carl reitnauer
Member
About to clear some land that has water oaks,very heavy to handle. What are the drawbacks to a ground level,vertical wood splitter? This would sure save my back!
- Thread starter carl reitnauer
- Start date
cole in mo.
Well-known Member
I wish I had of built mine to work in both positions instead of just horz.
Steve in VA
Well-known Member
- Location
- Natural Bridge Virginia
Mine is a tow behind and honestly the only time its horizontal is when I am towing it. I do all my splitting vertically. Its easier to handle big sections and when horizontal there is the risk of dropping a split section onto the hydraulic tank or hoses.
have used a Northern vertical/horizontal splitter. Dad got it in the 70's.
You can split heavier blocks in the vertical position, but you spend most of your time in a squatting position. Your back lets you know about it for a few days.
With truly large blocks, you roll them close, flop them over on the plate and run the wedge through them. Then you have to drag the chunks around on their ends to split again.
Also, with this particular splitter you have to lift probably 60-75 pounds of beam and cylinder to tip it up.
It is at a more convenient height than some of the MTD models when it is horizontal though. You have to lift the blocks pretty high onto them.
I have had the opportunity to use a Timberwolf TW-6 with log lift and table grate. That is the way to go if you can afford it.
The lift can raise the logs up to the beam, and it also makes a dandy place to rest the other half of the block while you finish splitting the one half. It also can be equiped with a 4 way or 6 way wedge. With a table grate, the oversize chunks that need to be split again don't have to be lifted all the way back from the ground to split again.
You can split heavier blocks in the vertical position, but you spend most of your time in a squatting position. Your back lets you know about it for a few days.
With truly large blocks, you roll them close, flop them over on the plate and run the wedge through them. Then you have to drag the chunks around on their ends to split again.
Also, with this particular splitter you have to lift probably 60-75 pounds of beam and cylinder to tip it up.
It is at a more convenient height than some of the MTD models when it is horizontal though. You have to lift the blocks pretty high onto them.
I have had the opportunity to use a Timberwolf TW-6 with log lift and table grate. That is the way to go if you can afford it.
The lift can raise the logs up to the beam, and it also makes a dandy place to rest the other half of the block while you finish splitting the one half. It also can be equiped with a 4 way or 6 way wedge. With a table grate, the oversize chunks that need to be split again don't have to be lifted all the way back from the ground to split again.
TRK has a point - I wouldn't like squatting either. I sit on a block of wood when I run my vertical splitter, but then in the end, I have to squat to split the last block that I was sitting on. I've split blocks so big that I had to pry up a side, then back the splitter plate under the block. I've never used a horizontal model, so I don't know enough about them to comment. I'm sure there's advantages to either type. Like anything, you have to learn to let the machine do the work.
Pajamafied John
Member
I use a pair of knee pads that my dad used to use. Stage some logs so I can roll them in to the splitter while kneeling and split away. My lower back is problematic from my early year activities but this works just fine.
I like the vertical ones. I always wanted to build one for the front of a skid loader that was basically upside down. That way you could pull up to a pile and drop the splitter on the logs and split them without ever leaving the seat. Maybe not as good of an idea as I think, but I don't own a skid loader anyway 
old
Well-known Member
- Location
- Camdenton Missouri
A month or so back I repaired a horizontal/vertical wood splitter. It would work both ways and even had a cylinder to move it form one to the other position. It was a monster splitter also
I have an approximately 16 by 22 inch working table
so it is easy for me to sit on a log and split away. If I had a small table it would be harder
because of friction. I split large stuff up over 100lbs. I can stack one row while sitting.
Move ahead and split more and stack more.
If I only have small wood and I want to stand up for a bit I can raise my table up about 2 feet.
so it is easy for me to sit on a log and split away. If I had a small table it would be harder
because of friction. I split large stuff up over 100lbs. I can stack one row while sitting.
Move ahead and split more and stack more.
If I only have small wood and I want to stand up for a bit I can raise my table up about 2 feet.
I built this one 25 or 30 years ago. Drawbacks? None. Roll log chunks to it , flip them onto base and operate splitter while I'm sitting on a piece of log with an old chair cushion on it. To unhook from tractor, lower splitter to floor beside a pole shed support pole, wrap a piece of chain around it and pole, unhook and drive tractor away.
old
Well-known Member
- Location
- Camdenton Missouri
Junk???????????????? That is treasure. One can never go wrong with have lots of scrap around.
You can always find something useful, I remember being fascinated with any and all of this kind of stuff going way back, the old farm dumps, accumulation in places like the local lawnmower and bicycle shop, then any scrap and junk yards etc. I have a decent size pile behind some trees, small little satellite yard of miscellaneous things, lot of scrap steel and or junk. Anyone I ever knew that worked on mechanical things, cars trucks, equipment tractors or what have you, always had a junk pile somewhere to refer to.
I can't have it near my garage or yard though, the darned critters would have me over run, years ago there was a bunch of things in the yard, mice seemed to thrive. Now if I leave a wood pile unstacked too long a ground hog will certainly dig in under it.
