Well, I should be buying a lottery ticket. Spare pump had a different sized shaft so I decided to really make sure the original pump was the problem. Started replumbing to isolate different parts of the system. I have 2 filters on the oil lines, 1 is all new and 1 was used, guess what the used one has some issues. I removed it and put the hose to the pump in a pail of hydraulic fluid. Started the engine and before I could even get to the valve to try it the pail was empty. Shut her down quick and hooked the lines back up without the used filter. Everything worked smooth and fast. Took it outside and within an hour, wife, son and I had 8 crates full of poplar wood split stacked in crates and put away. The thing works awesome and I'm sure glad I restarted and did the 4 way wedge. I'll be doing up the rest of the poplar next weekend and then start on the ash. This thing sure cranks out the wood, even tried out double splitting 16" stuff and it works fast at that too. 36" stroke so I put 2 16' long pieces end to end and split them with the 4 way.
I still have to do the splitting tables but now that the thing is working so well I've decided to change the tables from what I had already planned. Lets just say it involves 5 roller conveyors that I bought for a project a few years ago.
