Update, Huskee 22 ton.

[rarefish383]

I think I posted it here. My Huskee was leaking hydraulic oil from around the seal on the ram. It didn't seam to leak at all while using it, but when I let it sit the whole trough of the beam would be full of oil, like it was still under pressure after I shut it down. I went to TSC and they actually put me on the phone with their parts source. The guy said the piston didn't have a seal, and he could sell me a new one for $211. I gave him the part number for the kit and he still couldn't find it. My small engine shop gave me the number of the pro hydraulic shop they use, He said they charge$125 an hour and it would take about 2 1/2 hours plus parts. But, he also said if I could get the cheap TSC piston for $211 do that. Then he said if it was his he would just keep adding oil till it failed. So, that's what I've been doing. Every time I finish splitting, I retract the ram all the way. That's when it seems to leak, while sitting. I used it last week and when I was done, I left the ram out about 6"s. Put it up on my driveway where I would notice it, and check it daily. Leaving the ram out a few inches, it hasn't leaked a drop. Maybe it's worn a little on the end, I don't know? I'll just store it with the ram out.

 

[sb47]

After shutting it down, try moving the lever back and forth to bleed off any pressure that may still be in the cylinder. Also try stopping the cylinder in a different place and not leaving the cylinder in the same place. Most will let the cylinder stay all the way back against the ram leaving the cylinder fully back in the open passion. Try leaving it about half way between fully open and fully closed. It may just have a wear spot on the ram rod that is causing it to leak.
Kinda like having a nail in a tire and it doesn't loos any air till you park it just right where the nail lets air to leak. I would try that before spending any money.
Also if you feel the cylinder is bad, check with a hydrophilic shop and see what they will charge to rebuild or replace the seal. They may have a cylinder that's been laying around that hasn't sold for a long and may cut you a deal.

 

[rarefish383]

Yep, that's what I always did, put it all the way in. I always did move the lever back and forth so it wouldn't be stuck in one position. Like you said, I think it wore a spot on the cylinder, by having it in the same spot all the time. leaving it part way out it hasn't leaked a drop. It's still function fine. If anything I'll get one of the cheap $211 cylinders in case it goes. That will last me the rest of my life.

 

[JeffHK454]

I think I posted it here. My Huskee was leaking hydraulic oil from around the seal on the ram. It didn't seam to leak at all while using it, but when I let it sit the whole trough of the beam would be full of oil, like it was still under pressure after I shut it down. I went to TSC and they actually put me on the phone with their parts source. The guy said the piston didn't have a seal, and he could sell me a new one for $211. I gave him the part number for the kit and he still couldn't find it. My small engine shop gave me the number of the pro hydraulic shop they use, He said they charge$125 an hour and it would take about 2 1/2 hours plus parts. But, he also said if I could get the cheap TSC piston for $211 do that. Then he said if it was his he would just keep adding oil till it failed. So, that's what I've been doing. Every time I finish splitting, I retract the ram all the way. That's when it seems to leak, while sitting. I used it last week and when I was done, I left the ram out about 6"s. Put it up on my driveway where I would notice it, and check it daily. Leaving the ram out a few inches, it hasn't leaked a drop. Maybe it's worn a little on the end, I don't know? I'll just store it with the ram out.

The piston most assuredly has a seal but it’s not why it’s leaking fluid, it has a worn rod seal in the gland. Splitters use pretty low end cylinders that have no rod support built into the gland so when it’s laying horizontally the weight of the ram is completely on the gland seals/wiper ... the more ram you leave hanging out the more likely you are to see some oil getting past.

 

[rarefish383]

That makes sense about the weight just setting down on the gland. But, it only leaks when it's all the way retracted. Maybe it wore a spot there. With it out about 6"s it hasn't leaked a drop. I think it's just about ten years old now.

 

[JeffHK454]

Any length-wise scratch's through the chrome on the bottom side of the ram? Might try pulling the wedge pin and rolling the rod 180°.

 

[sb47]

Yep, that's what I always did, put it all the way in. I always did move the lever back and forth so it wouldn't be stuck in one position. Like you said, I think it wore a spot on the cylinder, by having it in the same spot all the time. leaving it part way out it hasn't leaked a drop. It's still function fine. If anything I'll get one of the cheap $211 cylinders in case it goes. That will last me the rest of my life.

What brought that thought to mind is I operated a Big John tree spade for 30 years. And no mater if it was loaded with a tree or plug of dirt or even empty all 12 cylinders were ether all the way in or all the way out, so they were always in the same spot all the time unless you were operating the machine. Most of these cylinders got dirt and grit on the rod as they were being used, some more then others. The outrigger cylinders always seemed to be the only ones that would get leaks in them because during transport they were always all the way up. It took very little leakage for them to start to drop and start sticking out making the truck to wide. They would get a wear spot on the rod from staying in the same place all the time. They didn't have to leak very little for them to start sticking out making the truck wider and I can't tell you how many times I had to stop and jump out and lift them back up so the stabilizers wouldn't be sticking out in the lane making the truck to wide to safely drive down the road and worrying that someone would hit one because it was sticking out past the legal width of the truck.
Sometimes they would leak so much that when I parked the truck at the end of the day, by morning, the outrigger would have leaked all the way down and was sitting on the ground.
It was always because they were always fully up during transport or while parked. I had to replace them many times just for that reason. The same thing would happen to the 2 cylinders that opened the gate on the spades when I opened them up to back around a tree then close the spades and lock them in place. Because they stayed in the same place all the time they would get a wear spot in the rod and would start leaking.They had to stay locked so the spades would stay closed. IF they started leaking, the spades would come unlocked and open up while I was driving down the road.
I always leave my splitter ram in different spots when I shut it off to keep it from wearing a groove in the rod.
I'm sure there are lots of hydraulic equipment that suffer from the same thing. It will wear the chrome out in that spot especially if it gets wet and causes rust to form in that spot.

