Log Splitters?

[Bogie]

We used hydraulics to run molds - the mold cavity WILL close... I wonder how hard it would be to weld something  up with a nice big pump and ram...

[Kingcreek]

We used hydraulics to run molds - the mold cavity WILL close... I wonder how hard it would be to weld something  up with a nice big pump and ram...

A lot of people have done just that. Many of them function ok.
With material costs I’m not sure you could save enough to bother.

[Nick1911]

A lot of people have done just that. Many of them function ok.
With material costs I’m not sure you could save enough to bother.

^^ This

Unless you've got access to a scrap pile for free/cheap, it's not worth it.

[Ben]

Assuming you have chain hooks or a ring on your bucket?

I don't. If I were a better welder to where I could trust the welds, I'd add some, but right now I tilt the bucket all the way down to eliminate edges that could fray the straps,  then wrap the straps and/or a chain around the bucket and shackle whatever load I have.

[Kingcreek]

I don't. If I were a better welder to where I could trust the welds, I'd add some, but right now I tilt the bucket all the way down to eliminate edges that could fray the straps,  then wrap the straps and/or a chain around the bucket and shackle whatever load I have.

I bought my loader tractor used from my neighbor. He wasn’t much of a welder but he had somebody weld chain hooks on 2 rectangular steel plates then drilled and bolted the plates to the top of the bucket (in line with the frame and rams). I later welded a loop in the center out of 5/8” round for lifting with straps or chain.
My bucket is a heavy duty bucket so not likely I’ll give it the classic center pucker.
 I know you can get bolt on hooks somewhere.

[cordex]

I know you can get bolt on hooks somewhere.

Yeah, I bought some on Amazon (for a non-tractor use).  Plenty available there.

[Ben]

I'll have to look into bolt-ons for the top of the bucket. Hooks would definitely save me some aggravation. I use the bucket as a lift a lot more than I thought I would.

[charby]

I'll have to look into bolt-ons for the top of the bucket. Hooks would definitely save me some aggravation. I use the bucket as a lift a lot more than I thought I would.

You can get clamp on forks for a bucket too. I used those last fall on a skid loader to unload 2-1 ton pallets of bear bait.

[charby]

We used hydraulics to run molds - the mold cavity WILL close... I wonder how hard it would be to weld something  up with a nice big pump and ram...

I remember as a kid that most of the hydraulic log splitters were home built, I remember seeing hydraulic parts kits for sale in various outdoor or Mother Earth News type magazines.

[dogmush]

I'll have to look into bolt-ons for the top of the bucket. Hooks would definitely save me some aggravation. I use the bucket as a lift a lot more than I thought I would.

Or practice your welding....


No snark there at all, I'd much rather have welded hooks for lifting then blow a hole in the bucket and bolt them on.  If you don't trust your current welding skilz, get a box of rod and some scrap steel and get better.  (or a MIG.  Any monkey can weld with a MIG.)  It's not rocket surgery.

[Ben]

Or practice your welding....


No snark there at all, I'd much rather have welded hooks for lifting then blow a hole in the bucket and bolt them on.  If you don't trust your current welding skilz, get a box of rod and some scrap steel and get better.  (or a MIG.  Any monkey can weld with a MIG.)  It's not rocket surgery.

I could use more practice. I have both a stick and MIG welder and have done good welds with the MIG welder, like welding a trailer together, that have held for a long while now. I'm just a little scared when it comes to something like hooks that might be lifting a couple thousand pounds.

[Ben]

You can get clamp on forks for a bucket too. I used those last fall on a skid loader to unload 2-1 ton pallets of bear bait.

Funny, I was just researching those the other day. I was a little leery of weight capacity on bigger stuff, but it seems they should handle under 1000lb fine. I see them rated over that, but I think that definitely requires ballast on the three point for a little 35hp tractor like I have. My bucket is rated for 2300lb, and when I have it full of dirt, I like to have the boxblade on the back, especially on uneven terrain.

[dogmush]

I could use more practice. I have both a stick and MIG welder and have done good welds with the MIG welder, like welding a trailer together, that have held for a long while now. I'm just a little scared when it comes to something like hooks that might be lifting a couple thousand pounds.

Well sure, that's understandable, but it's better than lifting on bolts.

Just don't stand under it the first couple times.   


FWIW, when I was learning to weld, I would weld stuff up, then test it to destruction so I knew that a weld that felt and looked like "A" would withstand "B" forces.  It's come in handy since.  Since you have hydraulics and time available, you might try something similar.  Weld up a hook or something on a piece of heavy channel, then pull it apart with your tractor (or shiny new log splitter).  See what it'll do.  Gain skillz and confidence.

[Bogie]

That steel doesn't need to be new either... Used structural stuff, junkyard, whatever, at scrap value?

[Ben]

FWIW, when I was learning to weld, I would weld stuff up, then test it to destruction so I knew that a weld that felt and looked like "A" would withstand "B" forces.  It's come in handy since.  Since you have hydraulics and time available, you might try something similar.  Weld up a hook or something on a piece of heavy channel, then pull it apart with your tractor (or shiny new log splitter).  See what it'll do.  Gain skillz and confidence.

That's a good idea. I just a few days ago found like a 10' length of what looks to be 1/4" channel stock hiding in some weeds I was removing. A little rusty, but looks to be in good enough shape for such practice/testing.

[Kingcreek]

Good old 6010 or 6013 rod will burn through rust, paint, manure and crud.

