Early on it seemed like [Workshop From Scratch] was putting together a fairly simple log splitter, which in the most basic form is nothing more complex than a hydraulic cylinder pushing a log ...

The first step toward diagnosing your log splitter's malfunction is ... the hydraulic motor by unbolting its main cylinder container from the splitter and propping that up on a wooden block.

The most common powered log splitter is a hydraulic design. These are the same types of splitters you might see for sale at your local big box home center. A steel I-beam, hydraulic cylinder ...