# My log splitter seems more dangerous than my chainsaw.....



## fire_man (Dec 19, 2009)

I've used a chainsaw frequently over the last 10 years and never once had an incident. I just bought a 27 ton Log Splitter and TWICE today had bad incidents. The first time I was splitting a 20 inch diameter twisted birtch log and the splitter was straining and building pressure and all of a sudden BAM! both halves went shooting like a missile in a V shape over 5 feet from the splitter! They both missed me but could have done SERIOUS bodily damage. An hour later I was splitting a  small piece of oak and the splitter never hesitated but all of a sudden BAM! one half shot straight into the worst part of me you can imagine (Yup, below the belt!). I was yelping like a wild maniac. What's the deal with this exploding wood?? - is it happening because the wood has been frozen  at 15 degrees for the last 4 days or is this typical? Does everybody  wear an athletic  cup and body armor when operating these things? Just looking for advice before I loose a body part....


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## wendell (Dec 20, 2009)

Sounds like you better start splitting elm. It's the wood version of safety chain.  ;-) 

Actually, my splitter concerns me more than my saws. When you are cutting, you're paying 100% attention when the saw is running. With a splitter, after a couple hours it's easy to let your mind start wandering and have a finger where it shouldn't be.

And now, I gotta start worrying about exploding wood.  :lol:


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## thewoodlands (Dec 20, 2009)

fire_man said:
			
		

> I've used a chainsaw frequently over the last 10 years and never once had an incident. I just bought a 27 ton Log Splitter and TWICE today had bad incidents. The first time I was splitting a 20 inch diameter twisted birtch log and the splitter was straining and building pressure and all of a sudden BAM! both halves went shooting like a missile in a V shape over 5 feet from the splitter! They both missed me but could have done SERIOUS bodily damage. An hour later I was splitting a  small piece of oak and the splitter never hesitated but all of a sudden BAM! one half shot straight into the worst part of me you can imagine (Yup, below the belt!). I was yelping like a wild maniac. What's the deal with this exploding wood?? - is it happening because the wood has been frozen  at 15 degrees for the last 4 days or is this typical? Does everybody  wear an athletic  cup and body armor when operating these things? Just looking for advice before I loose a body part....



I resplit some cherry tonight (went good) resplit some hard maple and had a few pop off but nothing like yours.  Can you split vertical?

zap


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## fire_man (Dec 20, 2009)

zapny said:
			
		

> fire_man said:
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I can split vertical and thought of doing that, but leaning down that low for so long is a killer on my back. I split vertical for the huge ones, horizontal for the rest. I think I'm gonna go looking for some body armor.


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## wendell (Dec 20, 2009)

fire_man said:
			
		

> I can split vertical and thought of doing that, *but leaning down that low for so long* is a killer on my back. I split vertical for the huge ones, horizontal for the rest. I think I'm gonna go looking for some body armor.



Grab a milk crate, have a seat, and split away. I don't think you're supposed to lean over while you are splitting vertical.  ;-)


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## lobsta1 (Dec 20, 2009)

The past few days I have been processing the load of 4' diameter logs the city dropped off. Mostly oak & the rest I think is cherry. I always split vertical. Just grab a chunk to sit on. A big advantage is most of the grenades go sideways, not to the front where you are sitting. The thing I was amazed at was how many of the chunks exploded & went flying. I cut most of the big stuff at 12 > 14". So even though the sections were wide, they were not long (tall).  If at all possible on the exploding chunks, on the succeeding splits I would turn them 90 degrees & usually the splits would just peel off. I'm 61 years old & don't have the healthiest back either & with the size of the logs I usually get, I don't even consider splitting horizontal. 

The other thing that amazed me was how many limb stubs were completely buried inside the chunks. What on the outside looked like a nice straight grained chunk, when put in the splitter came out worse than elm. It was incredible how much shredded wheat I produced. I am also pleased that all of the wood is clean. No rot & no ants. At least on the first 2/3 I have processed so far.


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## Tony H (Dec 20, 2009)

yes indeed the splitter can hurt you , my favorite is when a orund is not square  and the splitter spits it our with massive force. Glad I have never felt one of those


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## Oldmainer (Dec 20, 2009)

Ayup...you'll catch one in the crotch now and again....been there and done that over the years... Thats one of the problems of splittin' wood in the winter time. You'll get the feel for it and step to the side alittle when you get those pieces on the splitter. Even more dangerous is the hand not runnin' the controls...you forget where it's at one time and you will take a trip to the hospital... Franklin


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## SWI Don (Dec 20, 2009)

Horizontal only splitters (wedge on beam) generally do not send exploding wood at your jewels.  They are sent away from you.  

