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Giant Wood Splitter
For my custom wood splitting business I built this giant wood splitter that can be lowered to split 3-ft. dia. logs at ground level, saving my back. It can be fitted with a "cross wedge" to split logs up to 16 in. in dia. into four pieces at a time.
The trailer-mounted splitter is powered by a Ford Pinto 4-cyl. 7
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Giant Wood Splitter WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Wood Splitters 19-4-37 For my custom wood splitting business I built this giant wood splitter that can be lowered to split 3-ft. dia. logs at ground level, saving my back. It can be fitted with a "cross wedge" to split logs up to 16 in. in dia. into four pieces at a time.
The trailer-mounted splitter is powered by a Ford Pinto 4-cyl. 70 hp engine that shaft-drives a hydraulic pump. A 24-in. hydraulic cylinder is used to raise the splitter to its vertical working position. Another cylinder raises and lowers the splitter table from ground level up to 24 in. off the ground. The big 6-in. dia., 32-in. stroke splitting cylinder mounts on a 7-ft. long, 8-in. wide steel H-beam and is equipped with a 14-in. wedge. I used two lengths of 7-ft. long, 8-in. sq. steel tubing to build the splitter trailer from scratch. I capped the ends of each beam to use them as tanks, with one holding hydraulic oil and the other gas.
The engine never runs at more than high idle. I built it this way because I have back trouble. I can set the splitter table on the ground and roll big pieces of wood onto it without having to do any lifting. I split them in half, then raise the splitter table 24 in. and split the smaller pieces. The cross wedge simply slips into a slot I cut into the wedge. It cuts splitting time in half and can be used on about 75% of the wood I split.
I spent only about $1,000 to build the splitter. I paid $250 for the engine which was salvaged from a wrecked car. I paid $150 for the splitter cylinder which is off a bulldozer. The two 24-in. cylinders are off an old garbage truck. I paid $40 each for them and rebuilt them. I bought the steel tubing for the trailer for $100 from a company that erects big billboard signs. The axle and wheels are off an old house trailer. The hydraulic pump is off a Hyster forklift. (Marvin A. Webb, Rt. 1, Box 256, Callaway, Va. 24067 ph 703 483-1385)
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