My take on power log splitters on the market today.

[J.W Younger]

I don't have any equipment for picking up the heavy stuff...anything I can pick up from the ground I have no problem moving to
my splitter from tailgate level. Vertical doesn't work for me that well, splits get in each others way.
Problem is, those pieces are getting a lot smaller the older I get.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

As long as the rounds can get in the truck, I can roll them from the truck to the splitter. From the splitter they go directly onto a wood rack and placed for storage. My next invention is a lifting boom that goes in the 2" reciever on the truck to pick up big rounds myself without help. That and a grapple for the mini skid steer.

I used to split everything by hand and started the splits with a big X from a Poulan wearing pico across the face of the cut. Just keep going till you hit the ugly joint. Worked pretty well, lots of cutting but not too difficult on the body.

 

[sb47]

I am 72 and I am not going to noodle a block of wood to get it small enough to lift 3 to 4 foot to get it on a spliter beam. Oh sure many you can strain your guts out to wiggle them under a vertical wedge just as bad way I see it.
Why they build them that way I never know unless they are looking for ward to you spending extra money to have a log lift on the splitter.

Now if I were the enginer I would have a rotateing beam with the wedge on the under side of the beam so you roll a block under the beam and split it to lifting size. or rotate it so you could lay the blocks on the beam to split them.

I have a good friend with a 3 point mounted splitter on his tractor with the upside down wedge. slickest thing going but since it is ran off his tractors hydrlics is slow, but sure saves your guts and hemroids lifting.

Al

I'll one better that.

 

[alleyyooper]

Now that is what I am takling about. just drive up to thre block set the spliter on it and push/pull or what ever to make the bigun a littleun.

Al

 

[MrWhoopee]

I'm 68 and hoping to keep my uninjured back that way.

Here's how I get the big ones into the truck



from there I roll them onto the splitter



from the splitter into the wheelbarrow and onto the stack.

 

[VW Splitter]

My vote goes for the log lift. As long as they are good and round I can roll some biggens on to the trailer. When they get too big, over 30", I usually noodle them in half, letting one half fall on the lift and the other have is ready to flop over onto the lift. The reason for noodling the big ones is if you split a 600 lb log in half, there you stand with a 300 lb log in your hands. Too much for this old man.This trailer load was 36" oak. 16 rounds make a trailer load.

 

[spike60]

If they are big rounds, i just take my saw, make a X on the face of the cut, put a steel wedge into it, and give it a couple of whacks with my maul. Normally it'll split it in half, then i split the halves, to quarters. Put them on the splitter and finish the final splitting that way.

I've been doing that also. Make my cuts about the depth of the bar. I like a wedge in this application better than a maul. You don't lose/waste as much with a wedge. When a maul bounces, that energy is wasted. A wedge even works between hits; you can hear the wood cracking. And even a half speed swing gets it done with a wedge, vs the "all ya got" swing that is usually needed with a maul.

I don't have any equipment for picking up the heavy stuff...anything I can pick up from the ground I have no problem moving to
my splitter from tailgate level.

Neither do I, and neither do most. Although there sure is plenty of nice equipment in this thread.

Mostly comes down to making the best use of what we have. I also like to back up to the splitter and split from the tailgate. Way better than throwing it on the ground only to pick it up and split it later.

 

[MrWhoopee]

Mostly comes down to making the best use of what we have. I also like to back up to the splitter and split from the tailgate. Way better than throwing it on the ground only to pick it up and split it later.

This ^^^^^^^^! It never ceases to amaze me that people will unload the truck, then pick up the rounds to split, throwing the splits into a pile, then picking up the splits and loading into truck or wheelbarrow to stack. Work smarter!

 

[muddstopper]

This ^^^^^^^^! It never ceases to amaze me that people will unload the truck, then pick up the rounds to split, throwing the splits into a pile, then picking up the splits and loading into truck or wheelbarrow to stack. Work smarter!

I very seldom put wood on my truck bed. I might if I am going after one small tree in some ones yard. Otherwise. I load log lengths on my dump trailer, haul home, dump, then buck and split. Since the wood is at home, I use the tractor fel to scoop the wood and haul to the shed. Sometimes, I will back the dump trailer under the splitting beam and just let the splits pile up in the trailer. Get a bunch of splits on the trailer and then climb in and stack, repeat until trailer is full. Mostly I just split and scoop with the tractor. I get it, not everybody has a dump trailer or way to load whole logs, or a tractor with a fel to scoop wood with. Been there, done that, and remember the old ways all to well.

 

[J.W Younger]

I've been doing that also. Make my cuts about the depth of the bar. I like a wedge in this application better than a maul. You don't lose/waste as much with a wedge. When a maul bounces, that energy is wasted. A wedge even works between hits; you can hear the wood cracking. And even a half speed swing gets it done with a wedge, vs the "all ya got" swing that is usually needed with a maul.



Neither do I, and neither do most. Although there sure is plenty of nice equipment in this thread.

Mostly comes down to making the best use of what we have. I also like to back up to the splitter and split from the tailgate. Way better than throwing it on the ground only to pick it up and split it later.

My BIL burns as much wood a year as I do, (mostly because he has 2 stoves and likes to keep his house at like 90 deg all winter) and he don't even have a splitter. What he does have is access to an endless supply of nearby wood. The big rounds he cuts short enough to bust with the blunt end of a maul. His stacks have to lean against a fence or something though.

 

[super3]

I am 72 and I am not going to noodle a block of wood to get it small enough to lift 3 to 4 foot to get it on a spliter beam. Oh sure many you can strain your guts out to wiggle them under a vertical wedge just as bad way I see it.
Why they build them that way I never know unless they are looking for ward to you spending extra money to have a log lift on the splitter.

Now if I were the enginer I would have a rotateing beam with the wedge on the under side of the beam so you roll a block under the beam and split it to lifting size. or rotate it so you could lay the blocks on the beam to split them.

I have a good friend with a 3 point mounted splitter on his tractor with the upside down wedge. slickest thing going but since it is ran off his tractors hydrlics is slow, but sure saves your guts and hemroids lifting.

Al

 

[saxman]

Everyone has a different way of doing things. Whatever works for you and is safe is what you should do. I work up big trees typically for firewood so i noodle the big rounds into fourths. I set my splitter vertically and make me a seat out of a round the proper size. I work from unsplit on one side to a split pile on the other. I put the splits in industrial fork lift baskets and move to the house with my tractor

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[alleyyooper]

Super 3 I like that one too.

I've used vertical spliters. It worked me over good just rthe short time I used it. rather use a sledge and wedge.

Al