 

[MechanicMatt]

My splitter leaks a bit...... I figure it’s lubricant for the I beam and rust coating it. I use ATF for hydraulic fluid (get it for free from work) so I don’t sweat the seep too bad.

 

[sb47]

My splitter leaks a bit...... I figure it’s lubricant for the I beam and rust coating it. I use ATF for hydraulic fluid (get it for free from work) so I don’t sweat the seep too bad.

Rocks are hard, water is soft, but let water run over a rock long enough, the water will wear down the rock.

 

[MechanicMatt]

Rocks are hard, water is soft, but let water run over a rock long enough, the water will wear down the rock.

have you seen my splitter? I got it for $300 5 years ago. It doesn’t owe me a dime. Have split a ton of wood with it. Maybe one day the wife will let me get a nice new Timber Wolf with a 6 way........

 

[sb47]

have you seen my splitter? I got it for $300 5 years ago. It doesn’t owe me a dime. Have split a ton of wood with it. Maybe one day the wife will let me get a nice new Timber Wolf with a 6 way........

No but my first splitter was a 22 ton Husky I got from TS so I'm sure I have an idea what it is. I split hundreds of cords of wood with mine. I sold it 3 years ago and bough a new Countyline 40 ton from TS about 3 years ago and it's hands down way better then the Husky was. I still have to split one piece at a time but it's built way better then the Husky was.
This is the one I have now.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/countyline-40-ton-log-splitter?cm_vc=-10005
It will split wood my 22 ton wouldn't even dream of.
I like the 9.5 cycle times and the 10'' wedge helps keep me form having to flip a piece over and re split the stringy stuff the husky wouldn't do. The wedge design is also better to. It's thinner blade keeps the tuff pieces form exploding apart like the thicker husky wedge did. I'm glad I up graded. It's not a production splitter but I like it much better then the husky.

 

[sb47]

I gotta run out to a friends place to take him some wood. We can pick this up later.

 

[sb47]

Sorry I had to duck out. One of my old racing friends has been battling cancer for the past 4 years, he just got out of the hospital with pneumonia and he was out of fire wood and called me last min to bring him out some dry wood to take the chill out of the air when he got home. So I loaded up a truck load and ran it out to his house and even carried it up stairs and stacked it for him. I made him light his own fire though.

 

[Blackbruin]

I had the same issue albeit 8 years after I bought it. Had it rebuilt, they used upgraded double lip seals, cost was $278....so my opinion would be go with the "better" quality or else it's probably gonna happen again.....

 

[TheLazyBFarm]

I had the same issue albeit 8 years after I bought it. Had it rebuilt, they used upgraded double lip seals, cost was $278....so my opinion would be go with the "better" quality or else it's probably gonna happen again.....

Dang. Mine is now starting to leak after +8 years of hard use. The cost of new cylinder is $289: https://omni-mfg.com/Speeco-S390118BC-4-x-24-Log-Splitter-Cylinder-P4216598.aspx

OEM is 4x24"; 4.5x24 = $299; 5x24"= $319; if I have to buy a new cylinder, might as well upgrade.

How hard would it be to fix in yourself? Where do you get parts?

 

[sb47]

I had the same issue albeit 8 years after I bought it. Had it rebuilt, they used upgraded double lip seals, cost was $278....so my opinion would be go with the "better" quality or else it's probably gonna happen again.....

 

[sb47]

Repairing a leaky cylinder can be an easy task or a hard one depending on how the cylinder is built. Some of the end caps are welded on and some are not. The challenge would be pulling the rod out to replace the seals and pushing it back together. Then if it's welded then you will have to re weld the cap back on. If the chrome on the rod is damaged then you will have to fix that or replace the rod. It will cost more to have it done or to replace it so it may be one of those things that unless your tooled up for it it would be best to have it done. Mechanically they are a very simple part but it's the tooling you may need to do the job that may set you back. The good news is they are a very common size and finding a replacement should be easy.

 

[TheLazyBFarm]

I ended up getting mine fixed by a local guy. $130 and about a week or so. Good as new!

 

[artbaldoni]

Mine just started leaking last weekend. $45 for a kit. Hopefully it shows up so I can rebuild it this weekend. I'll report back.

 

[artbaldoni]

Rebuilt the cylinder on Saturday. Pretty simple ordeal. The hardest part was getting the piston out of the cylinder after removing the retaining ring. About a 2 hour job start to finish and a $50 seal kit and it works great.