Horizontal Pendulum Wood Splitter

I think I've had enough of the infernal combustion engine on my hydraulic wood splitter. It's very heavy duty, but I don't need that much machine, with a house that only needs about two cords of whatever per year, not all of which needs splitting. But it would be handy to have something better than a maul and wedges.

I've seen those videos of someone splitting clear grain wood with a spring loaded vertical machine, or a motorized vertical machine. I can't help but imagine the wedge of one of those stuck in the log, and then the whole operation comes to a halt. I think I need wedges of the traditional sort, but a different way to drive them.

Here's my idea:

First, there needs to be a log rack. We're thinking sort of a V-shape, like an open ended manger. The closed end would have a heavy stop weight, probably filled with rocks and concrete. There would be some cribbing handy to throw in the manger, so that a log could be raised and lowered, depending on where you wanted to drive the wedge through and how big the log is.

Then there needs to be a heavy horse, like a big sawhorse or a swing set. There would be a battering ram hanging from the top bar by some chains, set parallel to the top bar, and hanging at a point where, when swung, it would hammer the wedge in the log. There would be some handles on it on the far end from the log, to pull and push with. There might be a small vertical handle on the end near the log, just for swinging it to get the wedge set.

The ram would be made of 4" or 6" steel pipe, filled with concrete. The striking end would be tapered as a blunt wedge, so that a sunk splitting wedge could still be hit. I figure a 4" diameter, 4' long, 3/16" wall steel pipe, filled with concrete, should weigh about 70 pounds. A 6" pipe the same length would be close to 120#.

The whole set-up wouldn't be very mobile, but neither is the hydraulic unit really. It would just live next to the wood shed.

So, any thoughts?

When ever I see a splitting operation I ask one simple question, is it better than an axe?

Better can mean easier, more efficient, etc

None have been better for me, I can out spilt a machine in speed, thriftiness, noise, and apart from some gassious emissions I am a cleaner running machine.

So is building a huge ram, a crane to hang it and a log cradle going to fix an issue for you that an axe will not?

SO - - - - Anything better than this ?? /////////////// SEE LINK BELOW :


https://permies.com/t/24111/homestead/Log-Splitter


For the good of the Craft ! Big AL

Allen, that's one of the ones I'm talking about. What happens when the blade gets stuck? What I'm talking about would use a pendulum to store energy rather than a spring. It would get me clear of the works too, where that guy is holding a log next to the moving sharp parts.

My idea might also rely less on welding and more on carpentry.