Harbor freigth wood splitter arrives

[triptester]

The return line should never have enough pressure to blow hose or blow the filter unless there is restriction in filter or line between filter and tank. A possible cause for damaged filter or return hose is a restricted tank vent.

 

[blades]

By the way the hf vent is just a tiny hole in the fill port, recommend getting an elbow 3/4" and a vented cap for it.

 

[2smart4me]

OK ,I did modify the vent to a ¼ petcock, because when I tow the splitter around with my riding lawnmower the splitter leaks oil out the 1/8 inch vent with the original vent/plug with O ring, although with a high pressure replacement hose on the return side, the weak link is the oil filter. I agree the return line should never have enough pressure to blow hose or blow the filter, I need to know where is all the pressure coming from? Those who put on a fram filter, did you replace the original HF filter housing? And what’s the fram filter number? My return going into the hydraulic tank is a ¾ pipe which is wielded to the tank, this would be major to change and not get contamination in the tank.
HF has agreed to give me a complete refund, and reimburse me for all the oil (15gallens) .
This may be the best deal yet! Any comments??

 

[blades]

There should be a flow direction arrow on the filter housing. I have rebuilt/modified my unit. i will get pics up after i resize them.

 

[BlackOakTreeServ]

OK ,I did modify the vent to a ¼ petcock, because when I tow the splitter around with my riding lawnmower the splitter leaks oil out the 1/8 inch vent with the original vent/plug with O ring, although with a high pressure replacement hose on the return side, the weak link is the oil filter. I agree the return line should never have enough pressure to blow hose or blow the filter, I need to know where is all the pressure coming from? Those who put on a fram filter, did you replace the original HF filter housing? And what’s the fram filter number? My return going into the hydraulic tank is a ¾ pipe which is wielded to the tank, this would be major to change and not get contamination in the tank.
HF has agreed to give me a complete refund, and reimburse me for all the oil (15gallens) .
This may be the best deal yet! Any comments??

Sounds like you need a new filter housing. I use 'Zinga' 3/4 NPT return line...it handles 20gpm and the filter is a 10 micron, which is recomended.

i got mine from www.surpluscenter.com part # 9-059

 

[blades]

AS promised pics of rebuilt HF. Couple things to add yet, extra tank, and a catch tray. The new beam is made out of two 4x6x6' schedule 80 tubes welded together all the way around + a 3/8" x6" x6' plate welded on top of those and plug welds at either stress point. The wedge is a 1"x12" A36, ground here in my shop followed by a 2.5"sq.x12" schedule 80 tube as a spreader. The push plate is 1.5" thick with 1/2" butresses. the cup for the ram head is 4" dia., bored out for the ram and pined with a 1/2" bolt. It just smiles and eats ELM for snacks. There are 4 - 1/2x18 tapped holes in the push plate for sticker pins.

 

[Thickskin]

OK I'll update on the details and condition after using it for a bit.
Its Dog ##### Broke!
First the 4 way splitter came apart at the main welds. The vertical pieces were barely penetrated and simply came apart. I had it pressed back together and some excellent welds put in place. All ground back to a nice point and back to work.
Then the "shoe" or part that pushes the log into the wedge bent backwards. This is some of the thickest steel on the machine. It simply just bent back over time. While this would still work without issue, it caused a bunch of problems from there. Since the shoe leaned back, the forward pressue was not straight to the wedge, but tilted up. There are retaining blocks that hold the shoe even with the rail. These blocks bent and eventually snapped the bolts that hold them in place. These were replaced with longer pieces, and stronger bolts. Back to work.
Then major failure. The rail simply could not handle the work load. It bent the complete two top planges. The blocks and shoe can not follow the bends in the rail so its a big noisy paperweight. I have it at a good shop and he is going to press the rail back straight, the add steel between the top flanges and the lower flanges, and then blocks that slide under the bottom of the whole rail. If that does not work, I will get a whole new rail and mount the working parts of the splitter onto a good rail and go from there.
The Robin (subaru) engine performs flawlessly. The ram pushes like a beast. The hydraulics, lines, controls and tank all work great. They took some excellent parts from Northern Hydraulics and mounted them to a lot of cheap steel.
Did I overwork or abuse it? Maybe, it says right in the description "do not split anything over 12" " I figure it is rated at 30 tons, it should be able to handle that. I split a lot of elm I had around, some knots that I had around simply because I never wanted to tackle them with wedges and mauls. I still think it should have held up better.
If your gonna split 12" wood, or straight grained pine or maybe ash, it'll work for ya. if you run into some knarly stuff on a regular basis, you want to buy something else.

Some lessons are harder to learn than others. I'm betting I could still sell it for $1800 in a couple of hours. The aggravation is worse than a couple bucks.

Shoulda bought one of the Huskees at TSC. The beams on those things are like 300 lbs of steel. pretty damn solid..

 

[Thickskin]

Just an update. Yellow freight is schedule to come pick it back up. I am getting a full refund, including the shipping. Darn shame, I wish it woulda worked out better. I wanted to get a $500 refund, and pay the welding shop guy to mount it all to a better main rail. He was gonna add a work table at the same time. HF said they would do that, then came back and said no, they would just take it back completely.

Looks like a Timber Wolf is in my future.

Like I said after your other quote, I would seriously look at the Huskee from TSC. From everything I hear from some friends that have them, they are the most bang for your buck. Assembled here in the USA too, not shipped in a crate from China. Good luck!

 

[ptabaka]

splitter

i looked at them , the beams are welded peases of steel not 1 solid i beam good luck

 

[Thickskin]

i looked at them , the beams are welded peases of steel not 1 solid i beam good luck

They may be welded but way thicker and sturdier than the HF ones.

 

[2smart4me]

Sounds like you need a new filter housing. I use 'Zinga' 3/4 NPT return line...it handles 20gpm and the filter is a 10 micron, which is recomended.

i got mine from www.surpluscenter.com part # 9-059

I like your idea on the filter upgrade, did you replace the hoses, and clamps? Give me more information on the up dates, it sure would be cheaper to fix it before I receive another oil bath