Building your own splitter ideals

[EXCALIBER]

Whats wrong with the tw5 wedge design?

 

[muddstopper]

My original 4way wedge I guess would qualify as a disappearing wedge Have to realize I built that thing out of scrapyard scrap. Cutting torch, welder, grinder and a drill press. It aint pretty, but it works. My hbeam was to short and I had to add on to it for the wedge. I used 3/4 plated as a backbone for the wedge with more 3/4plate wrappeda round the backbone and welded to the web of the hbeam. I and left it wide enough between the plate that the actual wedge would slide up and down at the end of the Hbeam. I used a 6instroke cyl to raise the wedge 12in and I welded the 4way flush with the top of the hbeam. I then plated the top of the hbeam with 1/2in plate. With wedge fully down the 4way sets on the hbeam but below the extra plateing. I also used some 6in channel to box the end of the hbeam. I havent broke it off or bent it yet. The 6way now means that the wedge is always 4way since i cant lower the wedge enough to hide the extra set of wedges. They sit 6in over the top of the beam. My wedge is 24in tall at full extention, the bottom wings would be at 12in height and the other set of wings at 18in height. I dont like trying to do 6way splits with the wedge topped out as I can see the hbeam flex. 24in is a lot of leverage for a 6x6hbeam. For big stuff, I usually use my boom log grabs to set the round on the beam and just raise the wedge high enough that the bottom wing is making decent size splits, the 6way will take another bite about center of the log and the top of the wedge will halve the top half of the log. If i have help, I might go ahead and make my resplits, but usually its just me so I just let the wood be pushed off the beam, the next round I split will push it on out of the way. I wont do any resplits until after I have stacked anything that doesnt need respliting and then resplit everything that is left.

Edited to add that the wings are 7in long each making the total width right at 15in. I chose that lenght based on drops of steel I had after making everything else. All wedge material is 3/4 t1 plate.

 

[ponyexpress976]

Whats wrong with the tw5 wedge design?

Nothing is "wrong" with it. It works very well poppoing rounds with the 4 way up to about 12" diameter. It makes the 6 way absolutely useless as the top pieces end up being forced out the sides rather than getting processed. A blade design would fix this. It would also probably fix the 4 way from hangin up when you go to lower it.

 

[cantoo]

Ponyexpress976, I built mine with a 36" cylinder so I could do 32" pieces for my OWB and 2 pcs of 16" end to end. It works good doing that. Of course when doing doubles I grab rounds that are close to the same size so the splits work. I intend to build a dump trailer that will feed my splitter table, right now I just use my flatbed truck with hoist. I load the 32" rounds onto the truck using my tractor and manure bucket, hit the hoist button d raise it a little, they roll onto my big splitter table and I hookeroon them onto the beam. For the 16" splits I will use my conveyor to pile the splits. My 4 way works good for the wood I use but I would use a bigger beam next time. My table is 34x 88" long. My 4 way wedge goes to 17" high so I could split a 34" round into 4 equal sized splits. Not sure exactly how wide my wings are but I think somewhere around 14" wide.

 

[ponyexpress976]

The wings on the tw-5/6 are about the same. It's the main wedge on the 5/6 that is almost 4" wide at the rear. Efficient for blowing stuff apart quick but when the wood hits the horizontal knives, it comes in at an angle. They tend to slide out on the T-wolf version of a 6 way.

 

[sam-tip]

Maybe Sam-tip will be along with his build. it should be a doozey when he gets it finished.

Just had time to find this thread. Was planning working on splitter today but had some family issues to take care of.

Working on brackets for adjustable work table. Problem is I have 40 holes to tap and broke two taps on first 10 holes.

Edit Putting the tap in the drill press helped a bunch. Started tapping holes with drill press and then finished by hand. Then back to drill press to true the threads. Only broke one more tap to finish the last 30 holes.

Drivable
4 way
Lifting jib crane with hydraulic winch
Auto cycle
Adjustable height work table.
34 hp kubota diesel

This splitter is for charity cuts. High volume larger pieces. Have SS SE for smaller pieces. Goal is 60 cord in one weekend with lots of help.

My favorite splitter is a skid steer splitter. 90 hp with heat and AC. 35.5 gpm on 4 inch bore 2 inch shaft 24" stroke. FAST

 

[muddstopper]

I like starting my taps with a drill press too. It helps keep them straight. Only thing is a plate that needs lots of holes tapped means a lot of chucking and unchucking in the vise for finish hand tapping. I also use a different oil than normal tapping fluid. I like the lennox brand of cutting oil, it just seems to work better for me.

