Sizing pump to engine for highflow wood splitter

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My wedge is 30inches wide with plans to split up to 27in dia wood. I get some bigger size wood, but the majority will be less than 24in dia. My hyd saw has a 27in bar so I have some built in size limits. The 75gpm flow is a combination of a two pump setup in a hi/low system. The splitter only gets the extra 33 gpm when the saw isnt running. The smaller 33gpm pump will go directly to my hyd saw so when the saw is running, the flow goes to tank on return. I will be using the power beyond port to route the 33 gpm toward the splitter, going thru a unloader valve set at low pressure. The relief on my saw control valve wont need full system pressure to operate so the relief will be set pretty low. The unloader valve has to be set lower than the relief valve setting to prevent oil dumping over relief and creating heat, instead of dumping back to tank. Basicly, the splitter will be splitting with only 42gpm and extending pretty slow. It will get a burst of speed on extend while I am positioning a log to be bucked, then slow down, If the saw out runs the splitter, before the cyl is fully retracted, than I simply stop sawing and it will speed the ram up so that as soon as the ram has returned, I can complete the cut. I hope not to have to wait on the saw or cyl very much. Probably going to take some getting used to timing the ram and saw.

Wedge design is critical when doing multi splits. Any binding can cause serious problems, and nobody likes beating a stuck round out of a wedge. Worst yet, breaking parts and explodeing scraps flying everywhere.
 
10" second isnt too horrible. That's about what mine is.
Actually with the full 75gpm, cycle time will be about 7 sec. for a 30in stroke. Realistic, If I can saw a 27" dia oak round in 10 sec or less, then I think I have done good. If I can saw it and split it in 10 sec, I have done really good. How many cords a hour would that be????

Edit, 30"x27"= 10cuft per 10 sec. 60 cuft per min 3600cuft hr, 3600/128= 28 cord a hr. Yea, I would be very happy with that!!!, Doubt it will happen, but dang it sounds good.
 
My wedge is 30inches wide with plans to split up to 27in dia wood.

My design is a 50" wide wedge...scaled down from a 64" wedge. First the 64" design didn't work very well, secondly, it was hard to reach the center of the splitting table. I've got lots of 30-40" wood to split. We take down several monterey pines every month, big eucs, 4' douglas fir with wind checks, shake and brown cubicle rot. I'm hoping to be able to process a 4' diameter round to stove sized wood in 2 minutes. With consistent large rounds prepped and ready to go I should be able to process over 5 cord an hour. I don't mind spending the money on building the machine up front if it eventually does what I'm hoping it will do. I bought a mini excavator this year so I can load the rounds in the splitter.
 
When you said 50in wide wedge, I had to go look up the Rex 900 splitter to see what you where talking about. Looks like a lot of pre log prep before actual splitting, but if your set up for it, should be productive. I also noticed they didnt limit their engine to 26hp. Just pointing that out.
 
This is the project we've been working on the last couple days. I'm back up this tree tomorrow morning at 7:00am. This is what I'm designing my splitter to handle. IMG_4201.JPG
 
post a pic of your proto type, I, and I am sure others, would like to see it.
I dont climb, ever, and seldom drop a standing tree anymore. I scrounge logging sites and take their junk. 4ft dia wood is big for me. Usually cut out of someones yard and left behind. I'll take it if they can load it, otherwise they can keep it. I used to go for any size wood I could get, big stuff will fill up a wood stack pretty quick. Noodleing and then splitting grew old pretty quick. I can put a 4ft round on my regular splitter using the boom, but even with the 6way wedge, the splits all need resplitting and every block is still to heavy to handle, so I wont do it unless I have extra help. For rounds the size of the tree you are cutting, I think I would look for a skid steer splitter and chop those rounds down a little in size before trying to process.
 

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