strange wood splitter

[beastmaster]

I was doing a big land clearing job that included hauling a way all kinds of junk left behind by the construction company that had worked out of there. there was some cool stuff left there as we sorted throu the junk, The boss zoned in on this weird contraption I stepped over several times. Come to find out it was a log splitter, it had rollers that you would back the drive tire of a car or truck on. This would spin a big screw that a log was placed and centered. As it screwed into the piece of wood the screw would expand the wood tell it split. any one ever see one of these or have any information on one?

 

[Pcoz88]

I've saw one at an auction along time ago.

 

[cantoo]

Unicorn. The Stickler. Bark Buster. Lots of different screw types out there. Google Images "screw type wood splitter" for pics. I have a Unicorn 3 pth one, I've bought and sold several of them. The ones I've bought have always been bent to heck, I assume they cleaned the blood off before they sold it. I really should be Life Insurance on the guys that I sell them to.

 

[unclemoustache]

Lots of videos of those things in action. Some bolt directly to a wheel. Clever, but slow and dangerous.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Could darn near burn the wood in a stove faster than you can split it with one of those!

 

[c5rulz]

Dangerous, nuff said.

 

[blades]

There was a u tube vid of the stickler where the round got stuck and the whole rig took off down the ridge- not a pretty ending. Those things are extremely dangerous for just that reason- direct drive coupled- no limiting clutch- so if things go south.........

 

[beastmaster]

Good now I don't feel like I missed out on some neat device I could of used. It sounds good in theory, but after looking at some videos that thing looks like an amputation waiting to happen.

 

[svk]

We had the little bark buster with about a 6 hp Briggs motor. It worked pretty well on wood that wasn't stringy. Every so often it would grab a short piece sideways and then look out.

When the drive chain broke we junked it and rented a hydraulic splitter one weekend a year until I started hand splitting.

 

[TimberWolf530]

I've seen videos on those things before. I rank them just a bit less dangerous than using dynamite.

 

[JeffHK454]

How can that be viable ? It would take you a month to split a seasons worth a wood.

 

[c5rulz]

Heck it's not near as bad as this:

 

[thor97]

If that stickler got ahold of you it would be like a pto shaft on a tractor!

 

[thor97]

And I think that spinning wheel one works a lot better If you've got an iq below 50!

 

[alleyyooper]

I bought this one back in the early 1970's. was a great machine except for the alum screw. I gave about 200.00 for it used it for many years it was so easy to throw in the back of the pick up and take to the job site.









The handle sticking out worked two ways, one as the handle to move it around and then off to the side it is what the chunk of wood went against till it split. It was pretty fast really, has a centrifugal clutch so if it got into a knot to tough the screw just stopped. I would like to find a steel screw so I could adapt it to the splitter and use it again. The company that made them does not carry that part any longer since the early 1980's.

Personally I don't believe they are any more dangours than a lot of things is you use caution and your brains.

Al