I done ordered myself a wood splitter

[USMC615]

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Powder coating is done! The purple is excellent. Pink didn't quite come out how we hoped. Of course they offered to redo it or give me a discount on the orange. It's a tough call, but i think the orange looks good, and I get to pick it up this weekend instead of waiting a little longer. Saturday morning I'm headed back to Wolfe Ridge's shop to retrieve my new splitter!

Looking good...nice welds in the previous pics!

 

[Ryan Browne]

 

[Dub11]

View attachment 69781

Now you need some purple on the tractor.

 

[old guy]

Looks good Ryan, looks like enuff oil tank.

 

[Ryan Browne]

Quite a day today! Got on the road early to pick up the splitter. Got it home and unloaded before lunch and then threw my canoe and a kayak in the truck and spent a couple hours on the river with my lovely wife and a few friends. Got home, made some dinner and then went out and finished hooking up the splitter.

Got the pump plumbed and the tank filled with oil about 25 minutes before sunset. My buddy Cory came over to help me set it up and of course we had to test it out. Obviously I'll need to spend some more time with it to really get a feel for it, but so far I'm very impressed!

At a comfortable engine speed of 1800 RPM on the tractor the cylinder makes a complete 36" cycle in 22 seconds. Up the throttle to 2500 RPM and the cycle time drops to 16 seconds. My Kubota doesn't hit 540 PTO RPM until 2700 engine RPM, so I could get it a little faster, but so far I have no complaints about the speed, and I like splitting wood and being able to have a conversation at the same time. Not having a screaming motor next to me was a big part of getting a three point splitter.

We split maybe a third or half of a cord before it got dark and had ourselves a great time. At the end Cory said he felt like we hadn't hardly done anything . I'd like to spend an hour using it tomorrow, but it is mother's day, so that might not be in the cards. Hopefully Monday afternoon!

 

[mels]

Update!

 

[Time's Standing Stihl]

Update!

With video!

 

[Ryan Browne]

Update!

With video!

Good idea. Thanks for the reminder. Actually, my wife shot a quick video the last time we used it. I'll get it uploaded and try to jot down some thoughts this afternoon.

 

[USMC615]

Good looking splitter Ryan...glad it's working out for ya!

 

[Ryan Browne]

Okay, well the video is on my wife's phone. She's at the farmers market today, so I'll have to put it up later, but i just parked my daughter's stroller right next to the splitter, so i can ramble for a while until the end of naptime.

So, about the splitter: it sure beats swinging a maul, as my friend Marc put it. I've never used a splitter other than a typical 22 ton wedge-on-ram type before. All I can say is that those things are toys compared to the real deal. Sorry, I don't mean any offense, and if a guy only needs 5 cords a year, one of those is probably more than enough machine for the job. In my case, however, I really appreciate the advantages of the longer cylinder, the 4-way wedge, the wedge on beam design, the work table, the auto cycle, and the faster cycle time. In my opinion, the tool I bought was an excellent value, given the amount of wood I split annually.


Regarding the design, overall I'm very happy. The plumbing and components seem to be good quality. The valve and cylinders are plumbed with "hard" 90° fittings. I'm not sure if the cycle time would improve with swept fittings or 45s, but it's something I've been meaning to ask Chris about. Also, with 20 gallons of oil in the tank, after splitting for an hour or so during summer weather, the oil gets to 140F or more. I'm gonna add another couple gallons to see if that helps, but I wonder if the 90s are causing extra heat. Another thing, if I were ordering again, I'd be interested to know how much more a cylinder with a 3.5" rod would cost. This splitter is pretty quick, but if I'm right next to the rounds, I do find myself waiting on the return stroke, so a little faster would be appreciated. Honestly, I'm guessing it would have been more than I wanted to spend.

As far as using the splitter, I have zero complaints. I LOVE the auto cycle. I LOVE the auto cycle. I thought I'd type it twice so people might get an idea for how much I love the autocycle. Oh, I guess that's three times . Most of what I'm splitting, especially the 32" lengths only need to go through the 4-way once. I toss a round on the beam, knock the levers forward and start looking for the next piece to grab with my pickaroon. Next thing you know, there's a big pile of wood built up at the end of the table. Being 3 point mounted is great for my application. Yes, there's downsides also, namely that there's times I might use the splitter for half an hour, but I don't because I'd have to hook it up. Honestly though, it just means I need to plan things a little more, and it's always good to have an excuse to start looking for another tractor someday .

