Help! homebuilt log splitter

[AnthonyGarcia]

A friend & I enbarked on making out own log splitter, that hooks to my John Deere 5103 tractor. First afternoon of splitting logs shows up somethings wrong in our design. it peeled back the push against plate (1" plate steel) and cupped up the knife blade plate. see attatched pic. I was trying to split some smaller hedge (12" diam?) and frozen oak with it. I am exploring with SpeeCo on the valve if there is a adjustment to turn down its power a bit. All the 30ton log splitters we saw at stores had less bottom plate sizes.

Can someone provide thier expertise on what i need to do when rewelding and redesigning? The wood wanted to push up at the first and got worse of course as things got bent more. Whats the optimum hieght of the pin hole on the knife blade slide? So the cylinder pushes a little below horizontal into ibeam? a little above? or perfectly parrallel?

Please respond with advise

 

[Leejohn]

!st I got to say it's sure is a nice looking splitter. I would pull the end plate back and leaning a little fwd. Then look at your trucks pocket stack brackets. Plus one in middle, that should fix that.
The other end I would make it so the wedge is more in front of the bottom plate and sharp. The bottom plate would be thicker and more on the back side so it has a bigger shoe when you pull back. Your angle iron might have to be thicker also. You might want to change that to arms holding under the I beam and forget the angle iron, they look like all kinds of stuff is going to get in them. If you do use the arms under the I beam, make sure you use bolt to hold them on. Welding alone well not hold

 

[babzog]

It is a nice looking splitter. If you altered the leg arrangement some, you might even be able to get it to pivot for vertical splitting - handy with some logs I've dealt with. But, all in all, a nice looking design.

As for the plate bending... all of the splitters I've seen that have a flat bottom end, have something pretty massive and reinforced. Check out this Wallenstein for an example.

And I'd agree with the suggestion above to have the wedge gripping the I beam rather that sitting in a track. That will very quickly fill with wood and dirt. I rented the above unit (it's a great splitter) last April to split a load and that little slotted channel where the wedge rides would constantly fill with debris and wood chips. They'd get stuck under the wedge and wad into the slot near the bottom end... we'd have to stop and dig it out every so often, tough when it's been rammed in there with 20+ tons of force.

 

[Renze]

That looks like a 1" plate at the back, made from two pieces, cracked on the weld.
I'd say notch it to get a full penetrating weld, turn the splitter after each bead so you only weld under hand, and turn the amps of the welder high up, especially with the first 3 beads. When its totally hot, you can lower the amps on the welder (or feed more wire) to get an equally melt.

Then a 3" plate perpendicular on the back of this plate, with good sized welds, to support it at the back. That should do the job.

 

[Skyco]

The base plate on the wedge bending up is caused by not having the rod of the hydraulic cylinder in the middle. If it isn't in the middle the base plate has to be much stouter.
I have a splitter that I made a new taller splitter wedge for...had the same problem with the base plate bending.
The original 8" high wedge never bent the base plate, the 12" I made with the pushpoint at the same height, bent the same size base plate as the original. Lesson learned.

 

[ak9]

Skyco

I've bent a few my self and learned along the way...What I'd do is bend the 1" base plate back ( using the splitter to pull it ). If it does'nt sit right cut it off prep it and re -weld it ( it looks like it folded at the weld ?) then put 2-3 gusset vertical plates 3/8" or larger welded to the 1" plate and then cap it with another plate to the 1" plate
Then at the cylinder about where the rod comes out of the bore I'd build a strap/clamp frame to keep the cylinder from bowing under stress.I'd also raise both pin locations if posible but definatly keep the cylinder parallel with the beam.
I agree with the other posters ...the angle along the beam will hold debris and will be a PITA. I'd make the wedge carrige clamp around the beam out of at least 1/2" plate.

babzog as the right Idea with the pivot deal ..if your keeping the wedge/baseplate where they are, now would be the time to put the pivot in ..saves alot in labor/back pain
ak9

 

[AnthonyGarcia]

