Logsplitter 2.0

[LD1]

Yep, 3.5 is the "recommended" max.....but it will flow more....just higher velocity. The question would be.....does that small hose/high velocity/friction translate into enough restriction to cause the pump to shift into low speed?

Could always throw on one of these 1/4 NPT 5 GPM PRINCE WFC-4 IN-LINE FLOW CONTROL if you have to

 

[rswyan]

Yep, 3.5 is the "recommended" max.....but it will flow more....just higher velocity. The question would be.....does that small hose/high velocity/friction translate into enough restriction to cause the pump to shift into low speed?

Yup.

Could always throw on one of these 1/4 NPT 5 GPM PRINCE WFC-4 IN-LINE FLOW CONTROL if you have to

I'm liking that ... it's adjustable and the price is reasonable ... :thumbsup:

 

[rswyan]

Ok, got the 3" x 8" cylinder for log lift plumbed in using the existing 1/4 hoses.

Dunno if it's the hoses, where I have the pump's unloader set (doubtful- since the push block cylinder still extends quick), or just the valve being easier to feather at this point, but the raise/lower speed is now acceptable. It may even get slower once a large round is loaded and the pump shifts in high pressure/low flow mode - if it isn't already operating there.

One thing I missed is that using the larger diameter cylinder created a clearance issue with the body of the cylinder and the log lift itself. Had to fab up a new tab for the pin and weld it on ... not necessarily a bad thing as the old one was only 3/4" plate ... made the new one out of 1" plate.

Trying to collect up various pins and stuff that have gotten misplaced at this point, install the table grate, and then may pull it out of the shop and test it out ... although I still need to weld up the 4-way wedge ... might do that first.

 

[LD1]

I am guessing you are already operating on low flow high pressure.

I don't recall what pump you have, but a 3x8 cylinder holds 1/4 gallon. With just an 11 gpm pump, it would take a mere 1.3 seconds to fully extend. That would be a slingshot.

On a low flow high pressure of around 3 gpm....it would be closer to 5 seconds.

 

[CADplans]

rswyan, I just finished reading your woodsplitter thread, and wanted to thank you for taking the time to do it!!
You ended up with a great looking machine, I am sure it will look even better with paint.
I am sure I will be borrowing some ideas to update my splitter.

When you do paint, think about stopping at a decal cutting company, and ask them if they have any throw away decals that were cut wrong etc,,,
The decals can be meaningless,,, but, add a professional touch.
I added some decals to my DIY woodsplitter,,,,
one decal had been a business name,, another was a phone number.
Simply re-arrange the letters into something that suits you,, for zero dollars,, it really adds a finishing touch.
I also used some red decal material as an accent strip,,,

When you add the hooks, I would recommend 3/8" or larger, and a high grade.
I was removing a 12" maple stump, and after digging close to 4 feet all the way around it, my 10,000 pound 4WD tractor would not shake it.
I ended up using the splitter to pull the stump.
I chained the splitter to a 24" tree with a 6" wide nylon lift strap used to anchor to the large tree, at its base..
With constant tension on the stump from the splitter, and time, and some rocking using the splitter, the stump finally released.
I am sure I would have broke 5/16" hooks or chains.

How has the outfeed rack worked out? I have not added one, yet,
as I am afraid that if it isn't strong enough, a twisted piece of wood will bend the rack.

 

[rswyan]

Fixed a minor interference issue with one of the capture plates that bolts onto the bottom of the push block ...was hitting the tubes the fixed cradle is attached to, that is opposite the log lift. Wasn't a real big deal ... but it was causing the push block to tilt slightly on one side every time it ran past the cradle.

Started working on the 4-way ... the steel plate pieces I have for it are less than ideal ... a couple of pieces that were made up from separate pieces themselves (4 ---> 2) ... they are a little warped. Will try to tack them up and see if they will still slip-on both ways before I weld the wedges on. If not I'll spring for virgin steel.

Still missing a couple of pins that I can't seem to find ...

 

[rswyan]

I am guessing you are already operating on low flow high pressure.

Dunno ... but at this point I suspect that the feathering of the valve may what's causing it to operate as slow as it is.

I was looking at the pressure gauge last night while I was operating it to check for clearances, etc. and it was showing around 400 psi or so - with the cylinder acting against only the weight of the log lift itself (no log loaded)

Feathering the control valve doesn't seem to be as hard/touchy as I remember it last year.

