Champion 34 ton splitter?

[Highbeam]

I always go vertical unless I’m making kindling out of splits. You just got to grab that round and muscle it up onto the foot. Doesn’t have to be level, just get it on the foot. Way easier than somehow muscling it up onto the horizontal beam. That’s just crazy.

 

[Ashful]

Rolling big rounds is an acquired skill. Having spent the 5-6 years post-Sandy moving mostly enormous oaks, and then more recently a lot of very large ash, I've learned to do it while expending maybe 20% of the effort I used to spend on trying to muscle them around. Like any trade, there's learned technique, which only comes with countless repetition. Not much unlike the guy who makes disassembling a crab look effortless, while you curse and fight with yours.

The tipped-roll is probably the first thing most should learn. Use your cant hook to get the round up on a 45'ish degree angle, balanced such that you can easily hold it there with one hand while dropping the cant hook to the ground with the other. Then hold it at that angle while you roll it over to the splitter and up onto the foot plate, all the while keeping it tipped on that angle such that you're just rolling on the perimeter of one end. It takes a little practice, but really not much. You'll get the hang of it in an afternoon, if not sooner, with any coordination at all.

Run it thru with the splitter, and hope that it falls in two, although with large stuff that rarely actually happens. Leave the ram down in the round, and crab your cant hook. Place the sole of your boot (toes up, arch on top of split) on one half, the cant hook on the other, and lever down while pushing the other half with your boot. You'll nearly always pop it apart this way. Walk one half aside, lean it against the splitter tire, and prop the other half back onto the foot plate to quarter it. Lather, rinse, repeat.

And our old Backwoods Savage would tell you to do all of this while comfortably sitting on a milk crate, although I usually just park another round in front of the splitter and use that as my seat.

 

[Montanalocal]

For big rounds that won’t split even when pried apart like Ashful said I combine vertical with steel splitting wedges. I try to find at least one crack in the round, and position it opposite to the splitter wedge. Then I run the ram down hard into the round and leave it there. Then I put one or several spitting wedges into the crack opposite the splitter wedge, and alternate pounding in the steel wedges, and advancing the splitter wedge. Eventually it will split.

 

[brenndatomu]

And our old Backwoods Savage would tell you to do all of this while comfortably sitting on a milk crate, although I usually just park another round in front of the splitter and use that as my seat

That's exactly who I was thinking of...he still advocates for vertical splitting (while sitting on a milk crate)

 

[mpaul]

I was splitting 31” diameter 20” long oak rounds this weekend. Definitely struggled to manhandle the rounds onto my 27 ton Champion. Was using a peavey to work them in place.
On day two I laid a piece of plywood on the ground flush against the splitter. This was a game changer. This allowed me to roll the rounds onto the plywood and then used the peavey to just slide the round into place. Half of my problem I was having was fighting the round digging into the ground while I was moving it around. The plywood eliminated that issue all together.

 

[Ashful]

I was splitting 31” diameter 20” long oak rounds this weekend. Definitely struggled to manhandle the rounds onto my 27 ton Champion. Was using a peavey to work them in place.
On day two I laid a piece of plywood on the ground flush against the splitter. This was a game changer. This allowed me to roll the rounds onto the plywood and then used the peavey to just slide the round into place. Half of my problem I was having was fighting the round digging into the ground while I was moving it around. The plywood eliminated that issue all together.

I do the same with the oak that tends to peel off of oak rounds. I lay it on the ground around the foot plate of the splitter, which not only helps them roll easier, but also preserves the grass from all the abuse.

 

[Highbeam]

In no case would it be easier to pick up the round and set it on a horizontal beam. Yikes. If you’re going to noodle that round into chunks for easier moving then still stay vertical.

Other than skinny pecker poles or kindling making, I consider the horizontal beam setting just for ease of transport.

You guys with that big oak are working hard. Huge Doug fir is common and has knots but just isn’t as heavy.

