Help with Homemade cone type log splitter, please...

[feader72]

stickler

well to all those who have already overanalyzed the situation and denounced the stickler, unless you try it, you really cant input anything intellectual into it. It works and from personal experience, you can regulate the speed how you see fit, you can even limit the rpms by using just low range drive (you know, "D" "3" "2" "1") and if you put it on an older 4 wheel drive which allows you to have "2 low" then you are talking plenty enough power and usage to find what range works best for you.

Jacking up a car is no more dangerous than using a chain saw, do it right and it will be fine. I speak from actual experience and before I start using my stickler, i park my plow truck and make sure its jacked up and supported safely because I leave the truck there until all the splitting is done. there is always going to be people who think their way is better, but stupid people can make any device dangerous, even a butter knife. Please dont over analyze it, until you have actually worked it, you know the old adage "he said it was an ant hill, but by the time it reached the mouths of the neighbors it was mount everest" talk is cheap, practical experience is gold.

 

[deutzman]

well to all those who have already overanalyzed the situation and denounced the stickler, unless you try it, you really cant input anything intellectual into it. It works and from personal experience, you can regulate the speed how you see fit, you can even limit the rpms by using just low range drive (you know, "D" "3" "2" "1") and if you put it on an older 4 wheel drive which allows you to have "2 low" then you are talking plenty enough power and usage to find what range works best for you.

Jacking up a car is no more dangerous than using a chain saw, do it right and it will be fine. I speak from actual experience and before I start using my stickler, i park my plow truck and make sure its jacked up and supported safely because I leave the truck there until all the splitting is done. there is always going to be people who think their way is better, but stupid people can make any device dangerous, even a butter knife. Please dont over analyze it, until you have actually worked it, you know the old adage "he said it was an ant hill, but by the time it reached the mouths of the neighbors it was mount everest" talk is cheap, practical experience is gold.

I agree. I used a unicorn so long I wore it out. Couldn't find parts and sold the thing. That was back in the late 70's. Built a hydraulic splitter for the tractor and it was OK but never could turn out the wood like the unicorn did. The unicorn was just faster. BTW no one ever got hurt on the unicorn I had. Ran it on a MF 135 and split some wood that it took 2 men to roll it up to the cone.

I'm a lot older now and can't lift and roll those large pieces of wood like I use to do. I bought an Atom splitter for my post hole digger about a month ago and use a Tractor Supply 3 point splitter without the 3 point hitch mounted upside down and hanging out the right side of my front end loader. I split all my wood from the seat of my tractor. I split for a OWB so the pieces are larger than for a regular wood stove. This set up I use now allows me to turn out wood pretty fast. I use the Atom to half and then quarter cuts up to 12' (haven't tried any that was longer) and then pick this pieces up with the hydraulic splitter on the front and hold them over the wood pile and cut them up. I have some cuts (left over from timber harvest) that I use the hydraulic splitter on and don't use the Atom splitter on because they are short. I haven't found anything I can't split one way or the other. All the wood I use right now is left over from timber harvest and about 60% of it most folks wouldn't attempt to try and splt. It was all old growth oak last cut in 1936. I do like the cone splitters and they have their place just like a hydraulic splitter does.

 

[avalancher]

avalancher, one word answer, have you ever used one?
I have a 3 pth one and played with it a couple times, I felt safe enough. Much safer than cutting a tree down anyway. I have 4 splitters so haven't used the unicorn much. Plan is to mount it on a post hole digger and break big stuff into small enough stuff for the other splitters.

In one word answer format, Yes.


To further the explanation, yes I have used and owned one, and I found it to be a dangerous piece of equipment. It worked fine on species of wood that had little to no knots or twists. But the second you dropped a knotted piece of hickory,pecan, or white oak you were taking your chances on what would happen when you shoved the round into the screw.

