Cool splitter! My uncle had a home made splitter to. He put on a "+" type wedge on the end. It quarter the wood in one stroke. We're what America is really made of!

I stumbled across this video a few years ago without even knowing what a kinetic log splitter was. My family and I do a fair bit of firewood every year and the old hydraulic splitter (as good as it is ) was just too slow. So I decided why not try to make a kinetic splitter to make life easier every wood season. After some more research I built my own kinetic log splitter. My flywheel is much heavier than yours appears to be and is powered by a 5hp motor that is very fuel efficient. I used a double row sprocket that I found laying around (heavy duty mind you) for the pinion and made my own rack by welding the chain to suit that sprocket onto some reinforced RHS tubing. Long story short, it’s an amazing machine that I am baffled by its efficiency every time I use it and with only minor tweaks since I built it a few years ago, it still runs strong. I am contemplating putting up a video of mine showing how I built it and how it works. Maybe that’s something I will get around to one day.

Awesome work Gary. Based on what I've seen on some other kinetic splitters I'd be guessing that your flywheel is either too light and/or isn't spinning fast enough. Your stroke is longer than most but you can hear by the immediate drop in revs that it's the reduction drive through the motor, rack/pinion that is doing the work rather than the momentum of the flywheel. There's other videos up on kinetic splitters (in particular by nathan36340) using motors as low as 3hp with no noticeable reduction in motor rpm's.

Great video! I like the rack and pinion idea, but it looks like you need two 75 pound flywheels, or just a heavier one.

After several hours of operation, can you see and damage to the rack or pinion gear as the gear engages randomly and also under high stress the rack would want to jump off the pinion.

Very good. It appears to consume the logs as fast as they are loaded. And not half as scary in operation as I first thought ( though some shrouds around the motive parts might be in order )

I didn't know what a kinetic splitter was till I googled and came across your video.. Very Impressive..

I wish I was your neighbor, great design. Great idea.

What keeps the gear mesh from grinding before they fully engage? Seems like any other design would grind, yet this doesn't.

"Just build one"? !, you say. I'm impressed. I have a Supersplit kinetic splitter so I appreciate your machine. I just bought it. I don't even have the skills to copy it much less reinvent it. Chain drive is a nice touch. Also the cable pulley on the spring return. Kind of steampunk. If the fly wheel was heavier it wouldn't bog down as much. Your machine has a longer reach so that will slow the flywheel on the tough stuff. I also notice that the spline shaft is higher than on my machine. Take care that the forces don't bend it into an arc, if it starts, reinforce it. Good job.

Perfect speed for a splitter. Fast enough to be efficient but still safe

Brilliant machine , thanks for posting

I like it!!! I made one once out of a single trailer dolly and a hydro stat reverse/fwd., to turn the input shaft. But this one beats the "technology" of mine all to pieces....!☺

Hi great job , can I use part of your video to my compilation homemade inventions and projects

Pretty ingenious. It wouldn't work as well on the wood we have in the PNW as it tends to be much bigger, but I can see the usefulness for the wood you have. I'm thinking I may just need a bigger flywheel, though. When you go to do your second split on the log, keep the two pieces of the log together, rotate 90 degrees. You can then cut into 4 pieces. Saves one splitting step. I do it all the time. It works pretty good with pieces up to 12 inches in diameter. Above that I have to set the second half aside like you are doing in the video.

Man that thing really shines splitting those long small diameter logs, way faster than hydraulic

Brilliant piece of kit. Well done

You need to configure your activation handle to be activated by a foot pedal which is attached to the handle by a steel cable. This would free up your right hand to hold on to your material being split. Another suggestion would to put a little more of a broad head on your cutting tool. Reason for this is I noticed every log you spitted you had to break it on open to separate the two pieces just split. A broader axe head would split the logs more efficiently.

