Hydraulic cleaver for firewood with their own hands

How to make a wood splitter.

There are several types of woodchopper designs. The differences between them are substantial. They differ in complexity of construction, in the degree of safety when working with them, in convenience and speed of work. Consider in detail each type separately.

It is the easiest to make. Its operating principle is based on the energy of a heavy object hitting the cleaver. The effect is almost the same as if you put an axe on a log and hit the butt of the axe with a sledgehammer. But this crowbar is more convenient to work with and the speed of work is higher.

Its advantage is that it is safe to work with, easy to make, takes up little space. Does not require the delivery of each log to it. It’s convenient for moving from one log to another. During the work with it the back remains straight, which is important when chopping large volumes of firewood. You don’t have to bend over each log to split it.

But it requires a man’s physical strength and makes a loud metallic noise when working. You have to wear headphones to keep out the sound.

The crowbar only has two parts. The first part is directly the cleaver with a guide tube, and the second part is the striker. The striker part can be external, i.e., wrapped around the guide tube, or internal, i.e., inserted into the inside of the guide tube. To make this chopper efficient, there is one rule that must be observed. The part with the guide and the blade should be as light as possible, and the striking part as heavy as possible, but within reasonable limits, because the striking part needs to be raised manually. The greater the mass difference between the two parts, the higher the efficiency of the cleaver.

The main thing in the production of the crowbar is to maintain the rule of a large mass difference of the cleaver’s parts and to keep the stroke of the striking part long enough to create a strong impact. This length should be about 50-60cm.

To make the first part of the cleaver as light as possible, a thin-walled tube should be used as a guide and the cleaver‘s blade should be narrow.

If during the shock the vibration is transmitted to the hands, it can be significantly reduced by making the handles wooden. If the handles are made of metal, they should be welded to the heaviest and most massive striking part, this will also help reduce vibration.

For a smoother running of the shock part and to reduce the sound of metal parts rubbing against each other, you should use a polypropylene tube between these parts.

To avoid rapid riveting of the metal at the point of impact of the two parts of the cleaver, the contact patch between them should not be too small.

To make it easier to work with the crowbar, logs should be placed inside an old car wheel. This will prevent the chipped pieces from flying off the logs, and they will always be in the same position.

Mechanical spring-loaded wood splitter.

This cleaver also uses human physical strength, just like the crowbar. But little physical strength is needed just to get the balancer off balance with the cleaver. This mechanism is a little more complicated to make than a crowbar, but more effective.

The force that is needed to cut the logs is directed downwards, so there is practically no load on the back. Much less physical effort required than the crowbar. Power of the blow depends not only on a person’s physical strength, but also on the weight of the cleaver. With this wood splitter, you can make a powerful enough blow to split almost any log. Pretty high output.

Large size and weight. Injurious, but no more so than a common axe. Requires the delivery of every log to it. Slightly more difficult to make than the crowbar.

The operating principle of this mechanism is based on the impact of the chopper blade with a large mass. The human task is reduced to the derivation of the arm of the wood splitter from the balance, that is movement downwards moves the edge of the wood splitter, and it already because of the great mass will go further on inertia. The return of the arm of the wood splitter to its home position is done automatically by a spring.

Blueprints of the woodchopper design. Important points.

The drawings below show a spring-loaded wood splitter. All pipes can be replaced by any other during manufacture, the main thing is to have enough rigidity of the structure. Instead of one thick-walled pipe with a section of 40x60x6 mm you can use two pipes welded together with a smaller wall thickness and a different section.

The impact force of this wood splitter depends on the mass of its moving part. The heavier the weight of the cleaver with the load, the higher the impact energy. The weight can be made of any heavy piece of metal, for example, two pieces of rail can be welded together. the main thing is to make the load as big as possible, ideally the weight of the cleaver with the load should be 50-55kg.

The spring has to be strong enough to hold the arm of the mechanism horizontally. That is, there must be a balance between the mass of the cleaver with the load and the force of the spring compression. If the spring force is insufficient, it is possible to add a second spring of a smaller diameter by simply inserting it into the first spring. You can take the spring from a car, its approximate diameter is 110mm and height is 450-500mm. When compressed, when the arm is horizontal, the spring will be 300mm long.