I don't recall what pump you have, but a 3x8 cylinder holds 1/4 gallon. With just an 11 gpm pump, it would take a mere 1.3 seconds to fully extend. That would be a slingshot.

Yup.

It's an older Barnes 13 gpm.

On a low flow high pressure of around 3 gpm....it would be closer to 5 seconds.

Yup.

 

[rswyan]

rswyan, I just finished reading your woodsplitter thread, and wanted to thank you for taking the time to do it!!

My pleasure

You ended up with a great looking machine, I am sure it will look even better with paint.
I am sure I will be borrowing some ideas to update my splitter.

When you do paint, think about stopping at a decal cutting company, and ask them if they have any throw away decals that were cut wrong etc,,,
The decals can be meaningless,,, but, add a professional touch.
I added some decals to my DIY woodsplitter,,,,
one decal had been a business name,, another was a phone number.
Simply re-arrange the letters into something that suits you,, for zero dollars,, it really adds a finishing touch.
I also used some red decal material as an accent strip,,,

Very nice job :thumbsup:

When you add the hooks, I would recommend 3/8" or larger, and a high grade.
I was removing a 12" maple stump, and after digging close to 4 feet all the way around it, my 10,000 pound 4WD tractor would not shake it.
I ended up using the splitter to pull the stump.
I chained the splitter to a 24" tree with a 6" wide nylon lift strap used to anchor to the large tree, at its base..
With constant tension on the stump from the splitter, and time, and some rocking using the splitter, the stump finally released.
I am sure I would have broke 5/16" hooks or chains.

Great idea and interesting use to put it to !

How has the outfeed rack worked out? I have not added one, yet,
as I am afraid that if it isn't strong enough, a twisted piece of wood will bend the rack.

It has worked fairly well ... but I have bent the pipes a little on several occasions, where I wasn't paying close enough attention and a split caught one before it was split all the way through.

I wanted to use Schedule 80 pipe but my supplier was out of it and it would have taken a week or so to get in IIRC ... so I settled for Schedule 40.

And I actually wish I had made it a little longer - it's 3' IIRC - 4' would have been better.

 

[300UGUY]

I've got a 3 point splitter I want to use on a Farmall H, but I gotta get the H running first. It's always something....

 

[rswyan]

I've got a 3 point splitter I want to use on a Farmall H, but I gotta get the H running first. It's always something....

Always ... :wink:

 

[rswyan]

Finishing up the welding on the 4-way ... probably be done within the hour ... then time for some testing.

And pics of course.

 

[rswyan]

Well, things didn't go quite as I had hoped ... best laid plans and all that ...

Got the 4-way wedge essentially done ... turned out ok, but not perfect. It does slip over the fixed wedge on the beam both ways with no problem (flippable) ... but it's loose enough that it cocks a bit and will jam on ... so you can't just pull it off. So far, tapping it with a plastic HF deadblow hammer un-wedges it so it can be removed/flipped.

Biggest surprise was that even with the 3" cylinder, the log lift would not pick up a large round (30" mebbe ?) It was fairly heavy ... at least several hundred pounds I'd guess. Think it may have been some ash that appeared to be dead already when they delivered it.

The cylinder did have enough power however to snap the welds on one of the pieces of 1" solid square bar stock that I used to build the brackets on the log lift for the attachment of rod end of the cylinder, after repeated attempts to lift the round. Probably need some gusseting.

I think part of the problem is the initial angle of the cylinder lacking enough mechanical advantage to get started.

After trying to lift that round and failing, I decided to just try splitting something with the 4-way that I could lift up onto the beam, so I grabbed a round of that Sycamore that they brought me last year ... was probably 20" or so in diameter. This stuff was very green when I got it but it has been drying for almost a year. It has a very twisted grain and when I tried splitting it green last year, the splitter couldn't handle larger pieces. Tried it with the 4-way and that wouldn't touch it. Tried it with just the fixed wedge and that wouldn't touch it either. Kills the engine at around 2000 psi ... which brings me to the next issue.

The engine is still leaking a considerable amount of oil ... way too much to ignore.

