Restoring An Old Rusty Gas Powered Log Splitter O4

I restored this old rusty log splitter into working condition in about an hour. This old log splitter had been sitting outside in the elements unprotected for about 30 years or so. Now it is splitting logs for me on the off grid homestead.

Some of you may remember a few months ago when I picked up this old log splitter for free. It was in sorry shape. The tires were blown, the motor was not working and the entire machine was rusted up solid. The oak boards holding the engine were rotted away into nothing.

I took off the old 12 HP cast iron Wisconsin engine when I got it. I hope to sell the engine online some day. It is a hand crank engine and I even have the crank for it. The engine is complete but I do not want to work on it myself. It is worth something to a collector, I believe.

I cut off the old bolts that held the engine mount boards in place. Then I cut a piece of exterior grade plywood to put on the log splitter frame. This will be my new motor mount.

I have a HF 3 HP engine that I got for only $45 on super discount. It was on sale from $198 down to $50 because it had no box. On top of that I had a 20% discount. So I paid $45 for a brand new engine for my log splitter.

I had the log splitter cylinder and linkages lubed up with WD40 for a few days already.

With a few gentle blows from a hammer, all of the linkages freed up and now work nicely.

I found some engine mount screws and traced the engine mount pattern into the plywood. Then I drilled out the holes and mounted my new engine onto the ancient log splitter.

I used the original drive belt for now just to test the machine out.

The engine fired right up on the very first pull, which surprised me.

I had to work the lever a few times but the slider rails freed right up and the hydraulic piston started pushing the slider down the rail slow and easy. I worked it back and forth a few times to make sure it was working.

Next I lubed up the rails some and then it was time to try splitting some logs.

I started out with a small log just as a test. The log splitter cut it in half like a knife through butter. Next was a bit larger log. This too was cut in half with ease.

Next I tried a log that I could not split with my ax. This thing caused my ax to bounce back at me without denting the log. I had tried several times and had given up.

This log gave my machine a bit of a workout. But with a few times back and forth, my log splitter also split this gnarly log in two. The two halves were then easily split again.

I am so happy to have a log splitter for my off grid homestead. This makes splitting firewood so fast and easy.

Follow my daily progress on the path to self sufficiency on my off grid solar homestead.
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