Logsplitter Wedge, This way or That, Whats the Difference?

[ovrszd]

With the wedge on the end, and a nice table, the pieces fall off out of the way. Once the pile is large enough that pieces no longer fall to the ground, the splitter keeps pushing them back. Once the pile is big enough, it may push the splitter forward. Thats when its time to pull forward 5' and continue.

Yep, that's my vote.

What you have to ask yourself is, when, not if, you get that piece that you can't readily split, do you want it stuck to your wedge at the end where you can back the cylinder off and add a spacer block to complete the split, orrrrrr, do you want it stuck to your cylinder??

 

[Gordon Gould]

I prefer the wedge on the ram. I may get 8 or more pieces out of one block. The last thing I want to do is chase the block down the table and bring it back for the next split.
Take a big block - split it in half. The far half flops on the table and waits the near half is in your hands. Position it for finish piece splits - one after another. While the ram returns throw the finish piece in the trailer or carry all. Never move your feet.

 

[murphy1244]

I prefer the wedge on the ram. I may get 8 or more pieces out of one block. The last thing I want to do is chase the block down the table and bring it back for the next split.
Take a big block - split it in half. The far half flops on the table and waits the near half is in your hands. Position it for finish piece splits - one after another. While the ram returns throw the finish piece in the trailer or carry all. Never move your feet.

I go with this route for hours. I would like to have a hay conveyor for making piles.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I prefer the wedge on the ram. I may get 8 or more pieces out of one block. The last thing I want to do is chase the block down the table and bring it back for the next split.
Take a big block - split it in half. The far half flops on the table and waits the near half is in your hands. Position it for finish piece splits - one after another. While the ram returns throw the finish piece in the trailer or carry all. Never move your feet.

I have them both ways and haven't used the splitter with the wedge on the cyl since getting the splitter with the wedge on the beam, not even one time!

I never have to chase any splits, even with a big round it splits and falls to the side, staying on the table ready to be pulled back and split again.

BUT, I have a really good 4-way wedge, and what ever needs to be re-split stays on top of the wings, so I can flip it over and off the wing back right back onto the beam and away it goes, right through the 4 way again!

The wedge on the beam is just so much faster with regular sized wood and works great with the big rounds...

SR

 

[PILOON]

My splitter is 3-point mounted, wedge on the beam using tractor aux hydraulics output.
Nice feature is 3-point lift to adjust to working level plus when the pile is a nuisance engage and drive forward.
When I was building mine the local weld shop donated a nice 12" length of beveled T1 (hardened) leftover from a cutting edge replacement he had done on a client's bucket.
Shucks with that T1 on my wedge I can cut nails without nicking my wedge. Heck my splitter will outlast me by eons.

Another nice feature is I have no extra engine to maintain. While not the fastest due to tractor GPM's it does the job for my usage.

 

[TimBuck2]

Wedge on the piston is the only way for me. I don't want my billets to be going anywhere until I am done splitting them. I added a table on the beam opposite of where I stand to catch the far half when splitting bigger rounds, the closer half rests against my thigh until the wedge is pulled back out of the way.

A 4 way wedge needs to be on the end of the beam, but I have never used one and not sure I would want one. Though a comment above that talks about a 4 way with big horizontal wings that holds the bigger quarters that need to be split again sounds promising.

 

[TimBuck2]

BTW, when I bought my splitter in 1991 it came with wedge on the end of the beam. At the tender age of 31, and without all the fun toys I have now, I took an evening welding class, and switching the wedge to the ram and the stop to the end of the beam was my class project.

If you have the stuff to mount that Wallenstein to a skid steer plate, you could probably do the same to that splitter.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Wow. Stuff I had never thought of. I think I would have preffered the wedge on the end, as I am used to, but I have what I have. My splitter may be a bit different in application and use however. I was going to post a description when done. I have too many projects on the go and I didn't want to say anything about a project that might stall and sit there for years as some others.

But basically, my splitter is electrically controlled. There is a large electric diirectional control valve and a host of relays, switches and limit switches to run the thing. You advance the joystick to clamp the log, then press a button and the ram cycles forward and then back to a preselected location. This preselected rearward stop is good for when the logs you are doing are not the full length of the splitter. My biggest beef aside from horrible little gas engines whining away, to very slow 3ph style splitters is having to stand there and watch the split, while you could be stacking wood. Most splitters with their kick off valve go all the way to the back and you seldom need this room, and waste time watching the rod go forward again. Especially, if you are trying to clear up the splits around your feet and don't catch the rod at the right time. And in this sense, you should not have a big pile of wood at your feet with my splitter.

I am waiting for some electrical parts from E-Bay and hoping some friends can find the time to shear and bend some heavy material for my main enclosure. Beyond that it's not far from realization!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

But basically, my splitter is electrically controlled. There is a large electric diirectional control valve and a host of relays, switches and limit switches to run the thing. You advance the joystick to clamp the log, then press a button and the ram cycles forward and then back to a preselected location. This preselected rearward stop is good for when the logs you are doing are not the full length of the splitter. My biggest beef aside from horrible little gas engines whining away, to very slow 3ph style splitters is having to stand there and watch the split, while you could be stacking wood. Most splitters with their kick off valve go all the way to the back and you seldom need this room, and waste time watching the rod go forward again. Especially, if you are trying to clear up the splits around your feet and don't catch the rod at the right time. And in this sense, you should not have a big pile of wood at your feet with my splitter.

I am waiting for some electrical parts from E-Bay and hoping some friends can find the time to shear and bend some heavy material for my main enclosure. Beyond that it's not far from realization!

I'm still not understanding why you would need complicated electric gizmo's to do the same thing you can do by buying a hydraulic valve that does the same thing?? Unless, you are building a "processor" instead of a "splitter".

SR

 

[Industrial Toys]

No mechanical splitter I have ever seen has a valve that will allow the ram to travel forward unattended. The safety freaks would have a field day! Plus, I have never seen a splitter that only retracts to an alternate location somewhere short of all the way back before kicking off.

These are just two things that have always annoyed me about any splitter I have ever used. And the bi directional ones sound like a good idea but in practice (I believe) they are not any better.

I believe that the marriage of hydraulics and electronics is one made in heaven! The classic brains and brawn story.