Now any help you might have stacking needs too be alert as they are in the danger zone.  I have sent pieces 10' or better.

Don


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## Backwoods Savage (Dec 20, 2009)

fire_man said:
			
		

> zapny said:
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It is not the log splitter that is at fault any more than a chain saw. It is operator error.

Your last quote says it all:  I can split veritcal but leaning down..... You just pin pointed your whole problem.  Look at the picture below:







Notice that the fella is not bending down while splitting wood. He is not even standing! I know this man quite well and have known him for years and I also know he has used that particular splitter over 20 years and has never considered any safety gear other than the ear covers to quiet the thing down a bit..

If and when a split goes flying, it will always go sideways. Somehow that seems to tell me to never stand beside of a log while splitting nor have anyone else stand there unless they don't mind being stung if one goes flying.

Always splitting in the vertical mode means you work only half as hard as you do if you are splitting in horizontal mode. Simply put, splitting vertically you never have to lift the log but if you do it horizontally, you lift every piece. 

Sitting down lets the body rest even more! Also, by sitting you don't have to worry about something flying off and catching you in a bad spot; it simply will not hit you.

Like the man pictured, you can split wood for hours on end and never even work up a sweat. That is how splitting wood should be done. You bought that machine to save you some work. Now it is up to you to let that machine do the work. You only have to learn how that is best done and it is best done in the vertical position so that you never have to lift any logs nor worry about any flying chunks.

Another thing is that you don't always have to let that ram go all the way down and then all the way back up before doing the next split. On some woods, like ash for example, you can usually split the log by pushing the ram into the wood only an inch or two. Raise it back up but not all the way. Otherwise you sit there waiting for the ram to cycle. This just speeds things up in case you do want to break out in a sweat.


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## wendell (Dec 20, 2009)

One of these days, Dennis, we need to see a picture of you where you are smiling.


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## fire_man (Dec 20, 2009)

Thanks for all the great responses to my original post. Great Picture - Backwoods Savage - it says it all. The consensus seems to be to split vertical. I didn't have the exploding wood problem before the wood froze solid so I think that was at least some of the problem. And more than one post mentioned not to get complacent about where all your fingers are at all times. That's got to be a nasty way to get hurt, either getting your finger pinched in a split  or somehow crushed.


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## LLigetfa (Dec 20, 2009)

SWI Don said:
			
		

> Horizontal only splitters (wedge on beam) generally do not send exploding wood at your jewels.


I cannot help but notice the proximity of Dennis' jewels WRT that big round that could "POP".


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## Backwoods Savage (Dec 21, 2009)

Hey Wendell, I do smile. She just caught me off guard with that shot. lol  She read these posts and the first thing she said was to have some nice looking good chested lady walk through and I'm all smiles! 


LLigetfa, worry not. The family jewels are safe.


Fire_man, you are right about watching where your fingers are is a good thing to do, but once again, if those splits pop, they will go sideways and not at me when I am splitting. As for the wood being froze and causing more of that, I don't think so. 

The only time I've been stung was one time splitting kindling. I did not have my full attention (wrong thing to do!) and paid with a little sting on one leg when a slice popped. My foot was not back as it should have been but I had the leg stretched out. It did not break skin; just stung. We laughed but you can bet I paid closer attention after that. I have had a few pop but as stated, they always go sideways. If the operator wants to stand beside the splitter, then he just might get punched a time or two. It usually doesn't take long to learn.


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## firefighterjake (Dec 21, 2009)

fire_man said:
			
		

> Thanks for all the great responses to my original post. Great Picture - Backwoods Savage - it says it all. The consensus seems to be to split vertical. I didn't have the exploding wood problem before the wood froze solid so I think that was at least some of the problem. And more than one post mentioned not to get complacent about where all your fingers are at all times. That's got to be a nasty way to get hurt, either getting your finger pinched in a split  or somehow crushed.



I don't necessarily think you should only split vertically . . . I really prefer to split horizontally . . . but that said, you learn quickly to stand back behind the ram and be aware of where the wood may go and how it may behave based on the species, knots, etc.


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## Backwoods Savage (Dec 21, 2009)

Or to make it easier Jake, sit back and remember that wood will go sideways when split.


