Kubota Woodsplitter/widowmaker

[Kerry]

Gudday Treeboone, I just had a look at the pic of the woodsplitter,thankfully I have never seen one in Oz, looks like it's well named.Being an X farm machinery mechanic I could see that an operator could be seriously injured without any problem,if I were you I would look at the hydraulic ones,I have one that runs from the tractor hydraulics and it's abeauty. I wonder who dreams up these implements? must be someone with plenty of time and very little to do except think of ways to make useless and very dangerous machinery to be sold to an unsuspecting populus. Kerry.

 

[jdkid]

Hi ya Bird
heres a URL to the split-fire splitter i'm talking about

http://www.split-fire.com/

and heres another handy site i found with heaps of good links on good one to bookmark

http://www.yetmans.mb.ca/manufacturers.html

one of the split-fire splitters has 21 tonne push i don't know may logs that will stand up to that
catch ya
JD Kid

 

[JATO_RaT]

Treeboone, I too am considering the purchase of a L4610 HST. I currently have a International 454. Its a great mower, has a 3 cylinder potent diesel with 1500 hrs. I need a loader and would like 4WD for the hills at my place, the L4610 is the one I would like. Comparing it to both the JD 4600 and 4700 and NH's TC45, I like it best. By the way, which resort was it you worked at here in CA? I have a place up in Tahoe near Homewood. Rat...

 

[s1120]

The case Hydrosplit does look a lot like the splitfire. I will try to get some pictures up this weekend.

 

[Bird]

Thanks for the URL, JD. Don't think I'd seen one of those before.

Bird

 

[jdkid]

hi ya
some photos would be good and a run down on how it worked would be great the place we are looking at in NZ has a heap of trees on it that were blown down a year ago that need to be split i might have to get the welder out during the winter and build one
catch ya
JD Kid

 

[treeboone]

Jeez, put a little promise of blood in the title and our Cousins Kiwi and Down Under are in the hunt! Truth be known, the wood we use for heat up here is easily split by hand if you read the knots. If it comes down to getting a splitter, Hydraulic wins the choice. The ski resort I worked at is Kirkwood, a bit southwest of Lake Tahoe. It can snow rather vigorously there at times, and it offers some of the best skiing to be found anywhere. I dont know if they still do it, but they usually hold a ski race on the 4th of july (middle of summer here mates.) Back in 83 an avalanche took out part of the lodge and some other buildings, killing some people and buring one young woman for about a week. It is serious business and 3 feet per hour is not unheard of. They had a couple of 966 cats with blades, a Norden Blower for the front of the 966, D6 crawler, a D8 crawler and most fun of all, a OshKosh 4 wheel steer blower that I think was surplus equipment from the Byrd expedition to the south pole back in the 20's. How much fun is snow removal? I was clearing a parking lot after a 6 foot dump in preparation for the weekend crowd. It looked like 8 acres of sugar without a lump. Usually if a car was buried you could see a little bump with a tip of the radio antennae sticking up like an anemic periscope. Usually an abandoned heap belonging to a partying lift attendent, so just stay a few feet away with the blade and make a island. When push comes to shove, after 14 hours of relentless plowing and a deadline approaching, the Cat gets stuffed into second gear, the throttle stays on the floor and the white stuff gets shoved for all its worth. Then a Buick comes popping up out of the snow like a submarine clawing for air. I barely felt it hit since the car weighed considerably less than the blade, much less the Cat. I did not have time to sit around feeling sorry for it, so I left it upright in its nest of snow, headlights towards the sky. Some jobs I'd do for free, yet I never handed the paycheck back. But I digress... They did have a little Kubota, one of the first I really got a good look at, I think it was a 6100 or 7100, I can not be sure, with a loader. I was very impressed because it had the humble duty of serving whoever could figure out how to start it. Needless to say it got little maintainence, and was abused in every possible way ( not unlike the idiot with the rubber ball that screwed up the steel hammer ) I kept my eye on the kubota, it was everywhere and did not seem to have a regular home at the resort. It would get used until it broke down and then sit abandoned until maintanence came to rescue it. I was impressed and saddened that it was resurrected time after time only to be subjected to more abuse. It was not my place to chastise anyone to correct the situation, and apparently nobody else did either. At any rate it occured to me that with careful use and maintainence, a Kubota would serve long and well. So here I am some years later, waiting for my L4610 and attendent attachments. It has been a long wait, but I know it will be worthwhile. I will send some pics with implements as soon as possible. Regards

 

[FarmerBob]

JD...

Tried sending an email to get more info on the Splitfire and the email came back "undeliverable". Guess you have to call to get info.

