Riding Mower Converted To Heavy-Duty Splitter

Riding Mower Converted To Heavy-Duty Splitter FARM HOME Lawn Mowers 31h 38 “My friend Julius Larson and I built a heavy-duty log splitter out of an old Cub Cadet garden tractor and scrap materials It’s built heavy enough to handle logs up to 60 in in dia ” says Jim Allen Muskegon Mich     The splitter is powered by a late 1980’s Cub Cadet 1610 garden tractor equipped with a twin cylinder 16 hp engine The engine shaft-drives a 28 gal /min hydraulic pump that operates a 5-in dia 30-in splitting cylinder The log is split by a 24-in high 1-in thick hard faced knife     They cut the tractor in half behind the steering wheel and kept the engine steering wheel hood headlights muffler and one of the front fenders to which they mounted a toolbox The tractor is fitted with welded-on brackets that bolt onto an 8-in H-beam that’s boxed in with 1/2-in thick steel plate The axle and springs from a mobile home trailer allow them to pull the splitter down the road without jarring everything apart     With all the torque provided by the tractor they had trouble with big logs snapping grade 8 bolts on the push plate To solve the problem they used 1/2-in plate to weld together a solid steel box that completely encloses the H-beam and keeps it from bending under pressure The push plate slides along the top of the box and is partially boxed in on each side by a brass plate so that it can’t get twisted The bottom side of the push plate extends down each side of the H-beam and goes underneath it with a shaft running across from side to side so it can’t lift up An automatic oiler keeps the brass plate lubricated at all times     “With most push plates you’re running steel on steel which causes friction and wear ” says Jim “The brass plate reduces friction and increases the power to the splitter There’s nothing to wear and now even the biggest logs just go right on through If the brass plate ever wears out we can simply unbolt the push plate and replace the brass plate with a new one     “We’ve split about 100 cords since we redesigned the system with very few problems There’s so much torque that when we split a really big heavy dry log we can actually see the H-beam bow in the middle and it will snap back when the log finally starts going on through People in our area know this splitter can handle really big wood so local tree guys often dump off truck loads of big wood ”     The Cub Cadet’s battery and alternator were too small so they replaced them with a 100-amp car battery and alternator “Return oil from the hydraulic pump goes to a hydraulic motor that’s used to belt-drive the alternator As a result any time return oil is going back to the reservoir it’s charging the battery The battery has enough power that we can operate a winch or radio or even lights so we can work at night ” says Jim     The splitter is fitted with long hydraulic hoses and there’s a reason for that “If the Cub Cadet ever breaks down we can disconnect the hoses to the hydraulic pump and hook them up to a pto-driven external hydraulic pump on a farm tractor ” says Jim     “Julius and I operate a total of 4 outdoor wood burning furnaces so we need a lot of wood The garden tractor sits up high enough to keep fumes and noise from the engine out of the operator’s face     “We machined all the parts ourselves and used a lot of stuff we already had to save money The only new parts we bought were the hydraulic cylinder and pump and a new can of purple paint          “It has a lot of power The knife-style wedge slices through the wood instead of spreading it apart and cuts right through knots If the log is odd shaped we cut it into smaller chunks but if it’s round 2 men can usually roll it up onto the splitter table ”     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Jim Allen 2224 Allenwood Ct Muskegon Mich 49442 ph 231 777-4817; jallen264@aol com

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