It's not coming out of the valve cover, so I did manage to get that sealed ... but may be coming out of either the crank seal or the base of the jug ... or perhaps both. It was getting dark around the time I was messing with this, so I need to look at it in the light and see if I can figure out where it's coming from.

I tried adjusting the unloader and was still able to the kill the engine on any settings I tried - whenever the pressure built to 2000 psi.

Kinda surprising ... since the engine (theoretically) should have enough power to drive the pump at 2500 psi in low flow/high pressure mode ... although using Surplus Center's calculator it says it is for electric motors and to double the hp requirements for gas. Based on the pump displacement, it is only flowing 3.02 gpm in lo flow mode.

The engine - 6.5 hp Briggs - is perhaps marginal for this pump (Barnes 1300486 - spec sheet: Concentric AB HI LO PUMP US) ... so I'm considering a re-power, and maybe going with a 8 hp Predator from Harbor Freight ... rather than messing around an old engine that may have multiple issues.

A 13 hp Predator is another possibility ... one advantage being it has electric start and plenty of power I would think ... but it's way more expensive ($359 vs. $239)

May have to change at least one half of the Lovejoy coupling with either of them, depending on the shaft sizes.

 

[LD1]

Yea, 6-6.5 HP engines are normally paired with the 11 gpm pump.

With yours being a tad more at 13.....in combination with a tired engine.....I think an 8hp motor is a wise call. Get that pressure back up to 2500 +/- and that might have made the difference in the log lift.

Got any specs on the log lift, or some measurements, And I can figure out what your theoretical lift cap should be? Even just a sketched 2-d drawing showing cylinder, lift , and pivots, and I can tell you what numbers I need.

 

[LD1]

I found an older picture, assuming it's still the same design, I'm post 272.

Reference this pic


What are the lengths AB, BC, AC, and AD when o. The ground. And what does BC become when raised?

The design of that lift, (similar to a front loader) is such that the lifting force is greatest at the lowest position. And gradually diminishes as it is raised, as angle c becomes less and less. But at some point the round will start rolling toward the splitter, and the load the cylinder needs to lift it also lessens

 

[rswyan]

Yea, 6-6.5 HP engines are normally paired with the 11 gpm pump.

With yours being a tad more at 13.....in combination with a tired engine.....I think an 8hp motor is a wise call.

I'm just wondering if 8 hp is going to be enough ... :confused3:

The engine didn't have too much of a problem with the easier stuff last year, splitting mostly ash and some pine. The pine was tougher ... but it seemed to cut right through the knots without too much trouble.

Probably going to have to redo the mount for the engine, whichever one I go with.

Get that pressure back up to 2500 +/- and that might have made the difference in the log lift.

Yeah ... the difference in 2000 psi vs. 2500 psi is around 3500 more lbs of force: 14137 vs 17671.

Need to check the pressure and make sure it is only developing 2000 psi ...

Got any specs on the log lift, or some measurements, And I can figure out what your theoretical lift cap should be? Even just a sketched 2-d drawing showing cylinder, lift , and pivots, and I can tell you what numbers I need.

I can take some pics and include some measurements.

The cylinder for the log lift was almost vertical ... need to get a little more angle on it I think ... but I'll need to relocate the base end attachment point ...

 

[LD1]

I can take some pics and include some measurements.

The cylinder for the log lift was almost vertical ... need to get a little more angle on it I think ... but I'll need to relocate the base end attachment point ...

Get them measurements and I can do some numbers and we can go from there.

 

[rswyan]

Here's the measurements:

On the ground:

AB = around 6" ... a whisker under ... mebbe 5 7/8" (log lift hinge pin to cylinder base end attachment point pin)

BC = 18 1/4" (cylinder base end attachment point pin to rod end attachment point pin, retracted)

AC = 25" (log lift hinge pin to cylinder rod end attachment point pin, retracted)

AD = 34 1/2" (log lift hinge pin to center of log lift base panel)

Raised:

BC = 26 1/4" (cylinder base end attachment point pin to rod end attachment point pin, extended)

All measurements involving pins are from the center of the pin.

 

[rswyan]

Confirmed that the engine dies at 2000 psi by retracting the log lift cylinder.

 

[rswyan]

Broken weld:

 

[rswyan]

Side profile of the log lift, show the relation of the hinge pins and rod end cylinder attachment point: