What have you done to or with your splitter today?

[Todd67]

It's the same design as my County Line splitter and it's never been an issue keeping it clean, seven years and counting. I split a variety of hard & soft wood, storm damaged trees, dead trees, it's never created any problems. I'm glad those clean-out holes are there, no doubt!

 

[VirginiaIron]

It's the same design as my County Line splitter and it's never been an issue keeping it clean, seven years and counting. I split a variety of hard & soft wood, storm damaged trees, dead trees, it's never created any problems. I'm glad those clean-out holes are there, no doubt!

My Champion has it also. I prefer the slide over the beam on my other splitter since there is no concern. I do think this design is stronger since the design essentially doubles the thickness of the beam to reduce torquing. Mine is easy to clean also but it is not self cleaning. One Champion I looked at the night I purchased this unit was deficient with welds in area.

 

[Todd67]

I've never compared the different designs, I thought they were all fairly similar.

 

[Jags]

Ashful - “hasn’t really caused me any trouble”

Oh - I understand. Its not a deal breaker. And takes only a moment or two of time to clean, but its the basic fact that it was designed knowing this was now an added “attention point”. I will bet at some point, more than one has had a chunk wedged in there so hard it wasn’t an “easy” removal.

Tongue in cheek....
If your splitter was designed that it required you to check tire pressure before you could even start the machine, would that be a big deal? Arguably there is positive results from doing so and probably wouldn’t take any longer to check tire pressure than to clean out the groove in discussion, but I for one wouldn’t like that added design “feature”. The less I need to think, the better off I am.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Well what i did with my splitter yesterday was... bust up some uglies and then burned them.. while watching football.. eatting snacks

 

[jaoneill]

Yesterday - I split a trailer load of 18" maple rounds that should have been split four years ago. Most of it starting to go funky
sure did split easy.....

 

[Ashful]

Ashful - “hasn’t really caused me any trouble”

Oh - I understand. Its not a deal breaker. And takes only a moment or two of time to clean, but its the basic fact that it was designed knowing this was now an added “attention point”. I will bet at some point, more than one has had a chunk wedged in there so hard it wasn’t an “easy” removal.

Tongue in cheek....
If your splitter was designed that it required you to check tire pressure before you could even start the machine, would that be a big deal? Arguably there is positive results from doing so and probably wouldn’t take any longer to check tire pressure than to clean out the groove in discussion, but I for one wouldn’t like that added design “feature”. The less I need to think, the better off I am.

Actually, I was thinking about this, and putting a 3/4” or 1” hole in the foot plate that corresponds to this debris-trapping point, would not really compromise the design strength at all. That way, the channel could still be welded all around it’s perimeter to the foot plate, but the debris could just push out thru the hole at the end of the channel. It would be an end to this issue, but none I’ve seen are currently doing this.

 

[maple1]

I don't think much debris would go through a 3/4" or 1" hole.

 

[VirginiaIron]

Actually, I was thinking about this, and putting a 3/4” or 1” hole in the foot plate that corresponds to this debris-trapping point, would not really compromise the design strength at all. That way, the channel could still be welded all around it’s perimeter to the foot plate, but the debris could just push out thru the hole at the end of the channel. It would be an end to this issue, but none I’ve seen are currently doing this.

All the new units with this design, that I have seen, incorporate two oblong holes.

 

[Ashful]

I don't think much debris would go through a 3/4" or 1" hole.

If it’s not small enough to go thru that hole, then it wouldn’t be trapped in that groove, in the first place. The stuff that gets caught in mine is like compressed mulch, I see no reason it wouldn’t extrude thru a pair of holes, given 22 tons of applied force.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

All the new units with this design, that I have seen, incorporate two oblong holes.

I have debris holes in my splitters.. i like it..

 

[Ashful]

All the new units with this design, that I have seen, incorporate two oblong holes.

Mine has these, but they're not in the direction of the force that causes the accumulation. They're in the "bottom" of the channel, with the splitter horizontal, not the end of the channel.

