I had one from 2005 to 2011 and in 50,000 miles Ford put four new engines in it all under warranty. That was enough for me. I was usually 500 or so miles from home when it blew up. Switch back to gas engines in 2011 for my F-350 Ford's and haven't had a issue since. Before I retired four years ago a guy I worked with in maintenance at the plant would buy the 6.0 diesel pickups with engine issues and go threw them and bullet proof them and make a good truck out of them. He would drive them for a while and then sell them for a profit. He would use a two post lift in his shop and pull the cabs off to work on them. Said it made it a ton easier to do the heads.
Log Splitter Build
- Thread starter JakefromCharlotte
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panolo
Seldom right...Always opinionated!
Splitter is looking nice!
My buddy had one guy in his shop that all he did was fix 6.0's. I don't know how many times I saw the cab pulled on one when I went to visit. The craziest part is how many delivery trucks ran that motor with no issues for lots of miles. Motor was good. Ford's application and adjustments for it were bad. Good luck!
JakefromCharlotte
ArboristSite Member
Finally fixed the F350. Needed a new FICM and a bunch of o-rings. So that means splitting time. Ran the splitter for a few hours Sunday and filled up the truck. It ran great! found a couple leaks that just needed a little tightening. The wood had been bucked a few months ago, I think it was Sweetgum based on the wavy grain.
The biggest takeaway for me was how important the log lift is. I really thought it was going to get used more as a shelf for staging the next piece to split. But man I was wrong. Logs are heavy. 18 and 24 inch diameter logs are really heavy. A lift is an absolute must in my opinion. The only dislike is that one must load the log and then walk around the machine to process it. It would be nice to do everything from one location. But this seems pretty typical for splitters.
The cheap ebay throttle I bought won't hold high idle so I put a bungee cord on it. When I started all this last year I noticed some commercial units have a auto throttle when the ram starts to move. Anyone have experience with the auto idle? Do you guys just run yours wide open?
How do you guys measure RPM's. I have Tiny-Tach's on all my motors and all of them have died. Any thing out there better?
The biggest takeaway for me was how important the log lift is. I really thought it was going to get used more as a shelf for staging the next piece to split. But man I was wrong. Logs are heavy. 18 and 24 inch diameter logs are really heavy. A lift is an absolute must in my opinion. The only dislike is that one must load the log and then walk around the machine to process it. It would be nice to do everything from one location. But this seems pretty typical for splitters.
The cheap ebay throttle I bought won't hold high idle so I put a bungee cord on it. When I started all this last year I noticed some commercial units have a auto throttle when the ram starts to move. Anyone have experience with the auto idle? Do you guys just run yours wide open?
How do you guys measure RPM's. I have Tiny-Tach's on all my motors and all of them have died. Any thing out there better?
Wood Hound
ArboristSite Operative
Yep, would like to see a video of it working..
Jake Glad to hear you got the truck back up and running. I would never be without log lift. I use mine all the time for lifting chunks and staging rounds. You do find out pretty quick with these faster, bigger splitter's you really need two people to keep the flow going. Walking around gets old. I have ran mine standing on the log lift side and splitting that way but it does't work the best. I like auto idle for seed tenders and air compressors. Never had one on a splitter don't see the need. I run mine wide open all the time splitting. As far as tach's go I still have a old school one you hold on the end of the crank.
JakefromCharlotte
ArboristSite Member
I have never been on to leave good enough alone. Sometimes I make it better, sometimes I ruin it....
The splitter is running great. We split up red oak last weekend that was 30" round. The lift didn't miss a beat.
The Tiny-Tach showed 20 hours before it broke, and I can see some areas to improve on.
1. Add some grease zests to the pusher.
2. Make a tool storage box for the chainsaw and extra gas.
3. Make the out feed table wider and longer.
4. Weld extensions onto the 4 way wedge for increased capacity
5. Make a box wedge with a pullback arm.
The box wedge is the big driver for the upgrades. All my wood is heading for fire pits and the general consensus is that 3.5" square or smaller is a good size. The amount of re-splitting to get that size means running wood through a few times. I have been watching Eanstonmade videos agin for ideas. I like his arm design for sure.
Below is a rough drawing of the geometry I have worked out. I plan to make it v-shaped to keep the log centered.
My question is about how the log engages the blades. Is it all at once or staggered like I played this out. The wood will get split and reach the widest part of the blade before getting split by the next set of blades. The downside of my design the rear of the outer splits will not get split by 2 inches. Of course the next log will push those though. Do most box wedges have all the blades even and split the log at the same time? My big thought is to reduces pressure and keep the splits from binding too much so I angled the blades as well.
Center blade = "1 - 40 degree
Outer Blade = 5/8" - 30 degree
The splitter is running great. We split up red oak last weekend that was 30" round. The lift didn't miss a beat.
