Hydraulic Block Splitter Build

Schmeissermp38 · Feb 27, 2019

Hello to all, I just thought I would share my build of my yet unfinished block splitter. I decided to build one after sawing up a log which I thought was going to be a easy split, only to find it so hard that the hand splitter bounced off. So I thought that's it, I am going to build a hydraulic splitter. I found some plans on the internet and proceeded to modify them to what I wanted. The main tank is a piece of 250mm x 150mm x 9mm RHS which I managed to get cheap. The drawbar is 75mm x 75mm x 6 SHS. I have bolted the axle to the main tank with 3 sets of plates that are welded to the RHS. I made some plates up to hold the 75mm shs to the tank, they are bolted also. I then made up the pivot arrangement for the main I beam.

The stubb axles are inserted and welded into 50 x 50 x 6 shs, so they shouldn't bend. I then machined all the holes for the fittings I am going to put on the tank in the milling machine. I have put a large suction strainer on the inlet and a large diffuser on the outlet. All rated to over 120 litres per minute. Once all the fitting were put inside and tighted and sealed the ends were welded on as were the top plates and axle mounts. I trail assemble was made.

I was happy with the result and thought, we are well on the way. Little did I know how much more I had to do and what I had let myself for. lol.
Howard

LD1 · Feb 27, 2019

Easy part is done.

What are you using for a beam?
What size cylinder?
How many gpm pump and what's the power source?

Schmeissermp38 · Feb 28, 2019

Hello again, thought I would tell a bit more about my build. The next thing was the beam which is a 203mm x 203mm x 10 I beam. It was cut to length and work on as far as the pivot plates for the bottom and the position of the pivot plates. The pivot plates assemblies were made.

The next items were the back stop plates and mounts. The base is 200 x 10 plate with 25mm side plates and support plate. These were milled to size and bored to take bushes, the bushes were made as was the pin which is 35mm 4140 High Tensile. The retaining washers were turned and a trail assembly was made.

A start was made on the splitting wedge wit the base 200mm x 20mm plate being cut out and marked out. It was then drilled 12mm for the retaining wedges. The retaining wedges are 25mm plate which were drilled then milled for the fit to the I beam. I then made the ram support plates 25mm plate, bored them and made bushes as per the other support with the same 35mm 4140 High Tensile pin and retaining washers. I machined a piece of mild steel plate 25mm for the knife and knife sides but wasn't happy with them so I made a new knife out of 1" Bisalloy 400 plate and new side plates that I thought were better. I then made the knife holding assemble and drilled the back plate to hold it.

A trail assembly was made of these parts.

I thought then I had better start on the ram. The ram has a tube bore of 160mm with a outer of 190mm. The rod is 75mm 4140 High Tensile Chrome Bar. The front guide is made from solid 280 mm mild steel bar as is the back clevis assembly. That's another story.
Howard

LD1 · Feb 28, 2019

Cylinder is too big for the beam, IMO. And cylinder is just plain too big. Gonna be very SLOOOOW unless you give it 40gpm

ddbackhoe · Feb 28, 2019

Schmeissermp38 said:
Hello again, thought I would tell a bit more about my build. Howard

So far, looks great. Thanks for all the detail pictures. Log lift and out feed? Tall enough to feed the splits straight into a box?

TheDevilYouLove · Feb 28, 2019

Must be nice to have metal working skillz!!

4570Man · Feb 28, 2019

You’re fab job looks great but that cylinder is going to Pretzel that beam. That beam looks like it would handle 20 tons and that cylinder is pushing 40 tons at 2500 psi. And there’s no need for such massive power only having a single way wedge. Then you’d need a huge volume of flow to get cycle time above a snails rate. Sure you could use 40 gpm at 1200 psi but pumping 40 gpm successfully takes a lot of money.

Schmeissermp38 · Mar 7, 2019

Hello again, thought I would show some more of the build. The I beam has a 2" plate welded to the end for the stop and the underside has been re-enforced with 1" plate ribs where the splitting assembly is working so the beam will handle the ram no worries. The ram wont be working at full pressure away as I have a pressure relief valve plumbed into the system which is wound right back to just enough to do the job plus a bit. I have a 28 gpm 2 stage pump on with a GX690 motor driving it so should do what I want it to do.
The Ram guide started out as a piece of 280mm dia. solid which I machined down to the design I wanted. The 75mm rod is supported by a 80 od x 75 id x 60mm long split Teflon bush in the end with energized u ring rod seals with a buffer seal encased into it. Has a metal cased wiper seal in as per normal.

The finished part ready for assembly.

The fittings in the ram are all 3/4 bsp and all hoses for it will be 3/4, 2 wire wear resistant hoses. We do hoses at work so I can make them as I need them.
Ok, will post more soon.
Howard

LD1 · Mar 7, 2019

22hp motor should be able to push full pressure from that pump. Even dial up the high flow setpoint to ~1100psi.

If you can keep it in high speed mode....which I think it should because 1100psi with that massive bore is about 17 tons.....cycle time should be in the 12-13 second range.

Not hateful....but a little slower than i'd prefer for a custom build.

Would like to see some pictures of how you are strengthening the beam? Even dialing back the high pressure mode to 2000psi is over 31 tons. Which is more than most manufactured splitters that "claim" 37t or 38t

4570Man · Mar 7, 2019

Getting the rest of your hydraulic system to handle that flow isn’t cheap. You’d be better off getting a smaller ram and a smaller pump.

Schmeissermp38 · Mar 16, 2019

Hi again, Thought I would post more on the splitter. The rear of the ram started out as a it of 280 mm diameter mild steel billot. It was machined in the lathe, witch took a bit of time but was worth the effort to do. The radius was done free hand as you couldn't form it as it is too big.

The next thing was to mill and bore the end for the hydraulic fittings and mounting pin.

The finished item.

The cylinder was next, I had to face both ends square and clean up the tube. The tube is 190 od x 160 id.

I had to think about this one as it was as long as my lathe, so I made up some manderals to hold it in place to be faced. Worked like a treat.
More soon.
Howard

Schmeissermp38 · Jun 2, 2019

Hello Again, been a while but back into building again. This time it is assembling the ram and painting it. Started by putting the rod into the milling machine and clamping it onto the table so I could put the piston on and the locking nut. Once I had done that I loctited the locking nut and prepared to put the front guide on. Since the rod had a hole in it I made a plug to fit in, so I could slide the guide over it with out damaging the rod seal. This was made out of acetal and put in ready for the fit. The guide was lubed up and slide straight on with out any probs.

The next thing was to clean the tube and oil and lube it up for the back mount. The back mount was lubed and lifted into position. It went in no probs.

The rod assembly was then lifted by our forklift ready for insertion into the tube. The rod assembly was leveled as was the fork lift frame to male sure the rod went in straight and true.

The ram was then assembled and a couple of temporary stay bolts were put in to make sure all was tight.

All went well and went in perfect, so I pleased with that. The ram was then lifted onto a couple of stands and cleaned down ready for priming. After cleaning I primed the ram and left it to dry for a couple of days.

I will go in tomorrow and test mount it and see what it looks like.
More soon.
Howard

Schmeissermp38 · Jun 8, 2019

Hello once more, just thought I would post some more on progress with my splitter. Managed to put a top coat on my ram and went for a red colour. Need to put another couple of coats on but will do that when it wams up a bit

I then test mounted the ram into the frame to see what it looks like. Went in no probs and will leave it there till it is time to recoat it, also solves where to store.