Index: src/main/java/org/apache/log4j/helpers/SyslogWriter.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/org/apache/log4j/helpers/SyslogWriter.java	(revision 1301564)
+++ src/main/java/org/apache/log4j/helpers/SyslogWriter.java	(working copy)
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@
 */
 public class SyslogWriter extends Writer {
 
+  public static final int DEFAULT_MAX_PACKET_LENGTH = 1024;
+
   final int SYSLOG_PORT = 514;
   /**
    *  Host string from last constructed SyslogWriter.
@@ -46,6 +48,7 @@
   private InetAddress address;
   private final int port;
   private DatagramSocket ds;
+  private int maxPacketLength = DEFAULT_MAX_PACKET_LENGTH;
 
   /**
    *  Constructs a new instance of SyslogWriter.
@@ -124,8 +127,8 @@
         //  syslog packets must be less than 1024 bytes
         //
         int bytesLength = bytes.length;
-        if (bytesLength >= 1024) {
-            bytesLength = 1024;
+        if (bytesLength >= maxPacketLength) {
+            bytesLength = maxPacketLength;
         }
         DatagramPacket packet = new DatagramPacket(bytes, bytesLength,
                                address, port);
@@ -135,6 +138,16 @@
   }
 
   public
+  void setMaxPacketLength(int max) {
+     maxPacketLength = max;
+  }
+
+  public
+  int getMaxPacketLength() {
+     return maxPacketLength;
+  }
+
+  public
   void flush() {}
 
   public void close() {
Index: src/main/java/org/apache/log4j/net/SyslogAppender.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/org/apache/log4j/net/SyslogAppender.java	(revision 1301564)
+++ src/main/java/org/apache/log4j/net/SyslogAppender.java	(working copy)
@@ -97,9 +97,11 @@
   int syslogFacility = LOG_USER;
   String facilityStr;
   boolean facilityPrinting = false;
+  int maxPacketLength = SyslogWriter.DEFAULT_MAX_PACKET_LENGTH;
 
   //SyslogTracerPrintWriter stp;
   SyslogQuietWriter sqw;
+  SyslogWriter sw;
   String syslogHost;
 
     /**
@@ -283,7 +285,7 @@
       //      of 1024 bytes, then write it
       //      (must allow for up 5to 5 characters in the PRI section
       //          added by SyslogQuietWriter)
-      if (byteCount <= 1019) {
+      if (byteCount <= (maxPacketLength-5)) {
           sqw.write(packet);
       } else {
           int split = header.length() + (packet.length() - header.length())/2;
@@ -388,8 +390,9 @@
    */
   public
   void setSyslogHost(final String syslogHost) {
-    this.sqw = new SyslogQuietWriter(new SyslogWriter(syslogHost),
-				     syslogFacility, errorHandler);
+    this.sw = new SyslogWriter(syslogHost);
+    sw.setMaxPacketLength(maxPacketLength);
+    this.sqw = new SyslogQuietWriter(sw, syslogFacility, errorHandler);
     //this.stp = new SyslogTracerPrintWriter(sqw);
     this.syslogHost = syslogHost;
   }
@@ -403,6 +406,24 @@
   }
 
   /**
+   */
+  public
+  void setMaxPacketLength(final int maxPacketLength) {
+    this.maxPacketLength = maxPacketLength;
+    if (sw != null) {
+       sw.setMaxPacketLength(maxPacketLength);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+     Returns the value of the <b>SyslogHost</b> option.
+   */
+  public
+  int getMaxPacketLength() {
+    return maxPacketLength;
+  }
+
+  /**
      Set the syslog facility. This is the <b>Facility</b> option.
 
      <p>The <code>facilityName</code> parameter must be one of the