 

[blades]

Just a bit of a reply. My old splitter does indeed have a 6" cylinder with 2.25" ram . So yep, its slooow with that 11gpm pump. still beats wacking a wedge with a maul though.

 

[Ashful]

Just a bit of a reply. My old splitter does indeed have a 6" cylinder with 2.25" ram . So yep, its slooow with that 11gpm pump. still beats wacking a wedge with a maul though.

Whatever works! I'm always pressed for time and horribly impatient, but I know everyone is not the same.

If I could do this whole splitter thing over again, I would buy a 35-ton unit to get the bigger motor, bigger pump, bigger bung port on the reservoir, and then just downgrade the thing from a 6 inch to a 4 inch cylinder. It would give me what I already have now, but on a sturdier frame with lower cost.

I actually went the other way, starting with a Huskee 22-ton machine, and upgrading, engine, pump, lines, reservoir bung, etc. Same end result, but at much higher expense. I also suspect most 35 ton units usually come with a more substantial trailer tongue & kickstand than this 22-ton unit, although I've never done a brand-by-brand comparison on this.

The only thing I like better about my approach, is that by upgrading the engine, I was able to add electric start. Pull-starting an 11hp engine with a 16 or 18 gpm pump in January is no fun, but now I just plug it into the tractor and turn a key for that first cold start on a Saturday morning. Well worth the price of admission.

 

[JRHAWK9]

High-tonnage splitters just don't make much sense to me, when you're sacrificing speed for unneeded excess splitting force.

Agreed. Only reason I have a 40 ton is for the sub 9.5 sec cycle time. I could really speed it up by downsizing the cylinder, but I'm good with what I have.

In no case would it be easier to pick up the round and set it on a horizontal beam.

That's you. I can't split vertically. It's much easier on my back to lift every piece up to the horizontal beam......and I also prefer tall beams, as being 6'5" I have to be able to stand straight.

 

[crstrode]

I can't split vertically. It's much easier on my back to lift every piece up to the horizontal beam......and I also prefer tall beams, as being 6'5" I have to be able to stand straight.

When I was 30 years old, picking up a 150-lb round was possible, but not desireable.
40 years later it is absolutely impossible.
Vertical splitting is the only way to go - except for gorillas.

 

[JRHAWK9]

When I was 30 years old, picking up a 150-lb round was possible, but not desireable.
40 years later it is absolutely impossible.
Vertical splitting is the only way to go except for gorillas.

Everyone's situation is different. I half/quarter all the bigger stuff out in the woods where the tree is bucked to make it manageable for me to be able to load into my trailer. So when it comes time to split with my hydro splitter months later, I am picking up stuff that I have already picked up twice. LOL See, I look at it as I'm getting more bang for my buck in terms of exercise the more times I handle the splits. The "work smarter not harder" thing to me means making the most exercise out of every piece of wood is the smarter part of that statement.

My back starts hurting 5 minutes into vertical splitting, whereas I can go a full day running it horizontally while picking up said wood, like -THIS-. Warning, video may not be suitable for those prone to motion sickness.

Everyone is different in what works for them.

 

[crstrode]

Everyone's situation is different. I half/quarter all the bigger stuff out in the woods where the tree is bucked to make it manageable for me to be able to load into my trailer. So when it comes time to split with my hydro splitter months later, I am picking up stuff that I have already picked up twice. LOL See, I look at it as I'm getting more bang for my buck in terms of exercise the more times I handle the splits. The "work smarter not harder" thing to me means making the most exercise out of every piece of wood is the smarter part of that statement.

My back starts hurting 5 minutes into vertical splitting, whereas I can go a full day running it horizontally while picking up said wood, like -THIS-. Warning, video may not be suitable for those prone to motion sickness.

Everyone is different in what works for them.

I see what you mean, sonny. Those wood chips you are splitting look like kindling to me.

