Excavator Splitter

[Dustin4185]

We have a new Bobcat E60 at work. We’ve been using it for cutting/loading/bucking logs for firewood at the shop and I went down the rabbit hole looking for a splitter for it. It would be nice to sit in the cab with the heat or A/C cranking splitting the big stuff. Much easier than using our old Huskee splitter. Has anyone had any experience with these? Split-Fire keeps popping up and theirs is a two way wedge so it splits in extend and retract. Any first hand knowledge on these types of splitters would be great!

 

[Riftweaver]

Built one with a 5" ram. Mounted it all to a backing plate and then use the hydro from the mini ex. It's a real handy piece of kit if you have somebody that is a talented operator. Ours is just a one way splitter but due to the hydro on the ex, it extends and retracts quite quickly. The bonus is that they are no where near as complex as regular splitters. I can't tell much more than that, sorry.

 

[Woodpecker]

I don’t have any experience with excavator mounted splitters specifically. I do however have experience with a couple different spitfire splitter models. In short they are top notch quality built machines. I bet the excavator mounted unit is as well.

 

[Dustin4185]

Built one with a 5" ram. Mounted it all to a backing plate and then use the hydro from the mini ex. It's a real handy piece of kit if you have somebody that is a talented operator. Ours is just a one way splitter but due to the hydro on the ex, it extends and retracts quite quickly. The bonus is that they are no where near as complex as regular splitters. I can't tell much more than that, sorry.

I’ve debated welding one up myself. I’ve built a three pint hitch one at another location. I may be able to snag it and just modify.

 

[jblnut]

I looked into a SplitFire but didn’t like how bulky they are. They look to be built really well and in a more open area than what I split in I’m sure they’d be great. I ended up purchasing a Brigg Innovation splitter for my Bobcat 331E a few years back and really like it. I’m into it for a shade over $4k shipped to Central MN. Here I am splitting in pouring rain and sitting nice and dry in the cab. Gotta love it.


Quick cycle times and it splits anything I put into it. Really like that I can load a trailer or stack a tall pile with the last split. If I had to guess I’d say it’s split close to 100 cord since I got it. I split 20ish for myself a year and two neighbors each split 15ish a year.



That being said …. I’m looking into a larger machine (15-18k) and want to build a simple splitter like the guy on Dig Drive DIY did.