Log splitter for splitting very knotty,beech, oak etc

[cessna]

I need a log splitter that will split extremely hard, knotty beech and oak EASILY,I say again EASILY,I do not want to have to break the last strands of wood manually like have to with my HY Crack screw splitter very tedious .Max length of knotty pieces will be a 12" long by 18" Diameter.I just want a very basic machine with plenty of ram force at a realistic price. Suggestions please .

[Chris Gagen]

I need a log splitter that will split extremely hard, knotty beech and oak EASILY,I say again EASILY,I do not want to have to break the last strands of wood manually like have to with my HY Crack screw splitter very tedious .Max length of knotty pieces will be a 12" long by 18" Diameter.I just want a very basic machine with plenty of ram force at a realistic price. Suggestions please .

 

Best thing if only you're going to use it is to build it yourself. Piece of cake.

[Paul Smith]

What size ram would you recommend?

[Chris Gagen]

What size ram would you recommend?

 

I'll get back to you on that after measuring what I used...

 

I got lucky with ram size I think, mine wont make a struggle of any thing that is presented to it in a logical and sensible manner. I think I also got lucky with the blade angles, what I ended up with after guessing a pitch was pretty much exactly halfway between a blade and a wedge, so what it wont split it will shear.

[baz]

Screw splitters love knotty wood. Screws split wood that would have a hydraulic stopped in it's tracks. I use a processor for all the straight stuff and a screw for the trunk ends and knotted parts so nothing is too tough to to split. So I'd stick with your Hycrack every time for the tough stuff.

 

If you are finding strands with the hycrack splitter then let the wood dry a bit more and you'll probably find it falls apart.

Edited October 10, 2011 by baz

[Chris Sheppard]

I need a log splitter that will split extremely hard, knotty beech and oak EASILY,I say again EASILY,I do not want to have to break the last strands of wood manually like have to with my HY Crack screw splitter very tedious .Max length of knotty pieces will be a 12" long by 18" Diameter.I just want a very basic machine with plenty of ram force at a realistic price. Suggestions please .

 

I don't think there is such a thing off the shelf. You'l lstruggle to find anything that will put the knife right down to the table as it wouldn't be up to current regs, though I'm told a sheet of that high density plastic chopping board is a good way of closing the gap down a bit for stringy stuff.

 

Also, if you read the small print of any splitter manual, it'll say that the machines are only designed for straight grained timber - firewood produced in other countries tends to be from much better quality of timber than some of the narly chunks we'd convert over here.

 

For the sort of stuff you're looking to split, and the fact you want to keep it low budget, I'd agree with the others about making one. A ram off a tractor shear grab is fairly short with big pressure, but remember if you want decent speed with a big diameter ram you'll need a good flow as well.

[Paul Smith]

There's a screw splitter on the Hakkie and I hate it! Not happy when it grabs a log and spins it at high speed. Tried it again at the weekend and it nearly broke my thumb! I will stick to the one we made.

[muldonach]

I need a log splitter that will split extremely hard, knotty beech and oak EASILY,I say again EASILY,I do not want to have to break the last strands of wood manually like have to with my HY Crack screw splitter very tedious .Max length of knotty pieces will be a 12" long by 18" Diameter.I just want a very basic machine with plenty of ram force at a realistic price. Suggestions please .

 

when somebody sells you one get a free welder thrown in with it - a hydraulic splitter will on real tough stuff follow the grain until either:-

 

• The log gives:001_smile:
  
• The tractor hydraulics lift the relief valve:sneaky2:
  

 

or

 

• The splitter fails:blushing:
  

 

which has happenned to us 3 times at least - we have now learned to be cautious as to what we try to force through

 

cheers

mac

[agrimog]

three factors affect your choice of splitter, the diameter of the ram, the pressure of the supply, and the strength of the structure, you will need to build your own to maximise all three. I had to build my own to split some real twisted knotty stuff that had been lying a while, uses a lift ram from a D9 cat, a pump from a slide-back car transporter, various other bits, calculations say it puts out around 40 ton running off the pto on the mog and ive seen it flex 1 1/2" plate on the base splitting some weird knotty crap, oh and it somtimes bursts 4wire hoses!

[MikeTM150]

HI

 

Can agree with everyone build ur own, i looked at buying one as they were 'cheap' on the bay but decided they looked like they might break with a match stick!! You can work out ram pressure but using pi to work out the internal area of the ram cyclinder and multiply that by the max pressure of the hydraulic system ur gonna use, usually somewhere between 2500psi and 300psi depending on machine. Then divide by 2.2 to give you the metric tonnage of force. I use an 75mm ram cyclinder and our big tractor produces 3000psi at 140l/min, which priduces around 16tons of force which splits 99.9% of all knotty wood. Larger the ram slower cycle times will be, that size ram at 140l/min gives a 500mm cycle time of about 3.5secs. I made a knife blade so it'll cut through the timber if needed, and made it work on a foot pedal so u've always got hands free. Also it returns to 'open' position automatically and that is adjustable with a simple 'r' clip to suit the size log u want saving time cycling back to the top everytime. HSE would love that i know!

 

If u want some pics i'll pop some up, or if ur close enough u can look, i only used scrap from around the farm so it doesn't look like no high production machine but u'll never break it!!!