Logsplitter 2.0

[ajmaxham]

Looks good with the back side capped.

How tall is the wedge?

 

[rswyan]

Looks good with the back side capped.

Thanks

How tall is the wedge?

It's only 10" tall - would have preferred something a little taller, but 10" was what I had on hand.

Just got done cutting the old slip-on 4-way wedge apart ... gonna rebuild that tonight to fit.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Within the hour my young helper called and asked "Are you interested in a dump truck load of firewood ... for free ? It's seasoned and has been split once ... probably needs split again ..."

I told him "Heck yeah" ...

He showed up with a guy who he's worked for in the past, who was driving GMC cab forward dump with a 10' or 12' bed piled to the brim with wood. Guy was looking to get rid of this wood because it was so well seasoned that he wasn't getting long enough burn times out of it - he's away from the house 10 to 12 hours at a time - it was all hickory and oak ... that he'd actually bought and paid real money for ...

.

Geesh, I need to find a deal or 3 like that. Lucky you. :thumbsup:

 

[rswyan]

Old four-way wedge cut apart:

This took around an hour to do (at least), using 7" zip discs in my angle grinder. Used the air outlets of the welder to cool the grinder periodically ...

(Brackets for the log lift, and the beam-side cylinder attachment for it, are visible in the bottom of the above photo)

 

[rswyan]

Originally I was just going to cut the plate that the wedge wings were attached to and flip them so that they followed the (overhead) profile of the fixed wedge ... but the plate was only 1/4" ... and I decided it would probably be better to use something a little heavier.

The only thing I really had available was the last remaining scraps of the H-Beam flange (3/8" thick):

 

[rswyan]

As the above photo in the previous post shows, two of the pieces were a little short of material ... so I added some and filled in the gap:

 

[rswyan]

While taking a break from working on the side plates for the new 4-way wedge, I decided to fab up a little addition for the fixed wedge.

Took a piece of 1/2" (thick) scrap that was 2" or so tall and 1 1/2" long (when standing) and used the snagging wheel in the angle grinder to give it a rough edge ... and then used the Delta Sharpening Center to put a fine edge on it making a "foot" for the wedge:

This reduces the log length capacity (at the top of the beam) to 24 1/2".

 

[rswyan]

Geesh, I need to find a deal or 3 like that. Lucky you. :thumbsup:

Yeah ... I consider myself very lucky to have been offered the free wood, especially considering what type of wood it was, that it was seasoned, and had been split already ... and was glad that I could somehow provide an exchange by welding the guy's truck bed.

 

[oldtimer 66]

RSWYAN here is a little trick that I do to cool down my right angle grinders when they start getting hot. Now I do not have expensive grinders Craftsman and Porter Cable. I have a refrigerator in the garage and I put the grinder and or grinders in the freezer to cool them down. Just for a short period of time. I have been doing that for some time and have not damaged any thing yet, although I do have the plasma cutter now and do much less hand grinding. Another thing is my rechargeable batteries/ Dewalt/ for my drill and Sawzall. When they get to warm to charge I do the same thing to them to cool them down so they can be re charged. Probably a lot of people are shuttering right now but it works for me. Don't forget the finish paint and decals on the splitter " Been there split that" . Later.

 

[rswyan]

Joy ... :

Cycle times in low pressure/high flow were: 5 and change extend, 4 and change in retract.

Two hydraulic leaks - one on 90 elbow on the outlet of the Prince LS 3040 valve that controls the big cylinder and another on a swivel fitting on the inlet. Threw some Permatex No.2 on the outlet fitting ... seems to be holding. Tried tightening the inlet fitting ... haven't tried it yet tho' ...

Also have an oil leak on the valve cover of the Briggs ... will try to score a gasket for that today.

Misplaced one of the hex set screws for the Lovejoy coupling ... I made one out of a 5/16 bolt by cutting the head off and then slotting it ... just so I could test it last night ... so I'll need to pick up one of those as well.

Have some relief valve and/or 2 stage unloader issues as well, that I need to sort out ... stalled the engine a few times.

... but I'm liking it already ...

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Am I seeing that right and you greased the main beam for the push plate? Won't the grease collect debris and wear things out faster? Not to mention getting grease on your splits. I always thought they ran dry.

 

[LD1]

9 sec cycle aint bad. Refresh my memory...what size cylinder and pump?