Hey everyone, thanks for all the great input.
First of all... it does pivot up. If you look closely you'll see the release pin on the right side of the stand
There is a frame made for the cat 3 quick hitch and it pivots on it... just back up, hook up, pick up and go

the responses gives me these areas i will redo:

A - prefabricate the wedge with a I beam wedge carriage plate to clamp around Ibeam & remove angle iron slides
B - use 1/2" plate steel on wedge carriage plate
C - make the wedge stick out in front of wedge carriage plate 1/2"
D - relocate wedge push point pin hole for ram to be the center of total height of wedge (right now its about 1/3 up from carriage plate)
E - after bending 1" base plate back into place & reweld, add three rows of 3"x3/4" gussets to bottom of base plate
F - Have SpeeCo help me adjust the valves preset psi relief down abit

Question: using the ibeam clamp around type of wedge carriage plate, how can i incorporate the log stop for pulling the wedge back out of the log?
appreciate all this great input
Anthony Garcia
Smithton Mo.

 

[grsthegreat]

I cant tell by the pictures whether or not your base plate is welded at the brake joint or runs as a complete piece. You need a full length push plate . Mine is 1-1/2" solid plate steel. Been used for 5-6 years no issues. If your was a complete 1 piece plate,then i guess youll just have to beef it up.

 

[AnthonyGarcia]

The base plate was solid 1" plate steel in one 10" x 18" piece butt welded to the end of the 10x10 ibeam. Then a 1/2" plate was welded on top of the exposed base that had the ridging for holding a log into place. It was simply bent back, breaking the part of the weld at the point of bend
The ram is a 30ton ram, the valve has a 3400 psi blowoff. SpeeCo said most of their log splitters have the 2400 psi blowoff valve, only their very largest have the 3400 psi blowoff.
so they showed me how i could reduce that by a bit with adjustment on the side.

Im wondering what size everyone else is having success with on thier valve controls?
Anthony

 

[grsthegreat]

The base plate was solid 1" plate steel in one 10" x 18" piece butt welded to the end of the 10x10 ibeam. Then a 1/2" plate was welded on top of the exposed base that had the ridging for holding a log into place. It was simply bent back, breaking the part of the weld at the point of bend
The ram is a 30ton ram, the valve has a 3400 psi blowoff. SpeeCo said most of their log splitters have the 2400 psi blowoff valve, only their very largest have the 3400 psi blowoff.
so they showed me how i could reduce that by a bit with adjustment on the side.

Im wondering what size everyone else is having success with on their valve controls?
Anthony

I have a prince log splitter valve with detente. Is factory set to 2,200 PSI with adjustable to 2,750.

Not sure of the tonnage i get. I have a 4" x 24" x 2" tie rod double acting cylinder.

 

[hanesdick]

Don't know exactly if this is what you are looking for, but I'd reverse and put the wedge on the solid end. That way you can use it for the prop all by itself, and the ram be the "push" end.

 

[lostcause]

Don't know exactly if this is what you are looking for, but I'd reverse and put the wedge on the solid end. That way you can use it for the prop all by itself, and the ram be the "push" end.

unless i misread, he said the the splitter pivots vertical. with the splitter vertical you have to have the wedge attached to the ram or else you'd be trying to drive the stick into the ground when you push.

i'm sure you didn't do this, but i have to ask: can you extend the ram fully without the wedge contacting the plate at the end? i'm surprised that that much stuff bent without the wood just jumping out of the splitter long before bending that far.

 

[grsthegreat]

unless i misread, he said the the splitter pivots vertical. with the splitter vertical you have to have the wedge attached to the ram or else you'd be trying to drive the stick into the ground when you push.

i'm sure you didn't do this, but i have to ask: can you extend the ram fully without the wedge contacting the plate at the end? i'm surprised that that much stuff bent without the wood just jumping out of the splitter long before bending that far.

ya, good thought. If i extend my ram fully, theres still a 2" gap between the wedge and the base plate.

 

[Short Game]

Though I agree with wrapping the wedge base plate around the web of the beam, it was probably when the foot plate failed that the wedge base climbed up and bent the base plate. It looks like the thin angle tracks bent a little too. Where's the beef?

