have my splitter in my shop for an engine overhaul. I bought it for $400 from a local rental outfit surplus sale about 10 or so years ago. It is a "Black Hawk" brand, if I remember right. They knocked another hundred off after the sale after I pointed out the air filter bolts were stripped and it had probably been breathing dirty air for quite some time (despite their claim that it had been "meticulously maintained and fully inspected between each rental use).
It has since split dozens of cords of wood, but started burning oil bad enough for visible blue smoke last time I used it.
So, it is time for an engine overhaul. The engine has surprisingly little compression now, so the rings are probably shot; yet, it never stumbled when I split 2+ cord of walnut last weekend.
So, I'll rebuild the engine, wire wheel down the I beam and fluid tank, etc. and put a coat of fresh rustoleum on it. The base plate (against which the logs are pushed during splitting) has bent outwards so I am planning to cut it off and flip it around.
Contemplating that move got me to thinking:
This splitter has the cutting wedge attached to the cylinder and forces a log against the "immovable" base plate to split it. Now, looking online and in some catalogs, I see some that anchor the wedge at the end of the I beam and put a solid plate on the end of the cylinder, thus pushing the intact log past the wedge causing it to split.
QUESTION: Has anyone used this style of splitter, and if so, what are the advantages??
It would be very simple to modify this "traditional splitter to work in this alternate fashion, I just don't know if there is an advantage of some sort......
Jeeze! It just hit me-this splitter converts from horizontal to vertical. The only way a vertical will work is with the solid end fixed at the end of the I beam. I split some stuff that is way to big for me to lift and split in the horizontal mode, so I guess I answered my own question.

NEXT QUESTION: Anyone have a splitter with features they really like???? One example being the "tables" on each side of the I beam to support log pieces as you split them down to smaller sizes.

I guess what I am really looking for are design features that you really like, don't like, don't work or wish you had on your splitter. Any mods I do will be done on this trip to the shop, then I am done with it until next engine rebuild or replacement, which shouldn't be for at least 10 more years.

Sound off with any ideas you might have!!
Thanks!!

Still planning on the "self-propelled" modification, regardless of anything else I do.

 

Have you considered something like this?
NorthStar Four-Way Slip-On Log Splitter Wedge — 12in. Length | Log Splitter Accessories | Northern Tool + Equipment

 

I sometimes wish I had the wedge on the cylinder instead of at the end of the beam, this is
because I frequently have to deal with awkwardly-sized rounds (cuts were made at closer
to 45* than 90*, for example) and I sometimes find myself orientating 'em in such a way
that the flat head of the ram doesn't have a flat (or even nearly flat) surface onto which to
apply pressure. This places obvious stresses on the components that I don't like watching,
I worry that something's gonna give.

The table-like sides/shelves are nice, so is a spring-loaded actuator handle that allows for
the ram to return to its home [position by merely letting go of the handle. IOW not needing to
hold the lever in place for the ram to return to its starting position.

 

Yes-I have seen those and will probabably fabricate one out of scrap that I have laying around. I think they are a great idea. Especially the slip-on feature. I usually split 6-8 inch logs into 3 pieces: one a thinner, flatter piece then I halve the remainder of the log. But larger logs go into quarters and that thing would save a lot of time!

Thanks for reminding me of them!



And ctubutis: I agree with your take on the forces placed on components due to logs cut at angles and the fact that they are amplified if the wedge is fixed and the cylinder acts as a "pusher". I think I'll leave mine with the wedge on the ram. Thanks for the input on the tables, though. I really wanted to get a feel for whether or not they were worth having. I mean, they look like a good idea, but sometimes looking good and working as designed don't always happen.

 

the best feature we like on ours is the electric motor. its quiet and always starts! we have one of those big pull behind spliters (home biult) and the briggs died so i put a 1 1/2hp electric on it. we skid our logs up to the out door furnice and cut/split rite there so we dont have to load and unload wood all the time. so we have power rite there to plug it in. a 4500watt generater will power it to if we need to be away from home