16 ton log splitter question

[4x4American]

Shouldn't a 16 ton log splitter be able to split a 6" diameter piece of hard maple? I got an old northern tools 16 ton log splitter used off craigslist to help me split some hard maple i have ranging from real small stuff to 37"+ diameter. now i wasnt expecting it to split the real big stuff, but i was hoping it'd be able to split the medium sized stuff that takes a real long time and a lot of effort to split with a go devil. i got it, didnt work too good on my hard maple so i brought it to a shop with a piece of the hard maple, asked them to fix it, they called a week later said it was good i brought it back, they made it worse than it was when i brought it to them, now the thing wouldnt rev up it could only idle, try to rev it up, it'll cough and die. now i was angry cause they charged me $140 to fix it. i brought it back the next day when they reopened and told them the problem, they said they'd take a look. i called and checked in on it once a week, getting the feeling they had it on the back burner and didnt really care, 7 weeks later i called them asking what was going on, the guy said oh yea its ready. i was annoyed he hadnt called when it was done, he said they had been in a state of emergency from sandy and didnt have time, but anyway i went and got it, and first thing i did was check it'd split a piece of the hard maple, it did. next day after work i went right to it fired her up let her warm up for awhile, cycled the ram a bit then slapped on the first piece..when the ram gets up to the wood it just kinda bogs down the engine a bit and then does nothing....did this alot, tried some small black birch and it powered right through it, no surprise there, my grandma could split black birch with a maul..i tried some tulip and it split that just fine, it split some 16" ash too.

so anyways, is it just that the hard maple is too hard for any 16 ton log splitter, or is it because my splitter still has some problems?
thanks for any responses- doug

heres a picture of the small hard maple it couldnt split View attachment 263897

 

[computeruser]

Your splitter is broken. And your repair shop is either lying, cheating you, stupid, or more than likely all three. Find a different shop.

These things are simple to fix - if your engine doesn't work right, fix that. If the pump doesn't appear to work right, or if it is the wrong pump that was swapped on by someone in the past, it should be an easy fix. Putting a pressure gauge in line might help diagnose and determine if you have pump, cylinder, or valve problems.

In any case, that splitter should be able to split anything that you can lift on to the beam yourself, and a lot of stuff that will take two guys or a loader to get up there.

 

[4x4American]

Your splitter is broken. And your repair shop is either lying, cheating you, stupid, or more than likely all three. Find a different shop.

These things are simple to fix - if your engine doesn't work right, fix that. If the pump doesn't appear to work right, or if it is the wrong pump that was swapped on by someone in the past, it should be an easy fix. Putting a pressure gauge in line might help diagnose and determine if you have pump, cylinder, or valve problems.

In any case, that splitter should be able to split anything that you can lift on to the beam yourself, and a lot of stuff that will take two guys or a loader to get up there.

oh cool cause i got some stuff that im not sure even two guys could lift onto it. i have a feeling that the pump needs to be rebuilt. the engine needed a carb cleaning, it runs pretty decent now after that, the shop told me that the valve was bad. and trust me i done swore on the bible i aint never goin to that shop ever again.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Like computer user said, a pressure gauge would narrow it down a lot. You say the motor bogs down when it comes to a hault? Does it kill the motor or just slow down? Reason being if it comes close to killing it you may be working on one stage of the pump only. It can do the easy stuff on the stage but when it hits the harder things it can't.

On new valves you sometimes have to adjust it so the pressure relief will allow the pump to shift into low. Doubt that on this as it is used. Worn/blown cylinder would not bog the motor. Same with worn out pump, it would just stall on the splitting piece with no bog down of the motor.

I'd get the motor working correctly and go from there. How many HP do the have on it?

 

[Fred Wright]

Computeruser is right on the money. A properly working 16-T splitter with a sharp wedge will part pretty much anything you can set on it. With 16" to 18" firewood rounds, it should either split it or cut through it.

 

[4x4American]

I am going to try and find someone who has a video camera to take a video of what it does to help give a better understanding of it. the guy at that shop tinkered with the governor the first time i gave it to them, and it made it so that when the ram got to the wood, the engine would stall.

edit: it's a northern hydraulics not northern tools....not sure if they have any relation but i did get parts for it from northern tools

 

[4x4American]

Like computer user said, a pressure gauge would narrow it down a lot. You say the motor bogs down when it comes to a hault? Does it kill the motor or just slow down? Reason being if it comes close to killing it you may be working on one stage of the pump only. It can do the easy stuff on the stage but when it hits the harder things it can't.

On new valves you sometimes have to adjust it so the pressure relief will allow the pump to shift into low. Doubt that on this as it is used. Worn/blown cylinder would not bog the motor. Same with worn out pump, it would just stall on the splitting piece with no bog down of the motor.

I'd get the motor working correctly and go from there. How many HP do the have on it?

i'll have to get a psi gauge, im sure my boss has one, i did psi testing with a flowmeter when i went to school so i have a basic understanding of it. i dont think it has one of them there fancy new two stage valves, it only has 4 hoses i believe hooked up to the valve. this whole setup is pretty old lookin. do you mean motor as in hydraulic motor or engine? the engine just bogs down a little bit nowadays after i got it back the second time, it moves fairly slow though so i dont think its stuck in the fast position.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

i'll have to get a psi gauge, im sure my boss has one, i did psi testing with a flowmeter when i went to school so i have a basic understanding of it. i dont think it has one of them there fancy new two stage valves, it only has 4 hoses i believe hooked up to the valve. this whole setup is pretty old lookin. do you mean motor as in hydraulic motor or engine? the engine just bogs down a little bit nowadays after i got it back the second time, it moves fairly slow though so i dont think its stuck in the fast position.

I was referring to the pump being a two stage pump. Most everyone uses them as you can cut the needed HP to run it in half. In a new set up situation, sometimes you have to adjust the pressure relief to ALLOW the pump to kick down into the second stage. This is how you adjust the pressure at which you run your cylinder at. If your gasoline motor still runs at a decent speed it probably IS kicking down the hydraulic pump into the second stage. If the gasoline motor dies when put into a tougher log, that is a good sign that you are only in the first stage of the hydraulic pump.

I thought you were saying the gasoline motor was stalling/dying. At this rate it could be a bad cylinder, valve or.....

Again, get the motor running good and test with a gauge. That will narrow it down for you.

 

[4x4American]

I was referring to the pump being a two stage pump. Most everyone uses them as you can cut the needed HP to run it in half. In a new set up situation, sometimes you have to adjust the pressure relief to ALLOW the pump to kick down into the second stage. This is how you adjust the pressure at which you run your cylinder at. If your gasoline motor still runs at a decent speed it probably IS kicking down the hydraulic pump into the second stage. If the gasoline motor dies when put into a tougher log, that is a good sign that you are only in the first stage of the hydraulic pump.

I thought you were saying the gasoline motor was stalling/dying. At this rate it could be a bad cylinder, valve or.....

Again, get the motor running good and test with a gauge. That will narrow it down for you.

thank you, will proberly get at her tomorrow after i put on an airdog raptor lift pump i've been meaning to install for the past few weeks on my pickemup truck