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## smokinj (Dec 21, 2009)

knuckles and crotches I will saw through anymore.


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## ccwhite (Dec 22, 2009)

My splitter is horizontal only and I've never had a "bad" pop. I've had a few pop but never go flying. When I built the splitter I decided ahead of time I had no interest in splitting vertical and have no regrets.


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## firefighterjake (Dec 22, 2009)

Backwoods Savage said:
			
		

> Or to make it easier Jake, sit back and remember that wood will go sideways when split.



Now Dennis . . . you know you and I have agreed to disagree on the best way to split . . . you still insist on doing the sit and vertical split and I still insist on walking upright and going horizontal . . . perhaps during this time of year of peace and holiday wishes we can both agree that both vertical and horizontal splitting is fine . . . and usually much easier than swinging an ax or maul.


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## Backwoods Savage (Dec 22, 2009)

Okay Jake. Maybe just this one time, at least for a day.  lol    I have to admit there are some things that I'd much rather do in the horizontal position, but I still will do the splitting vertically and try to stay away from the axe and maul as much as possible. Those tools are not kind to the back, but I do have to swing them every now and then just for old time's sake.


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## Jags (Dec 22, 2009)

To the OP.  I am gonna ruffle a few feathers here, but somebody has to do it. :lol: 

You are dealing with 2 issues that are common to many splitters.  One is: a vert/horz. splitter has the wedge in the wrong dang spot.  They HAVE to do this for vertical operation.  Its just the design.  Unfortunately, you have found out (the hard way) that very important things are located in close proximity to the wedge because of this design.  Just the nature of the beast if you want a vert/horz machine.  As Dennis has demonstrated, it can be overcome with your method of splitting.

Next: Most splitters on the market are built tough and will do the job for many-o-year...but - some of the engineering allows them to use beams that will flex or "load" under pressure.  There is only one way to correct this - use a stronger beam.  Of course costs increase, weight increase, profits decrease, blah, blah, blah. So the functional (yet marginal) beam stays.  Your popping is coming from the beam snapping back into place after the pressure is released (violently).  Its the same "stresses" that allows you to shoot a rubber band across a room.  Again, unless you are willing to get out the welder and re-engineer the splitter, there really is little that you can do about it.  Plan for it.  Stay behind the wedge as much as possible when in the horizontal mode.

Yep, splitters can be dangerous.  Running engines.  Many tons of hydraulic pressure.  Pinch points. Noise. Flying wood, etc.  Learn the machine and make it work for you.  But above all - BE SAFE.


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## LLigetfa (Dec 22, 2009)

Even with the horizontal wedge on ram design, I have to wonder why someone would be standing between the base and the wedge where a wood projectile could hit them.  I stand up by the control valve not down by the base or the wedge.  Mind you I have long arms like an ape so I don't need to get up close and personal.

I've seen some real silly designs where they put the engine on the same side as the operator and even direct the hot exhaust toward the operator.  I suppose in that case, subjecting one's gonads to risk or to hot exhaust could be a tough choice.

That said, I have never had wood pop with enough force to hurt.  I have to wonder if there may be some air trapped in the cylinder to store that much energy.


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## TreePapa (Dec 28, 2009)

I've told this story here before. I rented a hortz. only splitter a few years ago and sat next to the beam (and the wood) while splitting, sometimes carefully guiding the logs until the wedge "bit." I was very careful ... about my hands. I was splitting scrounged wood that other people cut, and much of it they didn't cut at a 90-deg angle (tree guys around here seem to favor about a 70-deg angle sometimes). I think the "offending" eukie log was about 6 or 8 in in diameter and approx. 20 in. long. Both ends cut at an angle. I'm sitting next to the beam, pulling the lever w/ my right hand and POP ! ... in this case, the wood didn't explode, it slipped, and flew off the splitter at high velocity - right into my left shin. F'd up not only my shin but my ankle too. Nothing broken, but I was on crutches for about two weeks and a cane for a few weeks after that. It hurt like a mo-fo.

Since then, I only rent vert. splitters, I operate them in the vert. mode only, and I stand BEHIND the beam when splitting. I figger the wood can explode (I have had wood "explode" ... just hasn't hit me) or slip in any direction, but if I am behind the beam, it will hit the beam, not me. Yes, it's a lot more work. No, I have been injured splitting wood since. Loading wood is another story.

Oh, and I leave the pieces with two angled faces for "Yule Logs" or yard deco if I can't safely trim the ends.

Peace,
- Sequoia


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