4-way splitting wedge.

I just got one for the Northern splitter that my father and I own, it didnt fit and ill be doing the necessary changes to make it fit. I think it would split the smaller logs into nice kindling for sure! I think it will be a time saver because you only have to pickup the larger logs once instead for 2-3 times. The only thing that concerns me is the increased force on the back stop of the splitter, large possibility of bendage with a smaller splitter.

If you have a wedge on the end of the beam, a slipover is a pretty low risk experiment. You should be able to find someone else with a MTD to sell it to if you don't like it.

Might be OK if all your logs are the same size, I would think your splitter would stall out before you had to worry about your endplate bending

If you are permanently mounting the 4-way to the wedge, you may run into issues on tough wood (crotches etc.) I run a four way that is hydraulically adjusted ala Timberwolf TW5. I do need to slip it out of the way from time to time even with 30 ton of splitting force.

Unless you are running strictly nice straight "pole wood", I would want the four way easily removable. I have never run one of the newer Northern Tool splitters with the 4 way V/H wedge design. Maybe they do great.

Don

Ill split my pile of smaller stuff and leave the larger rounds for the 4 way. I have a OWB, so dont really care if some of the 1/4's are
bigger. I have gotten rounds stuck or splitter was unable to pop the round with the 4 way on.
I dont use it as often as I would have hoped, but I just had 3 large ash trees given to me that were asking for the 4 way.

Those 4-ways should not come to a A-point on the horizontal portion, should they. Shouldn't that blade have the point on the flat bottom of the blade and taper to the top. Seems to make more sense when splitting or that splitter is going to be jumping all around.

For what its worth, Timberwolf's 4 way does the same thing. On their 6 way, the lower blade is tapered on the bottom and the upper blade is tapered on the top.

Here's a guy that does a good job making them; http://www.freewebs.com/logsplitter/

The six-way is one he made for me. It was his first-six way so I got it cheap.
Not the best but it works fine for me.

I think he's got them four-ways down pretty good.

It does hit the center or it wouldn't work.

With enough power a multiple wedge doesn't need to hit center.
My 6-way is mounted so it hits close to center.

I have 16hp driving 22gpm 2stage pump pushing a 4"ram and I usually only put the six way on when doing poplar.

kenny chaos said:

I have 16hp driving 22gpm 2stage pump pushing a 4"ram and I usually only put the six way on when doing poplar.

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What happens when you use it on denser wood?

SolarAndWood said:

kenny chaos said:

I have 16hp driving 22gpm 2stage pump pushing a 4"ram and I usually only put the six way on when doing poplar.

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What happens when you use it on denser wood?

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What happens? It just won't push through.
On straight grain denser wood, it works up to about a 12" diameter but it's a heavy son-of-a-gun
so when I start having problems, I just leave it off. I want a 4-way for the other stuff.

I have a lot of poplar that I sell and I buy good seasoned hardwood to supplement the little harwood I do every year.
I pay a little more for the harwood than I make selling the poplar but I get double the btu's.

kenny chaos said:

What happens? It just won't push through.
On straight grain denser wood, it works up to about a 12" diameter but it's a heavy son-of-a-gun
so when I start having problems, I just leave it off. I want a 4-way for the other stuff.

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Cool...thanks. I have been trying to decide between the 4 and the 6. Sounds like I should start with the 4. Are you happy with his work?

SolarAndWood said:

kenny chaos said:

What happens? It just won't push through.
On straight grain denser wood, it works up to about a 12" diameter but it's a heavy son-of-a-gun
so when I start having problems, I just leave it off. I want a 4-way for the other stuff.

Click to expand...

Cool...thanks. I have been trying to decide between the 4 and the 6. Sounds like I should start with the 4. Are you happy with his work?

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The 6-way was made at my request. It was my design for my situation and works great.
I've been told by some wanna-be engineers that the angles are all wrong but people love to help me when I got the 6-way going. That's how it got it's name, "The Angry Beaver." It devours wood.

I believe I have more power than the average splitter so do go with the 4-way unless you're sure otherwise. I see he gets a lot for the 6-way now.
The 4-ways have been sold on e-bay for quite awhile.
I'm sure I could make a 4-way that worked but his are better and affordable. He's invested in machines and welders especially for making wedges.
He can make one for any splitter. I wouldn't hesitate to get a 4-way from him and I probably will.
Call him, he's a good guy and easy to work with. Tell him the 6-way wedge guy says Hi.

I assume when you are using The Angry Beaver on stuff up to 12", that it is single pass? No resplits? Would you change anything on the wedge if you did it again? Do the splits in the middle ever get wedged between the blades? Maybe have the bottom blade just push down and the top just push up? It may not matter for me as my really fat wedge may push them to the side before they get in far enough to jam.

SolarAndWood said:

I assume when you are using The Angry Beaver on stuff up to 12", that it is single pass? No resplits? Would you change anything on the wedge if you did it again? Do the splits in the middle ever get wedged between the blades? Maybe have the bottom blade just push down and the top just push up? It may not matter for me as my really fat wedge may push them to the side before they get in far enough to jam.

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If I did it again, I'd have the wings made of thinner stock and have them back a smidgeon more so it wasn't trying to split so much at the same time.
The center wedge pushes the center splits out so there's no jamming. They may hang a little but the next piece keeps things moving.
I hope to be feeding the Beaver in the next week or so if you want to experience it.
I'm just west of Brockport.
We seem to be dominating this thread. PM me if you want to discuss it more.

I welded a couple of wings on my Huskee splitter but they were too thin.
They wouldn't always split and logs were a bear to get back off.
The deck where the wedge rode was getting scarred up also as
different forces were being applied than what the splitter was designed for sooo,
I made the Beaver.
Now if my Huskee had a taller wedge and the ram was higher on the wedge, it would've worked fine with
thicker wings. I couldn't see doing so much fabricating on a fairly new splitter.

Remember, I split mostly poplar which is real tough to split from one edge. It needs a tall wedge.
Mine was trying to push up too much with the low mounted ram.

I understand your concerns about proper width material and grinding cutting edges.
That is why I passed on making my own.
A 4-way looks simple enough until......
Many guys have made their own though.
Maybe I can get some pics this afternoon.

Timberwolf uses thinner stock

http://www.timberwolfcorp.com/log_splitters/default.asp?id=12

Kenny, thanks for the offer. I am in Rochester often and would like to see the Beaver in action.

SolarAndWood said:

Timberwolf uses thinner stock

.

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Note the little nubs on the outside of the wings to facilitate splitting.

I'm going out to pull the Beaver out of the weeds.
I got some old maple rounds laying around and will see if I can get some pics.