4 way splitter wedge

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I've ownwed a horizontal splitter for 11 years now. Before that all splitting was done by hand. Unfortunately, a 4 way wedge to fit my splitter cost over $200. It has a handle on top to remove it when splitting smaller pieces. I split wood between 8"-20" and my question is are these wedges helpful or are they more of a pia to deal with having to remove them on and off?

 

[escavader]

I've ownwed a horizontal splitter for 11 years now. Before that all splitting was done by hand. Unfortunately, a 4 way wedge to fit my splitter cost over $200. It has a handle on top to remove it when splitting smaller pieces. I split wood between 8"-20" and my question is are these wedges helpful or are they more of a pia to deal with having to remove them on and off?

Idont own one ,but my wood is always all different size,and i dont think id like it.If you had it say 6 inches up the wedge,and you split an 8 inch stick ,you have two peices of slab. off the top.Ihave a taller pusher on my splitter,so the ones i want to quarter,i split once,pull both peices back togeather ,rotate them and split again,ends up in 4 peices in two steps ,rather than 3
ALAN

 

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Idont own one ,but my wood is always all different size,and i dont think id like it.If you had it say 6 inches up the wedge,and you split an 8 inch stick ,you have two peices of slab. off the top.Ihave a taller pusher on my splitter,so the ones i want to quarter,i split once,pull both peices back togeather ,rotate them and split again,ends up in 4 peices in two steps ,rather than 3
ALAN

Yeah that's how I do it as well. I thnk you are correct about the 6" 4 way. For my application I would consider the 4" wedges. An eight to ten inch diameter log would only need to be run thru once. if these things were $80 like at Northern , I'd take the chance but theirs does not fit my splitter as its opening is too narrow to go over the splitter wedge. All the others I've seen are 200 bucks or more.

 

[rdbrumfield]

In stead of having the 4 way, I welded a piece on top to make a T. If I have a small one to just split in half I just send it through one side of the top. As it is only about 6 or so inches tall it takes two off the bottom each time you send it through. I find that in splitting this way I can split any size wood effieciently. you can take a look at it on you tube under woodsplitters, plumbstriaight, watch that spelling as I messed up when putting it in. I know this is most likely more splitter than most need, but out here we can get some big ones.

 

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Come on RD, you can't lift those rounds by hand? That is a clever way of making your 4 way wedge work for your application and makes me think out of the box on how there might be a better way of getting multiple splits out of a stroke. There are some mighty pricey contraptions to lower or raise a 4 way wedge in or out of play. With your way, it isn't something to worry about. Maybe I should just cut my wedge down to 4 or 5 inches and weld another on top of it as you did. I gotta think. Thanks for your input