Building a Log Splitter

I have a friend who is looking for some info on building a log splitter. He said that there's not a lot out there. Has anybody here ever built one?

I've been thinking about this myself. I have these 50 trees that fell down... Anyway, I'm thinking along these lines:

HF x Ton hydraulic bottle jack, like the 8 ton long ram on my engine hoist HF air over hydraulic converter thingie Lots of steel for a frame Some kind of splitting head on the end of the ram, like from a wood splitter ax like thing or a wedge or wood grenade

Put log in, step on air over hydraulic thingie, ram expands out, splits wood.

I think of this every time the weather changes and my ankle starts hurting where a wood grenade hit it about 5 years ago when it bounced out of the log after I put all I had behind a 10 lb sledge to it.

Speed is the biggest problem with home made or manual units. Entertaining for the first half dozen logs or so, madeningly slow after that.

IIRC, Northern Tool/ Hydraulic has built ones and also sell all the parts to build them. Worth a look.

B.O.M

1 10' "I" Beam

1 homemade 15 degree wedge

1 20 ton HF Ram.

1 Hydraulic pump pulled from ?

1 10-15 hp engine.

http://s116.photobucket.com/albums/o22/sy733/shop/?action=view&current=MOV00019.flv http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=6249

Either TSC or NH sells a hand powered one.

One would be easy to make from parts off the self. You just need a couple or steel parts to make the rail and wedge.

I wouldn't mind having one that is electric.

Look, I spent 4 ½ years early on in my career working for Harbor Freight.…I started in import customs but went on to work in production control serving as planner then master scheduler then production controller then design engineer.

I was directly involved from the point of conception in the Presser Washer line and the Log Splitter line…they are not – repeat – not – state of the art, but they do provide an excellent cost / benefit ratio.

We had real engineers doing real analysis to create products that were dirt, dirt cheap while keeping the risk of operator injury very low yet providing robust, high cycle, low maintenance products.

I have no sentimental allegiance to HF (ok, maybe just a little) & I completely understand the DIY spirit but the thought that an individual could put together a Log Splitter (dollar for dollar with no regard for labor) that was superior HF’s is nothing less than crazy…far better to think in terms of buying one of their units and finding an amusing way of cannibalizing its parts for some maniacal purpose.

I'm thinkin' something along these lines: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95967

in a frame with a maul end or wood grenade. That jack is on sale this month too for $80.

This guy isn't going totally grassroots here. He's got a 16 horse Kohler that he plans to use.

If your friend is really determined to build his own, a google search "log splitter plans" turns up many.

Seperate arguement on the cost of making his own vs buying one, especially a used one.

Paul Suddard built one years ago with a 15 horse lawnmower engine, a small hydraulic pump, and a garbage truck ram.

Tommy Suddard wrote: Paul Suddard built one years ago with a 15 horse lawnmower engine, a small hydraulic pump, and a garbage truck ram.

What, No rotary engine? That would have taken care of the 'speed' problem foxtrapper mentioned.

If your going to go - go big

Tim the Tool Man would build one with a HEMI.

The neighborhood that I live in is awesome. We have about 6 houses that burn wood as a secondary heating element. So far most of us have ponied up parts to build this contraption.

I donated an old but excellent boat trailer for the "community splitter" We'll cut that sucker up to suit our needs. We plan on including a storage box for gloves, oil, hydraulic fluid, fuel and the "optional cooler"

George (whose idea it was to build this) donated the 8HP B&S engine with the control valve.

Armand has the I-Beam and hydraulic fluid resovoir.

JP bought a cylinder from a dump truck (complete and total cost so far 35 bucks) All in all, it looks like we'll have to make up the hoses, and aside from the ram cost, that will be our only expense CHA-CHING!!!!!!

We are building an "articulating splitter" it will tip to split the heavy stuff you cant pick up. The ram will pivot so it splits horizontal and vertical.

So far all we need to buy are the hoses, Dad will do the welding. The boat trailer is good, nice height, ease of loading, limited bending... work in progress, so when it is finished the street will have a great tool that we all can use to "give the finger to the oil company"

I've started building mine. It's coming together pretty well. I bought that HF air-over-hydraulic 8 ton ram. I had some 11ga 4x4 tubing left over from a previous project for the frame. I have it cut up/out now and I'm just getting ready to weld it. I'm thinking of putting some lawn mower wheels on the heavy end. I made it height adjustable, with the ram centered at 6" for splitting 12" wood and 12" for 24", which is about as big as I figger I'll need to split. The ram isn't real fast, but faster than beating on it with a sledge hammer and the total effort is a whole lot less. I need to get a large spring for the return. I'm thinking half of a garage door spring. I also think I'll get one of those large ax type wood mauls and weld a piece of pipe or tubing on the end to attach it to the ram. If it's successful, I'll post some pics. If it isn't, the ram goes into the shop crane. The ram was on sale for $60 and I let them hit me for the $12 2 year warranty, which I usually decline.

OK, here's my Grass Roots Log Splitter:

and here's a vid of it in action: http://www.drhess.net/web_temp/GR_Splitter.avi

Total cost was under $100. Besides the ram, I bought two wheels to put on it yet, and I need to make a stand for the distal end because it needs to be higher than the ram to work right. The splitter part is a wood grenade that I welded a sleeve onto so it would lock onto the ram. The springs were salvaged from a junk trampolene.

We use 15 chords a year hand operated is not a option, right now with a tractor mounted unit it takes a afternoon to split it all

Hand operated was out for me too, which is why I went with the air-over. It isn't real fast, but it is faster than a sledge hammer. Usually. I just couldn't justify spending fifteen bills on a comercial unit. Used splitters are non-existant around here. All you'll find is wanted ads if you search.

15 chords a year is a lot. If I kept the stove going all the time, I might go through 2 chords in a cold winter.

While I understand not being willing to spend the bucks on a new one, they show up used at farm auctions and in the classifieds all the time and sell for just a few hundred dollars. They'll work a whole lot better than the things described or shown here in this thread.

And hand splitting aint all that slow when done right. A wedge and hammer are slow, but a maul is not. Especially once you learn how to not sharpen it.

foxtrapper wrote: And hand splitting aint all that slow when done right. A wedge and hammer are slow, but a maul is not. Especially once you learn how to not sharpen it.

Wait until the wood is frozen and it just explodes when the maul hits it.