Find a balance between the weight of the kolun with the load and the force of the spring will help adjustable console, the closer the kolun will be to the spring, the higher the console will rise.

The drawing of the crane.

Types and Features

There are two main types of firewood chopper:

A mechanical cleaver, which has a manual drive, is not difficult to make with your own hands. Its drawings are simple, and the principle of work consists of simplified mechanical movements.

Mechanical cleaver with a spring

This cleaver is adjusted by adjusting a spring. By varying its position, decreasing or increasing the distance to the working wedge, you can handle logs of different length. The hand-operated clevis is used together with a solid base. A log is placed on it, and the worker lifts up the cleaver and lowers it onto the material, splitting it with low effort.

It is the wedge that plays the role of the “splitter. The spring allows the mechanism to return to its starting position for the next batch of firewood. The main auxiliary forces in the work of the mechanical cleaver are: the force of gravity and the elasticity of the steel wedge.

The great advantage of the device over a standard axe is to reduce the load on the worker when splitting firewood. This optimizes the operation to a large extent, and allows more wood to be split in one go than with an axe.

Conventional short-arm firewood chopper

An electric or powered splitter makes it even easier for the worker. The main functional part, after starting the electric motor, constantly rotates. All the operator has to do is set a new batch of logs for splitting.

The working part of such a mechanism is a cone with a certain angle. It has a helical groove. In the process of rotation, thanks to the spiral cone, the element enters the wood unhindered. The working piece literally tears into the wood fibers, making splitting easier.

The electric firewood chipper also has a work shaft and a chopping head. On the shaft ends there are grooves in which the belt drive pulley is installed. The shaft is secured to the bed by two brackets with bearings. However, there are drawings of a simplified mechanism, which shows the direct mounting of the cone on the shaft.

Note: If the power supply or voltage fluctuations are expected, the machine can be equipped with an internal combustion engine with a chain drive. It is very important when working with such a device to know that the cone, with its rotation, the logs can be fed only vertically.

An electric splitter with a washing machine motor in action

Hydraulics

Another type of mechanical splitter is a hydraulic wood splitter. Its principle of operation is based on the use of compressed fluid energy. In this case, the pressure is transferred to the working piston through the fluid. This, in turn, applies pressure to the logs.

When making such a cleaver with your own hands, it is important to pay attention to the bed. It must be made of a steel channel with thick walls. On it will be the stroke of the piston with the cutting element. The use of such a mechanism allows you to get split logs into several parts in one move. It is important to have additional guides when using this type of chopper.

When choosing a hydraulic splitter for firewood it is important to pay attention to the maximum length of the processed log (it must be up to 63 cm) and the pressure force (up to 9 tons). With these parameters, the device easily splits a 40 cm diameter log in 2 seconds.

Full description of making a splitter with your own hands:

It has enough strength to withstand the weight of the hydraulic cylinder and enough stiffness to avoid deformation during operation. The frame consists of two parts.

The horizontal, long tube is the main part. It carries the piston rod, blade, motor, and feet. Also in the back of the pipe is welded intake flange pump.

The vertical, short tube serves as the bracket for the hydraulic cylinder, the filler neck and the mounting window, through which the hydraulic pump is mounted.

Both parts are welded together with airtight seams, because our frame also serves as a hydraulic tank with a capacity of approximately 10 liters. This gives us the opportunity to save on making a special separate tank for the oil and provide good cooling, because the running engine directs the air flow from its own cooling along our tank pipe. It is very important to ensure internal tank cleanliness, because the system does not use a hydraulic filter. For oil drainage, a welded adapter for a drain hose is welded into the frame at the bottom. The height of the support stand is designed so that the operator does not bend over during work and therefore less fatigue.

Two through-hole plates are welded to the back of the work plate to hold the hydraulic cylinder rod. It has two s at the bottom, the inner surfaces of which are coated with antifriction plastic. By using plastic for the pushing piston guides, we significantly increase the service life of the guides and reduce the negative friction force.

• The blade of the hydraulic wood splitter is the main working organ of the wood splitter, which plays the main role in the ripping process and takes the heaviest part.

The forces that act on it try to bend it, erase it, blunt it, in a word break it. This is why this is the component of the hydraulic woodchopper that needs the most attention in the design.