The same theory worked on many large construction sites I have worked on. One job I recall, under the material hoist, they dumped large turnbuckles, lynch pins, clevises, pins, much of it galvanized. A literal bunch of good sized quality steel hardware, given the size of the hoist.A shameful waste I thought, so I would ask permission to dig in the dirt in my spare time, I still have 2 buckets and a pile of turnbuckles 20 yrs later LOL ! High strength astm 325 bolts for structural steel, scattered everywhere, I'd pick those up by the dozen and some of those are on my 850 ford tractor, connecting the loader to the rear frame and the tire rims, perfect fit.
I can't have it near my garage or yard though, the darned critters would have me over run, years ago there was a bunch of things in the yard, mice seemed to thrive. Now if I leave a wood pile unstacked too long a ground hog will certainly dig in under it.
The same theory worked on many large construction sites I have worked on. One job I recall, under the material hoist, they dumped large turnbuckles, lynch pins, clevises, pins, much of it galvanized. A literal bunch of good sized quality steel hardware, given the size of the hoist.A shameful waste I thought, so I would ask permission to dig in the dirt in my spare time, I still have 2 buckets and a pile of turnbuckles 20 yrs later LOL ! High strength astm 325 bolts for structural steel, scattered everywhere, I'd pick those up by the dozen and some of those are on my 850 ford tractor, connecting the loader to the rear frame and the tire rims, perfect fit.
Its not a good working height at all, well for me anyways, not sure about everyone else, but if that's what I had, then maybe I'd get the logs to it, cut, have the splitter elevated to a comfortable working height, use something to lift the blocks up to it. Split wood then goes to an adjacent pile, stack or in my case wheelbarrows, garden carts, that get staged where its stacked. Only reason is it just about eliminates bending over and I can literally work all day without discomfort.
I've rolled and maneuvered some 3'+ blocks to mine in the vertical position, on the ground, just to halve them, then tilt it back horizontal again to complete the work.
That would be my main concern anyway, working off the ground can be tough on ones back.
I've rolled and maneuvered some 3'+ blocks to mine in the vertical position, on the ground, just to halve them, then tilt it back horizontal again to complete the work.
That would be my main concern anyway, working off the ground can be tough on ones back.
old
Well-known Member
- Location
- Camdenton Missouri
Shoot most of the building I have including my shop are made from scrap iron and scrap roofing etc. My shop cost me less then $300 to build but has close to 10K in tools in it
Owen Aaland
Well-known Member
If you are going to build one you may as well go first class.
vertical/horizontal splitter
Splitter in action
vertical/horizontal splitter
Splitter in action
farmerwithmutt
Well-known Member
One other option is one with a lifting cradle attached to the side you roll the log on then it lifts hydraulic unto the splitter that way no bending over and no heavy lifting.
CenTex Farmall
Well-known Member
Well, you put your money on the right thing!
Looks like a good treasure pile to me.
Looks like a good treasure pile to me.
I have a horizontal/vertical set up. I only use the vert on really large pieces. Kill my back in no time messing with ground level stuff. Most of the wood blocks I split I grab with a pulp hook and split. We try not to let the wood touch the ground after picking it up the first time- right from the splitter to the stack. We use pulp hooks as much as possible, at least I do, saves a lot of time and problems with slivers and cuts.
On really big stuff I've found that even in the vertical position you spend a lot of time twisting thigns around to get to where a block will actually split. Elm is bad in that respect. We often have to take an axe to fibers holding the bock together and cut them. Quite a pain.
Stephen Newell
Well-known Member
A vertical machine is a pain to bend over at ground level and handle the logs. I have a Yard Machine log splitter that does both vertical and horizontal and I only use it in the vertical mode on the very largest logs usually in excess of 30" in diameter. Everything else is done horizontal.
MARK ROBKE
Well-known Member
That thing is the way to go!It hydraulically tilts,grabs the larger pieces that way,tilt back horizontal at an easy on the back height,and the cradles catch the pieces that need resplit.I put cradles on my 3 pt horizontal splitter to save so much bending over and it made a huge difference on my back.On large pieces I just lower the 3 pt,and roll the piece on,raise 3pt back to comfortable height,split,and the cradle catches the resplits.I had a vague idea of making one like this man did in the video,but he did it first class.Mark
Donald Lehman
Well-known Member
Vertical splitting is tougher than you may think. believe me, Bret and Steve know of what they speak. Either rip em down to sizes you can lift with a chain saw and maul, or built a hydraulic lift on your horizontal splitter.
37chief
Well-known Member
- Location
- California
Notice my stump I use to sit at. I could never bend over to use a vertical splitter, by back would not let me. Maybe if I were younger. Stan
Blackhole49
Well-known Member
- Location
- White Lake MI
And you wonder why you have neighbor troubles? True Soon hit the nail square!
old
Well-known Member
- Location
- Camdenton Missouri
Neighbor does not eve see this stuff and if he did he would go to jail as in criminal trespass
I built mine horizontal. It has a table that can be changed from side to side depending on what side I need to be working on (I put the table on the opposite side to catch pieces of wood). I have a small crane I can put on it with a boat trailer winch on it which I lift big logs with. Not as fast as a hydraulic lift. And a big feature to me was it has a moving wedge so the wood stays in front of me, not moving away as it is split. And the big one, it is made so I don't have to bend over, the top of the I beam is at a good working height.
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