I'd like to know where you acquired the rack & pinion thanks

reminds me of the Amish around our area with levers and pulleys on shafts at the saw mills. alot of thinking went on constructing this cool works nice good job.

that's one impressive design and build! well done :) I really like to see old bits and pieces given a new life and being reused rather than just tossed. if you lived closer i'd hire you to make me one! i'm no where near handy enough with metal to do that.

Great job, that took time and skill to design and fabricate. Thanks for the video.

Very well engineered! Just curious, where did you get the rack & pinion?

that's brilliant, great construction!

Gary, Where did you get your rack and pinion and what the size. Good video, looking to build one soon.

Great job sir. Nice build.

Super amazing. wish I had one back in Mn.

Hi great vid , where did you get your rack and pinion set up

I love to see people use what they have to keep from buying new things. Great imagination buddy ! Looks like something I’d come up with , good job !

Nice job , I saw the allen bolts on the collars holding the drive cog on the shaft are they the ones with a woodruff key slot in them and if they are do they hold okay for this. By the way if the wheel/bearing that presses the rack onto the drive wheel goes past 90 degrees it should stop it kicking back. Thanks in advance.

Absolutely amazing. I love building my own stuff also.

Nice work Gary!

good job and hella stroke add more weight to wheel or a secondary wheel how does it work on knotted stuff

This is a nice unit. Can you please describe a few parts more specifically? Regarding the rack. How wide is it and how thick is it excluding the teeth and including the teeth. How many teeth per inch or teeth per foot? What is the length of the rack? What is the total diameter of the pinion and how many teeth does it have? I'd really appreciate you help here. Thanks.

Fantastic! great job of engineering.

Good build mate, too job.

Sweet machine, I like your reduce reuse recycle philosophy.

Ingenious. Just needs a few tweaks, rubber bump stops, chain/ belt guards, split wood trays on each side

I was a bit worried with a large number of fake reviews but I am very pleased with the results. Bit of background, kzfaq.infoUgkxmKn8dCAXovWn8_cLYoosGLVrVrpwlIMc I need to split approximately 1.5 cords of wood and didn't feel like destroying my back. I purchased this anticipating to have a few issues splitting wood but have only come across a few logs of elm where the stringy nature of elm made it more difficult to split. Overall its not a necessarily fast process but it also isn't a very arduous one either. I came and went fairly often to do different tasks but once I stayed and got into a system I could easily split my pieces in a fairly timely manner.

what thickness shaft did you use for the bulldozer clutch plate flywheel, and also thickness of shaft for pinion

hey Gary, during the walk around i noticed the main drive belt being loose and was wondering about it until you went thru the paces with the machine. the belt is supposed to slip so the engine doesn't stall in a tough chunk of wood. so my point of ponderance here is how well a centrifugal clutch would work in this system?

Gary, Very nice Job. I can't imagine he amount of time you put into that design.

Where can I get the rack and pinion to build my own???

I love it! Who sells the rack and pinion?

First person I have seen to put the flat side of the cut log down. Someone finally gets it.

Where and how much are those racks and pinion gears? I would really like one of these. For a home built one it layed out well. I only wander how the chains will last. Chains typically don't like a quick shock like when you engage the gear to the rack.

For all the naysayers: The teeth won't strip on the rack or pinion because there is no prevalent force acting on the rack until it contacts the wood being split, at which point, the teeth are in mesh. I'd hate to see these guys try to understand a manual transmission, or how to shift gears without using a clutch. Cool machine!

Can anyone tell me where I can find a rack and pinion similar to this? I have everything else needed to build one of these!

Wouldn't it be a good idea to install a guard around that flywheel and gear?

Awesome machine. Great job building it yourself. I personally would go with a bigger engine for extra torque to drive through the bigger logs and you shouldn't have to wait as long for the flywheel to get back up to speed. Harbor freight has a great and cheap line of engines that would be great for this.

I like that. Been looking around for parts.

Outstanding homemade creativity! How can I make one?

