Log Splitters - do they really need all that tonnage?

[Techie1961]

I am trying to figure out a way to make a log splitter with almost no money in the budget for one. I have a forklift (Hyster) that has a 6,000 pound capacity. I was thinking that if I build a blade that juts out from the mast pointing down and stand logs on the forks, it should split a log easily. When I look at the splitters that are available though, they are 15 tons, 20 tons, etc.

Do you really need that much tonnage to split a log? Seems like it shouldn't but I don't know. I know that I can easily break up a skid if I miss when lifting something that has a skid behind it.

 

[dynahoe]

depends on the wood you intend to split.if you are only trying to split 16"long small diameter pieces of straight grain wood then it will probably do it but if you get in to gnarly big logs over 30"then you need horsepower and splitting force.

 

[malbojah]

Think of it this way: yes, the lift has a 6000 lb capacity but it is being pushed by hydraulic fluid. When lowering, the most weight you'll have is the weight of the mast and forks. The fluid is not pushing the forks down.

 

[smiffy]

It entirely depends on what you want to split pine larch and most softwoods require little force to split same with ash and sweet chestnut but hard woods can require alot of force it requires very little to stall a 15 ton logsplitter on a gnarly bit of oak or sycamore even seen then stop 35 and 50 ton splitters if you want cheep look at screw splitters will split very quick and efficient just very dangerous if you have the forklift already id say your best bet is tee into the hydraulics and get a large ram mounted on an I beam very simple

 

[DonPowers]

Seems to me that using a forklift would be a bit of a frig unless it becomes a two man operation.

Keep in mind that the 6,000 pound capacity has more to do with the machine's stability under load than anything else.

I have used my excavator to split wood, not to efficient but amusing.

I have two splitters, an electric 5 ton and a gas powered 22 ton. The electric splitter is good for small pieces in the 4 to 6 inch range and preferably straight grain. Gnarly wood will cause the frame to twist. I use this machine for splitting cedar kindling wood.

Use the 22 ton machine for everything else up to about 20" in diameter. Have encountered a few pieces that bogged it down but nothing so far that it wouldn't split.

The newer machines are also more ergonomically designed and at my age thats a plus, especially if you are splitting a lot of wood. Also, more power translates to faster cycle time.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[1950mercury]

Yes they do

 

[cd36]

Think of it this way: yes, the lift has a 6000 lb capacity but it is being pushed by hydraulic fluid. When lowering, the most weight you'll have is the weight of the mast and forks. The fluid is not pushing the forks down.

This. Ignore any other issues with the plan, but I'm pretty sure forklifts are single acting. That is hydraulic pressure up but gravity pulls the mast back down.

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[BryanB]

I have a 22ton...havent found a piece of wood it cant split yet....

 

[Kracin]

This. Ignore any other issues with the plan, but I'm pretty sure forklifts are single acting. That is hydraulic pressure up but gravity pulls the mast back down.

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he is talking about lifting the logs into a stationary wedge, not dropped forks on it.




if you wanna split some logs on the cheap, build a 10 ft tall guillotine or something with a wench and a splitter wedge with weights on it.... j/k, but that would be pretty cool though i think.

 

[jakemac]

Seems to me that using a forklift would be a bit of a frig unless it becomes a two man operation.

Keep in mind that the 6,000 pound capacity has more to do with the machine's stability under load than anything else.

^^^ What he said ^^^

A forklift's rating is based on it's lifting power, it's based on how much weight it can safely lift without tipping over. The higher the load is lifted, the lower it's rating becomes based on how much counter weight it's carrying.

Your forklifts 6000 lb rating is limited to a specific height. If you go higher, that rating is reduced. At lower heights, it should be able to lift and hold more weight.

The ram on the hydraulic cylinder is likely rated to a higher tonnage based on the force it can produce. This is unrelated to the rating of the forklift. But, it's a one way valve. The return is produced by the force of gravity and the weight of the forks.

That said, your theory of clamping a wedge on the tower and lifting the round up to it to split the wood should work. But, it probably isn't a good idea. You risk damaging the tower or the fork, and risk the possibility of the wedge failing, snapping off, and becoming a heavy missile.

You could, however, get a spare cylinder, make a horizontal wood splitter, and power it with quick connects to the hydraulics on the forklift. You would still need a way to retract the cylinder though.

The hydraulics on a Skid Steer would be easier to convert.

