4 way wedge question

[milkie62]

I just had a 4 way wedge built for my splitter.Unfortunately the wings started at the same point as the vertical and went into bypass when it pegged the guage at 2350 psi.I am running a 4x24 cylinder so I thought I had enough power.Cut the wings back about 1.5 inches from the vertical part.I can now more or less split 4 ways with straight blocks and no big knots.Anybody using a 4" cylinder with a 4 way setup ? How far back are your wings and how easy is it splitting ? If I need to go to a 5" cylinder I will but will then need to up my pump to a 16 gpm since my 11 gpm will be to slow with a 5" cylinder.It will split some nasty oak knots with just the vertical at just above an idle and do it at about 1100 psi.So I know there is not anything wrong with my splitter.

 

[Chuck Diesel]

Increase the pressure to 2500 or 2750 psi.

 

[046]

you need a removable 4 way

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

I'm with Dan. I think a 4 inch is a bit light for a 4 way.

 

[LAH]

I'm with Dan. I think a 4 inch is a bit light for a 4 way.

+2

 

[kenny chaos]

16 h.p.
22 GPM
4" cylinder
1 1/2" ram
6-way wedge
wings with 1" set back

 

[drmiller100]

i have a 4 way on a 4 inch ram. ears are about 3 inches back from front of main beam.

i knife edged all surfaces which helps.

what also helps is western softer woods.....

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

what also helps is western softer woods.....

There it is. It all depends on what you are splitting. I don't think a 4" would work real well driving a 4-way through the oak I burn, but would probably be just fine with poplar or pine or the like.

 

[kenny chaos]

There it is. It all depends on what you are splitting. I don't think a 4" would work real well driving a 4-way through the oak I burn, but would probably be just fine with poplar or pine or the like.

On the other hand, we all make our own circumstances and I make mine so I can use a 6-way split on oak.

 

[milkie62]

It does not sound like anybodies setup is much different than mine.I would like to see a 6 way with a 4" cylinder split hardwood though.

 

[kenny chaos]

Hello Milkweed-
Here is a link to see my actual six-way wedge: http://www.freewebs.com/logsplitter/
It was my design, actually for a processor, and the guy wanted to use it as a prototype so he only charged me $200. It's kinda ugly and may not be an engineering marvel (or maybe it is) but I like it a lot. I've been told it's too thick and the angles are all wrong, etc., etc., but screw the armchair experts. It works and I'm using it.
It is removeable and I use it on poplar, maple, ash, cherry and just a little oak that I do.
My days of heavy combat are well over. At this stage of my life, speed no longer matters. I cut out of my own woods and if a tree looks like it won't make it over the processor, it lives. I try to stay between four and sixteen inches but will do up to twenty. I haven't gotten this wore out without gaining just a tiny bit of wisdom. If a piece is slightly questionable, it gets tossed (wrestled) aside for later splitting with the single wedge and if it's real snotty, it goes in the brush pile.
I've watched guys with the biggest commercial units available get over confident, or lazy, or more likely, just not so in tune with their job, and try to push something through that they then spend an hour trying to hammer back out.
Good luck to you-

 

[kevin j]

QIf a piece is slightly questionable, it gets tossed (wrestled) aside for later splitting with the single wedge and if it's real snotty, it goes in the brush pile.
I've watched guys with the biggest commercial units available get over confident, or lazy, or more likely, just not so in tune with their job, and try to push something through that they then spend an hour trying to hammer back out. Q




Second vote! For me, speed does matter, but I take the same approach: If it doesn't yield wood in a reasonable amount of precious daylight, toss it in the ditch and move on. It is not a combat of wills or egos to defeat that biggest monster round for me. There is more wood than time available and I want to keep the wedge moving. Anything the 4 inch can't handle is too big for me to physically handle, or it gets quartered.

k

 

[drmiller100]

i should have qualified.

i have knife edges on my spitter. much sharper then the pics of the 4 and 6 ways.

and my knives are staggered, so it only pushes through one set of knives at a time.

also, angle your first knife. Your knife is perpendicular to the beam. It shoudl be at a 10 degree angle to perpendicular, and start splitting at the beam.

When you beat a wedge into a round with a hammer, your wedge isn't the full diameter of the log. The wedge is only 4 inches or so, and if you are smart you start on the edge of the log, not in the middle.

 

[milkie62]

I more or less copied a Northern splitter 18 yrs ago. 8 HP Briggs motor,11 gpm pump,4x24 cylinder.Max pressure 2350 psi according to the guage when pegged.Nothing really stops it in single wedge mode ,not even a knarly piece of oak or elm.I did jam it once in a large piece of elm but kept going back and forth.It finally split.The problem was there were 2 - 3/4" guy wire supports from a power pole embedded in it that were grown over.I just thought from looking at the Northern and Timberwolf splitters that I should have had no problem with mine.I guess I will jump up to a 5" cylinder and 16gpm pump if I want to 4 way split.My 4 way is very similar to the web plan ones.I wish I had straight grained wood !!!!!

 

[drmiller100]

like we said, stagger the ears back about 4 inches so it splits the main split first, then hits the ears second.

if you do this, you will have the same power you have now with the 4 way.