The Tiny-Tach showed 20 hours before it broke, and I can see some areas to improve on.
1. Add some grease zests to the pusher.
2. Make a tool storage box for the chainsaw and extra gas.
3. Make the out feed table wider and longer.
4. Weld extensions onto the 4 way wedge for increased capacity
5. Make a box wedge with a pullback arm.
The box wedge is the big driver for the upgrades. All my wood is heading for fire pits and the general consensus is that 3.5" square or smaller is a good size. The amount of re-splitting to get that size means running wood through a few times. I have been watching Eanstonmade videos agin for ideas. I like his arm design for sure.
Below is a rough drawing of the geometry I have worked out. I plan to make it v-shaped to keep the log centered.
My question is about how the log engages the blades. Is it all at once or staggered like I played this out. The wood will get split and reach the widest part of the blade before getting split by the next set of blades. The downside of my design the rear of the outer splits will not get split by 2 inches. Of course the next log will push those though. Do most box wedges have all the blades even and split the log at the same time? My big thought is to reduces pressure and keep the splits from binding too much so I angled the blades as well.
Center blade = "1 - 40 degree
Outer Blade = 5/8" - 30 degree
The biggest problem with the multi wedge design that you show is that the log length will be down to about 12 inches long.
Each step-back is taking up length,, plus the original couple inches that are needed for log cutting tolerance.
That short cylinder may be coming back to bite you,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
One way around that is to position the wedge back, so that there is ~24 inches between the pusher and the wedge.
Push as far as possible, the next log will complete the push.
One thing I have seen on YouTube videos is to make the wedges VERY thin,, like 1/4" thick.
If there is another plate on top, that will be a horizontal wedge,, the thin vertical wedges can be supported top and bottom.
The thinner the wedge, the less setback each wedge will require.
Rotate each wedge more than calculated,, you want LOTS of clearance for the wood as it passes through the wedges.
There is no reason not to exaggerate the rotation,, the wood will simply be coming out at a different angle.
One problem that I see on any multi wedge like this
is that the wood comes out looking like it has been through a meat grinder,,
That is not something that you want for wood that will be handled at a backyard barbeque.
Ragged wood is OK if you are tossing it in an outside woodburner,,
NOT a beautiful backyard, where you are gonna ask the wife or daughter to toss on another log.
But, all of that simultaneous splitting will SKYROCKET you tonnage demand, also,,,,,,,,
One thing you could do to reduce the tonnage, is to split off the horizontal part first,
leaving the full tonnage to be applied to the thin part left under the wedge.
That is what I did on mine,, it splits horizontally,, then the remainder is split vertically.
I can adjust the wedge up or down, depending on the toughness of the wood.
My splitter has almost zero tonnage compared to yours,,
but, the horizontal wedge makes up for the lower tonnage.
Each step-back is taking up length,, plus the original couple inches that are needed for log cutting tolerance.
That short cylinder may be coming back to bite you,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
One way around that is to position the wedge back, so that there is ~24 inches between the pusher and the wedge.
Push as far as possible, the next log will complete the push.
One thing I have seen on YouTube videos is to make the wedges VERY thin,, like 1/4" thick.
If there is another plate on top, that will be a horizontal wedge,, the thin vertical wedges can be supported top and bottom.
The thinner the wedge, the less setback each wedge will require.
Rotate each wedge more than calculated,, you want LOTS of clearance for the wood as it passes through the wedges.
There is no reason not to exaggerate the rotation,, the wood will simply be coming out at a different angle.
One problem that I see on any multi wedge like this
is that the wood comes out looking like it has been through a meat grinder,,
That is not something that you want for wood that will be handled at a backyard barbeque.
Ragged wood is OK if you are tossing it in an outside woodburner,,
NOT a beautiful backyard, where you are gonna ask the wife or daughter to toss on another log.
But, all of that simultaneous splitting will SKYROCKET you tonnage demand, also,,,,,,,,
One thing you could do to reduce the tonnage, is to split off the horizontal part first,
leaving the full tonnage to be applied to the thin part left under the wedge.
That is what I did on mine,, it splits horizontally,, then the remainder is split vertically.
I can adjust the wedge up or down, depending on the toughness of the wood.
My splitter has almost zero tonnage compared to yours,,
but, the horizontal wedge makes up for the lower tonnage.
I haven't looked much lately but I've seen box wedges in-line and staggered as you propose. The wood needs a place to go and staggering seems like the logical solution, it just comes down to how to minimize it. I made a 4-way box wedge for my supersplit where minimizing full length push thru force is super important. It works well and it's been a fun learning experience. The wood doesn't always want to split where the wedge is, so you end up extra split "shavings" like you do on any multi-wedge setup. What I find interesting is that on my box wedge these "shavings" are actually rather large and very useable unlike the waste shaving I get from a typical 4 way wedge. They are ideal kindling size and perfect for my pizza oven.
