any cautions when mounting the wedge on the cylinder?

[Kenneth F]

Wanting to mount my wedge to the cylinder so I can tilt it up I've seen where some guys have had problems with push plate trying lift off with it mounted to the cylinder

Thats my beam and wedge its 6" wide with a 1" lip on each side the wedge is 8" tall 6" long 1" thick

 

[greendohn]

My splitter has the wedge mounted to the cylinder. The "guide shoes" on the bottom-side of the wedge are welded , wrapping under the beam. looks like 3/4"x3/4" welded to bottom edge with 1/2" plate welded to bottom edge of that, wrapping under beam.(hope that makes sense)

This can be a problem/ has been in the past.

Over the years, wear and tear has allowed every thing to loosen up and wood debris get caught/jammed/packed under the wedge, binding things up to the point that the cylinder is under load in both directions.

I have seen other cylinder mounted wedges with the "guide shoes" on the bottom of the wedge bolted together, wrapping under the beam allowing for adjustment and avoiding the short comings in my splitter.

I also installed a "soft" bolt to act as a sheer pin where the cylinder mounts to the wedge. The original bolt was "hardened" and was tearing up the collar on the back of the wedge( when it was jammed-up with wood chips), where the cylinder mounted to the wedge.

 

[Kenneth F]

Thanks I think I understand what you're saying I plan to bolt mine together

How wide does the spreader need to be I'll be leaving 3" of the wedge out front to start the split is 4" to much width at the back

Kenneth

 

[blades]

Ken it depends a bit on what you will be splitting the most of . Stringy stuff like elm, some hickory you are better off with a long narrow wedge and the a small spreader behind it. If you make the front side to short and a wide spreader in behind pieces will sometimes tend to explode off the unit. I run an 8" long wedge with a about 2.5" spreader behind it ( piece of 1/4" wall 2" sq. tube set at 45' to the wedge) been working fine on everything. It also lets me shear right through knots and twisted stuff. Note that my wedge is on the end of the beam , foot plate on cylinder. ( used to be v/h but I all most never used the vertical)

 

[Dan_IN_MN]

Ken it depends a bit on what you will be splitting the most of . Stringy stuff like elm, some hickory you are better off with a long narrow wedge and the a small spreader behind it. If you make the front side to short and a wide spreader in behind pieces will sometimes tend to explode off the unit. I run an 8" long wedge with a about 2.5" spreader behind it ( piece of 1/4" wall 2" sq. tube set at 45' to the wedge) been working fine on everything. It also lets me shear right through knots and twisted stuff. Note that my wedge is on the end of the beam , foot plate on cylinder. ( used to be v/h but I all most never used the vertical)

OP You may want to consider a log lift over a convertible (v/h) splitter. Working on your knees does get tiring especially when it's wet and sloppy out. It's also nice to have the wood pushed away from the splitter.

Oh, for what it's worth, gave you a little "Build your own" REP

 

[Fred Wright]

The main drawback I can see with moving vs. fixed wedge ~ if the wedge gets stuck in a knarly round, you're effectively beating on the cylinder to get it dislodged.

 

[Swamp Yankee]

The main drawback I can see with moving vs. fixed wedge ~ if the wedge gets stuck in a knarly round, you're effectively beating on the cylinder to get it dislodged.

Time for a little "Yankee" Ingenuity

Keep an 8 foot piece of chain with a grab hook on one end with the splitter, When the piece is stuck solid on the wedge, wrap the chain around it and the toe plate and use the hydraulics to simply back the wedge out. The return stroke, though not as powerful as the forward is more than adequate to back out the wedge.

This technique works equally well with a fixed wedge, just wrap the chain around the stuck split and the push block and let the hydraulics pull the piece off. Most times with a fixed wedge you can just use the next piece to push the stuck one through, but there are those real bad boys that make you say, "I knew I shouldn't have done that".

Of course it goes without saying, make sure the chain is wrapped such that it doesn't stop the moving piece, push block or wedge, from retracting.

Take Care

 

[Kenneth F]

Thanks for the help

what size bolts and how far apart on the plate for the slide

Kenneth

 

[blades]

I have 1/2" on mine about every 2.5". so ther are 4 per side. They are the weak link. Every so often I snap a head off. Not harden ones just standard. If I had more room I would go larger, mine are inserted horz. in the the base of the push plate rather than a bolt through style. My guides ( keepers) are 1/2" thick angle iron ( homemade). The rails they ride on are heavy 1" angle iron, when either section wears down they are easy to replace.

 

[Tim in NY]

Dad made a splitter about 30 years ago. He welded the wedge slightly tilted toward the ram. Should have tilted it more - on tough pieces it gets too big a bite of the block and won't split well - I have to lift up the end of a fair amount of the blocks I split, so I can get a smaller bite. But, on the other hand I've been using it since 1980!

Tim