Only Cub Cadets - Bob95065's log splitter

I am not sure if I'll get to it this weekend. My steering gear on my truck sprung a nasty leak and I have to rebuild it. I have to reseal the pump too. First priority is my wife's car has an ABS light and a noise in the front end.

My splitter is a Lickety Log Splitter made by Piqua Engineering in Piqua, OH. Lowell Webb of Webb Farm Supplies in Soquel, CA bought all the parts they had when they went out of business in the early 1980's. Fortunately for me Webb is close to where I live. I think he is the only place that has parts - and he knows it. They aint cheap.

Here is a link to some IPLs on his site: http://webbs-farmsupplies.com/Lickity1.htm

I have a EK308 which Lowell tells me was the base model and popular with rental yards. When you start the engine it is at a low idle. When you push the lever forward the engine speed comes up to 3600 RPM and the ram starts forward - without your hand on the lever. The beam is a box channel with long springs inside. At the back there is a cable attached to the spring that runs over a pulley and attaches to the ram. As the ram extends it stretches the spring. At the end of the stroke the ram hits a tab that pushes the lever back. The engine speed goes down and the valve opens to allow the fluid back into the reservoir. The springs retract the ram. I usually set a couple of logs to split while I get more ready.

If you are fortunate to find a EK348 it has wheels on a cam so you can make the beam sit on the ground. It also has a setting to make the ram go back and forth automatically all day long. I think it may have a 2 stage pump where my splitter has a single stage pump.

I think Lowell said the company was bought out by another company that discontinued the log splitter line. He said they were dangerous and a liability.

I got a referral to fix a log splitter for a woman at church. She had three small children she was raising by herself and she was selling firewood to make ends meet. It was a typical 5 HP horizontal splittter. I fixed it and when I returned it she said she had an old splitter in the field that someone borrowed and ran out of oil. THey tore the engine down and she couldn't find the parts. She asked me to haul it to the dump. I told her I would be happy to take it to the dump. It came straight home. That is the splitter in my pictures.

When I saw the engine I knew it was a K series Kohler even at a short block level of assembly. I found another K181 with a recoil start that needed to be rebuilt. The day I got the block back from the machine shop she called me to to say she found the rest of the engine parts. I have a complete spare K181 recoil start engine.

Maybe more than you wanted to know. I'll get some pictures when I get the vehicles fixed.