Vertical log spliters????

I see guys building these vertical log splitters. I really do not see how they would be better other than the few LARGE blocks you could slide on the base. You have to bend over completely on every piece with it vertical. Just does not seem to be a back saver.

Mine is verticle. I put it on the three point on the 4020. It's nice to sit on a five gallon bucket and split, but I've done it for years and can see when a crotch piece will kick out. If anyone is helping I cut an 18 inch tall trunk piece and set the splitter on it to bring it up. At the end I put it back on the ground and roll the heavy stuff onto it. Lots of big hedge here - no way I would be lifting logs onto a splitting bed.

My log splitter is designed to operate horizontal or vertical. I prefer horizontal. I will say that one of the best things I added to my splitter is a cradle which greatly helps manage the splits.

Mine's both vertical and horizontal. For block that are small and easily picked up I'll use it horizontal but if the majority of the blocks are large, defined as heavy and awkward to lift, then I use it vertical. I take one block and set it to use as a seat then have the rest around the Seat. It is relatively easy to maneuver the blocks onto the base. You do have to regularly clear away the debris that accumulates. When the blocks are really BIG just move the seat out of the way and slide/maneuver the block/s onto the base and go. I have spilt 3 foot rounds that are impossible to get onto a horizontal table. I will admit that those really BIG blocks can be a pain since even 1/2 of one is still heavy.
It is still better than using wedges and a splitting maul.

What I have is a three wheel garden seat has tractor pan seat that pivots.Roll a few pieces on side loader bucket on other sit down and split them
traper

I like horizontal but if there's going to be big chunks I prefer vertical like on a tractor so I can move it up for the smaller pieces so I don't have to stoop over the whole time

Mine can be used both ways but I prefer vertical. Most of my logs are at least 18-24" diameter. I just sit on one and split the rest

I always thought that manhandling big blocks around for vertical was as more effort than simply ripping the blocks into a size that could be lifted to the horizontal bed. Takes a decent sized chain saw to rip maple, elm, and oak, though.

I have been doing it like "notjustair" for 40+ years.
Much of my wood is 9 to 20 inches diameter.
My working table is about 20 inches square and I really like that for spinning
blocks for the next split. I also cut my blocks fairly square.
I do 95% of my splitting by my self.

Great reply.
Way to split wood. .Make little ones out of bigguns.
LOU

The best answer is a horizontal splitter with a hydraulic powered lift to bring the big blocks up to the splitting beam

I was at my neighbors log yard and trying to figure out what a machine did. I could make out most of it but not all. mainly what it does is cut logs to specific lengths, any where from maybe 10 to twenty feet, depending on how you have it configured. Then he showed me how it is also a splitter. You sit up in the cab about ten feet off the ground, and the splitter sits beside it. You put a log of around 8-10 feet in the splitter with the cherry picker, actuate the splitter cycle, then go get another log with the cherry picker while the splitter cycles, then take anything from the outlet table of the splitter that is still to big and put it back on the splitter. He needs someone to run it, I may give it a try.

Like Bill said, a cradle is really handy. My machine will do both , but I would never use vertical....way too old for all the bending. I put the logs in my loader bucket, about waist high, & never have to bend over while loading the splitter. I split about 10 cords a yr.(never have any help).

I agree - the older I get, the less I like bending down. I actually added 6" of height to mine last year, so I could stand up straighter. I built a manual log lifter for the big stuff, but eventually it would be nice to make a hydraulic one.
Pete

As I used to do quite a bit of welding at the heavy equipment dealer I worked at, I built my own vertical/horizontal splitter. Built it just how I wanted it, heavy duty, to be used and abused. Put high speed trailer spindles on it with Ford Ranger aluminum wheels. Sits at the right height and rides smooth on the highway with 20 psi of air in the tires at 60 mph. I have split 68" white oak on it, setting it on the bottom plate in vertical position with a skidsteer. I have now decided that I am going to mount an electric winch on it to drag the heavy blocks into the beam in vertical position. I built my dad a horizontal one with a small boom and a winch for his big blocks. I will then add to mine an extra valve and a small hyd cylinder to tip the beam with the block on it back to the horizontal position. Mine has "wings" on the beam so no big deal there. Power for the winch you ask? Well, I made a bracket for an alternator the is belt driven off the hyd pump coupling that feeds power to a battery in a box on the frame. I came up with that to power work lights on my splitter for after dark work or to help navigate out of some tight areas in the woods after dark since the splitter is always hooked to my truck or a tractor. I usually don't get done in the woods and in my way home until well after dark, so I need any help I can get.

Ross

1st block is your seat (bring your boat cushion). Yeah, that would be a back killer if you tried to bend over all day. I split some big stuff - stuff you can't roll, much less lift.

RBoots- Thanks, I really like your ideas. I will be incorporating those into my splitter. My only heat source has been with wood.

Thanks again for the great improvements.

I have a 3 pt horizontal that if I can't lift a piece,I lower it to the ground,and roll the piece on and raise it back up to above waist high.Staying bent over is for the birds!And I don't see how you could be efficient sitting either;in fact it seems to me you can make more wood faster if your pieces are under 18". My stove needs small pieces so I split a lot anyway.When I split I want the ram moving all the time,splitting or return stroke-the engine is running-and I have baskets/cradles that catch the wood that needs re-split so I don't have to bend over again til the piece is completely split.If I have a helper,every piece gets tossed onto the wagon,and hauled in the barn for stacking.I may leave the last load on the wagon,if I don't need it,and burn it straight from the wagon.
Those automatic machines would never work on my wood-I always have forks,knots,and other irregularities to contend with.Mark

My log splitter is horizontal. I just hump the large logs up on the rail, and then I have only half the weight next time. I can't squat anymore. I even have a stool I sit at, to split wood. Stan

Hey Greg no problem. When I get to adding my tilt cylinder, I'll take some before and after pictures and post them here. Everyone seems to like looking at everyone else's stuff LOL

Ross

I've never used a vertical but I can see benefits to a vertical when a person is out in the woods with only a chain saw and splitter to work with and no means to lift a big chunk. During the last few years when I split I would load the hay rack up with long logs and park the horizontal splitter beside the hay rack. Then I would cut the logs into splitting length pieces that I could swing from the hay rack to the splitter. I would roll the really big ones onto the splitter using a board as a ramp.