FarmerBob

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Guys I have used that splitter for 10 years. Yes it is dangerous. But faster than anything else I have used.
That is made in the u.s. by unicorn manufacturing.
It is rare to find a piece of wood that it wont split.
Exceedingly to get it stuck. Ground speed pto reverse usually works.

 

[HR_Mutt]

treeboone
We'll be a little patient for the pics. I know it's going to be hard to climb out of the seat of your new rig/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.Have fun
regards
Mutt

 

[skent]

Bird,

My Uncle had one of those too. He used it on the back of a 1951 Willies Pick up. I remember it well. My cousin holding his foot on the gas, my uncle feeding the logs, and me picking up the pieces(wood that is). Between using that thing and the 2 foot dia. saw blade/tile table that was powered off the tractor side pulley, It's truly a miracle no one ever got killed let alone lose a limb. Tilt saw is still sitting up in the hog pen, and there its gunna stay!

Steve

 

[fishman]

My brother-in-law uses one of those on the back of his Allis Chalmers WD-45. Gives me the absolute willies. Four kids and one more on the way . . . you just gotta question some folks' judgement.

 

[Knight9]

Ok...at the risk of being mobbed here /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif...I just saw an almost identical unit being demo'd at our local Farm show here. I'm having problems seeing the danger in them. The PTO was turning sooooooo slowly and the conical bit was doing all the work....gradually pulling the wood onto the bit and splitting it. I actually thought it looked pretty good. The only things I didn't like were (1) that the wood does not split as cleanly as a splitter does it and won't stack as neatly and (2) it seemed sooooo slow!!! I know they look kind of dangerous...but if you operate them at a VERY low speed as the salesman was....In fact he indicated and it was even in their brochure that they are safer than splitters as you don't have that quick split/flyout issue to deal with. Am I missing something???

Kevin

 

[scotd1]

"you just gotta question some folks' judgement." Are you talking about using the woodsplitter, having more kids or, I would assume, both?

 

[fishman]

Scotd1,

Funny! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Your assumption is correct.


Knight9,

Very slow operation might be all right, but even at low motor rpm, say 1000, the rear pto would still be turning at about 200 rpm. My arm can't rotate 360 degrees three times a second without damage. Ouch!

 

[Knight9]

Maybe the model I saw had some sort of reducing gear in it. Honestly you could pick a spot on the screw head and follow it easily as it turned around. It was VERY slow. Did I mention it was extremely slow!!! Too slow for me to think about doing much wood with it so I moved on. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Kevin

 

[HR_Mutt]

treeboone
It's been 9 days since we heard from you.Time to shut down that awsome L4610 and give us an update/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif
regards
Mutt

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Hi All,
re: the screw type wood splitter. I have five acers in Massachusetts. In the seventies and eighties
I was on a strictly wood economy; for both heat and hot water in the house. ( two stoves,15-20 cords
a winter). I had one of the screw type splitters on my one-ton International Harvester pick-up.
I've got hundreds of hours using "the screw"!!! IMHO, it was without a doubt the BEST splitter
I.ve ever used. Reasons: 1, It did indeed relolve very slowly, nothing happened quickly!!, safe.
There was never a time that things were filpping around. 2, there is a 'kill switch' near your hand
or foot at all times. 3, power!!, knots, root balls, tree jounts, were no problem at all. The power-
torque comes from the design, ie: the Screw not the driving device. 4, ease of operation: since
the 'screw' was only 12-15 inches off the ground lifting was kept to a minimum. I just rolled or held
the log ( 2" to 2' ) up to the the screw and when to grabbed; just step back and watch. Yes, it was
sometimes necessary to use a mawl to knock a log loose, but only one in a hundred.................
5, One man operation, quick, quiet..........
Well then, a few years back I got my 2710 and have been looking ever since for a screw splitter
to fit my PTO. By all means, if one is just going to hang on the wall for a decoration, CALL ME.

Phil B

 

[treeboone]

Phil, if you want to post your email, I will contact you.

Mutt, Has it been 9 days??? seems longer to me since I am still waiting. The backhoe is still not forthcoming. The dealer volunteered to deliver for the holiday weekend, then would take it back to town when the hoe arrived for the hoe install. As much as I wanted to play, I declined, knowing the inconvience to the dealer, and I would rather have an 'I owe you one" saved for later. I have since told them if the hoe doesn't arrive by the 31st (today) that I would take them up on the offer. We shall see. Ill keep you all posted. Regards

 

[HR_Mutt]

treeboone
yes, that was very considerate of you/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.If it helps at all... you'll be verrry happy with that rig!
regards
Mutt
p.s. sounds like you've found a great dealer also!