinder 98% of the time. Love the viewing window!
The 30" with 5" is to slow so I save it for the nasty stuff. But it will split sideways. Or cut limbs. Just wish I had 38 gpm high flow. Recommend a smooth cement pad to work on. Or you will just dig yourself a hole on dirt.

Sent from my SCH-I800 using Tapatalk 2

 

[reaperman]

This may not be the popular answer. But unless someone has a bad back and cant use a traditional log splitter. Using a skid loader to split wood is an expensive option. A small gas engine can be run dirt cheap. A gallon of gas will survive several hours in a normal splitter. A skid loader will use a couple of gallons/hour. Not to mention putting hours on your machine. When a small gas engine breaks down, the worst that can happen is throwing the engine away and replacing it at harbor freight for $99 :msp_wink:

 

[Joesell]

It seems like people are saying it would be hard to use a skidder splitter if that was all you had, because it would be hard to resplit the smaller pieces. Well what if you got/built a skidder mounted splitter with a 6" ram and an 8 way wedge? You could grab the big ones and split them over the pile and be done with them. Would a 6" be big enough for that? I know it would be slow, but even if it took 5 min, which it wouldn't, it would still be faster then splitting the big chunks with a single wedge splitter.

 

[owbguy]

well, its a good solution for splitting huge rounds into smaller manageable chunks, or for splitting wood for an owb. Not the best solution for splitting 16" long rounds into small pieces for firewood.

 

[Butch(OH)]

It seems like people are saying it would be hard to use a skidder splitter if that was all you had, because it would be hard to resplit the smaller pieces. Well what if you got/built a skidder mounted splitter with a 6" ram and an 8 way wedge? You could grab the big ones and split them over the pile and be done with them. Would a 6" be big enough for that? I know it would be slow, but even if it took 5 min, which it wouldn't, it would still be faster then splitting the big chunks with a single wedge splitter.

All depends on how you handle your wood, everyone does it differant and we do it differant at our place depending on where the wood comes from. Where the skid steer splitters excell is in huge stuff IMO. As I said earlier on anything else they will do but I would surely hate to have one as my only splitter. Two problems come up quickly in use. One is that handling the smaller "near size" rounds is very trying. The other thing is the skid steer quickly tears the heck out of the entire work area. No biggie if your out in the woods but if your prepping rounds in a staging area it will quickly be turned into a real mess. Seems I never do much firewood'en in prime weather. A concrete slab would be a real improvement however.