"Woodpecker" splitter?

[HurleyMan]

It cost me just almost $1300 including shipping to NY. I thought it was a gamble I was willing to take at that price. I lost in that gamble. The issue with the beam is so bad that I am going to have to basically redesign and rebuilt it properly. When I am done I will probably have what I wanted in the first place but I didn't want a headache. If I could go back in time I would have bought a Timberwolf P1 with the lift option like I originally wanted. It is twice the cost but probably well worth it.

 

[blades]

Hf Splitter mod, You could try to reinforce the beam by adding 1/4" to 1/2" plates from the lower flange to just inside the area required for the wedge shoe assembly. Secondly, unless they changed it, the spacers could be welded to the wedge shoe so they stop readjusting themselves. This is caused by the the cup the ram fits in it gets expanded allowing the wedge to follow the grain of the wood instead of the beam. If you look closely at the ram connection you will see that the fitting is flared.

 

[HurleyMan]

Thanx Blades. I'll be looking at that this fall when I take the splitter out again. I'm going it use it a few more times to study the action better before deciding how to resolve the issue. The machine has a lot of good things about it. It's a shame the beam and sled wasn't thought out better.

 

[blades]

It really is not much different than a dozen or so others out there, a better steel or heavier cross section for the beam would help. The real culprits are 2 fold, the wedge shoe design, and splittng rounds with twisty grain taller than the foot plate.

 

[blades]

here is a picture of my HF redone

 

[HurleyMan]

The picture says a lot. I like your approach. I could do something similar to that. I just have to figure some details out. If I boxed mine like that I'd have to do something different with the log lift but that can be figured out. Thanx again Blades.

 

[ptabaka]

splitter

hurleyman your so right .timberwolf makes a asome splitter i had 3 ,pi hv2 now tw6 buy the best dont look back good luck

 

[fishercat]

maybe,just maybe.......................

they should change their name to the Peckerwood Splitter.

 

[blades]

The beam is made from 2, 6 ft long 4x6x schedule 80 steel tubes with a 3/8" plate on top. Tubes are welded all the way around top plate welded to them and plug welded vertically in the hi stress areas.Beam assembly with out anything mounted to it weighs about 300#. The beam is about 6" longer than the original.Twisted Elm is its preferred snack. The extra tank is to alleviate air entrainment in the oil, another little over sight on the HF splitter as the return line and fill/breather ports are at the same level. I do not believe there is a turn down on the return line in side the tank. Runs much cooler now. Used to be if I filled the main tank to the bottom of the fill port , after about 20 min. or so it would start to foam and spit hydro out. I have thought about a lift, though most of what I have seen tend to eliminate working from one side of the unit. A little jib crane unit would be nice for some of the huge rounds. There is a table on it now also, saves a lot of bending over to retrieve splits that need to be re-split and a crank down support on the splitting side as I moved the beam out some to give a little more work room.

 

[HurleyMan]

Really a lot of good info Blades. It seems you've put a lot of thought into it. The log lift is one of the things I actually like on my splitter. I don't find it to be in a bad spot. Most of the time it is in the down position and I just stand or walk on it. I usually drop it as soon as the round is pinched. This way when part of the round falls, it won't end up under the lift. A table would be real nice and would aleviate the need to drop the lift immediately. I'm sure to add one into the plan. The hydro controls are way too close and I use to accidentally hit the lift control and that could be dangerous so I bent the rod back and installed it upside down so I now pull up on the control instead of push back and since it is not near the ram control any longer there have been no more safety issues.

 

[mellow]

Hurleyman, did you fix up your woodpecker splitter or did you just get rid of it? Still hard to find info on the net about this splitter.

Thanks!