Hydro Cylinder Mounting on Log Splitter

[radroy92]

Hi All,

I'm building a tip-up log splitter using a found 4" X 18" cylinder. It has a flat plate mount on the back end that I'm making into a clevis mount. The ram is threaded on the end. Can I mount the ram end directly to the wedge? I was thinking of welding a nut to the back side of the wedge and threading the ram into the nut. Would this put too much stress on the end of the ram?

Thanks,

Roy

 

[radroy92]

Hi All,

I'm building a tip-up log splitter using a found 4" X 18" cylinder. It has a flat plate mount on the back end that I'm making into a clevis mount. The ram is threaded on the end. Can I mount the ram end directly to the wedge? I was thinking of welding a nut to the back side of the wedge and threading the ram into the nut. Would this put too much stress on the end of the ram?

Thanks,

Roy

Here's some pics

 

[LD1]

I would not choose to mount it like that. Even with the guides that make the wedge follow the beam, there is still a little play. Some peices of wood that are twisted, the wedge will try to follow. I am afraid this would put a lot of force on the threads, and possible bend the rod a little.

Most splitters have a horizontal hole through the rod end, and a bolt that holds the wedge on. The bolt is only used for the return stroke as the rod end pushes directly on the back of the wedge. The bolt fits sloppy so the wedge will move a bit without putting any stress on the rod.

On our huskee 27T splitter with a 4.5" cylinder, we actually twisted the beam about a year after we got it. The wedge tried to follow a twisted peice of oak, and the beam itself is what twisted. It was replaced under warrenty and have not had it happen since. (almost 10 years)

Also, it is hard to tell from the pics, but the back plate you are mounting the cylinder to doesn't look thick enough. It only looks like 1" at most. Our splitter has a 1.5" thick peice on the wood side of the beam, and it is actually bent a bit. Same force is going to be applied to that end as well. You may want to take a peice of 1/2" x 4" by whatever height it is, and weld vertically to the back side. This will increase the strength by alot.

Other than that, it looks like an excellent build:thumbsup: Do you already have a pump and motor yet??

 

[radroy92]

I would not choose to mount it like that. Even with the guides that make the wedge follow the beam, there is still a little play. Some peices of wood that are twisted, the wedge will try to follow. I am afraid this would put a lot of force on the threads, and possible bend the rod a little.

Most splitters have a horizontal hole through the rod end, and a bolt that holds the wedge on. The bolt is only used for the return stroke as the rod end pushes directly on the back of the wedge. The bolt fits sloppy so the wedge will move a bit without putting any stress on the rod.

On our huskee 27T splitter with a 4.5" cylinder, we actually twisted the beam about a year after we got it. The wedge tried to follow a twisted peice of oak, and the beam itself is what twisted. It was replaced under warrenty and have not had it happen since. (almost 10 years)

Also, it is hard to tell from the pics, but the back plate you are mounting the cylinder to doesn't look thick enough. It only looks like 1" at most. Our splitter has a 1.5" thick peice on the wood side of the beam, and it is actually bent a bit. Same force is going to be applied to that end as well. You may want to take a peice of 1/2" x 4" by whatever height it is, and weld vertically to the back side. This will increase the strength by alot.

Other than that, it looks like an excellent build:thumbsup: Do you already have a pump and motor yet??

The rear mount for the cylinder is changed now. Rather than just the flat plate it will have two ears off the plate to form a clevis mount and the cyl. end will have a thick shank to fit between held by a 1 1/8 pin. I guess I'll have to re-do the wedge.

Yes I have all parts including a 10hp engine and 16gpm 2-stage pump.

Thanks for the input,

Roy

 

[LD1]

The rear mount for the cylinder is changed now. Rather than just the flat plate it will have two ears off the plate to form a clevis mount and the cyl. end will have a thick shank to fit between held by a 1 1/8 pin. I guess I'll have to re-do the wedge.

Yes I have all parts including a 10hp engine and 16gpm 2-stage pump.

Thanks for the input,

Roy

Sounds like a good pump and motor combo. With it being a 4" cylinder and a 16gpm pump it should give you some pretty fast cycle times. By my calculations, 4.9 sec to extend and 3.65 to retract. A total cycle time of about 8.55 seconds. Thats pretty fast.

 

[radroy92]

Sounds like a good pump and motor combo. With it being a 4" cylinder and a 16gpm pump it should give you some pretty fast cycle times. By my calculations, 4.9 sec to extend and 3.65 to retract. A total cycle time of about 8.55 seconds. Thats pretty fast.

I knew it would be faster than the 11 gal pump but wow that's moving.

Off to redesign the wedge and get it right this time.

Thanks for the help!

Roy

 

[Wayne_H]

The welded nut will very likely not work out, the cylinder and ram are going to move around some as that splits the wood, creating a lot of forces on that set up. Suggest welding a block with a hole of some sort in it so it can wiggle a bit. I don't have a good pic, but this shows the cylinder pin connected to a large hole in the ram.

Wayne