 

[Ashful]

I'm very fit for someone coming up on 50, and I can and do split both vertically and horizontally, as the size of the rounds dictate. That said, I will agree with anyone who says horizontal is more comfortable and way faster than vertical. At least on my machine, it just is.

I get away with doing relatively large stuff on a horizontal beam by placing my rounds in the bucket of my front-end loader, and parking that at hip height right next to the splitter. So, I'm not bending over and lifting rounds, I'm literally just balancing them against my hip or thigh and swinging them from the loader bucket to the splitter beam. But even then, there are some rounds I just can't do horizontal, as their weight causes the splitter to tip over.

I'm not making room in the barn for a second tractor, just so I can keep the splitter connected to one, while I use the other to lift rounds.

 

[Highbeam]

Whatever works! I'm always pressed for time and horribly impatient, but I know everyone is not the same.

If I could do this whole splitter thing over again, I would buy a 35-ton unit to get the bigger motor, bigger pump, bigger bung port on the reservoir, and then just downgrade the thing from a 6 inch to a 4 inch cylinder. It would give me what I already have now, but on a sturdier frame with lower cost.

I actually went the other way, starting with a Huskee 22-ton machine, and upgrading, engine, pump, lines, reservoir bung, etc. Same end result, but at much higher expense. I also suspect most 35 ton units usually come with a more substantial trailer tongue & kickstand than this 22-ton unit, although I've never done a brand-by-brand comparison on this.

The only thing I like better about my approach, is that by upgrading the engine, I was able to add electric start. Pull-starting an 11hp engine with a 16 or 18 gpm pump in January is no fun, but now I just plug it into the tractor and turn a key for that first cold start on a Saturday morning. Well worth the price of admission.

If my old huskee 22 ever dies, I think your plan is a great idea. Buying a bigger splitter and swapping to the small cylinder for speed. Way easier and better than the other way around.

 

[ericm979]

I found that getting a round into position for vertical splitting takes a lot of upper body strength. There's no leverage when working close to the ground. I don't have a lot of upper body strength, or body weight for that matter, but my back and legs are strong. It's a lot easier for me to lift a round onto the horizontal splitter than to position it for vertical splitting at ground level. Rounds too heavy to lift get noodled and split into chunks.

The 4.5" cylinder on my 28 ton Oregon could be a little faster but there are times when I'm glad I have the power. Some of my wood species are tough to split.

 

[Jags]

5 words:
Log lift with work table.

Nuff said.

 

[johneh]

5 words:
Log lift with work table.

Nuff said.

Been that way for the last 15 years the only way to go
especially now that I'm in my 70es.

 

[qwee]

Idea: a designated work ground level table for the splitter in vertical mode. You get a couple of conveyers and chop them up and bolt/weld pieces back together and into a large table. You dig a hole to lay this ground table in. And you leave an indent for the log splitter to sit in. The splitter in vertical mode sits a little higher than the conveyer table.

So, you just dump or roll the big rounds onto the ground level conveyer table. Moving them around would be easier. This conveyer is $40. Two of these would work, chop, chop, weld, weld (or bolt, bolt). Once in place those big rounds could be handled. Someday........
.

 

[brenndatomu]

5 words:
Log lift with work table.

Nuff said.

Agreed...building one right now actually.

 

[Highbeam]

5 words:
Log lift with work table.

Nuff said.

Why not just buy a processor while you’re at it? Those things look like fun. Lots of good videos if you really can’t lift or move wood.

 

[johneh]

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[Jags]

Why not just buy a processor while you’re at it?

Log lift with work table can be added to a splitter without adding alot of size. Processors tend to be a little more girthy.

 

[Ashful]

I have a Deere 320R log lifter. 1600 lb. lift capacity, when mounted on my machine.

 

[brenndatomu]

Processors tend to be a little more girthy.

And $$$!
Most people could afford to add a log lift to their splitter if they really want one...about half the cost of a big box/farm store splitter to add the lift option...or less if you can fab/weld/etc...