Horizontal with the option

[SolarAndWood]

Built for horizontal operation but you can drop it down for the occasional round that you're not inclined to pick up. Never thought about it, but I could just fold up the front stand on mine to accomplish the same thing. Might be simpler than building a lift.

(broken link removed to http://syracuse.craigslist.org/grd/1898662615.html)

 

[gzecc]

I would buy it in a heartbeat. Could you mount a hinge further towards the wedge and make it a vertical splitter?

 

[LLigetfa]

The wedge is on the beam so in vertical mode, you would need a pit for the wood to go into.

I don't see much point in it just tilting like that. You'd still have to do some heavy lifting. Now if the entire unit could squat low to the ground, you could roll the log up a small ramp. I've seem 3pt mount versions that can squat for the big stuff.

Another neat design I saw was a wedge on beam version that flipped over so the splitter could be on top of the round instead of the round on top of the splitter. Mind you, it was attached to a FEL so you could easily move the splitter to the wood.

Having one that can rotate sideways might be a consideration. That way you only need to roll the round beside the beam.

 

[SolarAndWood]

The only rounds I would do anything other than straight horizontal are 30+" diameter of beech, locust, oak, etc. They are few and far between as generally anything I split I picked up myself and put in the trailer. So, for that occasional round that either I can't lift or am too tired to, dropping the front end down so I can roll it on seems like a simple solution. Can't believe I didn't come up with it before I saw this. I usually build a ramp out of smaller rounds for the big ones.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I would buy it in a heartbeat. Could you mount a hinge further towards the wedge and make it a vertical splitter?

I am a reformed vertical splitter. I much prefer horizontal now.