The wood doesn't look like it's gone thru a meat grinder and on tougher wood it gets sheared and looks like it went thru a saw mill.
The wood doesn't look like it's gone thru a meat grinder and on tougher wood it gets sheared and looks like it went thru a saw mill.
JakefromCharlotte
ArboristSite Member
I'm not understanding the geometry about losing length? Right now I buck at 18" and that is what I modeled. The offset at the rear is because of the Fusion 360 motion link. In real life the pusher face of the log will be flush. I like you idea about having the top plate engage first to keep the pressure down.
I will work on the blade angle as well. The more angle I added, the more square to the face of the log the wedge became. Do you think 1/2" mild steel wedges for the 4 outer wedges will be thick enough? All I have is mild steel.
Just like you, small pieces are really not a problem for me. Frankly, scouring the yard for fallen branches is the worst part of getting a fire pit going.
Jale take a look at the box wedge on the Tempest brand of splitter. Then seem to have it figured out.
I really like how Eastonmade doesn't constrain the logs in the vertical direction. The individual splits can go down.
I made this one last year one the front of a Teleporter forklift. I use a remote control from a winch to operate the electro hydraulics. This keeps me safely away from the splitter. The main wedge is adjustable in height but set at 4 inches here.
The logs are 16 inch but can go up to 24 inch and any length I want in between 1" and 24". The two secondary knives are set back and very slightly angled so they meet the pieces from the first split head on. After they split again I am left with four pieces approx 4x4x16 inches. They then fall onto spring tines to remove most of the bits and pieces before falling into a one ton capacity old potato box with slatted side for ventilation and easy stacking. These are stored in an open fronted shed for a year or so to season . When I need some wood it is easy to bring them up to my back door where I cover them with a tarp. I do hate double handling firewood, especially having to pick it up off the ground!
I also made the wedge arrow shaped to give maximum pressure on difficult Elm logs
The logs are 16 inch but can go up to 24 inch and any length I want in between 1" and 24". The two secondary knives are set back and very slightly angled so they meet the pieces from the first split head on. After they split again I am left with four pieces approx 4x4x16 inches. They then fall onto spring tines to remove most of the bits and pieces before falling into a one ton capacity old potato box with slatted side for ventilation and easy stacking. These are stored in an open fronted shed for a year or so to season . When I need some wood it is easy to bring them up to my back door where I cover them with a tarp. I do hate double handling firewood, especially having to pick it up off the ground!
I also made the wedge arrow shaped to give maximum pressure on difficult Elm logs
My first attempts at log lift needed to be steadied a bit due to the power of the Forklift hydraulics. I used and old truck manual hydraulic crane
This resulted in the steadier more sensible version!
This resulted in the steadier more sensible version!
JakefromCharlotte
ArboristSite Member
Worked on the box wedge yesterday. I am shooting for 3.5" squares.
One big challenge I am trying to solve is the log getting stuck at an angle on the return stroke. My plan is the have the puller plate ride down the horizontal wedge and clear the blade by a little.
I had a 8" scrap left over so I added it to the 4 way.
One big challenge I am trying to solve is the log getting stuck at an angle on the return stroke. My plan is the have the puller plate ride down the horizontal wedge and clear the blade by a little.
I had a 8" scrap left over so I added it to the 4 way.
Wood Hound
ArboristSite Operative
Video, would help..
JakefromCharlotte
ArboristSite Member
I know.... It's hard to hold a camera and work the machine at the same time.
Jake It will interesting to see if the wedge will hold together with having the bottom open and not welded to a lower piece. I sure would watch it . I can see it twisting your whole wedge a bunch.
JakefromCharlotte
ArboristSite Member
Just got back from a test run with a 36" red oak round before paint. Boy you can feel the friction. Looks like I need to put some relief on the main beam and cut some angle into the wedge back plate.
JakefromCharlotte
ArboristSite Member
Well, I have mixed feelings about the box wedge. It is definitely faster because you don't have to keep re-splitting the wood, but I'm not happy with the size. I can control that by raising or lowering the wedge, but I'm really considering cutting off the blades and putting them closer together.
Grinding the back plate helped, not sure grinding the beam helped with the box wedge.
Another test with a 28" oak round. I made a holder for the 4-way wedge on the rear.
First split:
Second Split:
Paint it all up. I am on a mission to use all of my old spray paint.
Grinding the back plate helped, not sure grinding the beam helped with the box wedge.
Another test with a 28" oak round. I made a holder for the 4-way wedge on the rear.
First split:
Second Split:
Paint it all up. I am on a mission to use all of my old spray paint.
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