Has anyone built a gearbox wood splitter?

[Redapse]

Looking to build a gear reducing wood splitter with an electric motor. Has anyone built one of these? I'm wondering what sort of horsepower a single phase electric motor I'd need and what sort of gearbox ratio.

 

[Wood Dog]

Yikes! I just retired from an old industrial manufacturing plant as a maintenance tech. When I say old I mean 70 year-old bucket elevators, screw conveyors, rotating equipment, etc. I've replaced a lot of motors and gearboxes....
I also have a Dirty Hands 28-ton log splitter. It seldom stalls out on any piece of wood. There is NO combination of motor/ gearbox that I'm familiar with that would come close to performing like my splitter..... unless you go real big and expensive? Anything below a 10 horse motor, with complimentary sized gear box, would probably shell out the gear box in no time? Or over heat the motor constantly and shorten it's life?
I'm not an engineer, just a farm boy/ construction/ maintenance guy. I believe that the engineers of this world would have already figured out how to do this already, if it was financially efficient to do so.
But, hey, if you're just playing around... try a 5 HP motor, 1100 RPM, 40-1 gear box with sprockets or sheaves to go even slower.... and ONLY split short pieces of straight grained wood. Make sure you have motor overload protection, 20 amp circuit, and a big hammer to beat the wood off of the knife (cuz reversing this thing might be a problem?).

 

[Ashful]

Looking to build a gear reducing wood splitter with an electric motor. Has anyone built one of these? I'm wondering what sort of horsepower a single phase electric motor I'd need and what sort of gearbox ratio.

Are you talking about a kinetic (aka flywheel) splitter, or do you aim to drive a hydraulic pump and ram?

 

[Poindexter]

I can't see fooling with it unless you are awash in free time and short of cash. I process about 8 cords annually with an electric splitter, about $300 from all the usual suspects, and end up, generally, with less than a face cord of uglies the electric can't handle.

For the remainder I got a Fiskars X27 to at least break them open, and enough volume to let the big uglies season two years before I try to burn them. And a big enough stove to handle those ones.

But don't stop on my account. Scientific breakthroughs have a legitimate home root in frustration. Good luck.

 

[Ashful]

Scientific breakthroughs have a legitimate home root in frustration.

👍That should go down in history as one of the great quotes of all time.

 

[blades]

Gear trains are not meant for sudden resistance, shock loads. If you are thinking along the lines of a powered arbor press, way to slow to get anything done in a reasonable amount of time. Perhaps you are thinking along the lines of a mechanical punch press. But old school wise those are kenitic energy units - already exists- Super split and various chi-com copies. only thing i have never seen is a splitter that would use compressed air rams in stead of fly wheels or hydraulics.

 

[Jags]

We had a local old-timer that built a splitter out of a hay baler. He used the compression arm to push the log into a wedge. The most dangerous damn thing I ever saw

 

[duramaxman05]

We need to know what kind of splitter you are talking about. That would help us out tremendously.

 

[Osage]

We had a local old-timer that built a splitter out of a hay baler. He used the compression arm to push the log into a wedge. The most dangerous damn thing I ever saw

Baler's are dangerous as they stand, let alone playing around with them.

 

[blades]

That and sickle bars

 

[Isaac Carlson]

Haven't messed with gear reduction, but I did convert my hydraulic to electric. It works great and will do an easy 4 face cord an hour with the 4 way.