2001 - Volume #25, Issue #3, Page #29

[ Sample Stories From This Issue | List of All Stories In This Issue ]

    «Previous    Next»

Skid Loader-Mounted Log Splitter

Skid Loader-Mounted Log Splitter WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Wood Splitters 25-3-29 "It lets us use our skid steer loader to split logs up to 4 ft. long. Works fast and the operator doesn't even have to get out of the cab," says Wayne Zimmerman, McBride, B.C., about his hydraulic-operated log splitter. The splitter consists of a 6-in. dia., 8-ft. long, heavy-walled steel pipe with a fixed wedge at one end. The push plate slides back and forth on a pair of steel collars, powered by a 5-in. dia., 4-ft. stroke hydraulic cylinder. The cylinder operates off the skid loader's auxiliary hydraulics. "It has a lot of power," says Zimmerman, who burns the 4-ft. lengths in his outdoor wood burning furnace. "We've used it to split logs up to 2 ft. in diameter with no problems using a Bobcat 773 with a 49 hp Kubota diesel. It slices through big, frozen cottonwood logs like butter. And it's so safe my 11-year-old grandson often operates it." The splitter mounts on a home-built, quick tach adapter plate that attaches to the skid loader's original quick tach mounting brackets. "The adapter plate lets us use several Deere tools - such as a bale wrapping machine, bale spear, and silage bucket - interchangeably between the Bobcat and our Deere 2755 4-WD tractor," says Zimmerman. "We prefer to use the Deere tools on the skid loader because it's much more maneuverable than the tractor. "The adapter plate is equipped with a 12-in. hydraulic cylinder that has a clamp bolted onto it at each end. Extending the cylinder closes the clamps and attaches the tool. Retracting the cylinder opens the clamps and disconnects the tool," he notes. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Wayne Zimmerman, Box 302, McBride, B.C., Canada V0J 2E0 (ph 250 569-2521).