[Bogie]

Personally, I just use a $200 wire welder I got from China Fright... Overall, not bad for 1/4" and thinner. My next door neighbor, a retired boilermaker, welded up his porch rail out of 1/4" thick tube with one of the little $100 ones - you just have to know your equipment's limitations, and stay within them.
 
I'm thinking I could easily turn a "wood grenade" sort of thing on the lathe, maybe with a little milling after the fact to square it up a bit. I wouldn't be heat treating it, but would it really need it?

[Ben]

I had to necro the thread, because, man, why didn't I buy this thing years ago?!?

I did my annual trip to the local post and pole and hit their firewood pile, made up of lodgewood pine ends from their mill. All have been processed down to rounds, 4"-10" in diameter, and cut mostly to fireplace length. It costs me $50 ($30 last year) to fill up the bed of the truck with basically bucked logs. This is the first year I split them with a real splitter.

It was practically fun, and I had the whole shebang done in an hour. The combination of my old little electric splitter and a maul was closer to a day. This splitter is just one of the best purchases I have ever made for the farm. Easily worth twice what it cost me. 

Note before the back East guys chime in: Pine is just a wood that's used in the Northwest. We don't have as many hardwoods as you guys do. I mostly use it as kindling and to get the fire going. It's mixed in 25/75 with my Russian olive, which while decent firewood, is just not up to oak standard. The faster and hotter burning pine mixed in really helps get the larger olive logs going good and keeps the wood stove at closer to optimum temperature.

[K Frame]

"Note before the back East guys chime in:"

AH MAH GERDZ! YOU GONNA SET YOUR HOUSE ON FIRE AND YOU GONNA DIE!!!

I've had this discussion with a lot of people over the years who think burning a single pine log guarantees a chimney fire.

Season the *expletive deleted*it out of it, watch your stack temperature, and clean your chimney rigorously and you'll have no problems. You just won't get a ton of heat out of it compared to a lot of other woods.

I'd be less inclined to use pine in a fireplace indoors because of the amount of smoke it generates and its general propensity to pop and the inability to control flue temperature, but it certainly smells good.

Oh, and FYI? In the 1980s I spent a lot of time with families that used wood stoves for heating, and helped harvest a LOT of Gypsy Moth killed hardwood.

Most of the fires in stoves and fireplaces that were fueled primarily with maple and oak were started with pine kindling because it lit quickly and burned more than hot enough to get the larger chunks of hardwood going for the coal base.

Same with coal stoves. Start the fire with pine, pile on some oak to get a good hot fire going, and then start adding anthracite once the coals are established.

[Ben]

AH MAH GERDZ! YOU GONNA SET YOUR HOUSE ON FIRE AND YOU GONNA DIE!!!

I've had this discussion with a lot of people over the years who think burning a single pine log guarantees a chimney fire.

Season the *expletive deleted*it out of it, watch your stack temperature, and clean your chimney rigorously and you'll have no problems. You just won't get a ton of heat out of it compared to a lot of other woods.

Honestly, I was a little worried about using it when I first moved here. We used it at my folks place a lot, but in CA, you might have a half dozen fires a year before it gets too hot. 

This place is the first place where I have had a fire going more days than not from late Fall through Spring. I was concerned enough about both the pine and Russian olive that I had a chimney sweep come out the first year just to doublecheck everything and get a baseline (the chimney had practically nothing in it). Then I had him come out the next year, after I had burned the wood type and amount that is my "standard" now. Again, hardly anything in the chimney. He told me "See you in three years".

It's actually only been two, but because I'm a Nervous Nellie, he's coming out next week. He told me that if there was nothing to clean out again, that he'd only charge me half. I'd just rather be safe than sorry, but this certainly seems to be a very efficient wood stove. I keep a thermometer on the stove, so I think that helps me to keep it burning in the "goldilocks zone" and helps keep down soot and creosote. I also use a moisture meter on the wood to make sure I'm not throwing wet stuff in the stove. It's surprising how much wood I have that looks dry but ends up reading like 30% when you stick the probe in.

[charby]

Note before the back East guys chime in: Pine is just a wood that's used in the Northwest.

You burn what you got available.

[Ben]

You burn what you got available.

I seem to recall that Alaskans predominately burn pine and softwoods. I've never heard of any data showing that they have noticeably more chimney fires than anyone else.

[charby]

I seem to recall that Alaskans predominately burn pine and softwoods. I've never heard of any data showing that they have noticeably more chimney fires than anyone else.

A lot of pine and aspen is burned in the western great lakes too.

[dogmush]

I seem to recall that Alaskans predominately burn pine and softwoods. I've never heard of any data showing that they have noticeably more chimney fires than anyone else.

Yep.  Scraggly, pitchy pine as well.

[K Frame]

The newer high-efficiency stoves burn a lot more cleanly, and that reduces the buildup of tar and creosote and really reduces the chance of a chimney fire.

The stuff in the smoke that would be deposited in the flue pipe ends up being burned in the stove before it can be exhausted. Great because you get more heat out of the wood you've cut, and great because you don't have to worry so much about chimney fires.

But the true key, as you know, is making sure that your wood isn't wet.


Pellet stoves burn wood, but they don't really have any problems with creosote and tar build up even though a lot of people burn softwood based pellets, including yellow and other resinous pines.

The main reasons for that are because the highly efficient nature of pellet stove designs and, during the pellet manufacturing process, free moisture in the wood is reduced to between 5 and 10 percent.

Don't mean you don't have to be careful and you still have to clean and inspect your flue.