Posted: 2/2/2009 5:37:52 AM EDT
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Anybody have experience with them?
There's one reasonably close that looks pretty heavy duty......can be hitched then runs off the tractor's hydraulics. But for not much more money, I can get a unit that attaches to the 3 PT which seems a heck of lot more convenient. The Iron & Oak units look pretty nice......though more money than I want to spend at the moment. Is there any downside to running one of these off the tractors hydraulics as opposed to a unit that uses the PTO to drive its own pump? Is one better than another? |
I have a 35 horse Kioti (Kubota wannabe) and I have a splitter that runs of the tractor's hydraulics while mounted to the 3pth. It all runs well, quieter and more efficient than a gas powered splitter. I don't recall the brand of splitter, I bought it will the tractor, it may be a Woods brand. The only issue I have is that I use the tractor's bucket to haul the split wood up to the house and you cant split & haul at the same time. 
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Not having the ability to use my tractor for hauling while I'm splitting wood is the reason I went with a freestanding gas burner. Usually when I'm cutting and splitting wood I'll have several people helping either hauling a tree trunk over to cut or hauling the split wood in the bucket to the outbuilding. Thus I went with the seperate unit.
I'm currently thinking of getting a PTO driven generator but have the same concerns because if I'm needing the generator cause of a power outage more then likely I could use the tractor to haul out downed trees etc. The logic of one less engine to maintain does sound nice until you start visualizing how you'll use the stuff. . |
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I might reconsider this now that I'm getting some age on me, but I've always preferred a heavy spliiting maul, ie a 12-16 lb'er.
With splitters, you're picking the logs up too much. We just get 2 or 3 guys together and just pass the 16# around every 10- 15 minutes. Makes short work of it. |
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my comment would be that I prefer the stand up type splitter. Less picking up of logs, once they're split it's not so much weight. On days like today it'd be a big consideration. I was in quite a bit of pain at rising this morning. Usually the right side sciatic nerve gets it, this morning it was the left.........
had to hang from the gravity boot setup to get in gear today. Waiting for aspirin and ibuprofen to kick in. I never take more than 2-3 ibuprofen. 2 of each today. Shit. I do like the double unit, more wood split for the time/fuel spent. I would wonder if the return stroke would be weaker? It would not split as large a log on the cylinder "in" stroke. The power of a cylinder is determined by the square inches X the pump pressure. On return stroke the cylinder shaft is deducted from the square inches. Bust the big ones on the power stroke side and the smaller logs or pieces on the return side. |
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I might reconsider this now that I'm getting some age on me, but I've always preferred a heavy spliiting maul, ie a 12-16 lb'er. With splitters, you're picking the logs up too much. We just get 2 or 3 guys together and just pass the 16# around every 10- 15 minutes. Makes short work of it. Physical demands aside hydraulic splitters allow you to use parts of the tree that otherwise would go to waste. Take a 24" or so round of red oak with a big hairy limb coming out of it and unless you are the maul swingingest mofo on the face of the planet you are not going to bust it.A good hydraulic splitter if unable to split it will just shear it in pieces. I heat with wood exclusively and even in our temperate climate here will burn 2 cords of wood per winter ( thats 4ft high,4ft wide and 16ft long) thats alot of swinging.Most of my friends are my age and if I even SAY firewood I won't see them till winters over  .
My splitter like most these days will work standing up or laying down. For big rounds I scoop them up with the front end loader and roll them onto the splitting cradle and bust them in half ,then stand the splitter up and finish them off, much easier on the back.The old "work smart not hard" adage has more practical applications then it is given credit for. |
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Makes short work of it. 5 cord? 
I don't understand why guys are saying "can't haul" with the tractor if you're splitting? If you have a splitter mounted on the 3pth, why can't you just raise the hitch and go? I rely on "blow downs" and trees that have gotten beetles or for some other reason are dieing. This often involves being in a bad spot and having to "skid" the tree out to where it can be processed. Connecting to the draw bar and negociating tight areas with a splitter stuck 6 feet off the back of your tractor is a pain in the ass.Additionally as I said in the above post I use the loader to put big rounds on the cradle,something that can't be done with a splitter on the back. All of this is of course specific to my needs but that is what I was addressing. |
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I rely on "blow downs" and trees that have gotten beetles or for some other reason are dieing. This often involves being in a bad spot and having to "skid" the tree out to where it can be processed. Connecting to the draw bar and negociating tight areas with a splitter stuck 6 feet off the back of your tractor is a pain in the ass.Additionally as I said in the above post I use the loader to put big rounds on the cradle,something that can't be done with a splitter on the back. All of this is of course specific to my needs but that is what I was addressing. Makes sense. |
| I made our wood splitter out of a piece of I-Beam, a hydraulic cylinder, hoses, and some other assorted pieces of metal. When we cut wood, we usually take a flat trailer to toe woods, and cut and load the blocks. Its then taken back to the shop where we split and stack right from the trailer. I like the tractor based splitter because I don't have to worry about whether or not the small engine will start, and I don't have that money tied up in a engine and pump. Our splitter is a three-point hitch mount, and we set the back end on a wood block so its pretty stationary. I will add that if I had to do it over again, I would make it vertical and not horizontal. If you do make it horizontal, put something on one side to catch the falling wood so you dont lift from the ground so much.. |
| A friend of mine had a Yanmar that had something similar to this. Only there was no drive shaft, the screw part fit right onto the PTO shaft. We would hold the wood up to the screw and one of the lift arms would keep the wood from spinning. Worked perfect. |
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I might reconsider this now that I'm getting some age on me, but I've always preferred a heavy spliiting maul, ie a 12-16 lb'er. With splitters, you're picking the logs up too much. We just get 2 or 3 guys together and just pass the 16# around every 10- 15 minutes. Makes short work of it. Physical demands aside hydraulic splitters allow you to use parts of the tree that otherwise would go to waste. Take a 24" or so round of red oak with a big hairy limb coming out of it and unless you are the maul swingingest mofo on the face of the planet you are not going to bust it.A good hydraulic splitter if unable to split it will just shear it in pieces. I heat with wood exclusively and even in our temperate climate here will burn 2 cords of wood per winter ( thats 4ft high,4ft wide and 16ft long) thats alot of swinging.Most of my friends are my age and if I even SAY firewood I won't see them till winters over .
