video - horrifying home made wood splitters

[zmender]

Found this on my youtube feed this morning... I'm cringing just watching some of them.

 

[zmender]

Second video of the series...

 

[begreen]

When in Bulgaria in a country town we watched a few seniors cutting firewood for the winter with an open blade saw. It looked like they had been doing this for decades. As far as I could tell, all still had their fingers.

 

[CincyBurner]

Part of me says kudos for the ingenuity to solve a problem, but mostly just: scary, that's nuts, or why . . . ?
Lots of moving parts without guards, big wheels with much inertia. For some examples absolutely no second chance if you get it wrong.
Reminiscent of vestiges and legacies of American 19th century industrial and farm mechanization when some might not return home for dinner (or if lucky returned less a body part).

 

[stoveliker]

yeah, the "it's always gone well, so it's not dangerous"-safety argument. That's a winner - potentially for the Darwin awards.

 

[begreen]

I suspect that if one asked the operator the reply would be, yes, this is quite dangerous and it's not a place to be careless. At least that was the reply when I talked with the old men in Bulgaria.

 

[bigealta]

That guy with the giant wheel in the 1st vid is nuts. And anyone could have hand split that big piece of Oak (i think), on the ground in 1/3 the time.

 

[begreen]

That guy with the giant wheel in the 1st vid is nuts. And anyone could have hand split that big piece of Oak (i think), on the ground in 1/3 the time.

Yeah, you wouldn't find me operating that one. Love the old Fairbanks-Morse motor used in the next one.

 

[begreen]

I'm curious about what stove/fireplace is burning those 36" long splits.

 

[bigealta]

I'm curious about what stove/fireplace is burning those 36" long splits.

Yeah me too, was thinking they might be for something else?

 

[stoveliker]

And what about the 3" pieces of those birch sticks? Pellet-like appliance?

 

[zmender]

Some of those tools won't be so bad if there's a interlock and redundant safety and doesn't operate continuously at such high speed with no emergency cut off... but then won't be home build.

That giant wheel from first video, and the spinning blade from second looks like something straight of of a zombie survival video game.

 

[ABMax24]

That first one wasn't that bad, if you could build a clutch on the shaft to turn it off and on I would think that would almost be safer than a commercial kinetic splitter.

That second one though, dude WTF.

 

[bigealta]

That first one wasn't that bad, if you could build a clutch on the shaft to turn it off and on I would think that would almost be safer than a commercial kinetic splitter.

That second one though, dude WTF.

Yeah i thought that 1st one was pretty good. Seemed simple, pretty quick, but reasonably safe. The whole thing with all of these is the picking up off the ground problem. Just no good for anyone with a back like mine. I can stand up a split like a crazy guy but can't really bend down to tie my shoes very well. Picking up the whole or even split pieces is NG for me. Holding the maul like a cane when picking up splits is helpful. Not sure how to solve that issue when processing alone which is 100% of the time?

 

[zmender]

actually another question is - why they splitting their wood so small. Any good stove will burn splits far larger

 

[Osage]

Growing up we had a buzz saw that was run buy a flat belt driven by an AR John Deere. While there was some guarding on it it was dangerous,. When it was up to speed with no load it would sing like the dickens Back then safety was trumped by getting work done. I remember some of the older farmers had fingers or hands missing. Still worked hard and didn't seem to be bothered by the handicap. Times were different and dangerous back then.

 

[DonTee]

The Amish down the road from me cut their wood with an open buzz saw like described above. And those guys use a lot of firewood, burning basically 24/7/365.

Oh and my vote for the most dangerous splitter in that first video goes to the second machine. It was throwing pretty good chunks of wood back at the guy.

 

[Simonkenton]

Machine number 2 is so dangerous. That guy is nuts!

 

[Osage]

Machine number 2 is so dangerous. That guy is nuts!

Yeah but he's wearing his steal toed krocs. 9

 

[DonTee]

Speaking of home made splitters, this is mine. It’s been in my family for a few decades. The story is a family friend who worked at the railroad made it from spare parts. The ram is something that moved a track or something.

Originally it had an old Tecumseh engine, but last year got the newer Honda.

Anyways, not dangerous, but horrifyingly slow for sure .

Check out the hyd cylinder size compared to my hand. And also notice the mid 1960’s VW beetle wheels. The axle is a 1960’s beetle front axle with the steering welded up so it doesn’t turn.

 

[firefighterjake]

Growing up my grandfather and father used a buzz saw attached to a tractor (very similar to the one in this picture found on the internet) . . . zipped right through most wood. Kids were not allowed to use it or get near it . . . although we were allowed to run the splitter and to help move and stack firewood.

 

[Caw]

I enjoyed the giant spring manual one. Dangerous if you get careless with your hands but no more than any other tool. That is man was working it.

The 2nd machine in the first video was maybe the most dangerous thing I've ever seen...not even counting the rope by the fly wheel. Not to mention completely unnecessary. I could have done that work faster by hand.

 

[Ashful]

I love dangerous old machinery, it just fascinates and excites me. I used to have an entire shop filled with vintage industrial woodworking machines, including a 16" jointer with the famous widow-maker clamshell cutterhead, and I still have one 32" bandsaw with a totally open running blade, no guards. My woodworking machines have been mostly upgraded from 120 year old machines to 80 year old machines, since having kids, a lot of progress was made in industrial and commercial machinery design between 1900 and 1940.

But having said that, the second guy in the first video with that high-speed flywheel, is just nuts. Not for running the machine, I'd give it a whirl myself, but for standing there in Crocs while 40 lb. half-rounds of hardwood are flying off the table at him.

 

[Caw]

I love dangerous old machinery, it just fascinates and excites me. I used to have an entire shop filled with vintage industrial woodworking machines, including a 16" jointer with the famous widow-maker clamshell cutterhead, and I still have one 32" bandsaw with a totally open running blade, no guards. My woodworking machines have been mostly upgraded from 120 year old machines to 80 year old machines, since having kids, a lot of progress was made in industrial and commercial machinery design between 1900 and 1940.

But having said that, the second guy in the first video with that high-speed flywheel, is just nuts. Not for running the machine, I'd give it a whirl myself, but for standing there in Crocs while 40 lb. half-rounds of hardwood are flying off the table at him.

I'm an avid woodworker myself but I've never heard of that jointer cutter you're referring to. Could you share with the group please? I also love old tools.

 

[blades]

in euope lot of homes/apt/cottages are very small, and stoves also 3"-12" long splits of 3-4" are very common, most rely on mass and radiant heat rather than fan dispersion,