Near-north Ontario, French River | Good point on the wedge,,, with that backing plate on the wedge the wood will deadhead against the plate before the split is complete. Could try trimming the plate, or better yet. redesign the wedge itself. Cut the current wedge off and fab one up for the fixed end of the splitter. Make the backing plate no wider than the wedge so that as the wood is pushed past the wedge it clears the splitter. Add a small 'deck' behind the wedge to catch the split pieces so that you dont have to have your hands near the moving bits as you work. Having said that, I think another part of the problem is the ram is too small in diameter, it simply can't develop much push. Most splitters I've see are at least 3" bore, a lot of times 4", the ram pictures appears to be 1.5" at best. Original builder probably used that ram, either because its what he had on hand, or to get a faster cycle time since the pump and motor are a bit on the small side. |
Wimpy log splitter
