LOG SPLITER BUILD

perkins78 · Jan 9, 2016

Thought I would share what I have been building the past few months. I burn wood with outdoor wood boiler Central boiler 6048. This is my second winter with it and I am very pleased. I get a lot of my firewood in the form of big tree trunks I load the trunks with a backhoe and dump them out on my property most trunks are 24-48 inch ash and soft maple. I have a so called 22 ton dirty hands log splitter from Lowe's it's just not up to the abuse the I have been putting it through. I will keep it around to work on the small stuff. Any way I have a good start on a big log splitter everything you see in the pictures I have got for free or took out in trade for some kind of favor except the wheels and tires and the used hyd tank I beam is 14 ft long 8" wide 12" high 5/8 thick. Cylinder is off a crane truck 5.5 bore 2.5 ram had to gut the safety valve on it. The push plate, wedge and back is all 7/8 inch thick Project is on hold until I can afford to get hyd pump ,valve, hoses fluid and all that stuff adds up fast.

Log Splitter by perk78 | Photobucket

perkins78 · Jan 9, 2016

I am going to order the parts from surplus center
28 GPM DYNAMIC 2-STAGE PUMP
Item Number: 9-7971
I'm undecided on the valve any input on that would be great

2458n · Jan 9, 2016

I would want one that retracts. all the way back and kicks out. Your 28 gallon pump will require something bigger then normal for this. My valve will only flow 24 gals. With your ram you need to be able to run a 4-way splitter. Slip on is the simple way..,

Rustyiron · Jan 9, 2016

That thing is a brute! Prolly scare the logs apart:laughing:
:thumbsup:

ajmaxham · Jan 9, 2016

Nice build. Will you be adding a log lift??

LD1 · Jan 9, 2016

Did you see my logsplitter build thread? That thing looks pretty similar the way you used the donor motor, and partially inserted the wedge down in the beam....

I ordered some of my stuff from here Log Splitter Valves They do have some 30gpm valves, which will be better than teh standard 25gpm ones, but still a tad on the small side. Cause when retracting, and pumping 28GPM into the rod side, you will be trying to expel 35GPM out the cap end of the cylinder.

Couple of questions:

How long is the stroke on that cylinder?
How big is the reservoir?
What size ports on that cylinder?

Looking forward to see how you finish it off.

perkins78 · Jan 9, 2016

May be in the future for now i will use a my little kubota loader to place the big rounds on the splitter

perkins78 · Jan 9, 2016

28 inch stroke
20 gallon reservoir
ports on cylinder are 3/8 little worried about that

perkins78 · Jan 9, 2016

Yes I did see your build I think that's where i came up with the idea of inserting the wedge into the I beam I don't think It would hold just welded to the top

perkins78 · Jan 9, 2016

LD1 said:
I ordered some of my stuff from here Log Splitter Valves They do have some 30gpm valves, which will be better than teh standard 25gpm ones, but still a tad on the small side. Cause when retracting, and pumping 28GPM into the rod side, you will be trying to expel 35GPM out the cap end of the cyl

I plan to make an order from surplus center they have a lot of valves to choose from they have a 25 gpm $59 the cheapest 30gpm it around $150 but regardless of the price i need it to work properly I also want it to be adjustable up to 3000 psi

LD1 · Jan 9, 2016

perkins78 said:
Yes I did see your build I think that's where i came up with the idea of inserting the wedge into the I beam I don't think It would hold just welded to the top

Just curious why you didn't insert the wedge farther? Is that all the material you had? I understand working with scraps.

Not only that, but the what you used the donor motor looks familiar

Those 3/8 ports are probably gonna cost you some speed, especially with 28gpm (and 35 gpm trying to exit when retracting)

perkins78 · Jan 10, 2016

LD1 said:
Just curious why you didn't insert the wedge farther? Is that all the material you had? I understand working with scraps.

Not only that, but the what you used the donor motor looks familiar

Those 3/8 ports are probably gonna cost you some speed, especially with 28 gpm (and 35 gpm trying to exit when retracting)

Yes I'm just working with what I had I want the wedge to be tall as possible we shall see if that works out

Yes its a good thing them motors out last the rest of them crapmans mowers

I'm thinking about taking the cylinder apart drill it out and weld on collars

perkins78 · Jan 15, 2016

Still trying to pick a control valve to match the 28 gpm pump Im leaning toward Prince Log Splitter Detent Valve, 3/4in. Port Size, Model# LS-3000-2 Its 25 gpm it has 3/4 working ports I prob not run the 21 hp briggs at full throttle anyway.

I can only find two 30 gal gpm auto detent valvehttp://www.splitez.com/log_splitter_parts.html RD513CE5A4B1 30 G.PM 3000 P.S.I (update) This guy is sellling these on ebay better discription there Prince RD513CE5A4B1 Hydraulic Control Valve 30 GPM D Tent Log Splitter Parts | eBay Has power beyond port that maybe a must if I want to add lift or hyd wedge in the future plus it has the gpm rating

Prince 4-Way Detent Valve — 30 GPM | Detent Valves| Northern Tool + Equipment This one from northern tool is closed center you have to get parts to change it over to open center and it only has 1/2 working ports I dont understand that at all.:confused2:

perkins78 · Jan 29, 2016

What do you all think of this valve claims its a "True 30 gpm valve" because it has #12 sae o ring ports if i understand correctly

Hydraulic Catalog | Cylinder Services Inc

triptester · Jan 30, 2016

#12 is the same as 3/4". Example #12 is 12/16"or 3/4" , #8 is 8/16"or 1/2".
The 3/4" ports are NPT style while the #12 are O-ring style.

tthopskin@yahoo.ca · Jan 30, 2016

it looks great ..if you have trouble with splitting put your cutting edge at a angle top point of wedge to the cylinder this will let it start to split a little before it gets into the block and keep log from jumping up ..i had to move mine twice .i thought i did not have enough power changed every thing ,when i changed the cutting head it fixed everything

CDN Farm Boy · Jan 30, 2016

perkins78 said:
28 inch stroke
20 gallon reservoir
ports on cylinder are 3/8 little worried about that

With a 28 GPM pump, I think you are going too small with the reservoir. General rule of thumb is the reservoir should be the same or greater than pump capacity

mikefromnh · Feb 4, 2016

I've been using a valve rated for 25 gpm with a 28gpm and dump valve. Works great.

Wild Bill the 2nd · Feb 4, 2016

I'm sure that you have seen them on other builds but I would highly recommend the auto cycle valve so that you just pull the levers and go grab your next piece. When you return the cylinder is already retracted and you put the piece on. Expensive but IMO worth it.

With that engine you will be able to raise the 28GPM side of the pump to its max of 900 PSI. You will be surprised just how much will be split without the pump going into low flow. It will be moving pretty quick and hit the wedge with 10 tons of force to pop it. And then you always have your 41 tons as a backup :thumbsup:

Where is the fuel tank? That engine will be thirsty! Probably a gallon and a half an hour at its rated speed. If you plan on running it at a lower speed you will probably have to cut back on the relief pressures so the engine won't stall. I'd just run it at speed, get it done quicker, and deal with the fuel usage.

Oil temps will likely climb pretty high with that small of a hydraulic tank. Are you planning on splitting year round? If so I would probably suggest an oil with a higher viscosity than the standard AW32.

Nice build!