Splitting logs with a gas powered log splitter

A log splitter is a piece of machinery or equipment used for splitting

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellets or chips. Firewood can ...

from

softwood file:Pinus sylvestris wood ray section 1 beentree.jpg, Scots Pine, a typical and well-known softwood Softwood is wood from gymnosperm trees such as conifers. The term is opposed to hardwood, which is the wood from angiosperm trees. The main diff ...

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

logs that have been pre-cut into sections (rounds), usually by chainsaw or on a saw bench. Many log splitters consist of a hydraulic pump or electric motor which than powers a

hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...

or electrical rod and piston assembly. Generally these are often rated by the tons of

force In physics, a force is an influence that can change the motion of an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (e.g. moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate. Force can also be described intuitively as a p ...

they can generate. The higher the force rating, the greater the thickness or length of the rounds that can be split. The log splitter consists of all four major hydraulic components. Most log splitter models for home use have a rating around 10 tons, but professional hydraulic models may exert 30 tons of force or more. There are also manual log splitters, which use mechanical

lever A lever is a simple machine consisting of a beam or rigid rod pivoted at a fixed hinge, or ''fulcrum''. A lever is a rigid body capable of rotating on a point on itself. On the basis of the locations of fulcrum, load and effort, the lever is div ...

age to force logs through a sharpened blade assembly; and screw or '

corkscrew A corkscrew is a tool for drawing corks from wine bottles and other household bottles that may be sealed with corks. In its traditional form, a corkscrew simply consists of a pointed metallic helix (often called the "worm") attached to a hand ...

' types that are driven directly from an agricultural tractor's

power take-off A power take-off or power takeoff (PTO) is one of several methods for taking power from a power source, such as a running engine, and transmitting it to an application such as an attached implement or separate machine. Most commonly, it is a sp ...

shaft where the splitter is mounted on the

three-point hitch The three-point hitch (British English: three-point linkage) is a widely used type of hitch for attaching ploughs and other implements to an agricultural or industrial tractor. The three points resemble either a triangle, or the letter A. Three-p ...

Power source

A simple log splitter may be powered by an electric motor driving a

hydraulic pump Hydraulic pumps are used in hydraulic drive systems and can be hydrostatic or hydrodynamic. A hydraulic pump is a mechanical source of power that converts mechanical power into hydraulic energy ( hydrostatic energy i.e. flow, pressure). It generat ...

or by

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

with or without a tractor. The non-electric versions can be used remotely where the splitter can be moved to the location of the cut wood source. Split logs can then be loaded into trucks, trailers or bulk bags. No matter what the power source, a log splitter either uses a hydraulic piston to drive the log through a stationary blade or a rotating cone shaped screw mandrel that pulls the log up over a wedge. Some models have attachments that prevent the split logs from falling to the ground allowing the operator to reposition the logs quickly for a second pass on the log splitter. Some cone or screw splitters are mounted on steel platforms mounted on a

that allow the log to be repeatedly split into smaller pieces without putting the wood down and up again.

Uses

Although smaller firewood splitters are intended for home, there are now many commercial units available. Some commercial splitters are part of a 'firewood processor' that saw logs of timber into lengths, split them, and then carry the wood up an inclined conveyor onto a pile or into a bag, truck or trailer. Specialty producers such as those producing

maple syrup Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple tree ...

use units that split 4 foot lengths. Machines that split and point wood for fence post also exist though they are few in number as it is generally safer and more convenient to saw the posts. The rising cost of domestic heating gas oil has reawakened a desire for alternative fuel sources and burning wood is

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an element is the measure of its combining capacity with o ...

neutral. Modern wood-burning stoves are efficient and safe. Many consumers that would not have considered splitting their own logs a few years ago are now burning wood fuel for both ecological and economical reasons.

Safety

Although a good log splitter can save the operator hours of labor, it is not possible to make it completely safe. Only trained users should operate a log splitter, since anything caught between the log and the splitting blade will be subjected to a force of at least 10 tons, while most modern wood splitters will produce 25 tons or more. Most hydraulic machines now have 'two handed operation' for safety which means that both of the operator's hands are needed to actuate the splitter thus keeping them out of the way of the moving blade. The behavior of each log cannot be predicted, so a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

zone should be established around the splitter to prevent injury from flying

splinter A splinter (also known as a sliver) is a fragment of a larger object, or a foreign body that penetrates or is purposely injected into a body. The foreign body must be lodged inside tissue to be considered a splinter. Splinters may cause initia ...

s of wood. Helpers can pick up the individual pieces of firewood, but should not stand near the log splitter while it is in operation.

References

External links

Log Splitter
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