"Made-It-Myself" Two-Way Splitter

"Made-It-Myself" Two-Way Splitter WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 32-5-30 Royce Smith built a wood splitter, modeled after one his neighbor owned, and he appreciates its efficiency. "It splits two ways," says the Heflin, Alabama, machinist. He had the 10 3/4 by 3/4-in. thick steel knife beveled on each side, and a rack made of store shelving moves wood up to 20 in. long in both directions. A rack on the back catches the split wood. A 6-in. I-beam supports the splitter powered by a 14 hp Briggs and Stratton motor. An 11 gal./min. hydraulic pump supplied by a 10-gal. tank runs a 4-in. hydraulic cylinder with 2-in. rods for plenty of power to split big red oak blocks. Smith rigged switches and wires from an old lawn mower so he can turn the splitter on with a key. The splitter is mounted on an old car axle and pulls easily with his pickup. Loading wood on the rack is the hardest part of the job, Smith says. In the two years he's had the splitter, he's learned the operation works best with three people loading and unloading the wood. They can split a heaping pickup load of wood in a couple of hours. He splits six to eight cords of wood for his family, plus he splits wood for neighbors. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Royce Smith, 1102 Co. Rd. 5, Heflin, Alabama 36264 (ph 256 253-9188).

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