 

[Kracin]

You could, however, get a spare cylinder, make a horizontal wood splitter, and power it with quick connects to the hydraulics on the forklift. You would still need a way to retract the cylinder though.

best idea yet... but wheres the fun??

he could build a frame that has the wedge on the top of it facing down, and the base has a platform for the forklift to drive onto. now the forks are lifting against the wheels and not the mast!

 

[rkevins]

you will find the more tonnage you have the more snarley a piece you will try to split, have seen a 35t back down on a few

 

[cd36]

he is talking about lifting the logs into a stationary wedge, not dropped forks on it.




if you wanna split some logs on the cheap, build a 10 ft tall guillotine or something with a wench and a splitter wedge with weights on it.... j/k, but that would be pretty cool though i think.

That makes more sense but I guess I'm not sure how the blade is to be mounted. Is it somehow going to be mounted on a stationary part of the forklift? If that's the case it needs to be something that can take the force.

If it is something standalone it needs to be anchored to the floor that will be strong enough to withstand the force.

I realize this wasn't the question is just unsure how it would actually work.

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[Jason280]

I have a 35 ton, and I have seen it hesitate on some stuff, especially stringy wood li,e sweet gum. If you are splitting nothing but red oak, then you can go with a lower rating...but after owning a 35t, I wouldn't have anything else.

 

[Kracin]

That makes more sense but I guess I'm not sure how the blade is to be mounted. Is it somehow going to be mounted on a stationary part of the forklift? If that's the case it needs to be something that can take the force.

If it is something standalone it needs to be anchored to the floor that will be strong enough to withstand the force.

I realize this wasn't the question is just unsure how it would actually work.

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you know, i'm not sure how he was going to keep the part mounted to the mast stationary either... lol, if i was him i would make a "platform" to drive on. old shop press frame, anchor it to a large plate on the ground that the forklift drives on to. and use the forklift to lift the once stationary platform (without pins in it) up... you could convert a shop press in no time!

 

[smiffy]

Using the mast is never going to be the best idea make a hydraulic splitter and run it from the forklift either tee into the rams that tilt the mast if they are double acting or just mount a cheap spool valve on the splitter and run a constant flow to it from the mast hydraulics and a return straight back to the tank

 

[DonPowers]

Here is one my father built back in the 60's

Build one and use the lift's pump to power it.

 

[xela456]

I am trying to figure out a way to make a log splitter with almost no money in the budget for one. I have a forklift (Hyster) that has a 6,000 pound capacity. I was thinking that if I build a blade that juts out from the mast pointing down and stand logs on the forks, it should split a log easily. When I look at the splitters that are available though, they are 15 tons, 20 tons, etc.

Do you really need that much tonnage to split a log? Seems like it shouldn't but I don't know. I know that I can easily break up a skid if I miss when lifting something that has a skid behind it.

question. have you seen the size of the cylinder on your fork truck. about 3 inches in diameter ever notice you can pick up things that lift the back of the fork truck up? i'm betting it has more power than your 15-20 ton splitters. and i bet it will do it alot faster too. though i do think of it as a two man operation unless you can come up with a way to run the throttle and the lever from the front of the forks. the hyster 60 is a beast and totally over powered for being a 60

 

[Techie1961]

Thanks for all of the replies. I was just watching Fury (the war movie) and it was really good. Back to this though.

Yes, the idea was to have a saddle of some sort that channeled around the outside of the mast uprights and build a downward facing wedge fairly close to the mast. The forks would then lift the wood into the wedge. The wood would break away and then lower the forks for the next piece. I realize as well that the carrying capacity and the upward force of the forks mast cylinder are not the same.

I was thinking that if I attach a rod extension to the lift lever, I could do it from the front of the truck. Set the throttle a little over idle and Bob's your uncle. In theory anyway. I am not too concerned about it flying apart as there shouldn't be much stored energy there. Hydraulics being what they are and all and I have a pretty good design background. Maybe I will have to go wafer thin (for you Monty Python fans) and nice and sharp with the wedge.

Only one way to find out I guess. Time to build it.

 

[jakemac]

You will need to remember to leave clearance for the fork carriage. If you build your wedge directly off the tower, the carriage will hit the saddle before your wood contacts the wedge.

The whole assembly will have to be built in an inverted L shape, which will put stress on the assembly when the wood pushes the wedge causing it to flex, or stress the tower.