The shape of the knife determines both the quality of split firewood and the load on all working organs of the machine. After all, the blades of the hydraulic wood splitter, according to their purpose, should chop a log along the fibers, and not cut these fibers at an angle or even across. Correctly shaped knife cuts between the fibers by just a few millimeters and causes the wood to split. The further movement of the log by the pushing piston through the blades of the blade should be practically without resistance. If the shape of the blade is not perfect, then it leads to the fact that when passing through the blade the log changes the direction of movement, as a result we get a lot of chips (waste in the form of numerous chips and debris), as well as significant loads on the blade itself for hydraulic wood splitter and other elements of the mechanism. Even if the knives are perfectly shaped, not every log that we are going to split has the ideal direction of the fibers for chopping. It is mostly logs with knots or defects which somehow lead to the above-mentioned loss of effort in cutting the fibers at an angle, large amount of chips, unwanted stress on the parts of the hydro-propelled hammer and so on.

But all is not as bad as it looks! Crackles formed by stinging logs with knots are a great kindling material. All elements of the hydrodrusher, as already mentioned above, are adapted to high loads. It is able to perfectly split a log without knots, and just as flawlessly withstand the extreme stresses that arise when cutting logs with heavy knots, while ensuring the quality shape of the resulting firewood.

All this is made possible by using for the production of the blade, steel with extreme possibilities. Hardox 450 wear-resistant steel makes it possible to produce a blade for your trestle hoe that includes a lifetime warranty. Hardox 450 woodturning blades will NOT bend or break, and will not wear out or dull. Requiring no special preparation or heat treatment, this steel is perfectly welded and machined.

A few words about the main purchased components:

• 3-phase electric motor, 4 kW / 1500 rpm. (Belarus)
• GP-2K10L six-cylinder hydraulic pump (Ukraine)
• hydraulic cylinder: piston Ø63, rod Ø40, stroke 400 mm (Ukraine)
• P40 hydraulic distributor (Italy)
• high pressure hoses: pressure DN8, outlet DN12 (Poland)
• oil 10W40
• Motor protection circuit breaker 25 A (Germany)
• Wheels 200×50, lifting capacity 200kg

If you wish, you can find analogues of these components for making of the hydraulic splitter.

Manufacturing of the spring wood splitter

First, we weld support for future woodchopper, prepare ground for spring. The next step is to weld the tube, spacers and the platform. Cutting out a place for attaching the beam to the support. The beam itself with the hinge joint is hinged to the support and welded, keeping it mobile. Attaching the beam with the splitter in a horizontal position. Weld the rail and handle to our woodchopper.

Dropping on the log, the cleaver splits it and returns to its original position. that’s the principle of operation.

Screw (cone-shaped) machine

A widespread model for making firewood in small amounts is a machine with a cone splitter, which can be additionally threaded, the driver is an electric or gasoline engine. Billets such machine splits due to the rotating cone, tearing the wood, and the mechanical pressure exerted on the workpiece by a man.

You can buy the cutting part or turn it yourself if you are a skilled turner. Remember that the thread will make it easier for you to work with the wood splitter, so it is advisable to thread it (we recommend left-hand threading). Thread depth 2-3 mm, pitch 6-7 mm. The nose of the cone must be sharpened. The place of landing on the gearbox should be at least 70 mm deep.

The motor must have a capacity of 1.5-2 kW, voltage. from 380 V. RPM is 250-500 per minute, a speed below 250 rpm will slow down the process of wood preparation a lot, and above 500 rpm. there is a danger of tearing logs out of hands. If you have the engine with the given number of revolutions, you can put the “carrot” on the crankshaft. If you go too fast, you will need to install a reduction gear or make a belt or chain drive to reduce the speed.

Bed. the table on which the billets will be put. It is made either of sheet steel or of thick wooden boards, the legs to it should be metal 40 cm long.

The distance from the table to the chump. 8-20 cm, if you increase it, there is a risk of overturning the logs of small diameter. The logs should be positioned vertically, otherwise the wood will get stuck between the “carrot” and the table and is likely to bend the shaft. The logs should be no longer than 0.5 m and not exceed a diameter of 0.6 m. Do not use wood with intertwined fibers (birch, oak, etc.) for this woodchopper. п. ). For safe work put a cover on the motor and chain (belt).

