Howdy Professor
I too am planning my splitter build. Since I have one that my grandpa built I have been taking my time and looking around and trying to figure out just what I want. Grandpa's was built using a drop axle and while it works good I am always bent over using and is a pain in the back. So work height is a very important factor!
Mine will also discharge the wood out the back. With Grandpa's it discharges towards the hitch and you have to move all the wood before you move the splitter. It will have a box wedge like a TW-7. Which is really nice since all the wood coming out is fully sized and the remainder of the wood sits on top of the wedge and after you retract the ram you pull the block of wood back and drop it on the beam with no lifting and run it through again. The only draw back it you have to fully extend the ram each time. But it will allow me to make a shoot on the back of the wedge (like on the discharge end of a square baler) that will lift the split wood higher so I can split a lot before having to move the splitter or I can put a hitch on the back of the splitter pull a trailer and have it drop the wood on a trailer if I am doing a lot of small piles in the woods.
The beam is going to be offset on the trailer so I can mount a operators chair on it but the controls will be set up so it is comfortable using standing or sitting. It is going to be powered by a 13.7 hp two cylinder Perkins diesel. And I have a 5x24 cylinder for it. Since the engine has a 60 amp alternator on it I am also going to put a 3500 watt power inverter on it for 110v power. And I have a electric V-belt clutch that will run a air compressor.
Its going to be a really cool project but I am not going to start on it until middle of this winter.
You might want to look at the video for the TW-7 http://www.timberwolfcorp.com/log_splitters/default.asp?id=13
Billy
I too am planning my splitter build. Since I have one that my grandpa built I have been taking my time and looking around and trying to figure out just what I want. Grandpa's was built using a drop axle and while it works good I am always bent over using and is a pain in the back. So work height is a very important factor!
Mine will also discharge the wood out the back. With Grandpa's it discharges towards the hitch and you have to move all the wood before you move the splitter. It will have a box wedge like a TW-7. Which is really nice since all the wood coming out is fully sized and the remainder of the wood sits on top of the wedge and after you retract the ram you pull the block of wood back and drop it on the beam with no lifting and run it through again. The only draw back it you have to fully extend the ram each time. But it will allow me to make a shoot on the back of the wedge (like on the discharge end of a square baler) that will lift the split wood higher so I can split a lot before having to move the splitter or I can put a hitch on the back of the splitter pull a trailer and have it drop the wood on a trailer if I am doing a lot of small piles in the woods.
The beam is going to be offset on the trailer so I can mount a operators chair on it but the controls will be set up so it is comfortable using standing or sitting. It is going to be powered by a 13.7 hp two cylinder Perkins diesel. And I have a 5x24 cylinder for it. Since the engine has a 60 amp alternator on it I am also going to put a 3500 watt power inverter on it for 110v power. And I have a electric V-belt clutch that will run a air compressor.
Its going to be a really cool project but I am not going to start on it until middle of this winter.
You might want to look at the video for the TW-7 http://www.timberwolfcorp.com/log_splitters/default.asp?id=13
Billy
