Replace wood splitter hydraulic seals?

[CobyRupert]

My Huskee wood splitter with a 35 ton, 5” x 24” cylinder has slowly been developing a leak around the inner seal, around where the cylinder exits. Splitter still has plenty of splitting power. Questions:

1) Who supplies quality parts and what is expected price?

I found the official repair kit, (Huskee S39018000) for $140. Is that crazy, or typical? Am I paying for someone $100 to bag the EXACT right combination of $3.00 seals?

I can also find “generic” 5” x 24” cylinder repair kits on the internet for < $20. What gives?

2) Do I need to pull the piston if I’m only replacing the “front” seals? That is, will I be able to get that front plate off, once retainer ring is off, without pulling the piston?

3) Should I really pull piston and replace all of the seals as long as it’s 1/2 apart? Worth the effort?

4) Do hydraulic shops bother with woodsplitters, or would they rather not?

5) What are the other hiccups to be expected?

Thanks.

 

[Robin Veerman]

Once you have the cylinder off take it to your local hydraulic shop and let them deal with it. Ask for a quote first if you want, and if you give them the go-ahead ask for the old parts back. Be nice to see the condition of the seals….and confirms what was charged was actually changed

 

[Eagle1]

I redid mine years ago with one of the cheap kits. I looked at the piston but if memory serves I just changed the rubber on the front where it was leaking. Still holding fine 6-7 years later. YMMV
I do remember spending hours figuring out the right kit after pulling it apart. No shop around here so it was worth my time.

 

[oldnslo]

What type of end is the cylinder rod. That will determine if you have to pull the piston off to change the rod seals.

No clue on generic 5” cylinder kit working since there several different seal options for cylinders.

 

[jwmorris]

Looks like Speeco made cylinders for husky, is it this design?

If so, $39 on eBay.

Hydraulic Log splitter cylinder rebuild seal kit for 5.0"Bore x 2.0" rod cylinde | eBay

Cylinder tube Bore (I.D.) 5" x rod (O.D) 2". If above part specification fits your cylinder, I have no reason to think our seal kit does not work for your cylinder. Below is 5" bore x 2" rod cylinder Specification that OEM made by this seal kit.

www.ebay.com

$18 on Amazon

Amazon.com

So, yeah, the mark up is ridiculous but it’s a dirty job, not a hard one. Last time I needed to rebuild one, I bought one of those roll around stainless tables and turned it upside down, cut the supports out of it and welded them to the table top (now bottom), turning it into a container, then make 3 legs higher than one, drill a hole in the short corner and put a 5 gallon bucket on the shelf below the hole.

Now you are ready to do it like they do. Handy for lots of tasks and probably the way they should make roll around tables to begin with, so nothing rolls off when you move it around.

 

[LD1]

THe end of the rod that attaches either the pusher or wedge.....if whatever is on there can be removed and no larger than the diameter of the rod, then no the piston dont need to come off.

Most log splitter cylinders either have just a bolt hole, or a threaded on clevis. IF that is the case then no you dont need to remove the whole cylinder. But if something is welded on the end of the rod, then you have to remove the piston and unbolt it from the rod,

Some of these were also painted after assembly, so the last couple of inches of cylinder rod will have paint and it would be a good idea to take a wire-wheel on a grinder and remove paint before sliding on new seals.

The diameter of the cylinder wont matter so much if you are just doing gland seals (unless its the outer gland to barrel seals leaking). But just the rod gland....you need to know the style of the seals and the rod diameter is about it.

The $140....yes you are paying someone else to package and source the seals. But that kit probably includes ALL the seals including piston. While not quite as cheap as $3 worth of seals.....there is markup for that. I'd venture a guess that ~$50-$60 for ALL the seals from a local hydraulic shop.

ANd sometimes there are wear sleeves in the gland. Sometimes they are a lip seal sometimes they are just o-rings. But the "outer" seal that you can actually see doesnt do any oil sealing. That is just a dust/wiper seal to prevent dirt from going back in the cylinder.

Also, look at the condition of the rod. Any scratches, nicks, dents, etc will just trash a new set of seals.

IF you have a local hydraulic shop.....take the gland out and take the seals to them to see if they can match up. Im guessing ~$20 they can probably hook you up.

 

[nyone]

Arnt log splitters suposto leak oil?

 

[WranglerX]

Arnt log splitters suposto leak oil?

Nope, my 30 something year old one does not leak...

 

[CobyRupert]

Aren’t log splitters suppose to leak oil?

That’s been my attitude for a couple years. It’s probably only a quart or two that leaks over the course of a splitting season (~4 cords). But man, a little oil sure looks like a lot. I guess it does keep the wedge lubed up as it slides on the beam.

…but I know it’s getting worse and worse.

 

[CobyRupert]

So I took the piston, rod and gland to a hydraulic shop about 25 miles away where they custom measure and order the seals instead of tracking down the model and relying on a manufacturer’s dated and often revised part list.

They gave me a bag of seals, a set screw, told me where seals go and sent me on my way.

I didn’t know that they would take the piston off the rod, but I understand why they did.

Problem is, when I put the piston back on, this is a close as I can get set screw to align.

Not sure if I need more muscle, special tools to turn it. Or drill and tap some new threads (which means back to the (a) shop, for me).

I should of asked them to give it back to me the way I gave it to them: assembled. Oh well.