Backhoe-Log Splitter

2015 - Volume #39, Issue #5, Page #04

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“I needed a backhoe to dig a trench, and I also needed a log splitter to cut firewood. So I converted an old worn out backhoe to do both jobs. My total cost was almost nothing,” says Jackson Brown, Peach Bottom, Penn.
    The home-built backhoe/splitter operates off the hydraulics on Brown’s skid loader. He stripped away everything from the backhoe except for the crowd boom, which is equipped with a hydraulic cylinder and an 18-in. wide bucket. He made a pair of quick-tach metal brackets to match the mounting brackets already on the boom, and welded one on top of the skid loader bucket and the other on the bucket’s leading edge. A pair of 1 1/2-in. dia. pins run through the brackets in order to attach the boom.
    “To remove the backhoe/splitter I just pull both pins and a pair of hydraulic hoses,” says Brown.
     To convert the machine from a backhoe to a log splitter, Brown replaces the backhoe bucket with a 3-ft. long extension made from a length of steel I-beam. He made the extension by cutting a steel I-beam lengthwise down the middle, leaving 2 halves with holes drilled into their sides that slide onto a stub shaft on the backhoe boom. A pair of short vertical pipes also run down through both I-beams and into the boom.
    A homemade wedge pins onto the backhoe’s hydraulic cylinder and slides back and forth inside a gap between the 2 halves of the extension. A vertical steel “foot” welded onto the extension serves as a stop for the log.
    “To remove the splitter I just remove the 2 pipes and 2 hydraulic hoses,” says Brown.
    He welded 2-in. angle iron and 1-in. thick steel together to build the wedge.
    “I like how it turned out. I got the backhoe free and used scrap materials to build everything else. I also made a 6-in. wide bucket for it which I use to dig water and electrical lines,” says Brown.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jackson Brown, 2612 Robert Fulton Hwy., Peach Bottom, Penn. 17563 (ph 717 548-2331; cell ph 717 283-5245).

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Backhoe-Log Splitter WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous “I needed a backhoe to dig a trench and I also needed a log splitter to cut firewood So I converted an old worn out backhoe to do both jobs My total cost was almost nothing ” says Jackson Brown Peach Bottom Penn The home-built backhoe/splitter operates off the hydraulics on Brown’s skid loader He stripped away everything from the backhoe except for the crowd boom which is equipped with a hydraulic cylinder and an 18-in wide bucket He made a pair of quick-tach metal brackets to match the mounting brackets already on the boom and welded one on top of the skid loader bucket and the other on the bucket’s leading edge A pair of 1 1/2-in dia pins run through the brackets in order to attach the boom “To remove the backhoe/splitter I just pull both pins and a pair of hydraulic hoses ” says Brown To convert the machine from a backhoe to a log splitter Brown replaces the backhoe bucket with a 3-ft long extension made from a length of steel I-beam He made the extension by cutting a steel I-beam lengthwise down the middle leaving 2 halves with holes drilled into their sides that slide onto a stub shaft on the backhoe boom A pair of short vertical pipes also run down through both I-beams and into the boom A homemade wedge pins onto the backhoe’s hydraulic cylinder and slides back and forth inside a gap between the 2 halves of the extension A vertical steel “foot” welded onto the extension serves as a stop for the log “To remove the splitter I just remove the 2 pipes and 2 hydraulic hoses ” says Brown He welded 2-in angle iron and 1-in thick steel together to build the wedge “I like how it turned out I got the backhoe free and used scrap materials to build everything else I also made a 6-in wide bucket for it which I use to dig water and electrical lines ” says Brown Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Jackson Brown 2612 Robert Fulton Hwy Peach Bottom Penn 17563 ph 717 548-2331; cell ph 717 283-5245

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