Log splitter and a flying log - safety

[Code54]

Lol - I did not find any ammo or small explosive devices.

Split another cord of the same wood today with no popping or flying logs. I am better prepared now with my hockey helmet on. Looks pretty stupid, I'm sure, but it beats catching a log in the head again.

 

[cqaigy2]

Lol - I did not find any ammo or small explosive devices.

Split another cord of the same wood today with no popping or flying logs. I am better prepared now with my hockey helmet on. Looks pretty stupid, I'm sure, but it beats catching a log in the head again.

Send a selfie so i can see exactly how it's setup.

 

[m5040]

All my life I have "known" that you cut a tree down but split it up.

I think it is fair to say when splitting you go so fast you just fit the log in whichever way it looks to be the most stable. I don't think I could tell which way is the bottom or top as you go though the center span of the tree. I would bet it is more to do with a combination of parts on your splitter, like how fast the wedge angle increases and how sharp the wedge is, how sturdy the beam is and how springy it gets, the length of the hyd hoses (and if possible, trapped air). These parts determine the pressure needed to cut/push through the wood and how much accumulative energy is stored prior to the cut. (Energy is stored in a bending/loaded beam, air pocket, hyd hoses expanding etc and is quickly released if the wood pops apart).

 

[Code54]

As requested - the new safety setup. My new prescription safety glasses are on order so soon as they come in I will be all set.

 

[The Deerslayer]

Even better than a logger helmet....I like it!

 

[two_bit_score]

As requested - the new safety setup. My new prescription safety glasses are on order so soon as they come in I will be all set.

You should check into getting those made with your brand on them and marketing them on-line as a specialty safety gear item. Might make fortune when some big company buys you out. Just have a good lawyer.

 

[ning]

Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts and prayers. As for my father's age, he was 90, so he had a great long life and was a Korean War vet.

I took a break from everything else and walked over to the shop to snap a photo of the beam and wedge, as requested. Perhaps the flat end may need some more aggressive rough edges to help keep the wood from slipping.

Taking another look at the end of the splitter, I see that the beam design is effectively dished mostly to provide a channel for the wedge to ride in but also to cradle the log.

This dishing may contribute to an ejected log's upwards motion.

In my crappily marked-up picture, the purple arrows point to the dishing, the red is an exaggerated cross-section with a (green) log in it, and if the log moved sideways (blue arrow) it will encounter the dishing and be ejected upwards and outwards.

 

[dodge man]

I see what you mean, that little lip could make it pop upwards. The one time I did have a split fly a little bit it was straight sideways.

 

[cqaigy2]

I wonder why most splitters seem to have the wedge as the moving part? On my inexpensive HF one, the wedge is stationary.

 

[turnkey4099]

I wonder why most splitters seem to have the wedge as the moving part? On my inexpensive HF one, the wedge is stationary.

Wedge on ram allows vertical operation.

 

[ernemats]

On my splitter the ram pushes the log into the wedge and I don't think there is much danger of it producing a flying log. Sometimes the wedge will push the log upward over the wedge if it was cut at an angle . Sorry to hear about your father passing. My father died 39 years ago on Dec. 11, sure miss him.

 

[Code54]

Thank you, ernemats.

 

[masscity]

Some years ago piece of a block (3/4" wide 6" long) hit me in the chest at some speed that didn't hurt, but if it would have hit me in the face it probably would have.

I always wear eye and hearing protection. One time weed wacking a small rock hit me in the teeth, no damage. Again eye and hearing protection.

 

[kluttzy]

We used to split some oak and elm that rediculously hard... had to freeze it before splitting for the easiest results.

Haven't thought about freezing wood for splitting for years. Once I pulled a few green sweet gum trees to the wood pile. They had fallen into a field. Sawed them into firewood length and splitting with a maul was extremely difficult, as I knew it would be. We had three days below freezing with nights in single digits. The wood split easily. I even carried one piece into the house to thaw for verification. When I took it outside a few days later, the maul just laughed at me. The weather doesn't usually stay that cold where I live, but I will testify that you are right. Thanks for the memory.

We used to split some oak and elm that rediculously hard... had to freeze it before splitting for the easiest results.

 

[JeepHead]

So this very thing happened to me this weekend. Was splitting some white oak and it popped and the split went flying away from me with such force that had it hit me in the face, very bad things would've happened. I have split probably 200 cord with this splitter over the last 3 years and it's the first time it's ever happened. I was googling what sort of helmet could be used in this situation because I can't see a forestry helmet with the flimsy face shield protecting my face. That's how I found this post. Anyways, anyone got leads on a forestry helmet that has a more stout face shield?

 

[dodge man]

I just wear my forestry helmet. I agree the face shield isn’t that sturdy but I’m sure it would help. Maybe one of those hard plastic shields like what I use when grinding woukd be better.

 

[DarkBlack]

I’ve had quite a few, violently pop apart and go flying some feet away, but it’s been on dry wood, not green, so not common, and I run the splitter vertical, so the pieces jump sideways, avoiding me.

 

[JeepHead]

I just wear my forestry helmet. I agree the face shield isn’t that sturdy but I’m sure it would help. Maybe one of those hard plastic shields like what I use when grinding woukd be better.

That's what I am thinking, a plastic shield may be the better option instead of the mesh.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

I could see how this could happen in a worst case scenario. I have been splitting wood and that wedge slows down and pushes through a round and you can just feel the pressure it is under. Makes me cower and little when that happens.

 

[m5040]

Get a face shield like they use for paint ball war game competition.