Free Log splitter

[mudbug250]

I was given a free home made log splitter. It has a huge cylinder to push the wood into the wedge. It looks like the cylinder came off a bulldozer. It also has a log lift with a smaller cylinder. It sits on a 8" I beam. It runs off the tractor hydrualics. I hooked it up to my father in laws John Deere tractor and everything seems to be working nicely, even splits some big rounds that I had lying around. It does have a couple of welds that has broken that needs to be touched up. It has about a 3 foot by 5 foot catch table extended beyond the wedge. I am going to put on a jack stand on it in the next couple of days, as it only has a fixed stand with no way of raising or lowering. It also needs a new tire, so I will see if I can scrounge one out if my father in laws pile of used tires/wheels.

I know nothing about hydraulics. The hose that hook to the tractor look to be newer and in good shape, the hose leading to and from the cylinders and valves have a lot of age on them. How much would it cost to get those hoses replace, and would it be something I could take off and put on by myself. The hoses should not need to be more than 6 feet long at the most. And how hard would it be to convert it to a stand alone unit. I have a 20 HP Kholer V Twin that I could use to power it.

I will see if I can get some info from the cylinders and the valves in the next couple of days, to see if I need to adjust the engine rev while splitting. Will get the tractor model to look up the gpm of the hydraulics.

 

[chaffe]

Hello, hydraulic hoses should be no real isue, Ebay is a good source of things like this, you need to find out what size it is and what the ends are, ie BSP, jic, ORFS etc. Also your Kohler is more than capable for the job, and would require a coupling/bell housing and pump kit (also from the bay) to be able to use it. BTW pictures are required! :thumbsup:

 

[mudbug250]

I will try to get some pics.

Another question, do the new hydraulic hoses need to be primed (filled with hydraulic fluid) before attaching them?

 

[ruren]

Hydraulic hoses are no big deal. Just make sure to relieve any pressure in the system by shutting everything off and working the valves. When you unscrew the hoses have something to catch the fluid that drains out. I just unscrew the hoses and throw the whole mess in a garbage bag, drive to the industrial supply place down the road and say "I need new hoses to match these and new O rings". They cut the hose and crimp on the right fittings in a few minutes. Not sure what your hoses would cost but the last two I had made for my backhoe were $30 or $40 each if I remember right with angled fittings and such, a heck of a deal for a free logsplitter. You don't need to fill them, the system will purge the air out the first time you use it, but you will likely need to top off the hydraulic supply for whatever you drained out replacing them. And check for leaks with a piece of paper, I've never seen it, but I've been warned a few times not to check with your bare hand because hydraulic fluid under pressure from a small leak can penetrate the skin and cause a nasty injury.

I know nothing about hydraulics. The hose that hook to the tractor look to be newer and in good shape, the hose leading to and from the cylinders and valves have a lot of age on them. How much would it cost to get those hoses replace, and would it be something I could take off and put on by myself.

 

[Short Game]

I was expecting to find that someone had been given a maul with a cracked handle.

Will you be posting any pictures?

 

[mudbug250]

And those back hoe lines were probably pretty long. Can't wait till I can start working on it. I am gonna start cutting wood soon. There is a pile of logs that is in a ditch that was left after a Trailer overturned. So I am gonna cut on those the next couple of weekends.

 

[Kioti guy]

So you got a free wood splitter and you have access to free logs left over from an overturned trailer,your having a good week .......lol Craig

 

[mudbug250]

The logs have been there since this summer. I guess it was too expensive for the logging company to bring a loader out there to reload. I waited to see if they were gonna get them. So now I am gonna go and fill up the bed of my Kawasaki mule with rounds once or twice every Saturday until I get it all.

I looked tonight for info on the splitter. No info on the cylinder but it is massive. The valves are made by victor power fluid. I could only made out DV 121 on the plate of the valve but there were more numbers/letters that I could not make out.

 

[moored4]

I don't know what state your in but you need to make sure you can legally get this wood. Here in Wa. state you can be fined for stealing timber with out a permit. The timber owners will give/sell pirmits to get already downed leftovers. Sometime the type of wood is very important as any cedar is a no no for us to get!

 

[Short Game]

I don't know what state your in but you need to make sure you can legally get this wood. Here in Wa. state you can be fined for stealing timber with out a permit. The timber owners will give/sell pirmits to get already downed leftovers. Sometime the type of wood is very important as any cedar is a no no for us to get!

The timber companies got the state to write the laws that way and the DNR dealt out the licenses. Yeah, you can't even transport cedar without the proper papers. I used to live right on the Columbia River and should have turned myself in for "salvaging" logs. The devil made me do it. Actually, the devil had just about everyone who lived on the river and owned a chainsaw under his control. We were all trying to elbow each other out of our way, trying to get into that hot place.

 

[mudbug250]

I live in Mississippi. The wood was coming from private property that was getting clear cut. Took a curve to fast and it turned over. It is all oak.

