Tractor Splitter Rotates 180?

Tractor splitter rotates 180? WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 11-5-34 A Kansas farmer says his rotating tractor splitter eliminates the need to hoist heavy or awkwardly large chunks of wood onto the splitting table. Harlan Courtney, who farms near Oskaloosa, says his splitter hydraulically rotates 180? with the flick of a lever. "Sometimes we flip the splitter upside down over onto the top of a piece of wood to start the splitting process and then flip the splitter over and finish the job. Other times we set the splitter sideways and roll the block of wood into it. With smaller, easy-to-handle wood chunks we just leave the splitter in the upright position," says Courtney. He made the splitter rotate by welding a salvaged semi-trailer stub axle to one end of the I-beam. He replaced the axle bearing adjusting nut with a pinion gear. The pinion gear is turned by a gear rack fastened to a hydraulic cylinder. A 3-pt. frame attaches directly to the semi wheel hub for mounting on the tractor, which is fitted with twin remote vales to power both the splitter and rotating cylinder. Courtney uses extension rods from the tractor's hydraulic levers to control the splitter from the ground. He notes that the splitter's rotating cylinder and gears are positioned at the front of the splitter between the hitch arms where they're out of the way and protected. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Harlan Courtney, Rt. 2, Box 101, Oskaloosa, Kan. 66066 (ph 913 863-2654).

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