Riding Mower Converted
To Log Splitter

Vance Burns stripped a 16 hp Sears Craftsman riding mower down to the motor and frame to create a wood splitter complete with a hitch and hoist.

He replaced the mower's front wheels with an old trailer axle and mounted an I-beam across it with a hitch to make the splitter mobile. The hoist is made out of 2 by 2-in. tubing, and Burns purchased a winch and grapple to pick up wood blocks off the ground and lay them on the splitter.

"I added an 11 gpm hydraulic pump and 4 by 24-in. stroke cylinder," Burns says. "I installed the hydraulic valve where the steering wheel used to be, and the pump is mounted on the motor shaft. I used a section of log truck boom for the hydraulic oil tank and added a toolbox on the side to hold gas, oil and tools."

He built the splitter out of 7/16-in. steel. "What I like about it is that the splitting wedge is taller - 14 in. high," Burns says. "I can put two pieces of wood, one on top of the other, and split both at the same time."

For blocks he wants to split in four, he sometimes splits them halfway, turns the block and makes the final split. He has split blocks up to 30 in. diameter and 24 in. long.

The splitter is also at a comfortable working height. Burns estimates he spent about $1,000 for everything.

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