typical log splitter woes

[My Oslo heats my home]

An off-season log splitter question for any serious splitter folks.

I’m getting tired of the single wedge, it’s so time consuming. I love the look of the timberwolf
machines but could never afford anything like that.

Is there anything out there that has the push plate on the ram end and a wedge on the
opposite that doesn’t cost and arm and a leg? or maybe a conversion kit for the typical
splitter.

Thanks

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Have you looked at those "Powerhorse" splitters from Northern Tool? I don't have any experience with them myself, but the videos are interesting. Split both ways.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Why do you find this so time consuming? It really should not be unless everything you split is extremely difficult to split. If that is so, then you would not want a 4-way wedge for sure as it would be too hard on the splitter or it would just stall.

Your problem reminds me of last summer when I went to a neighbor's place to split some wood for him. Both he and his wife were there watching me when I started. I split 3 logs really quick and got 4 splits per log. Then I looked up at them and they were both wide eyed and mouths open. They had no idea splitting wood could be so fast. Am I fast? Absolutely not! I actually can't work as fast as the splitter can.

Perhaps you can change something in the way you are working to speed things up to your satisfaction. Maybe if you explain how you are doing your splitting some folks here can help. It certainly would be a cheaper fix.

 

[wkpoor]

Why do you find this so time consuming? It really should not be unless everything you split is extremely difficult to split. If that is so, then you would not want a 4-way wedge for sure as it would be too hard on the splitter or it would just stall.

Your problem reminds me of last summer when I went to a neighbor's place to split some wood for him. Both he and his wife were there watching me when I started. I split 3 logs really quick and got 4 splits per log. Then I looked up at them and they were both wide eyed and mouths open. They had no idea splitting wood could be so fast. Am I fast? Absolutely not! I actually can't work as fast as the splitter can.

Perhaps you can change something in the way you are working to speed things up to your satisfaction. Maybe if you explain how you are doing your splitting some folks here can help. It certainly would be a cheaper fix.

Your right Dennis, with proper techniques one can really maximize the splitters potential. I call it crack, rotate, crack rotate, crack rotate, throw and watch all the pieces fall apart. However that only works on wood that wants to behave. Stink Elm will fight you till the last string on every split. But there are ways to help that out also.

 

[firefighterjake]

My splitter is a bit slower than me . . . but I find for every year that goes by my splitter seems to be getting faster and gaining speed.

In all seriousness . . . I've never thought splitting was particularly slow or onerous . . . I think once you have your technique down you can whip through the wood pretty quickly . . . except for those tough pieces which may slow you down a bit.

 

[joecool85]

I can't help you because I split with a maul. Or a wedge and sledge on the difficult pieces. Although I have split with a splitter before and with two people operating it (no return kick-back on this oldie, so one person working the wood the other the controls) you could do a lot of wood in a real short time. Oh yeah, that isn't recommended, evidently it's a good way to lose a finger or three. I got lucky, but I've heard stories...

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

Why do you find this so time consuming? It really should not be unless everything you split is extremely difficult to split. If that is so, then you would not want a 4-way wedge for sure as it would be too hard on the splitter or it would just stall.

Your problem reminds me of last summer when I went to a neighbor's place to split some wood for him. Both he and his wife were there watching me when I started. I split 3 logs really quick and got 4 splits per log. Then I looked up at them and they were both wide eyed and mouths open. They had no idea splitting wood could be so fast. Am I fast? Absolutely not! I actually can't work as fast as the splitter can.

Perhaps you can change something in the way you are working to speed things up to your satisfaction. Maybe if you explain how you are doing your splitting some folks here can help. It certainly would be a cheaper fix.

Hey Dennis, I undertand what you are talking about with technique and a nice flow with working the logs and operating the splitter at the same time. My concerns are more on a larger scale. It took me 4 days to split 8 cord with a single wedge. I now have a wood (tree length logs) distributor and am thinking of getting a couple more loads and selling maybe 15 cord late next year. Thats why I'm thinking of more speed.