Where to buy H / I Beams?

[TWD]

Looking to build a wood splitter and want to do it right, and extra beefy.

Looking at acquiring some: w8 x 48 or w10 x 54

Going to pair with a 5x30 cylinder, 28GPM pump, etc...

Is everyone buying at scrapyard? Places I'm finding are $500+ for that beam

 

[grnspot110]

If you have a county bridge department, you might check with them. I was able to get a 5' used H beam that way when I built mine:

 

[Travelover]

My local metal recycler resells metal. Some do, some don't. But used steel is dirt cheap.

 

[rswyan]

I got mine at a local steel fab shop that a friend used to work for.

If I had sourced it from my steel supplier it would have been more than 4x what I actually paid ($50)

 

[Mendonsy]

W8 and W10 are not the most common materials so finding them may take a bit of searching. I agree that a local fab shop would be best if you can find what you need.

 

[ultrarunner]

I found some on craigslist... cheap.

The local metal guy has acres of inventory he buys for scrap... but he gets top dollar for what he sells retail... top dollar.

 

[Travelover]

I found some on craigslist... cheap.

The local metal guy has acres of inventory he buys for scrap... but he gets top dollar for what he sells retail... top dollar.

Too bad. My guy resells for about 2X what he pays for it. A screaming deal for me and an honest profit for him.

 

[roadhunter]

Should be able to get scrap like that for around .25 a pound or less.

 

[prichard]

I beam 18 feet

 

[mrmikey]

Looking at acquiring some: w8 x 48 or w10 x 54

That's some serious size beam you're talking. I used S8 @ 18.4 for mine. I think you be better of using I beam (S), the outer edge of the wide flange flange will be quite a ways fron the center verticle section (web) of the beam and might have a tendancy to pull up. Depending on your design of course so I could be full of it .....Mike

 

[PILOON]

Re cycle or scrap yards is the best source for them.
$50.00 would be a typical budget.
Even new should be reasonable as most shops would have cut off ends as not every project calls for 20 ft lengths.

 

[jenkinsph]

Re cycle or scrap yards is the best source for them.
$50.00 would be a typical budget.
Even new should be reasonable as most shops would have cut off ends as not every project calls for 20 ft lengths.

I agree with this as most of these drops have already been sold to the original customer. Shorts that are long enough for the main wood splitter beam are laying around most scrap piles. I buy this stuff for about 15 cents a pound.

 

[LD1]

That's some serious size beam you're talking. I used S8 @ 18.4 for mine. I think you be better of using I beam (S), the outer edge of the wide flange flange will be quite a ways fron the center verticle section (web) of the beam and might have a tendancy to pull up. Depending on your design of course so I could be full of it .....Mike

Not sure on his design, but S-type beams are pretty uncommon for a splitter for a few reasons. First, the inderside of the flange is tapered and not flat like a wide flange beam, makes it a little more challenging to secure the pusher connected to the ram, down to the beam. Second, S-type are alot weaker in the horizontal direction, and even a bit weaker in the vertical direction. And third, they aint very wide, so it dont leave a nice wide ledge to sit a round on that needs split.

Now to the OP, yes those are some pretty heavy beams......but you mention using a PAIR of 5" cylinders. I am curious to hear a little more about your design.....perhaps there are some better options out there.

 

[muddstopper]

I read it as he was going to pair his hbeam with a 5in cyl not use a pair of 5 in cyls

Here is a pair of 4.5in cyl on a 8x8 hbeam

 

[mrmikey]

Now that is one serious splitter.......Mike

 

[LD1]

I read it as he was going to pair his hbeam with a 5in cyl not use a pair of 5 in cyls

Here is a pair of 4.5in cyl on a 8x8 hbeam

I think you are right. I think I mis-read.

In which case, I think the OP is looking for way to heavy of a beam.

I am all for building overkill strong, but this is excessive. Many times I like to lift the splitter with my hands by the tongue and jock it around just a bit. That would be a bit harder to do if you build a tank. You dont have to build a 5000# splitter to be plenty strong enough.

 

[muddstopper]

I took that pic of my twin cyl splitter last Sept. I could take that same pic today as nothing has changed. I had rotator cuff surgery last Sept and Knee relacement last June and have pretty much been sidelined for a year now. Knee seems to be healing, weather is cooling, look forward to getting back to finishing my processor.

I am bad to over build and make things heavier than they need to be. In the case of my double cyl splitter and the 8x8 hbeam. I dont think there is anyway that beam will withstand the pressures those cyl can put out. The 30in stroke of the cyl and the overall lenght of the beam will probably cause the hbeam to bend in the middle. To strengthen the beam. I have already plated the top flange with 1/2 in plate making the flange 1in thick. I intend to box the web on both side with additional 1/2in plate. . Boxing instead of just plateing the web should provide some strength to prevent flex and twisting of the hbeam. I also made the slide for the pusher block extra long, hopefully to prevent kinking of the top flange. All this extra metal has made the splitter very heavy and I wont be moving it around by hand. I am hoping all this metal isnt overkill and not enough because i would hate like heck to rebuilt the beam because I didnt build it strong enough to begin with.