Such an unproductive and time-consuming way simply could not be left without the attention of home craftsmen trying to mechanize this work. One of the devices with which you can easily and quickly chop firewood is a cone woodchopper. Given its uncomplicated design and the ability to use improvised materials in the work, we suggest making a mechanical screw splitter with your own hands. Everything you need for this is also available in the Woodburner parts online store, click here for the manufacturer’s price. In the catalog you can find cones of different diameters, mounts and ready-made kits, which you only need to attach to your power tiller or engine.

Making a woodchopper from a hydraulic jack

A good woodchopper with their own hands homemade turn out from the hydraulic jack, designed for a force of up to 6 tons.

Additionally needed:

• I-beam 6;
• Sheet of steel, thickness 8-10 mm;
• 2 tensile springs of 25-30 cm each;
• welding machine;
• Angle grinder, cutting discs, petal wheel;
• drill with drill bits.

Start with the design and elaboration of all elements of the future wood splitter. Be sure to prejoin the parts to avoid mistakes during assembly.

The algorithm for further work is as follows:

• Prepare supports for the bed, after welding, clean up the seams.
• Assemble the basic assemblies.
• Make a blade using a sheet of steel. It is necessary to make 2 plates and connect them at an angle.
• Secure the jack with clamps.
• Make a pusher from a 10-mm plate. Weld the hinges to it and the rear support. Use threaded hooks to secure it. This makes it easier to adjust the tension.

It remains to assemble the structure, fix it on the wall. If painting is planned, it should be done before assembly and after priming.

How to choose a woodchopper: features of the product

If the household needs a woodchopper, it is important to decide: whether to buy a ready-made product or to assemble it with your own hands. The latter option will require certain tools and skills. For example, you can study a catalog of accessories for screw and cone firewood cutters of any manufacturer and assemble your own reliable and productive unit.

Other versions of the equipment work on the principle. the motor moves to the log special knives, when applying pressure on which the log splits. To create a quality product is worth studying the information, how to make a woodchopper with your own hands and what type of device is better to choose.

There are a lot of installations working on this principle and they differ from each other on certain features:

• According to the method of laying a log. There are vertical and horizontal mechanisms. Devices of the vertical type are considered more powerful and can work with thick logs, but for a curved log it is worth choosing a horizontal device;
• the maximum possible values of the stacked firewood. Depending on this factor, the equipment is divided into industrial and domestic;
• drive types. For domestic use, it is enough to apply an electric unit with a capacity of about 2.5 kW.

Sufficiently powerful units can be made by your own forces

In addition, the weight of the household tool is important. Such a product can be constructed by yourself.

Classification of firewood cutters

To understand the drawings, photos and instructions of the woodchopper created with your own hands, you should know what the varieties of these devices are.

Classification of woodcutters is made taking into account the type of drive:

• a simple version on gasoline or diesel fuel, which is characterized by autonomy and high efficiency;
• For small volumes, mechanical type devices are recommended;
• stationary variants include models that function on electricity.

According to the design features and the principle of pecking, the woodchopper is of the following types:

The hydraulic version can be used for household purposes

For domestic applications, it is worth choosing hydraulic and screw variants of the woodchopper with their own hands. Video demonstrates how to make such products yourself.

Characteristics of models with a cone-shaped cleaver

Electric and diesel engines use a cone-shaped cleaver, which splits the trunk by mechanical pressure and by moving the tip of the cleaver. It does not require a lot of effort and the fuel consumption is minimal.

• Motor with a power of 1.5 kW, a speed of about 400 and a voltage not exceeding 380;
• the frame is a tabletop, where the wood is piled
• Gearbox is used to control the speed.

If you decide to do such a wood jack with their own hands, then the drawings, photos, instructions for it will be easy to find on the interior pages, and all components can be found at an affordable price. Such devices are used for small boilers, bathhouses and country estates.

Features of the hydraulic woodchopper

With the hydraulic model you can process a large volume of raw material in the shortest possible time. The work of the device is performed by the engine and the pump hydraulic equipment.