The advantages of being three point mounted, in my opinion anyway, are huge. For one thing, it's easy to hop on and reposition the splitter. Also, I can adjust the height, forward and backward tilt, and sideways tilt as needed. Best of all, it's quiet. Really quiet compared to an air cooled 4-stroke. Like, no ear protection, get to have a conversation if you want to quiet. I REALLY appreciate that part of it. I don't know what the Hondas that he usually uses burn in an hour, but this thing doesn't tax my little tractor. I'll have to do some better testing this winter when I can use it a little more, but I don't think I'm using more than 3 quarts of fuel in an hour. That's on my little New Holland, which is very miserly. I'm sure it'll be more like a gallon per hour on the Kubota.

The New Holland runs it great, and it's quieter, but I'm HP limited. Because the pump is a single stage, I can only run the relief valve at about 1750 psi or I can stall the tractor. I've only run into a couple pieces that wouldn't go through the 4-way at that setting, but I may set it up on the Kubota if I have a bunch of nasty pieces to split.

Let's see... I can't think of anything else to mention right now. I've put maybe 12-15 cords through it so far. Mostly white oak, but some red oak, ash, butternut, hickory, American elm, and pine also. The splitter doesn't seem to care. I love that the ram never slows down because of the one stage pump. Oh, that's one thing I'd like to add: a chain hook on the back of the push block. That way if something doesn't split I can yank it back off the wedge instead of having to get creative to remove it.

Okay, enough rambling. Here's some pictures:

 

[mncutter]

Looks like an awesome machine that is build to last.

 

[Ryan Browne]

Here's the video:

 

[hseII]

Here's the video:

What is the 2nd lever for?

Pic of the 3 point hitch mount please.

 

[Ryan Browne]

What is the 2nd lever for?

Pic of the 3 point hitch mount please.

It's how the autocycle valve works. First lever extends the ram. Second lever retracts it. Knock them both into detent and it fully extends, then the first lever returns to neutral and the ram retracts. Once it is fully retracted the second lever returns to neutral. The first lever can also retract the ram if you pull it back, so you can just use it that way if you'd like, but it doesn't detent there.

I'll grab a couple pics later this morning.

 

[hseII]

It's how the autocycle valve works. First lever extends the ram. Second lever retracts it. Knock them both into detent and it fully extends, then the first lever returns to neutral and the ram retracts. Once it is fully retracted the second lever returns to neutral.

I'll grab a couple pics later this morning.

I ask because I want to build something similar, but I want mine Kubota Orange. [emoji41]

 

[Ryan Browne]

I ask because I want to build something similar, but I want mine Kubota Orange. [emoji41]

Nice. I don't know how sophisticated you're gonna get with your paint job, but if you didn't already know, Rustoleum Lobster Red is just about a perfect match for Kubota Orange.

 

[hseII]

Nice. I don't know how sophisticated you're gonna get with your paint job, but if you didn't already know, Rustoleum Lobster Red is just about a perfect match for Kubota Orange.

I suppose it does look red...

Do You have a ballpark idea what the powder coating coat for yours? Did they break it down?

 

[Ryan Browne]

I suppose it does look red...

Do You have a ballpark idea what the powder coating coat for yours? Did they break it down?

I don't know what they charged for that. I do know that the optional second color cost $160 (except that it didn't turn out pink, so i got a discount). Black would have been free. Their shop is in the same building as the powder coat shop, so I suppose that helps keep the cost down.

Edited to add: the lobster red isn't very red. They'd might as well call is "Budget Kubota Orange".

 

[Cigmaker]

Here's the video:

Wow! That is one nice piece of equipment you have. I can see where that auto cycle is about something.

 

[darkimpulse]

Awesome spiltter, looks really well thought out design wise. Keep us updated and congratulations!