Log splitter question

[ericm979]

I have an Oregon log splitter, 28 ton, one of those horizontal/vertical types. At full extension there's about 2" between the end of the wedge and the plate on the end of the beam that holds the round in place. Many times that's not enough to fully split the round. Sometimes I can pull it loose by hand but sometimes I have to turn the round and split it from the other side. It really kills my throughput. Some of the species I've split don't have this problem but most do. Bay is particularly terrible in this regard but live and tan oaks aren't great either.

Is there a reason why there's that much of a gap between the wedge and plate? Some safety thing I don't know about?

 

[turnkey4099]

I have an Oregon log splitter, 28 ton, one of those horizontal/vertical types. At full extension there's about 2" between the end of the wedge and the plate on the end of the beam that holds the round in place. Many times that's not enough to fully split the round. Sometimes I can pull it loose by hand but sometimes I have to turn the round and split it from the other side. It really kills my throughput. Some of the species I've split don't have this problem but most do. Bay is particularly terrible in this regard but live and tan oaks aren't great either.

Is there a reason why there's that much of a gap between the wedge and plate? Some safety thing I don't know about?

Keeps full pressure from being exerted against teh wedge...at least that is the only thing I can think of.

To solve the problem of not fully splitting. I just back off the ram and stick a chunk of wood sideways between it and the chunk being split.

 

[Moxie 15]

I was told it is so the wedge will not cut your hand off.
wonder if that would be worse than the mangle hand one would have after the hand was stuck between the wood and the piston for the last 20 inches.

 

[coaster]

I have a 31 ton MTD. That does happen to me, but it's very rare and I split everything - locust, gum, etc. Interesting to hear that it happens often to you.

 

[ptsg]

I would go crazy if the wedge wouldn't hit the backplate on my splitter. More often than not, I have to fully extend the cylinder in order to cut the "strings" when splitting eucalyptus so it will cut those things. Sometimes it happens with pine too, unless it's fully dry. At the least the type of pine we get here.

As others said, it's probably done just for safety reasons.

 

[CADplans]

Make some sort of spacer,, leave 1/4" of gap,,,

I think the 2" gap is to probably suit a 4 way splitting adapter.
If you add a spacer, it would be kinda like a 2 way splitting adapter,,



Probably the best spacer would be a block of aluminum,,
if the wedge hit the aluminum, there would be less damage than hitting a steel spacer.
When I built my splitter, I designed in an adjustable gap, pull a pin, and get the gap you want,,

I can probably get a 10 or 12 inch gap if it were needed,,

 

[dodge man]

Mine is the same. It’s pretty rare mine doesn’t split it though.

 

[Deere Dude]

It seems to me that the space although not needed for a majority of the cuts, gives an opportunity for a longer chunk to be put in and split. 95% of mine split at that point.

 

[turnkey4099]

I am on my third andd all of them stop short of the wedge. Simple solution when the round doesn't split is to chuck a handy split crosswise behind it and run the ram forward again.

 

[grsthegreat]

i would simply add a piece of steel to the base plate, and a few tack welds. my splitting wedge ends 1/2" from steel base. been working great for 14 years.

 

[oosik]

Mine came a tad less than an inch - wedge to hydraulic plate. Just back it off and add a crosswise split. Go at it again. My very large Ponderosa pines get "stringy" on the few base chunks.

Either that or let the chunks dry for a year prior to splitting.

 

[Aquamoose]

I believe it’s mostly due to getting the best bang for the homeowner’s buck by advertising the value with working length capacity, low cost for the manufacturer with cylinder size (add two inches to a cylinder and $ goes up), and the practical fact that most rounds are already sufficiently split before the cylinder makes the full extension.

 

[ericm979]

I can't believe I didn't think of putting a split in cross ways. I'll try that. If it works like I think it will, I'll add making a spacer to my list of fabrication tasks.