Log splitter design.

[Rio_Grande]

I know it has been discussed and and I searched and looked at some nice splitters. I am currently planning to build my own splitter. I wanted to buy one but they jumped to $1500.00+ even for the basic models. So in my true fassion I have collected a beam, ram, pump engine valve and pile of 3/4-1" plate.

My plan is to make the wedge on the moveable end and the base solid. I plan to add a lift on the side to save my back with the ability to swing from vertical to horizontal. I will likely make it run off tractor hydraulics to begin with because It is simplier and I need it ASAP.

My question is how much base do I need on the slide? I have seen some as small as 6 in and some as big as a foot. I figure bigger is better to spread the load out but I am not all knowing.

I know they are making wedges from tool steel but is that really necessary? Can I make one out of mild steel and expect it to hold up?

Any suggestions or pix would be greatly appriciated..

Jeff

 

[rdbrumfield]

I built mine from mild steel and it works just fine. I would think it would be difficult for anykind of wood to bend 1in plate, just be sure to have first contact of the wood to hit the bottom where it is welded to the I beam first.
There are a lot of pics out there of splitters, look them over for ideas. have fun with your creation.

 

[SPYDERLK]

So in my true fassion I have collected a beam, ram, pump engine valve and pile of 3/4-1" plate.

My plan is to make the wedge on the moveable end and the base solid. I plan to add a lift on the side to save my back with the ability to swing from vertical to horizontal. I will likely make it run off tractor hydraulics to begin with because It is simplier and I need it ASAP.

My question is how much base do I need on the slide? I have seen some as small as 6 in and some as big as a foot. I figure bigger is better to spread the load out but I am not all knowing.

I know they are making wedges from tool steel but is that really necessary? Can I make one out of mild steel and expect it to hold up?

Any suggestions or pix would be greatly appriciated..

Jeff

I made my 6" wedge from scratch using mild steel 25+ yrs ago. It slides on a 6x11x3/8" base on the I beam which has 0.4x 4" rails and about 5/16" torsionally reinforced web. No problems at all.
larry

 

[kcprecision]

Hi Guys, I have not posted here in sometime. Partly becuase the computer would not reconized me. Finally I just reregistered.
So any way here is a log that I built some 15 years ago. It uses a 1968 ford 6 cylinder engine with a 24 gpm pump(I think) The engine just runs at a fast idle. Once in a while I will get a log that will kill the engine. Just restart and add a little gas. Also shown is the wood pile that I am working at present. That will be next winters, 2009,wood.

The foot is a piece of 1 inch plate and it had been bent twice. When I repaired it the first time I added a couple of bars 3/4X 1 1/4 underneath the foot.

BTW that is not me running the saw.

 

[smfcpacfp]

You mention slide and wedge, but I think you are talking about the part of the log splitter which I call the knife. I stole kcprecision's picture and a picture of my splitter. kcprecision has the knife on cylinder side with two pieces of angle iron welded to the knife to spread the log out. His knife is about 2 " long before it hits the angle iron which is good. This giver the splitter a chance to crack the log before it try to spread the log. I see some commercial units where there is no knife edge, instead it is just a wedge, but the wedges are quite small, so it doesn't put too much stress on the whole system. My knife looked very much like kcprecision's intially but the stress was too much when I tried split some big stuff (the knife would bend the I beam).

You notice that that I now just have a knife with no spreader. This reduces the bending pressure when you are splitting big stuff. In retrospect I think the knife on the cylinder is a better design. However a small wedge is going to make splitting any big stuff (2 feet in diameter) very difficult.

I am not too sure if I like the verticle design which kcprecision has, vs the horizontal layout like mine. I think the horizontal design makes it easier to move wood to the splitter. I would like to see one in action.

 

[Rio_Grande]

Thanks for the responses.

What I am concerned with is the size of the slide. Weather it has a flat base or a wedge (knife) attached.

I played with some designs today and i am at least fairly certian that the larger the base of that slide the larger the load is spread out on the beam.

Any discussion or recomendations?

 

[drivadesl]

I never built a splitter before, but the TSC splitter I have uses a 6" beam with a 5" slide on which the wedge rides. From what I've read elsewhere, having the wedge fixed, with a pusher mounted to the cylinder rod, may be better if you want to use a 4-way splitting wedge. (and you will once you see how much faster this is) This set up, allows the split wood some clearance and will fall away without getting stuck on the wedge as it would with the wedge mounted on the cylinder rod end. Its a good project, but lots of variables to consider, best of luck.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Thanks for the responses.

What I am concerned with is the size of the slide. Weather it has a flat base or a wedge (knife) attached.

I played with some designs today and i am at least fairly certian that the larger the base of that slide the larger the load is spread out on the beam.

Any discussion or recomendations?

Yes, short length bearing on the beam is not good because when splitting there is no guarantee that the forces will balance above and below the point where the cylinder applies force. If it doesnt the wedge will tend to cock forward or backward. A good front to back stance, with the bearing plate extending slightly to both front and rear of the [ridgid area of the] afixed wedge, is more healthy. Altho harder to make, you will like the moving wedge because you dont have to keep bringing the wood back to make a finer split. Just position the stationary workpiece to split off a small piece...repeat. Youre not always chasing your work. Due to some unavoidable warpage as you make the weldment you will probably end up machining the bottom of the plate to re flatten it.
larry

 

[Rio_Grande]

Good discussion this is what I was looking for.

I have never used a splitter with the wedge stationary. They all were attached to the rem. Sounds like I need to try the oter side out. I was concerned with having to chase the wood however I had concidered a wing with rollers on it to easily facilitate rolling the big chunks back to the ram. However the moving wedge dosen't move the larger portions... Much to concider....

