Wood splitter - an indispensable thing in a private house

In order to melt a brick oven, titanium, fireplace or barbecue, firewood is needed. You can chop wood with an ax to fry two batches of barbecue, but there is definitely not enough strength to burn the stove throughout the winter. To solve this problem, and came up with wood splitters. First, industrial ones appeared that were used at large-scale logging facilities at enterprises. Today it is possible to purchase a wood splitter for the house, with the help of which it will be possible to procure firewood for all household needs without special physical efforts.

Advantages and disadvantages of wood splitters

A wood splitter is a machine that can split logs into wood of the right size. Work with him is fast. In 3 hours you can prepare as much firewood as you would with an ax, if they had been chopped for 4 hours daily all week.

Using a wood splitter allows you to save time and physical strength and to complete a huge amount of work in a short time. Today on the market there are a huge number of models of wood splitters that are universal, so the buyer can choose the option that suits him. To work on a wood splitter, you do not need to have special skills - a person who does not have special physical preparation can easily do this job.

With proper operation, wood splitters are safe, so they can be used both outdoors and indoors. If the wood splitter is made by a reliable manufacturer, then it will serve for many years, so you should not save on the purchase of this device.

Wood splitters also have disadvantages. Many models are very bulky, so moving them alone is difficult. Wood splitters work well, but they consume a lot of gasoline or electricity. The more powerful the engine, the higher the cost of buying fuel. Wood splitters are not cheap, so you need to buy it if you really need it every day, but remember that cheap models can not always cope with strong wood.

Types of wood splitters according to the log bookmark option

Wood splitters are classified according to various criteria. So by the method of bookmarking logs they are:

• vertical
• horizontal
• mixed.

In a horizontal wood splitter, a log is placed in a gutter and cut in length. In some models, the knife moves towards the log, in others - the log itself. In the vertical log is laid on top, and the knife begins to put pressure on him. This wood splitter is compact, so if we do not want the bulky design to take up space in the yard, then we select this device. In mixed models, firewood is laid both on the side and on top. Such devices are used in woodworking factories, so if you choose a wood splitter for a summer house or a private house, buy horizontal or vertical.

How do wood splitters work?

According to the principle of operation, wood splitters are of several types:

• hydraulic;
• mechanical;
• screw;
• rack and pinion.

Mechanical spring splitter has a simple design, and therefore it is quite simple to use. They put it on the ground or on a strong floor, set a log under the cone of the cleaver, lift it with the handle, and then press the pedal, and the blade splits the tree.This splitter is only driven by human action, which is strengthened by a spring.

A variety of mechanical is a gear splitter. The principle of its operation is simple: rotational movements are converted into translational ones, and the cleaver breaks the logs into small-sized firewood. A splitter with a gearbox is also called a rack splitter. The rack splitter also has a simple design. If you wish, you can make such a log splitter yourself - in the public domain there are enough video and photo materials that step by step tell you how to make this device.

If you do not know what kind of wood splitter you need, you can stop on this model. In order to independently manufacture a rack splitter, you will need inexpensive materials that are sold in all construction stores. This design acts on a tree with a force of at least 10 tons, so a log splitter can handle any wood. Homemade hydraulic will cost you more than rack and pinion, and in terms of performance they are about the same.

A screw splitter is used for sawing small wooden logs. The log is placed in the gutter, and with the help of the handle the screw is screwed into it. A little effort and a metal drill breaks the tree. It takes about a minute to saw one log. This splitter works both from the engine, and from mechanical action.

The most popular is a hydraulic wood splitter. He is truly the best of existing models. With it, you can saw any kind of wood, including the strongest and even wet. This wood splitter consists of a hydraulic cylinder. A log is placed in it, and the cylinder begins to push either it or the blade. The pressure inside is high, so all work is done very quickly. Due to its high performance, a hydraulic wood splitter is usually used in large enterprises, but if there is a financial opportunity, it can be bought for a house or a summer residence.

Types of wood splitter engines

Wood splitters also vary in engine type. Depending on what they work on, wood splitters are:

• electric;
• gasoline;
• on tractor traction.

An electric wood splitter is ideal for domestic use. Naturally, for it to work, there must be electricity in the house or on the plot. Log splitter - the device is very powerful, so in order not to knock out traffic jams, your wiring should be designed for such loads.

If you chop firewood on the street, be sure to put it on a rubberized mat. If it rains and the splitter gets wet, it can close when turned on. Working with any electrical appliance requires compliance with safety requirements. Today, the use of household wood splitters on electric motors is popular, because it is very convenient.

Gasoline splitter used for industrial purposes. These are very powerful devices that run on gasoline and have high performance. They are used in large enterprises.

Gasoline powered wood splitter can be used in non-electrified areas. If during the construction of the house you need a large amount of firewood, you can bring a gas splitter to such a site.

The splitters of the last type are connected to the tractor and run on its engine. The characteristics of this type of splitter differ by an order of magnitude from all the others. With the help of these devices, you can cut thousands of cubic meters of wood for a short period of firewood. These wood splitters are used by large industrial enterprises that use or sell large amounts of firewood.

Today, manufacturers present wood choppers of various types, which differ in the way they lay the logs, the principle of operation, the type of engine and other characteristics.A wood splitter is a very necessary thing in the household, but if you do not have the opportunity to purchase it, you can do it yourself - there is a detailed description of each model on the Internet. True, a home-made splitter is suitable only for domestic purposes, enterprises need to buy devices made by reliable manufacturers.