Cheap welds will get ya everytime

[Agnes]

Well I got my splitter fixed and hopefully will never have another problem with cheap welds again!

Before

After

The welder said he'll fix it free if it breaks again

So with the tropical storm Hanna bearing down we had our work cut out for us. Kids worked hard and we were able to get all the wood processed and most importantly get the trailer off the beloved wife's grass!

I might be taking this a little far but here are my production numbers.

1.5 hours working with kids

22 pieces of solid wood (wood was 1/4 from bigger pieces)

Split into 241 pieces

Avg of 11 pieces from the original piece of wood

Which calculates to 37 seconds a piece of wood

 

[testlight]

Yup, looks like a pretty beefy weld, as long as there was enough penetration, and the weld came from bottom up then your golden.

 

[Ductape]

Nice operation you got goin' there !

 

[testlight]

Are those your work boots

 

[Slick]

I don't understand why more end plates aren't welded on like that...everyone just puts a thick plate on the end of the beam and welds it....why not overlay another strip of metal that comes up the side of the beam like your welder did...now you not only have to break the original weld but shear the side welds which is tough to do....tell your welder good job

 

[testlight]

Because steel is expensive, and good welder/fabricators are hard to find, and again $$.

 

[Rookie1]

Did you weld that bigger foot on . If you did I bet the extra leverage didnt help the welds. Im not bashing you I like the bigger plate idea. Im just saying.

 

[savageactor7]

I wonder if that still would have happened if the wedge was at the end of the splitter? The old splitter I'm used to working has a small flat plate off the working part of the ram.

A few years ago I noticed tptb were starting to put the wedge off the ram and I was wondering what the mechanical advantage was to doing that cause now the splits are right in fount of you...in the way.

At least with the fixed wedge at the end the splits go past you to the rear where someone else can pick them up and not be in your way.

 

[NDtreehugger]

hmm I have seen more end plates

crack and bend back

If they were given just a wee bit of support they would stay put.
(red triangle)

over engineer or under engineer that is the question

 

[testlight]

Yeah those are nice, I also like the ones that split verticaly, so you don't have to pick any wood up, you can just roll it around.
Of course I am jealous no matter what, as I have no wood splitter.

 

[NDtreehugger]

I don't mess around with the small stuff I have a wood prossing unit grapple included.

 

[turnkey4099]

Yeah those are nice, I also like the ones that split verticaly, so you don't have to pick any wood up, you can just roll it around.
Of course I am jealous no matter what, as I have no wood splitter.

Hmmm...wood is on the ground. Bend over to move it on to the foot, split, bend over to reposition for the the next plit, repeat, bend over to move the splits out of the way for the next round. Repeat.

Of courst you can put a round there to sit on while you split each round but you still have the 'get up to get the next round problem, etc.

I see no benny to a verticle plitter other than being able to split rounds too big to get onto a horizontal.


At least with a horizontal and in/out feed tables you only bend over to pick it up or roll it onto the lift once

Harry K

 

[testlight]

Well to each his own. But with big rounds (what else is a splitter for) you just roll them up to the splitter, tip them over into position, split. Then carry the wood off, or spin it for more splitting.
I used one one time and thought it was great, but yeah everybody has their preferences.
The most important thing if you ask me is wear knee pads and bend/lift with you knees.
Oh an I've always dreamed of a fast wood splitter, but I guess that would be too dangerous or expensive, or both

 

[mranum]

Trouble with a lot of mass produced welded products is they are wire feed welds and that just doesn't have crap for tensile strength. They need to be arc welded with a strong rod with like a 70 series( 70,000 lbs tensile) and up. At least then the weld won't break.



IMO- of course.

 

[husky455rancher]

gussets are your friend. when i make anything or even if i buy something i always add gussets and supports to to stress areas. i put them on my splitter leg i made, and the add on to the hydraulic tank has 2 aswell. dont ever be afraid to over support anything.

 

[tanker]

gussets are your friend. when i make anything or even if i buy something i always add gussets and supports to to stress areas. i put them on my splitter leg i made, and the add on to the hydraulic tank has 2 aswell. dont ever be afraid to over support anything.

Yup,do it right the 1st time

 

[lobsta1]

My old homemade splitter didn't have any problem with the foot. What broke was the anchor end of the cylinder. It was in the shape of an upside down 3/4" thick letter L. The horizontal leg under the cylinder pin was welded for about an 8" length. The verticle leg went down the back of the 8" beam. That leg was about 2" wide. The top part with the pin was about 6" wide. All the welds along top & down the backbone all tore off. The cylinder pin bent so much that the only way it is coming out is to cut it.

I figured that since I am just an amateur at welding I would have to improve the design. I welded gussets across the beam at the front of the plate. Then gussets on both sides of the plate to the beam & also to the new front gusset. Then I also put gussets down the backbone to the beam & to the web. That was after I used a sledge to bang the backbone straight again.
If my quick picture came out, the red is where the original welds broke.
Al

 

[smoothED]

Trouble with a lot of mass produced welded products is they are wire feed welds and that just doesn't have crap for tensile strength. They need to be arc welded with a strong rod with like a 70 series( 70,000 lbs tensile) and up. At least then the weld won't break.



IMO- of course.

That just is'nt true at all,there is the same variaty of wire in gmaw(mig) as there is in smaw(stick). There is a better chance of slag intrusion with stick welding than there is with mig. It all depends on the welder's skill and what type of equipment he has. Even tig would work, but it would take forever.

 

[timberwolf]

Hmmm. Most common mig wire is 70,000 PSI, so that is not so much the problem as MIG done right could even be stronger than something put together with 6013 and an arc welder. Problem I think is more often is the set-up / operator skill with mig.

With mig it is easy for anyone with even limited welding ability to put down a good looking bead that can and often will look far superior to an arc weld bead. Yet the only strength is the bead it's self as there is next to zero metal penetration and fusion of the base metal. To mig thicker plate metal over say 1/4 to 5/16 of an inch properly its going to take upwards of 200 amps, and that puts it out of the reach of the sub $1000 dollar hobby welder units. In skilled hands there are ways to extend the capibilities of a smaller welder, but there are limits.

Like stated above though there looks to be a bit of a design flaw on the foot that places the welds in tension rather than using any supporting metal members in compression. Also if the pressure is placed on the top of the toe plate by an odd shaped log then the force on the welds near the top could be multiplied due to leverage.

 

[Ole Farmerbuck]

Hmmm...wood is on the ground. Bend over to move it on to the foot, split, bend over to reposition for the the next plit, repeat, bend over to move the splits out of the way for the next round. Repeat.

Of courst you can put a round there to sit on while you split each round but you still have the 'get up to get the next round problem, etc.

I see no benny to a verticle plitter other than being able to split rounds too big to get onto a horizontal.


At least with a horizontal and in/out feed tables you only bend over to pick it up or roll it onto the lift once

Harry K

Much agreed with.