One thing I have to do is keep the bending to a minimum. I have 3 bad disks. While that dosen't stop me from doing much repeditive bending puts me in pain for a few days and that is all bad...

I am actually excited about this build. I have been preoccupied with my buisness for the last couple of years with little time for any "playing" With the market in a nose dive we are relaxing waiting for a rebound,,,, I may have alot of free time...

 

[woodlandfarms]

While we are on this, what kind of hydraulic cylinder (Size and type) would you recommend. I keep hearing people use whatever, but wondering what whatever really is. I assume 20 inch throw, but how thick of a rod?

 

[SPYDERLK]

While we are on this, what kind of hydraulic cylinder (Size and type) would you recommend. I keep hearing people use whatever, but wondering what whatever really is. I assume 20 inch throw, but how thick of a rod?

At least 4" dia. Mine is a 24" travel welded cyl that size with cross tube on the base and a drilled hole thru the end of the ram. I run to a max of 3KPSI so its an 18T. I havent run into anything it wouldnt split, but maybe 10 times in 25+ yrs I have had to re position to get a split. I do the whole tree even the tuf parts. Wedge design is part of it. Many go to larger cyls, but then you need a bigger pump to keep cycle time fast enuf. Any rod size will handle its cylinder rating, but use a cyl with largest rod preferably, so your return cycle will be as fast as possible.
larry

 

[Wayne County Hose]

I replace a lot of rods on wood splitters because they are too small and bend. Many of the less expensive units use 1.5" rod for a 4" bore cylinder and IMHO this is too small. Get the largest rod you can for that bore size. Another benefit as Larry added is the larger rod diameter means a faster return stroke.

 

[Rio_Grande]

Not shure if this helps out as Mine is not up and running yet, Buit I bought the prince 4 in x 24in seemed to be the most common on the comercial splitters. I wanted 5 in, but it was not practical and I got my 4 on sale for like 70.00 Just couldn't pass it up.


So make the slide as big as possible regardless of which direction the wedge faces.

I am thinking about 10 in of slide on the beam ad set the wedge back and make a ramp onto it. Wow I know what I am trying to say and that dosen't make any sense.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Not shure if this helps out as Mine is not up and running yet, Buit I bought the prince 4 in x 24in seemed to be the most common on the comercial splitters. I wanted 5 in, but it was not practical and I got my 4 on sale for like 70.00 Just couldn't pass it up.

I am thinking about 10 in of slide on the beam ad set the wedge back and make a ramp onto it. Wow I know what I am trying to say and that dosen't make any sense.

So, yours will be an 18T @3kpsi like mine. I have a fairly small 2 stage - I believe the 11gpm, which with a 4" cyl gives adequate speed if run at 3600rpm. Thing is, I dont because my rig is dual purpose splitter and DC welder. The engine is 13HP and is a lot of engine to run at 3600 when you only need 5HP MAX. I made a trade off when deciding on the small pump-it is direct drive, andruns all the time the engine does. I didnt want to drive a big pump at full rpm with the inherent flow losses when I was driving the big generator and needed all the power i could get. ---- If I were doing single purpose in your stead, Id go to a bigger 2 stage pump [at least 13, preferably 16] and an 8hp engine. That way you will have the torque to turn the big pump slow to get average speed and faster if you really want to cook.
What size beam are you using?
larry

 

[excelagator]

I have been thinking of building a splitter too. I want it seperate from the tractor. I wondering if the 3 hp (2 stroke) snowblower motor would work for the pump motor?

Dan

 

[SPYDERLK]

I have been thinking of building a splitter too. I want it seperate from the tractor. I wondering if the 3 hp (2 stroke) snowblower motor would work for the pump motor?

Dan

Very unlikely. Those engines are hi speed lo torque. The 2 stage pumps i know of are sized for 5HP minimum at 3600 rpm. That demands a higher characteristic torque. You could probably do it marginally by gearing down but, in relation to standard direct drive straight off the end on the crankshaft, a geardown causes some power losses [>5%] and youre already short on power. Yould probably have to gear down to a pump speed of 1800rpm. It would be slow. Id go for a standard utility engine. Right speed, enuf power, a governor to react to load changes, not too $, all in one package.
larry

 

[woodlandfarms]

I mull over building one. Thankfully I have a high GPM PTO (18 GPM) but I am not sure I can build one that is going to be better than one of the chinese brands.. I look at the price of a new cylinder, and the open center controls and that could be $400 right off the bat. Buy some steel. But then again, I would not have the pleasure of criticizing my welding skills.

 

[ampsucker]

anybody try using ax heads/mauls/spitting wedges welded together to get a good knife edge? i assume they cutting edge is harded and already has a decent angle. seems like you could weld the fat ends of several together to get a good 6-8 inch knife edge and then mount the whole assembly on the ram?

amp

 

[Rio_Grande]

My beam is 8in on the flat, 8 1/2 tall and 3/8 thickness. I figure if I spread the pressure out acrosst the beam it should hold up. Most of the brand name splitters I am seeing are no bigger. Unless there is something I am missing.

In the beginning this will run off of the tractor but after I get through this season I plan to add an 8 hp engine with a 16 gpm pump. I jus need to get my wood for this year split then I will have the time to add the goodies.

 

[SPYDERLK]

anybody try using ax heads/mauls/spitting wedges welded together to get a good knife edge? i assume they cutting edge is harded and already has a decent angle. seems like you could weld the fat ends of several together to get a good 6-8 inch knife edge and then mount the whole assembly on the ram?

amp

Thats a good way to make a stationary wedge. A travelling wedge needs to flare out a couple inches or so back from the tip to open the split enuf for the ram to follow.
BTW the cutting edges arent hardened. You can run a bead near them w/o harm.
larry