 

[maple1]

If it’s not small enough to go thru that hole, then it wouldn’t be trapped in that groove, in the first place. The stuff that gets caught in mine is like compressed mulch, I see no reason it wouldn’t extrude thru a pair of holes, given 22 tons of applied force.

I could see it just wadding up. Then building up.

 

[Ashful]

I could see it just wadding up. Then building up.

Maybe. Now someone needs to try it. [emoji851]

 

[VirginiaIron]

I could see it just wadding up. Then building up.

Maybe. Now someone needs to try it. [emoji851]

When I tried my Champion out, some of the debris would escape from these holes. BUT, the revelation only came after I observed a tremendous buildup at that location. This condition prompted the removing the debris and, for me, now necessitates a concious awairness of the potential buildup.

 

[Ashful]

My wood must be cleaner.

I have put at least 40 cords thru my splitter, usually at the rate of about 1 cord per day, and have never had any issue with troublesome build-up, there. Yes, some material compacts there, but I just leverage it out with the scrench at the end of the day, before tossing the cover back over the splitter. It has never been an issue, for me.

 

[VirginiaIron]

My wood must be cleaner.

I have put at least 40 cords thru my splitter, usually at the rate of about 1 cord per day, and have never had any issue with troublesome build-up, there. Yes, some material compacts there, but I just leverage it out with the scrench at the end of the day, before tossing the cover back over the splitter. It has never been an issue, for me.

I think the amount of debris is conversely affected by the speed of the ram. More speed = less debris.

 

[VirginiaIron]

I installed version 1 of my umbrella stand. I was tentatively going out in this rain to help friends split wood. I strapped pipe rounds to the upper framing with hose clamps- works well. Maybe I will weld them some other time. The splitting party got cancelled due to the rain.
Edit: added photo.

 

[VirginiaIron]

I fixed my hydraulic leak yesterday. A simple fix. A threaded fitting at the tank's suction line had developed a leak probably due to improper torque. I was able to get another half turn on the strainer after disassembly. This time I installed a swivel on assembly rather than the previous hard threaded connection. The swivel will make future adjustments or removal easier.
Edit: added photo.

 

[rowerwet]

Nice job and photos.

Fyi- For those with the internal style slide, you need to keep the beam clear of debris. A buildup here can cause unnecessary stresses. Most have two holes to aid in removing the debris.

View attachment 235219

I never run the wedge down that far, and I do clear the channel often.
The bigger annoyance is the trash that the wedge drags back under the trunions, that end of the half beam is a blind box that you have to clear out often depending on how dirty the wood is

 

[rowerwet]

I live about 75 miles north of Syracuse. This morning we were -5, while Syracuse was a balmy 21 degrees. Not talking wind chill at all. It's amazing how much colder it is in that short a distance. They can keep the snow where the ski slopes and snowmobile trails are.

I was just in balmy Syracuse a week ago, spent two nights fixing an airplane, it was warmer there than back in Manchester, NH

 

[greg13]

I was just in balmy Syracuse a week ago, spent two nights fixing an airplane, it was warmer there than back in Manchester, NH

Just shy of 70* last Friday blew the record away. I could deal with it all winter long!

 

[VirginiaIron]

I never run the wedge down that far, and I do clear the channel often.
The bigger annoyance is the trash that the wedge drags back under the trunions, that end of the half beam is a blind box that you have to clear out often depending on how dirty the wood is

Most of the time my wood is already in decay in some way so it is usually pretty trashy.

 

[JimBear]

Just over 2 cords of Mulberry, threw a bunch of big uglies & kindling in the wagon for the fire pit. Now I just have about 5 cord of Hedge (Osage Orange) to split, I’m not too concerned about the old stuff on the left needing to dry much more if it hasn’t dried after 30-50 years it’s probably not going to dry.

 

[VirginiaIron]

Split some wood with the 27T Champion, today. It split like a champ!