A sample splitter is formed by a chute that is sloped towards its discharge end and is oscillated back and forth on a horizontal path that is substantially perpendicular to the axial center line of the chute. The chute itself is substantially symmetrical on opposite sides of the axial center line and the walls are sloped upward so that the material forming the sample to be split moves along the chute with a sliding or rolling action back and forth across the axial center line of the chute without significant bouncing of the discrete pieces of the material. An elongated V-shaped plow is positioned at the discharge end of the chute with the apex of the plow forming a substantially straight line that is in axial alignment with the center line of the chute at the mid-point of the oscillation of the chute. The oscillation motion of the chute causes the material of the sample to slide down the chute and to be projected off the discharge end on one side or the other of the apex of the plow.
A wood chip sampling apparatus which includes a chip collecting tray. The tray moves to a first location where it collects a sample of downwardly flowing wood chips and then to a second location where it discharges the chips into a chip sample bin for later analysis. The tray is pivoted about a horizontal axis and is weighted on one side of the pivot axis so that it automatically assumes a horizontal, chip receiving orientation after chip discharge. An abutment prevents the tray from pivotting and dumping collected chips in the first tray location, the tray automatically pivotting to dump the chips when in the second location. The collecting tray thus reciprocates along a horizontal path and pivots over a range of 90 degrees.
