Jim Schoonhoven was looking for a safer, easier way to split firewood and logs. His solution was to build a wood splitter using steel pieces from a truck chassis. The device hangs from his excavator on heavy-duty log chains, splitter side down.

   “Using this rig, I can split large logs, even some 2 to 4 ft. in diameter, that I certainly can’t lift by hand,” Schoonhoven says. He lowers the splitter onto a log, pushes a button from the operator’s seat, and the hydraulic ram splits the log. He then uncurls the bucket and sets the next log in place. Schoonhoven never has to leave the comfort and safety of the excavator cab.

   “I’m doing all the work sitting 10 ft. away,” Schoonhoven says. “It’s much easier on my back and safer than using a splitter on wheels.”

   He connects the splitter to the bucket of his Bobcat E-85 excavator with heavy-duty chains. Two long hoses connect to the excavator hydraulics, which he controls from a joystick in the cab.

   “With this setup, there’s no engine to worry about starting or stopping, no hydraulic pump and no oil reservoir. It’s simple and easy to use.” Another advantage is that he can adjust the oil flow on the excavator to split at any speed, from very slow to very fast. “The excavator has high volume oil flow, so I can definitely split faster than a gas engine splitter,” he says. “It worked like a charm from the first time I used it.”

   Schoonhoven says someone else building this type of splitter could use it on a skid steer or tractor loader that has high volume hydraulics. “Mine works fast, and it’s effortless,” he adds.

   Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jim Schoonhoven, Aylesford, Nova Scotia, Canada.