Worst log splitter ever built??

Since there's been various posts on log splitters - I figured I'd post this "work of art."

I dragged it out of my field a few weeks ago. I built it almost 40 years ago. I had no money at the time -so I built it from scrap parts at the John Deere dealership I worked at. Entire splitter was patched together from - a piece of railroad track, hydraulic pump, valve, tank/filter setup and 4" cylinder from a John Deere 350 crawler-loader. Even the splitting wedge was fabricated from two Deere 350 bulldozer track-pads. Engine came from a 7 horse model 800 Bolens garden tractor.
Cessna 23 GPM pump got a huge pulley welded to the shaft to "gear it down." Believe it or not, the thing worked and I used it for over 10 years before I retired it to my field. Not sure if I should be amazed or disgusted. I hadn't looked close at it for years.

I dragged it to my shop because I'm going to rework it a bit and try to make a small track press out of it.

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Belt drive setup . .

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Wedge made from two 350 dozer pads . .

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"Convertible" push block. Slides off for splitting extra long wood . .

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Pretty inventive I think, hey it worked right?? Did u have ur model 500 wood stove back then, for the longer peices?? I got a used 500 last fall, not using any oil at all now.

The worst was one I saw (and tried to forget very rapidly) it was a steel wheel, with lugs removed, from a old tractor mounted on an axle, the spokes were filled with concrete, and it was powered by a hit and miss 4 Hp engine. It had a wedge welded to the outer "tire" facing in the direction of motion.
There was a platform that was used to stand a log on such that when the wheel wedge came around it would slam into the log and split it. The ---operator--- had to time the placement of the log as the wheel didn't stop turning. It appeared to turn once per 1.5 seconds. There sure were no guards or safety devices involved. I call that thing BAD. yours is just opportunistic engineering. Jim

I think I seen that on you tube! Ya scary.

Well, if it works, who cares how it looks?

Worst log splitter I ever used had a 30" wooden handle and "Plumb" stamped on the head. I powered that sucker for years until I got fed up and built a slick splitter I operated off the high pressure hydraulic system I built on my JD H.
Funny thing is Dad never powered that "Plumb" splitter again after I built my hydraulic one. Call it age and maturity but I burn all my wood from 40 pound bags now!

Nothing wrong with cobbling together some old parts to make something useful. And it obviously was useful if it worked for you for ten years. I enjoy seeing that kind of stuff. It's inginuity at it's best! What I DON'T enjoy is listening to someone brag up something he merely wrote a check for and brought home! Just my little editorial opinion. LOL. Jim

you should enter the rube goldburg contest...LOL

It's ugly but better than a maul and wedges. Would of like to had something like that when I was a kid rather than the wedges. Some how or another we got a bunch of Elm, it didn't split well. Got a bunch of odd trees off the golf course some of them were the devil to split, had a kind of "twisty" grain. Pieces looked like cork screws, think a lot of it ended up burnt in the brush pile.

The designer was sleeping through Structural Design 101!

Ya gotter done with what you had!

If Ihad to split t wood for that length, I'd say you had done well.


D.

looks a lot safer than the cone screw u method ... very dangerous ,, i have often wondered if the cone killed people ?,,. does anyone know ?

Form follows function, it worked for you and sure didn't cost much. Still a whole bunch better than a maul, especially on some gnarly old elm.

Maybe it won't win a beauty contest, but if you used it for 10 years, must be good splitter. Sure beats the sledge and wedges.

Rick

It's not pretty but is robust. Even the moving V belt is buried out of casual reach.

Pretty sure I saw one of those some years ago at the Albany MN show, sans any concrete fill. Had about a six foot diameter wheel, belted to a tractor. Yeah, the table had a "V" opening to let the wedge pass through, so not much of a table to set the log on upright. Very wicked, unforgiving machine.

My feelings,exactly!Anybody with enough money can 'have' anything.the real treasure is the 'homemade'.A true"silk purse out of a sow's ear"

He-- Jde. Didn't know RED GREEN was so instrumental in your design. Where's the duct tape??lol.Your log splitter is a masterpiece in structural design from the stone age.lol Really is a better form of splitting than with a maul and a set of wedgies. I wish I was as smart and creative as you are with your junk stuff. My son and I built our splitter from boughten parts and we made it with out prints=kits- store bought etc. Yours works for you as ours does for us.Items like this doesn't have to win a beauty contest, only be made to do the work. Love the pictures. Regards LOU.

The one I seen on you tube that was built out of a Jd BALER !!! The guy put a plate on the plunger and a wedge on the other end and this thing was running at 540 off the pto.. Just looking at it scared the sh!@ out of me and to watch him use it was nuts. I'm sure by now he doesn't have any hands left.


But to answer the question I have one called FRANKENSPLITTER!!!!!

good job. You would be like the professor on gilligans island,you can build or fix just about anything,I would be gilligan, Im about as dumb as a rosk when it comes to fixing stff

I should've used a heavier I beam like you did.
The engine is a Craftsman Tecumseh 10hp. I built it in 1981. Hal

Worst lookin one I ever saw, I pulled out of the woods, on an elderly customer's lawn, at his estate sale. It was made from the back half of a vw bug, using the bug motor to run the pump. Need I say more? I think somebody paid like $150-200 at the auction I took it to!

That, sir, is a work of art!

You should be proud of that thing, not ashamed of it.

It doesn't look bad to me.It looks like it accomplished the job.

I just watched a old 14t baler guy made into a splitter, the gear broke in it, if that's the same video, ya that was scary looking , you slip near that and your in trouble!

Still not as bad as that new DR rack and pinion mechanical drive job that came out,according to the small engine guy in town.

When I burned wood, I don't now, I learned early on that it was a lot easier to cut only what would fit into the stove. The wood lot that I had was hard maple about two to six inches so I didn't need to split any. It sure saved a lot of work. If I cut anything bigger it went on the saw mill for something that I needed.