Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[WinterDeere]

Small splitters have pumps rated at 2 to 3-gpm. Splitters with larger rams, typically have 11-gpm. Big splitters have 16 to 20-gpm. If your tractor is a 23 to 25-hp CUT, you probably have 3 to 5-gpm. A 35-horse tractor will be around 11 to 15-gpm.

I've personally never seen any log splitter under 11 gpm, that's pretty much bottom-of-the-barrel 12 seconds on a 4" cylinder level DIY'er stuff. More common around here is 16 - 23 gpm.

I can't understand any advantage in running a log splitter off tractor hydraulics. It's a slower and less convenient way to accomplish what can be done with a 10 hp Honda, Subaru, or Intek engine, ubiquitously available for a few hundred dollars. Better keeping the tractor free of the thing, for moving logs, rounds, or splits around, and putting all those hours of idling away on a much cheaper engine.

That said, if I were going to run a splitter off my tractor, it'd be closed-loop with a PTO pump. Way faster, as most CUT's can deliver much more HP thru the PTO than thru auxiliary hydraulics. Also keeps the systems segregated and clean.

 

[Rockbadchild]

 

[WinterDeere]

Definitely slower than a hydraulic splitter set horizontally, given you then have to set the tool aside and bend over and pick up the pieces. But that hammer drill might actually be a good way to deal with anything too large to move onto a splitter. I used to end up noodling a lot of the 1000+ lb. rounds into slabs, which wasted time and gas.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

There's a 100yo Sears catalog at my homeplace which has lots of attachments for a model T Ford. One is similar to this:

 

[Rockbadchild]

There's a 100yo Sears catalog at my homeplace which has lots of attachments for a model T Ford. One is similar to this:

I have one of these, it works but it's not the safest to use, it create lots of splinters and it's not the easiest to use either.

 

[Jstpssng]

There's a 100yo Sears catalog at my homeplace which has lots of attachments for a model T Ford. One is similar to this:

My father bought something similar called a unicorn, to go on the 3pth.

(https://offerup.com/item/detail/10905f73-4c33-39c8-a4a4-63c7d35c9193)


The first time he used it was to split a big chunk of yellow birch ... which quickly got stuck and twisted that steel frame up like a pretzel. The last time that I saw it, he was headed down the road toward the barn, with the stick of firewood still attached.

 

[arrow]

how old you think these are ? have you ever count it's rings ?

I used to remember how to do this.
Certain trees have certain growth factors.
If l recall correctly, it was around 5 for oaks.
So if you multiply the diameter by the growth factor, then multiply that number again by the growth factor, you can figure up the age of the tree.
This only works to a point as a tree knows when to stop growing if it wants to stay rooted.
So in this case, that 6’ oak that Winter mentioned would be 150 yrs old.
But as stated, this tree was pictured as quite large a hundred fifty years ago.
So this white oak could have been closer to 250 yrs old or more.

 

[Rockbadchild]

My father bought something similar called a unicorn, to go on the 3pth.

View attachment 2664326


(https://offerup.com/item/detail/10905f73-4c33-39c8-a4a4-63c7d35c9193)


The first time he used it was to split a big chunk of yellow birch ... which quickly got stuck and twisted that steel frame up like a pretzel. The last time that I saw it, he was headed down the road toward the barn, with the stick of firewood still attached.

that is exactly it

 

[Jstpssng]

I used to remember how to do this.
Certain trees have certain growth factors.
If l recall correctly, it was around 5 for oaks.
So if you multiply the diameter by the growth factor, then multiply that number again by the growth factor, you can figure up the age of the tree.
This only works to a point as a tree knows when to stop growing if it wants to stay rooted.
So in this case, that 6’ oak that Winter mentioned would be 150 yrs old.
But as stated, this tree was pictured as quite large a hundred fifty years ago.
So this white oak could have been closer to 250 yrs old or more.

Not true at all. The only accurate way is to count the rings. There are a lot of factors involved in how fast a tree grows. Species certainly is one, but site, available water, completion from other trees are even more important. You can have two trees of the same species and age side by side; but if one of them gets adequate sunshine and the other is in the shade of another tree there can be a tremendous difference in height and diameter.

Come to think of it there is an exception to every rule. If your grandfather planted the tree on his 21st birthday...

 

[ning]

My father bought something similar called a unicorn, to go on the 3pth.

View attachment 2664326


(https://offerup.com/item/detail/10905f73-4c33-39c8-a4a4-63c7d35c9193)


The first time he used it was to split a big chunk of yellow birch ... which quickly got stuck and twisted that steel frame up like a pretzel. The last time that I saw it, he was headed down the road toward the barn, with the stick of firewood still attached.

I think I've seen a splitting screw like this on a 3pt post hole digger, with a similar screw in place of an auger bit. You'd need something else to keep the wood from spinning though.

I've seen videos where screws are used to split a log, starting not at the end but somewhere in the middle. Like, split first, then chainsaw it to lengths.