What keeps the gear teeth from jumping and chattering until they engage?

Any videos about running engines on charcoal?

do you think this unit could use a four or six way wedge

Nice work!

What happens if the log is too hard and does not split ? Is there any fuse somewhere like a shear bolt something else ??

where did you buy the rack and pinion from?

very cool and works it must save u a lot of time and energry and a lot of sore muscels in your latter years

I gotta tell you, for what you have in it, that is a very ingenious design, works great and fast too. Some rubber bumpers at the back of the ram will cushion the return stroke.

Nice tool you built there! what do you use to lube the rack gearing?

Looking good! I like the simplicity. Is that rack something you scavenged off something or just a stock rack? When the ram gets to the end of it's stroke, does it automatically disengage? It appears the handle drops when the rack stops moving.

Pretty darn clever! Does need a cup holder though.

Get a piece of an old tire and bolt it to the I beam for a return stopper so it doesn't damage your washers

Have you considered a shock absorber to "catch" the pinion when it retracts? A hydraulic plunger of sorts. Well done!

What size rack gear did you use?

Nice work! Where did you source the parts?

Have you thought about putting a damper to slow the rack when it returns? Should save you from having to grab it and slow it down

Oh baby, that wood is so knotty. It needs a spanking.

Where does a person find the gear rack and pinion gear?

How is it better than the hydraulic press?

Splits that soft popal pretty good, like to see if it could handle some oak or elm.

Sweet job man really nice

Kinetic is the word. barely functional and awesome and home made. Perfect!

Great video bud. Tell me, what size is the rack? Do you know how many ton pressure it's doing?

Hi Gary! Cool machine and I'm eyeing a build myself... I'm not in the know but why have you selected 14.5 pressure angle on your rack and spur as opposed to the supposedly "improved" 20 pressure angle? Again I know what the advantages are of both but why did you select this pressure angle. Thank you for sharing your project video. Inspirational to say the least!

Nice build.

Great job!

Nice job!!

Great work mate. You’d be a handy guy to have around.

you are a genious man!

Very nice build. It seems to do what you want it to.

Good-stuff!. very crafty! A few touch-ups & add-ons & it`ll be perfect. I like it when people 'think-outside the box'. Good-Luck with your future jobs.

Awesome .... well done👍

It looks like you could you a heavier flywheel. Great job though. Do you know what your gear reduction is?

You should grease the moving parts. Good job!

This is amazing

Excellent! I love the history of the repurposed parts. This use to be..., this is off of a... 👍

Your "product" is really well done ..someone below did mention that the rack and the gear are available on amazon...thanks for that information Could you explain the fuels?..sounded like you mention coal gas and wood gas...they sound like by products of this process...Thanks for showing us " how it's done" Mark

its amazing what a drop of oil will do

Simple Machine Easy to Understand. Good Done.

This is an honest question, not a criticism - I don't know the answer. In machine design, is this a normal or advisable way to employ a rack and pinion system in this way, i.e. having the rack engaged onto a moving pinion? I would be concerned about tooth wear or breakage at the engagement point.

My father refused to get a splitter, said you heat 3 time with wood, once cutting once splitting it with a maul and then burning it. R.I.P Pacca.

Works good , -- Idea -- slide a 10" rubber hose or so on the upper side of the cable so the pulley hits the hose and slows the return like a drag should stop real slow ..

I could not believe I watched all this but then so did 180,000 other people.

That is sweet, aspen, white ash are strategic grain. The bug hit here also, the thing I can see a wood that is all branches it might not have the power to push through it. That’s where hydraulics excel, your right it’s fast.

good work and fast

love this machine good job i have the dr k rapidfire from DR

Where do you buy the rack and pinion? All I'm finding is steering components.

love it things that are made by a person are awesome because he built it with his hands and his own brain that is what a lot of people are lacking in today s kids the world is moving to fast to show people great job on it