Hydraulic Valve Help for Newbie

[Deerblazer]

Well I finally finished my splitter build.

The wood hyd. cyl was to work out the pivot points prior to buying a cyl.
I now have a 2 X 8 in place of the plywood cyl. mockup, with a flow regulator on the cyl.

Long story short......10hp Wisconson engine w/ elec start, 16 gpm pump @ 3000psi, 5'' X 30'' ram cyl., Prince detent valve from Northern Tool.

I also added a log lift sooner than I thought I would and I'm not sure about just buying another matching valve to hook up in series to run the lift, or if I should buy a 2 spool.

I kind of like the detent option for the lift so it can return to ground on it's own.

All the research I've done just leaves me more confused....Power Beyond, 2 spool valve, 2 valves in series, open center.

Could somebody or everybody help me out with this plumbing dilema.
Pics or schems would be greatly appreciated as I'm not up on all the hyd. terminology.
Thanks,

 

[J_J]

Here is the valve I would recommend. It is the auto cycle two spool valve with PB. The output of the PB would connect to the input of another valve for the log lift.

https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?item=9-6587-PB&catname=hydraulic

While the first log is splitting, you can be loading the lift for the next log, or re-split the same log into smaller pieces.

 

[wdchyd]

That's a thing of beauty Deerblazer,

I agree with JJ about the auto-cycle valve w/PB, it'll help with anything you can feed that monster...

Nice add-on with th log lifter.....:thumbsup:

 

[Deerblazer]

Thanks much,
I'll add some more pics in the future after it's completely done.

The next project is a kindling splitter, Wait till you see this one.

 

[Deerblazer]

Can the valve you suggested work without the autocycle as though it was just a regular valve?

 

[J_J]

What so you mean like a regular valve. It is what it is. The two levers work together to make the valve an auto-cycle valve after setting the levers. If you should push the lever fwd and not detent, then the cyl will extend until you let it go.

What makes this valve so good is the fact that it is PB, which will let you add another two lever valve downstream. One lever for the log lift, and the other lever for raising and setting the wedge. I don't know if anyone makes a single lever log splitter valve with PB.

Can you describe the whole process you would like to go through when splitting a log. Maybe we can recommend something.

 

[Deerblazer]

I guess what I was thinking was....could an auto cycle be dangerous with an inexperienced person using it. I'm not worried about me using it but if, say a brother in law would want to borrow it.

My goal is to lift em up, crack em up with least possible abuse on my already aching body.

I've used many different splitters over the years and built this one to suit my needs.
Just dont want to hunch or bend over anymore, it kills my back.

The beam is 31" off the ground....perfect height for me not to have to hunch over or straddle an axle while splitting. The addition of the lift eliminates having to lift the biggens up. The lift arm also doubles as a staging area for wood being split.
I didn't go with an adjustable wedge, I opted for the wedge to be on the ram mostly due to having so many different diameters of wood. It seemed to me a 4 way wedge would be more of a pain....perhaps in the future I'll change my mind on that one.

The auto cycle valve does seem to be what I need, I was mostly concerned with someone else running it. Best way to solve that one is not let them put their hands on it.

With the autocycle valve....Will my detent valve work ok for for the lift?

The other concern i have is...Should I braze the fitting shut and drill a pinhole for the lift cyl. otherwise I may have built a catapault.

 

[J_J]

Did you read up on the operation of the auto valve. It is as simple as drinking water.

To slow down the lift, you can add a restrictor in one of the fittings, or work out the geometry for a slower lift.

The speed of a cyl is based on GPM, and volume, so you either restrict the flow, use a large cyl, reduce the GPM's, or set up the geometry for slower operation.

You should be able to use a $69. log splitter valve to raise the log and hit reverse detent for auto down. You probably will not be able to use the log lift while the log splitter is in operation, as the fluid is being used for the splitting, but when the log splitter is in neutral, then you can lift and drop the log lift.

Do you have the log lift setup so that it can be stored in a travel position, or just unhook one of the cyl ends.

 

[Deerblazer]

I think as soon as I save up the bucks I'll order the auto cycle with PB.
I already have a detent valve I can re pipe to the lift.

I have the geometry worked out to allow the lift to raise to almost a verticle position for transport. Took a bit to perfect but it should work fine.

Not sure how to post a little vid clip to show the range of motion.
Any help would be appreciated.