 

[EXCALIBER]

This might have been covered but how thick is everyone making their 4 way/6 way wedges? Sam-Tip first pic the 4 way wings look half an inch thick but the second pic they look almost an inch thick? I am debating how thick to make mine as it is.

 

[sam-tip]

This might have been covered but how thick is everyone making their 4 way/6 way wedges? Sam-Tip first pic the 4 way wings look half an inch thick but the second pic they look almost an inch thick? I am debating how thick to make mine as it is.

3/4 inch AR400 plate

 

[EXCALIBER]

I was trying to decide between strength and pressure to push it past a thicker wedge. Of course the thinner the wedge the easier to bend or break but also easier to push the wood through

 

[sam-tip]

I like starting my taps with a drill press too. It helps keep them straight. Only thing is a plate that needs lots of holes tapped means a lot of chucking and unchucking in the vise for finish hand tapping. I also use a different oil than normal tapping fluid. I like the lennox brand of cutting oil, it just seems to work better for me.

I kept one tap in the drill press and used another for the hand tapping. I started out unchucking the tap but that got old fast. Helped having a reversible drill press.


Now welding caps on the 1.5" tube for the working table.

 

[cantoo]

arbo, mine is 1" regular flat bar. The angle is important on flat steel. My horizontal wings are too long an angle, makes the steel too weak. My vertical is much steeper and works much better.

 

[CUCV]

Sam-tip, Yikes that's alot of broken taps and with a pretty big tap. what size holes are you tapping and what size tap drill are you using? I'm no machinist but I have tapped a ton of holes. I tend to use a tap chart that list multiple tap drills per tap, that way I can figure the best tap drill for the application, most of the time you don't need 80% of full thread, 60-65% will do just fine. Speeds things up and less broken taps. Most of the tapping I've had to do is in tight areas so I can't even get a regular tap handle on the tap and have to use a ratchet. When ever possible I use the reversible mag drills we have at work, real slick! I've used my Dewalt impact gun on smaller holes and 1/2" impact on others to speed things up.

By the way, I love your splitter build. Every time I go to the auctions I think of the same thing when I look at they old fairway mowers. There are a couple of the 26HP models with low hours on CL around here for $1500. I've dreamed of putting the conveyor on the mower/splitter as well so the total package is portable.

 

[CUCV]

Whats wrong with the tw5 wedge design?

The wedge is too wide IMO, 3.25" wide for the single wedge. Yes is does help open up the log but it takes a ton of force to do that on a nasty log. I'm a supersplit guy so I'm used to sending the whole log thru the wedge. Many others like to get the wood to pop as early as possible and send the ram back. The SS wedge is .75" wide. Just about every time I use the TW5 I end up beating a log off the wedge but I can't think of the last time I stuck a log on the SS wedge.

The TW5 single wedge is 3.25" wide at the back. 12" tall, 7" deep a the bottom and 6" deep where the 4 or 6 way wedge sit.
The 4 way wedge wings are .625" thick
The 6 way wedge wings are .375" thick

Yes the width of the TW5 wedge serves a much needed purpose in strength when it comes to counteracting the forces due to multiple wedges. I bought my TW5 used with a twisted beam. The previous owner managed twist it when trying to split a nasty log with a knot on one of the wings. The main wedge and 4 way held up fine but the beam yielded under the pressure. I fab'ed up some tooling and twisted the beam back.

 

[CUCV]

Some tw5 wedge pics

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

That's a nice big rod on that yellow cylinder. Custom built?

 

[sam-tip]

That's a nice big rod on that yellow cylinder. Custom built?

Got it on CL for $140. Bet the cylinder came off some kind of heavy equipment. The guy had 10 cylinders. I only got one.

Sam-tip, Yikes that's alot of broken taps and with a pretty big tap. what size holes are you tapping and what size tap drill are you using?

I was tapping to 5/16 NC 18 threads in 1/2" thick steel. I was trying to tap to fast and not going backwards enough. Took a few hours to do the 40 holes. Feeling it today.

 

[CUCV]

Got it on CL for $140. Bet the cylinder came off some kind of heavy equipment. The guy had 10 cylinders. I only got one.

What did you pay for the mower if you don't mind saying?

 

[sam-tip]

Mower was 2k on CL. I heard you can get them in Florida for 800.. More golf courses. Mower was wore out. Motor ran great.

Heard a new diesel built rite 24 hpws- D is 17k