Does your fork carriage still have the safety grill on it ? The grill will need to be removed to give you a shorter clearance to the carriage.

 

[TomB19]

My wife has a terrific log splitter.

 

[jakemac]

There's a joke there about daily rentals, but maybe I shouldn't go there.

 

[Techie1961]

There's a joke there about daily rentals, but maybe I shouldn't go there.

Personally, I would go for the weekend rate.

 

[DekeT]

I am trying to figure out a way to make a log splitter with almost no money in the budget for one. I have a forklift (Hyster) that has a 6,000 pound capacity. I was thinking that if I build a blade that juts out from the mast pointing down and stand logs on the forks, it should split a log easily. When I look at the splitters that are available though, they are 15 tons, 20 tons, etc.

Do you really need that much tonnage to split a log? Seems like it shouldn't but I don't know. I know that I can easily break up a skid if I miss when lifting something that has a skid behind it.

You plan to design and build a tool in which you have no experience using?

 

[SteveCh]

You gotta consider the fuel and wear and tear on a forklift to do this operation. I mean, if your budget won't allow much for a splitter or parts to build one. I'm not seeing economy, plus the hassle of doing this, labor-wise, setting the round, going around to work the levers, going back around to turn the round and split some more, etc. You'll spend 5X the time splitting the wood. If money is tight, $1k or so for a reasonably decent splitter might not be in the cards, I realize. I looked into getting a PTO splitter attachment for my tractor. Then I figured that the diesel and engine wear and etc. and so on....ended up saving for a splitter and haven't regretted it. Mine has a small Honda engine and sips gas.

 

[old_biker]

a friend of mine has a home built it used a ram from a bulldozer, & has a 2 cylinder gas motor on it, 18hp? he has never bogged it.

cheapest log splitter I ever seen & scariest, used a small engine with a gear reduction box, to turn several sets of pulleys, with what amounts to a block & tackle, using wire cable under the carriage, which was formed like a C out of sheet metal, & of course the 1 I saw the cable was broke, but a snapping cable is deadly.

on a budget, use a small engine from a riding lawnmower, 12 or so HP, this should be dirt cheap, next get a power steering pump from an automobile with remote fluid resivoir, you will need to find a fluid tank, I would recomend a capacity of 5 gallons, maybe recycle a stainless steel tank from a soda machine, or a larger fire extinguisher, you can use power steering hose for conection to a cylinder you choose connected to steel pipe with fittings to adapt, so you have some built in flex, & these can be sourced from auto junkyard, & then find a boom, check with tractor junkyards, marbor frieght, craigslist. if you can handle that, & still interested we can discuss building a frame & wedge. if not capable of this, just look on craigslist & other local advertised places for a cheap used splitter

 

[Techie1961]

You plan to design and build a tool in which you have no experience using?

Pretty much every machine that I ever designed and built was an experiment or had never been done before. Never stopped me before and a lot of them are still being used either by me or by others. It was my job for a while in a R&D facility.

 

[Techie1961]

You gotta consider the fuel and wear and tear on a forklift to do this operation. I mean, if your budget won't allow much for a splitter or parts to build one. I'm not seeing economy, plus the hassle of doing this, labor-wise, setting the round, going around to work the levers, going back around to turn the round and split some more, etc. You'll spend 5X the time splitting the wood. If money is tight, $1k or so for a reasonably decent splitter might not be in the cards, I realize. I looked into getting a PTO splitter attachment for my tractor. Then I figured that the diesel and engine wear and etc. and so on....ended up saving for a splitter and haven't regretted it. Mine has a small Honda engine and sips gas.

Not really worried about wear and tear. The lift truck is an older Hyster that we have had for a long time and doesn't get a lot of use anymore. I use it to move stuff around, unload/load the occasional machine, etc. In an earlier part of this thread I mentioned that I am going to put a link and extension on the lift lever so that I can run it from the forks where I will be loading the wood.

It isn't so much that I don't have the money but rather I don't have it in the budget. We have natural gas coming in soon and will need a new furnace. Then there's painting, some repairs to the house and on it goes. Meanwhile, there is a big pile of logs that I need to split. I thought about renting a splitter but I have a bad back (two surgeries later) and the thought of trying to get it all done in one shot is more than I want to think about.

Pretty much anything that I can envision in my head, I can build so why not give it a shot. As long as it's made of metal that is. Wood is a totally different story; that stuff messes with my head.