My splitter like most these days will work standing up or laying down. For big rounds I scoop them up with the front end loader and roll them onto the splitting cradle and bust them in half ,then stand the splitter up and finish them off, much easier on the back.The old "work smart not hard" adage has more practical applications then it is given credit for. Agreed. I rolled some HUGE bottom sections of a gnarly maple down into a swamp because I couldn't do anything with them. Heck these days I actively look for limbs, smaller trunks that don't even NEED to be split! They just finished a 50 + acre clear cut near me and I can go in and glean:I'll take what's easy. BUT, I have split 5 cords before with a 16# maul. 20+ years ago.
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Agreed. I rolled some HUGE bottom sections of a gnarly maple down into a swamp because I couldn't do anything with them. Heck these days I actively look for limbs, smaller trunks that don't even NEED to be split! They just finished a 50 + acre clear cut near me and I can go in and glean:I'll take what's easy. BUT, I have split 5 cords before with a 16# maul. 20+ years ago.
I don't mind swinging an ax.....like it, in fact. When I watched some of the log splitter videos on you tube I was struck by looking at some of the little pieces those guys were feeding through the splitter. I have no problem splitting the small stuff with an ax, it's the big rounds that slow me down. 
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I'll probably get called names for this one, but I use one of these mounted on my old 4-cylinder Nissan pickup truck. It was relatively inexpensive, portable, lightweight, and so far has been very useful. If you get one keep your fingers out of the split once it starts–– they can shift and pinch your fingers mighty hard. My impression of it after having used it for several hours is that it deserves respect like any tool, but is much safer than it looks. |
built our splitter for the tractor 3pt hitch. PTO pump, HUGE-ass reservoir (something to the tune of 10-gallon), and a 4.5" diameter cylinder. the fawker weighs in excess of 500 pounds, but it is stout and STRONG. IIRC, it's got a 3 foot stroke. if i can get the block under the wedge, it'll by-god split it. it's trial run was on a 3' round sweet gum. that shit DON'T split, but when we were done, you wouldn't know it  only "problem", if you wanna call it that, is that with the splitter on, the tractor can't pull the utility trailer we use to haul wood. in fact, it has a hard time climbing hills with that much weight on the back (Kubota B2400 4x4 with only 150# weight on the front). most of the time we'll back up the hill, if possible. no problem. my Ranger takes care of hauling up the wood. 3/4-ton or so in the bed, and a few ton on the trailer, no sweat. i know one thing: i'll never touch a freakin' maul again. if they quit producing diesel, i'll FIND some kind of oil to use in the tractor.  |
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Agreed. I rolled some HUGE bottom sections of a gnarly maple down into a swamp because I couldn't do anything with them. Heck these days I actively look for limbs, smaller trunks that don't even NEED to be split! They just finished a 50 + acre clear cut near me and I can go in and glean:I'll take what's easy. BUT, I have split 5 cords before with a 16# maul. 20+ years ago.
I don't mind swinging an ax.....like it, in fact. When I watched some of the log splitter videos on you tube I was struck by looking at some of the little pieces those guys were feeding through the splitter. I have no problem splitting the small stuff with an ax, it's the big rounds that slow me down.
Haha I WAS a hammer swinging fool. I changed truck tires when they were all tube type and the hammer was a way of life.I still can and will as the need arises swing a hammer/maul.There is something oddly satisfying in it. That said a hydraulic splitter is faster, safer and more efficient. |
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I'll probably get called names for this one, but I use one of these mounted on my old 4-cylinder Nissan pickup truck. It was relatively inexpensive, portable, lightweight, and so far has been very useful. If you get one keep your fingers out of the split once it starts–– they can shift and pinch your fingers mighty hard. My impression of it after having used it for several hours is that it deserves respect like any tool, but is much safer than it looks. Thats good because it LOOKS like a trip to the emergency room 
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