Splitter?

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Hi ever'body, haven't been here in awhile, how is everone doing?  I am up to my ears in firewood this fall, put a new insert into the firewaster, and now have lots of splittin to do.  Does anyone have plans for a splitter that they can pass on?  or pics of ones you made?  and any tips or hints on how to make them better, greatly appreciated.  Since I last posted on this forum, I have: retired from the Military, drove highway truck for four months hauling for Praxair, and now working for a railway company as a welder/troubleshooter(great job) I see lots of up and comers showing lots of promise, the future looks good for the trade !!TTYALscoot
Reply:i made one for my nephew that uses a hand hydraulic jack. he doesn't need it any more now,so he gave it back to me. ill try to get some pics of it today. (Sunday). if you are in Ohio, you could come get it for free. I'm tired of trying to figure out what to do with it.
Reply:heres the pics of the one i made Attached Images
Reply:Here's a splitter I made a few years ago.  The I beam wasn't as heavy as I would have liked, but it worked (after some re-vamping, see below!).  I believe it's about 4" wide, 8" tall.  In building this I learned 3 important things about building wood splitters.  1. The splitter wedge must be as sharp as possible - mine was made from a piece of 1" thick X 5" wide, approx. 6-7" tall.  Bevel the front edge with a torch and grind smooth.  My first attempt failed miserably so I had to do a lot more sharpening to get a good edge that would penetrate the wood (mainly oak & hickory).2.  Notice the rear of the splitter wedge in my picture.  I welded the wedge on at the very rear of the beam, and after just a few tough situations, the beam "web" collapsed under the pressure.  After straightening out the web, I added in some heavy wall 2" square tubing on both sides of the web for support.  I think if I would have used a heavier beam to begin with this wouldn't have happened, or, if I would've left a few inches of beam protruding behind the wedge, it would have been ok.3.  Also notice the "push plate" - it has a hollow center.  This, in combination with several thousand pounds of hydraulic pressure per square inch, can cause a piece of wood to becomed lodged so tightly, it takes a chainsaw to get it out.  Build your push plate solid - NO HOLES!!Mine is now solid BTW!!I can't remember how I built the slides, but it seems like I ended up with 2 pieces of 2" sq. tube on each side.  Since most splitters only split one way, make your slides so they have plenty of "load area" behind the push plate.  That will distribute stress over moreof the beam flanges.  A lot of grease on the bottomof the flange doesn't hurt either.The cylinder I used is nothing special, just a 4" X 30" cylinder from the local farm store.  My tractor pump put out around 2000 PSI, and anything I could comfortably lift, it would split.  I had a few very large pieces of whiteoak, green and very wet, that it wouldn't split though.Those pieces were nearly 20" across and were extremely heavy though.  Incidentally, I got divorced last year and after she got her half of everything and then the rest of it gettingsold, this splitter is all I have left.  The house with woodstove, tractor, "beater" truck for hauling wood, horses, and most of my respect for women -GONE!!!!               That reminds me - child suport is due on the 1st, anyonewant to buy a nice hyd. wood splitter??    [IMG][/IMG]