We jacked up a one ton Chevy truck and bolted it on with the idea that as the rounds were split we would remount the wheel and load up the truck and carry it on to a customer that had ordered a three cords of white oak, cut,split, and stacked green. Because of the area where we were harvesting the oak, there was no place to turn around, and we had to back into the area for almost 200 yards, thereby nixing the idea of towing the 27 ton hydralic splitter behind the truck as we had thought. Then I remembered the unicorn splitter I had bought at a farm auction a few years back. Seemed like a plan.

Parked the truck, knocked down a tree that was in our way, jacked up the truck and shoved the log under the axle. I then layed down a piece of 3/4 inch plywood under the unicorn to use as a splitting platform and to keep the mud to a minimum in our area.

Like I said before, it worked great for straight pieces, but the second the unicorn got fed a piece with a lot of knots, the truck would leap off the log and try and make a run for it using the round as a wheel. We even went as far as run a chain over the axle and around the log underneath, and finally resorted to chaining the rear of the truck to a nearby 8 inch in diameter sappling to stop the truck from taking off.

We got the job done, but that evening I had to resort to hair dye in order to look presentable and its a chore that I have no desire to repeat. I sold that thing a short time later and resolved never to run one again. Sure, they are fast, but so is dynamite. I am going to have to be content with a 35 ton Speeco splitter pushing a 4 way wedge from now on, and if that aint fast enough for ya I aint working with you.

Everyone has a different experience with these things, and I dare say the majority of the difference is in what species you are splitting. But for what we cut around here, it just aint worth the grey hair to run a unicorn. I got better things to do than look for missing fingers.

 

[conehead]

I recently found an old cone that bolted to the passenger side of a mazda pick-up. Jack up the passenger side of the truck, put the cone on the lugs. Put it in gear, set the throttle & split away. I used it a little & the log would dig a trench in the ground & then rotate thus scaring me & risking damage to the wheel well.
Fast forward ten years.......I needed a low budget splitter, the truck was a heap of rust. I took the rear-end, driveshaft , tranny & clutch plate out, srcapped the rest & welded up a frame for my 2n ford 3 point. Mounted the trans, shortened the drive shaft & coupled the rearend to it. The input on the trans was done by cutting the bushing off the clutchplate & welding a pto adapter on. I had to weld the drivers side axle to stop the rotation by putting a wheel rim on & welding it to the frame. The helix of the cone only scewed that way.......check the rotation with your motor.....The 16 hp at the pto shaft of my 1946 2N Ford tractor with the tranny in overdrive would pull the tractors motor down & kill it at times. Oak splits good though the big elm would realy test it. So I would us a lower gear. I found that the axle had to float to allow the cone to follow inconsistant wood grain or it would bind & kill the tractor. The solution was to weld a u bolt from a leaf spring pack to limit the travel on the cone side. Then I had to control the wood by providing a shelf plate for the wood to slide on. Sometimes the wood would kick out & rotate so I had to weld a pipe on the side of the shelf to catch it & continue to split it. The tranny is really handy to reverse the screw to free up the stringy elm. Otherwise binding & creating a big issue.
I only have a little money in it & my time. It is finally at a point where I can operate it safely for an extended time.
I hope you are able get something going on your adventure. It will be rewarding when its' done.

 

[steved]

I actually still have one of these...dad used it on a Jeep CJ-5 back in the day. They are not for the faint of heart, there is no doubt they can be dangerous. The things I remember was that a big piece would cause the Jeep to rock on the stand if it caught the ground just right. Basically, once you stab the chunk, its almost completely hands off until its through splitting. And the pieces almost look hairy for the lack of a better term...the way it pries (almost tears) the chunk apart from the side instead of wedging it apart from the end causes the splits to end up with lots of fibers.

I always thought hard mounting the cone, to prevent any chance of the support twisting; and having a bar to prevent the chunk from spinning would make it a formidable splitter. Like maybe mounted on a 3pt hitch...or other large frame.