sleprac
ArboristSite Member
Might not be the fastest, but seriously, though: this thing's huge.
View attachment 263456View attachment 263457
My neighborhood WoodGuru brought his home-made log splitter by today to help show me just how it's done. This thing splits like a maniac! For reference, the I beam is 1.5 inch steel, and 15" x 15" in cross section. The pusher-plate is also 1.5", and it's driven by a 7" piston with a 40" stroke. It runs on a diesel motor, and sports and electric chain winch with overhead boom and grappling tongs.
I wish I took more pictures, but I didn't want to seem ungrateful, walking off with a camera while my 74-year-old neighbor keeps on working. In these shots he was screwing around too though, so I thought I could get away with it!
He says to me: "Grab that log next."
It was one I'd already set aside, since it was about a foot longer than my firebox. "It's too big for my stove, Joe. I gotta cut it."
"Don't worry about it." he replied.
I shrugged. I kind of wanted to see a 3-footer get split, even though it would be a pain to cut the splits down later. I could always build a bucking-crib... So I drug the log over and we quartered it.
As I'm casting around for somewhere to put these enlongated splits, Joe just plops them on the beam cross-wise and cycles the piston, shearing through all but the last inch of wood. One nice big round following finished the cuts on its way to the four-way wedge.
"Will that fit in your stove?" he asks, holding up one of the sheared splits.
We probably went through a cord of assorted hardwood uglies in a little over an hour. The cycle time on this baby is very slow, but with a 18" tall four-way wedge and seemingly-unstoppable piston it just keeps spitting out wood, especially if you stack smaller chunks vertically in front of the wedge, or shorter rounds end to end.
I gotta build me one of these!
View attachment 263456View attachment 263457
My neighborhood WoodGuru brought his home-made log splitter by today to help show me just how it's done. This thing splits like a maniac! For reference, the I beam is 1.5 inch steel, and 15" x 15" in cross section. The pusher-plate is also 1.5", and it's driven by a 7" piston with a 40" stroke. It runs on a diesel motor, and sports and electric chain winch with overhead boom and grappling tongs.
I wish I took more pictures, but I didn't want to seem ungrateful, walking off with a camera while my 74-year-old neighbor keeps on working. In these shots he was screwing around too though, so I thought I could get away with it!
He says to me: "Grab that log next."
It was one I'd already set aside, since it was about a foot longer than my firebox. "It's too big for my stove, Joe. I gotta cut it."
"Don't worry about it." he replied.
I shrugged. I kind of wanted to see a 3-footer get split, even though it would be a pain to cut the splits down later. I could always build a bucking-crib... So I drug the log over and we quartered it.
As I'm casting around for somewhere to put these enlongated splits, Joe just plops them on the beam cross-wise and cycles the piston, shearing through all but the last inch of wood. One nice big round following finished the cuts on its way to the four-way wedge.
"Will that fit in your stove?" he asks, holding up one of the sheared splits.
We probably went through a cord of assorted hardwood uglies in a little over an hour. The cycle time on this baby is very slow, but with a 18" tall four-way wedge and seemingly-unstoppable piston it just keeps spitting out wood, especially if you stack smaller chunks vertically in front of the wedge, or shorter rounds end to end.
I gotta build me one of these!
