beginning stages of a logsplitter

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MattMI

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Jul 25, 2016
3
Michigan
I've been lurking around for some time reading and thinking about building a log splitter myself. I like the idea of a heavy duty splitter but cant see myself paying the price that it would cost for me to buy one. so as it gets closer to burning season I decided that it was time to start some sort of construction. SO instead of doing that the old fashioned way with a napkin and pen I've gone to CAD and have drawn up really the heart of the splitter. Really i'm looking for some advice as to what some people think about the sturdiness of it. I have a feeling that the adjustable 4 way is too weak but opinions please.

Picture 1 is a detail of how i planned the 4way. 2 and 3 are just views of the cylinders in retracted and extended, and 4 is an overhead of the wedge and pushplate
4waydetail.PNG Capture.PNG retracted.PNG wedge detail.PNG
 
It looks like the 4 way loads the 1" stock piece? If that's the case then that should be 1" x6" plate. Check out some of the mfgs designs, they have already done the 2 hard parts, engineering and years of field testing.

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Like which mfgs? i looked around and thought about it for a while as to how to get that 4 way to be close to the cutting edge of the big wedge, but also to be out of the way of the wood coming off of the splitter
 
Northstar, Timberwolve and other use a design where the 4 way wedge is 1 whole piece and moves up and down via hydraulic ram. The assembly is sloppy and when pressured by a log backs up against a 1" thick by about 10" deep piece of plate that is welded to the main beam.

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Yep - 4 way design is no where near robust enough. As Kevin said - check out the folks that do it for a living. There are a couple of different ways to build this option....

That said - I like the way you are going about this. May I suggest a log lift and work table to be part of the design.
 
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