Back-Saving Skid Steer Splitter

Back-Saving Skid Steer Splitter TRACTORS Skid Steer Loaders Marvin Feucht and his son Matt burn a lot of wood in their outdoor wood burners so they were looking for an easier way to split wood They decided to make use of the auxiliary hydraulics on their 1840 Case skidloader to build a hands-free splitter     They had an 8-ft I-beam and purchased a 5-in bore by 30-in stroke hydraulic cylinder     “Instead of having this wood splitter in the typical straight out position away from the skid loader operator we mounted ours perpendicular to the skidloader operator This allows the operator to split wood with better visibility ” Matt Feucht says     With long hydraulic lines and two quick-tach plates on the I-beam the Feuchts’ design includes 3 splitting options     They use the first option most often splitting from the top down with the wood on the ground     “Since the hydraulic cylinder is on the underside of the I-beam we bent up a shield to protect it and the plumbing from ground contact and damage ” Feucht says     In the second position the I-beam is flat and the wood is on the ground The third option is for conventional splitting for fireplace and small stove wood placing smaller pieces of wood on top of the splitter     “A local machine shop helped us design the pusher and suggested we mount the wedge at less than a 90 degree angle at the end of the I-beam This prevents wood from riding up the wedge and not getting split ” Feucht says     Mounted on the skid loader the splitter can be raised turned and used as a thumb to pick up wood to split or load on a trailer The splitter easily splits hardwood up to 30 in long The Feuchts use the machine to split wood 12-in dia and larger     “It’s enjoyable to run ” Feucht notes “It’s safe because the operator stays in the cab and can split alone I think a lot of people would benefit from a device of this type ”     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Matt Feucht N6382 Townhall Rd Mayville Wis 53050 ph 262 224-7632; szep496@msn com

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