The tractor I am hooking the splitter to is a John Deere 6410. Looks like it puts out 18.9 gpm.

 

[Short Game]

I live in Mississippi. The wood was coming from private property that was getting clear cut. Took a curve to fast and it turned over. It is all oak.

I'm surprised it's still there.

 

[mudbug250]

Somebody cut some off of it a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Here in WA we have to be careful on this salvage stuff. A bunch of us went out after a storm and thought we were helping out by clearing away a bunch of down trees after the county got the road open. We had a bunch loaded in or PUs and a sheriff came by. Asked for our county permission slip. We had to plead ignorance. He made us unload it all with a warning. The county has a statuatory easement on all property along roads as property lines are somewhere in the middle of the road. The county owns the trees and foliage within that beasement including anything that falls or is abandoned in said easement area. Uniquely the law also says the adjacent property owner is required to maintain the easement area at there expense. They only mow 4-5" back from the pavement or gravel base and on the road side of ditches.

I have a logging project in the works and I have to get a county right-of-way construction permit for the loggers to put in a culvert to make an access road as a residential driveway cannot be used for such. The access has to comply with county road building standards for the width of the easement. The loggers are adding $7,000 to their cost sheet as they have to have two flagmen during the less than 1 day effort, takes three people as the safety rules require a break every two hours, and they have to remove and restore the easement at the end.

 

[mudbug250]

I have permission from the county supervisor to get the wood.

 

[lostcause]

Here in WA we have to be careful on this salvage stuff. A bunch of us went out after a storm and thought we were helping out by clearing away a bunch of down trees after the county got the road open. We had a bunch loaded in or PUs and a sheriff came by. Asked for our county permission slip. We had to plead ignorance. He made us unload it all with a warning. The county has a statuatory easement on all property along roads as property lines are somewhere in the middle of the road. The county owns the trees and foliage within that beasement including anything that falls or is abandoned in said easement area. Uniquely the law also says the adjacent property owner is required to maintain the easement area at there expense. They only mow 4-5" back from the pavement or gravel base and on the road side of ditches.

I have a logging project in the works and I have to get a county right-of-way construction permit for the loggers to put in a culvert to make an access road as a residential driveway cannot be used for such. The access has to comply with county road building standards for the width of the easement. The loggers are adding $7,000 to their cost sheet as they have to have two flagmen during the less than 1 day effort, takes three people as the safety rules require a break every two hours, and they have to remove and restore the easement at the end.

i'm not arguing with how the law works where you live, but that all sounds kind of contradictory. you can't cut and remove the wood, but at the same time you are supposed to maintain that area? how can you do one without the other?

 

[Short Game]

Geez, I have enough trouble trying to keep people from cutting wood on my land. I wish it was off the county road.

If you live at the end of the county road, expect anything from poaching, dumping pets, to wood thieving.

 

[woodlandfarms]

I just want to add my frustration on the logging laws. You can't build a House or run a residential road near water but logging companies seldom have those restrictions.

Carl

 

[Reg]

Broken welds need MUCH more than to be "touched up" (washed over).
Gouge or grind 'em out and do 'em right (-:

Hoses aren't a problem, fittings ARE.
Without the history you don't know what ends to shop for on line.
Find a local hydraulics shop, take the old ones off and hand carry them in.
Get some counter service wisdom for free (-:
This will be CHEAPER than returning wrong hoses to low priced on-line stores.

To make this stand-alone, well the 20 HP engine is probably 2 or 3 times what most people would NEED - most 2 man groups can barely keep up with an 8 HP B&S for very long.
You would need a pump, probably a reservoir too - figure same number of gallons as the pump's gallons per minute (guideline).
When figuring gallons per minute do NOT make the mistake of thinking that stroke time matters very much.
Sure, you can figure total cycle time from full retract to full extend and back, but the reality is that most wood splits once the wedge is only 4 to 6 inches in, so total cycle time is not meaningful and certainly not worth buying a high capacity pump for.

I'm not that keen on hydraulic splitters, it can make it single position work and that can be harder on the back than swinging a maul (-:

 

[J_J]

I believe your tractor s a closed center system.

What tractor was the other person using to run the splitter.

If the valve on the log splitter is an open center set up now, it may be is possible to convert it to closed center.

If for instance, the valve has PB, just plug the PB and you have closed center.

If it ca not be converted, you can just add a new log splitter valve.

El cheapo valve for about $65

Fast extend valve

Auto valve

Autovalve with PB

Add a log lift maybe, and or wedge lifter.

Here are the hyd specs for your tractor.


Hydraulics:
Type: closed center PFC
Capacity: 25.4 gal [96.1 L]
Pressure: -unknown-
Valves: 2 to 4
Valve flow: 18.9 gpm [71.5 lpm]

TractorData.com John Deere 6410 tractor information

This 28 GPM two stage pump only needs about 16 HP.

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?item=9-7971&catname=hydraulic