 

[rswyan]

9 sec cycle aint bad.

Yup ... plenty quick enough for me ...

Of course, if it has to drop into high pressure/low volume mode it will get quite a bit slower (like 4x slower)

Refresh my memory...what size cylinder and pump?

4"/1.5" cylinder (Eaton Fieldmate, 2500 psi max), 13 gpm pump (Haldex 1300486)

 

[rswyan]

Am I seeing that right and you greased the main beam for the push plate?

Yup ... I got really excited at the prospect of getting rid of my two tubes of crappy TSC black grease ... and went wild ...

Won't the grease collect debris and wear things out faster?

Possibly ...

Not to mention getting grease on your splits.

Well ... it's not just a splitter ... but also a Fatwood production machine ...

I always thought they ran dry.

I'll probably limit any future greasings to the underside and edges of the beam ...

 

[rswyan]

On the engine stalling issue, it happens under two scenarios - and both have the system pressure shooting up to around 1500 psi:

1. Using the RD 5200 valve for the log lift, unless one is careful feathering it, it will kill the engine. I'm running 1/4 hoses to the log lift cylinder ... in order to keep the cylinder extension speed to something reasonable ... and trying to shove 13 gpm thru 1/4 hoses don't seem to be working too well. Probably help if I would get the log lift itself actually installed, so that the cylinder is actually pushing something.

2. Deadheading the main cylinder for the push block with the LS 3040 valve.

I'm thinking it's likely a combo deal with both of the pressure reliefs on the control valves (the reliefs are supposed to be set at 2250 and 2000 psi respectively) and the unloader valve on the pump that controls where the pump switches over to high pressure/low volume mode.

The engine itself now seems to be running better (full rpm) after a little run time (it sat for 10+ years)

 

[mikehaugen]

Definitely sounds like a pump issue. If you are only getting to 1500 psi, the reliefs wouldn't be opening anyway. And obviously 1500 psi on the high flow mode on the pump is too much for 6.5 hp.

 

[LD1]

I am really surprised you got that much speed with that combo.

Same cylinder but 22gpm pump and I am 7.5-8 sec. Is your time for a full 24" stroke? And you confident all the air is out?

 

[rswyan]

Definitely sounds like a pump issue. If you are only getting to 1500 psi, the reliefs wouldn't be opening anyway.

Right - good point.

And obviously 1500 psi on the high flow mode on the pump is too much for 6.5 hp.

Yup - about double too much.

I pulled the top bolt/cap next to the outlet on the pump last night - there was a spring sitting on top of ball there. Didn't really do anything with it ... just had a look.

There's a cap on the bottom side of the pump next to the inlet ... I think that's where the adjustment screw for the unloader is. I'll pull that tonight and see if I can tweak it down (out) to lower the point where it shifts in low volume/high pressure.

Got the gasket pulled on the valve cover and cleaned up both sides and replaced it with some black NAPA RTV Ultra. Also discovered that the pipe the muffler screws into was actually loose in the head ... so I'll need to handle that as well.

 

[rswyan]

I am really surprised you got that much speed with that combo. Same cylinder but 22gpm pump and I am 7.5-8 sec.

Surprising isn't it ?

I'm probably at 11 seconds total cycle (owing to my lack of precision when hitting "Start" and "Stop" on my iPhone)

Is your time for a full 24" stroke?

Yes.

And you confident all the air is out?

No ... although the extension and retraction has been smooth (no jerks)

Last night I noticed that there were quite a lot of air bubbles in the fluid in the reservoir after cycling it a couple times.

I only had around 7 gallons of hydraulic fluid in the shop last night when I filled it ... so maybe there was some air getting sucked in as I initially cycled the cylinders. In hindsight, I really wish I had located the outlet and strainer for the reservoir on the bottom, rather than the side.

Today I grabbed another 1 to 1 1/2 gallons of fluid that came out of the tractor when the axle seal popped out, that I had down here in the garage at the house ... that took it up very near the top of the reservoir (probably within an inch) Will top it off a little further if need be.

Should know more here in a little bit ... hopefully the RTV on the valve cover is "dry enough" ...

 

[oldtimer 66]

RSWYAN may I make a suggestion? On a couple of splitters, I have put grab hooks on the pusher so that a light chain can be used to pull off a stuck pc of wood. Just a thought. Later.