Homemade wood splitter

Madman_Mark · Jul 24, 2004

Anyone have any plans on how to build a splitter to run off of my tractor ?
What about a regular splitter that has it's own motor.
I have a 6 HP B&S motor from an old tiller I can use.

Deerlope · Jul 24, 2004

The 6 hp B&S is big enought. why tie up a whole tractor when a 6hp will do the job. You can then use the tractor to haul the wood. I have built 5 splitters over the years but don't have any plans. Design depends on how much pressure you want to develope.

rswyan · Jul 25, 2004

( Anyone have any plans on how to build a splitter to run off of my tractor ? )

Not yet, but I'm in the process of building one myself - 3 point attached to a Kubota B2910. I've ordered and received some of the parts and will do the drawings/plan for the metal work in the next few weeks as time permits. When I get these done I will try and make them available in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) documents. I plan on documenting (with pictures) the fabrication process and will do a bill of materials with suppliers. No guarantees on how quickly I will have all this done but I would like to have it finished in time to use it this fall myself.

I'm going to try and use the PTO pump from my backhoe - but it may not have enough flow to operate the splitter as fast as I would like - so I may have to come up with an alternative for that. If you have a small engine available you could use a 2 stage Barnes pump (available from Surplus Center, Northern Tool, and others)

If you have no experience with high pressure hydraulics make sure you know what you are doing - definitely a safety issue here.

rswyan · Jul 25, 2004

( The 6 hp B&S is big enought. why tie up a whole tractor when a 6hp will do the job. You can then use the tractor to haul the wood. )

My reasons are:

1. No second engine to maintain - I already have 7 internal combustion engines on equipment I have to maintain - as well as two vehicals - no interest in adding another.

2. With a 3 point hitch mounted splitter I can take the splitter back into the woods where I will be cutting easier than if it were a tow unit and split the logs where they fall.

I still plan on using my tractor to haul the wood (no need to take off the loader when using the splitter) and then consolidate loads using a dump I'm going to build out of Kory running gear from Harbor Freight:

Kory Running Gear

bobodu · Jul 25, 2004

I built a splitter out of a spare 20hp Kohler I had laying around.Talk about overkill!Today,the project is to convert my trailer to hydraulic dump.Gonna mount a 5hp Briggs (also laying around) on the tongue.The pump from the splitter has a built in valve.I will mount this and a small reservoir on the tongue too and just add 4 ft hoses with quick disconnects.Drive the trailer to the splitter,fill with newly split wood, drive away and dump.I guess I'll have to get into the habit of taking the trailer up off the hitch ball when hooking up the hydraulics so I don't drag my splitter away when I have the trailer full. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

MarkStewart · Jul 25, 2004

I like this guy's idea with building an integrated table into his splitter, also like his mini-dozer. Check it out here. web page Scroll down about halfway.

Henro · Jul 25, 2004

That's a neat link...I enjoyed looking at the pics and reading about the home built crawler as well.... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

AndyMA · Jul 26, 2004

I don't know if they still offer it, but Northern Tool used to offer a manual on how to build a wood splitter. They also sell all the parts. They started off as Northern Hydraulics and that is the only product they offered.

Andy

cmuncy · Jul 26, 2004

Your local TSC might also have the fluid diagram of a wood splitter iwth all needed c omponants posted on teh wall in teh hydraulics section. THe 3 around my palce do.

just a thought.

BigEddy · Jul 26, 2004

A while back, Princess Auto (Winnipeg) had an offer for a free set of plans for a stand-alone horiz/vert splitter. I've seen them and they are very good. I wouldn't be surprised if they still offer them on request.

Check out www.princessauto.com

For those of us who like to tinker, they're our kind of folks.