When assembling such a model, it is worth taking into account some peculiarities:

• vertical or horizontal positioning of the logs;
• allowable dimensions;
• The dimensions of the cylinder and the features of the motor, which affect the power of splitting the raw material;
• engine power.

Such apparatus is more difficult to build than a screw product. This machine has a higher productivity, it can be used not only for domestic purposes, but also for commercial purposes.

The nuances of the rack and pinion version

In the rack device, the cleaver is fixed to the rail, which is moved by means of a gear. The log is placed between the thrust device and the log splitter. The log is split by pushing on a special handle of the equipment. After that, the gears are firmly coupled, and the rack with the cleaver is moved forward to the log.

The reverse movement moves the splitter back into position and the split log is removed. Such a machine operates with an electric motor and does not require complex maintenance.

For a rack-and-pinion unit, the following parameters are considered important:

“The slatted splitter is factory-fitted. Cone or screw models are not offered in the assembly. A cone of steel can be found separately, and the other parts can be assembled from improvised means.

How to use?

Homemade firewood cutters can be easily used in domestic conditions, but it is necessary to take into account certain features. For example, if you make a firewood cutter with your own hands with an electric motor, it is worth considering its power. Recommended minimum. 3 kW. A quality motor drives a pump that makes the wood splitter’s threaded cone rotate and split the log into parts. You only need to hold the billet with your own hands.

Note: When working with this kind of woodchopper, you should not only know, but also strictly follow the safety rules. Otherwise, there is a high probability of injury, which can seriously harm your health.

Variants

Before we understand how to make a woodchopper with their own hands, we should consider the existing varieties of these devices. This will determine the type of design.

Horizontal models involve placing a log on the bed. There are two schemes of operation and manufacture of trovokolov with their own hands:

With vertical woodcutters, the workpiece is held in position. The knife presses it from above. Such factory or homemade woodchips are characterized by high performance, but require periodic participation, to maintain the billets.

• Diesel or gasoline. fully self-contained models;
• electric. stationary units;
• mechanical woodchopper. for small volumes.

It is possible to make each of the woodchoppers with your own hands.

Assembling screw and hydraulic unit

To greatly simplify the design of the cleaver will help a suitable motor with a speed of 500 rpm capacity of 1.5-2 kW. This kind of electric motor connects directly to the cone, so you don’t have to use a belt drive. If you could not find a unit with these characteristics, prepare the following set of materials:

Recommendation. Do not order a turner to make a screw “carrot” until you know the diameter of the drive shaft or the main shaft of the motor. The thread of the working cone is made with two starts, steel grade. St35 St45 (high-carbon).

You need to weld a table from metal profiles, fix a sheet of metal on top. The motor is mounted on the plate under the table top, the secondary shaft with the cone on top. Pulleys are keyed or secured with setscrews. When connecting the power cable, take care about grounding the machine.

Important Point. When chopping firewood with a screw device, you need to correctly move the block to the tool. strictly in a vertical position. If you place it on its side, one log will get stuck between the cone and the table top.

On the stationary version, the oil station is located separately

Assembly of the hydraulic cleaver is different equipment. Instead of the electric motor and the “carrot” you need to install the blade, the plate-pusher and the working cylinder. Note, the other accessories can be placed separately by bringing the high-pressure hose from the hydraulic pump to the cylinder.

Very detailed and understandable process of making a hydraulic unit is shown in the video:

Finally, about the hand axes

If you don’t have an opportunity to make a mechanized wood splitter yourself, you will have to chop firewood the traditional way. Here it is important to choose a convenient tool that makes the job as easy as possible.

• In stores are sold different length of handle and weight of the blade (2-5 kg). Get a tool that suits your physical fitness, because you need to swing an axe often and for a long time. Do not take the heaviest specimens at once.
• The wood axe of a quality product is made of elm, maple or birch. These types of wood do not crumble into chips and do not split.
• Do not buy an axe with a handle that is too short, which reduces the force of the blow. If the axe is too long, it can be easily cut to the right size.
• Make sure that the “head” sits tightly on the handle.

If your budget allows, you should consider the more practical imported cleavers with a solid plastic handle and various profiles of the blade made of high-quality steel. Popular choices are Fiskars brand straight axes and offset-center axes for making firewood from Vipukirves.