Spring-Loaded Chopper Uses No Hydraulics
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Tom Wylie searched the internet for examples of manual-powered wood splitters before building a spring-loaded one of his own. It works so well that he calls it the Paul Bunyan Wood Chopper and has started selling plans for it, with a discount for FARM SHOW readers.
“It’s amazing how much easier it makes splitting wood,” says Wylie. “There are no spark plugs, hydraulic hoses, or maintenance. The only noise is of the wood splitting.”
Wylie made the splitter largely out of salvaged metal, using an old boat trailer tongue for the frame and setting it on a mobile home axle. The base post, boom, and splitting head are lengths of rectangular steel tubing. The splitting table is 2-in. home sawn lumber. It’s 104 in. long, about 46 in. wide, and about 70 in. high.
The splitting edge is a salvaged splitting maul. Operating it is easy. He places the wood round on the table and pulls the splitting head down. The 90-lb. weight of the head does the work with a spring returning it to a resting position.
“The biggest challenge was tensioning the spring,” says Wylie. “Spring tension controls how high the splitting head sits at rest. That determines the average length of the firewood round that can be split. It had to be adjustable, yet steady and strong.”
Wylie tried several different techniques, but all would either break or bind. He wanted to avoid hydraulics so he wouldn’t have to deal with potential oil leaks. That ruled out a jack.
“One day, I saw the leveling screw under a scaffold,” says Wylie. “I had one welded in place, and it worked great.”
The splitter went through several prototypes before Wylie was satisfied. One key was to place the wheels under the heaviest portion of the machine. This past summer, he replaced smaller wheels with larger ones and a longer tongue for towing.
“The larger wheels made it more mobile,” says Wylie.
Trained and licensed as an airplane mechanic, the Missouri homesteader worked on his design for the past 6 or 7 years. He feels he has it perfected, able to split anything he could with a maul but without the work. With his most recent changes, he developed plans for others to follow for building their own.
This past summer, he took his splitter to the Modern Homesteading Conference at Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. “When people saw it work, they often asked how they could get one and if I build them to sell,” says Wylie.
He’s talking to several shops about building the splitter for sale. In the meantime, he’s selling plans for $25 in print and digital form. He also offers an advanced set of digital plans online with detailed videos on construction for $49. All plans come with a detailed materials shopping list.
Wylie is offering FARM SHOW readers a 10 percent discount on printed plans. Use the coupon code FARMSHOW10 when ordering.
“Depending on available materials, I think it could be built for $300 to $500,” says Wylie. “Using all new materials, it would likely be in the $1,000 range.”
He notes that the main component needed is the scaffolding jack screw. The spring and most other components can be found at a salvage yard.
“I went with the mobile home axle because they’re usually easy to find and cheap, plus parts like bearings are easy to find,” says Wylie. “I’ve also added a detailed drawing for a stationary design after having a request for it.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tom Wylie, 82 Private Rd. 304-2, Alton, Mo. 65606 (handyhomesteadertom@gmail.com; https://paulbunyanwoodchopper.square.site).
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Spring-Loaded Chopper Uses No Hydraulics WAGONS/TRAILERS Conversions Tom Wylie searched the internet for examples of manual-powered wood splitters before building a spring-loaded one of his own It works so well that he calls it the Paul Bunyan Wood Chopper and has started selling plans for it with a discount for FARM SHOW readers “It’s amazing how much easier it makes splitting wood ” says Wylie “There are no spark plugs hydraulic hoses or maintenance The only noise is of the wood splitting ” Wylie made the splitter largely out of salvaged metal using an old boat trailer tongue for the frame and setting it on a mobile home axle The base post boom and splitting head are lengths of rectangular steel tubing The splitting table is 2-in home sawn lumber It’s 104 in long about 46 in wide and about 70 in high The splitting edge is a salvaged splitting maul Operating it is easy He places the wood round on the table and pulls the splitting head down The 90-lb weight of the head does the work with a spring returning it to a resting position “The biggest challenge was tensioning the spring ” says Wylie “Spring tension controls how high the splitting head sits at rest That determines the average length of the firewood round that can be split It had to be adjustable yet steady and strong ” Wylie tried several different techniques but all would either break or bind He wanted to avoid hydraulics so he wouldn’t have to deal with potential oil leaks That ruled out a jack “One day I saw the leveling screw under a scaffold ” says Wylie “I had one welded in place and it worked great ” The splitter went through several prototypes before Wylie was satisfied One key was to place the wheels under the heaviest portion of the machine This past summer he replaced smaller wheels with larger ones and a longer tongue for towing “The larger wheels made it more mobile ” says Wylie Trained and licensed as an airplane mechanic the Missouri homesteader worked on his design for the past 6 or 7 years He feels he has it perfected able to split anything he could with a maul but without the work With his most recent changes he developed plans for others to follow for building their own This past summer he took his splitter to the Modern Homesteading Conference at Coeur d’Alene Idaho “When people saw it work they often asked how they could get one and if I build them to sell ” says Wylie He’s talking to several shops about building the splitter for sale In the meantime he’s selling plans for $25 in print and digital form He also offers an advanced set of digital plans online with detailed videos on construction for $49 All plans come with a detailed materials shopping list Wylie is offering FARM SHOW readers a 10 percent discount on printed plans Use the coupon code FARMSHOW10 when ordering “Depending on available materials I think it could be built for $300 to $500 ” says Wylie “Using all new materials it would likely be in the $1 000 range ” He notes that the main component needed is the scaffolding jack screw The spring and most other components can be found at a salvage yard “I went with the mobile home axle because they’re usually easy to find and cheap plus parts like bearings are easy to find ” says Wylie “I’ve also added a detailed drawing for a stationary design after having a request for it ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Tom Wylie 82 Private Rd 304-2 Alton Mo 65606 ph 509-993-8524; handyhomesteadertom@gmail com; https://paulbunyanwoodchopper square site
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