For me, a splitter that didn't pivot to vertical would be pretty much useless.

 

[AnthonyGarcia]

The ram cant reach the base plate by about 2", so has never hit it directly
this damage was all done in the first afternoon within the first couple dozen of splits.
when we built, we kept thinking '30 tons... it ought to do some good old Missouri hedge'
so we started off with just mid sized oak (it was all frozen), then after about a half hour, we got brave and progressed to the hedge... which it did well at first, but when it split it would pop rather violently out, then when put a piece of larger sized hedge and she bent to most of what you see. i needed to split a bunch of wood at that point, so i made a make shift wedge to hold wood in and just split the frozen oak from there on, for next couple hrs. that finished it to what you see now. She sat that way from then till this fall, when i decided i better get this thing fixed for the season.
So much for all our bragging while building it... the hedge had the last laugh :laughing:
Anthony

 

[Fermenter]

From the pic it looks a lot like a welded join that has given way, as others have said a solid plate would be the go, even reinforced if you're keen.

Does this splitter operate vertically? If not, then why not weld a blunt wedge (eg 90deg) to the bed? That way you avoid concentrating all the force onto a single lateral join, and it will probably split more effectively too.

 

[Oliver1655]

I understand your desire to have a "Muscle" splitter for hedge, but even if you go down to a 2,500 psi pressure relief setting on your valve, you should have no problem with hedge, elm, or anything else. I have a basic 4" x 24" tie rod cylinder with an 1 1/2" ram, a 2,500 psi valve, & 16 gpm Haldex 2 stage pump, (approximately 15.6 ton) and have no problem splitting 3' rounds of hedge. (I have a log lift on my splitter, it is a dedicated horizontal with a sharp fixed wedge, & out feed tables.) I like being able to work at table height. Once the rounds have been picked up I don't let them hit the ground again until they are put in the wood pile or shed. PS - I also live in mid Missouri.

 

[ovrszd]

(I have a log lift on my splitter, it is a dedicated horizontal with a sharp fixed wedge, & out feed tables.) I like being able to work at table height. Once the rounds have been picked up I don't let them hit the ground again until they are put in the wood pile or shed. PS - I also live in mid Missouri.

Us Missourians must think alike. I'm the same way. I prefer a horizontal splitter with log lift and catch rack. That allows me to roll the huge ones on the lift, then I work standing and rarely pick up a split piece off the ground.


When I built my 3pt splitter I tilted the wedge slightly forward at the top. This stopped the log from trying to ride up the wedge as it split.

I also set my cylinder low at the wedge/push block end, high at the fixed end. This creates downforce as it pushes. Takes a lot of stress off the system used to hold the wedge/push block against the I-beam.

 

[Short Game]

My neighbor had a knotty 54 inch spruce tree taken down that was threatening his house. I bucked it for him and we moved the rounds into his yard (one at a time in the bucket). I doubt I would have liked lifting those rounds up over my body to get them onto a horizontal splitter. We laid them out like so many tiddlywinks, put my splitter into the upright position, and I would drive the splitter foot (a railroad tie iron) under the rounds in place and we busted all those rounds on the ground. I built my splitter to mount on the end of the box blade. So, even if I can't move the round, I can move the splitter instead. The round in the picture is only about 28 inches. But many of the bigger rounds I deal with here are not round like wheels and can be pretty lumpy as well. They would be difficult to get in place with a lift. My splitter is balanced such that even with my light wimpy old body I can tip it either way. Anyway, this setup has worked out very well for me.

Once that round was quartered, the pieces were easy to lift for horizontal operation.

 

[lostcause]

For me, a splitter that didn't pivot to vertical would be pretty much useless.

kind of off track, but... for any of us without a log lift on our splitter, we do need a way to get the heavy rounds to the wedge. since i use a 3 point splitter, i opted to make my beam fixed, and i just lower the three point to ground level and roll on the real heavy rounds to break them into manageable pieces, then pull the hitch back to height.. i decided that would be easier than a vertical option. the construction isn't much different, but fixed wedge is a little simpler to build.