Harbor Freight 22 ton 9hp splitter

[Wood Doctor]

I dont understand why the engine would be oversized. If you run it at half speed it wouldnt turn 3600 rpms. Just curious.

Sorry, I missed this awhile back and failed to respond. The 11 GPM pump is a bit underdesigned. A 13 GPM pump is better matched against a 6.5 HP engine, which could likely also drive a 16 GPM pump. Cylinder size is also a factor. All three have to be co-ordinated.

Note that if you have too much HP with the engine and a small cylinder, your cycle time will be too fast, and you have to slow the RPM down. On the other hand, a large cylinder slows the cycle time to a crawl, even with a 16 GPM pump.

When you eventually build or buy your splitter, study the numbers shown above. Regardless, make sure you are using a 2-stage pump that will drop down for more pressure when the going gets tough. In my neck of the woods, the going seems to get tough rather often.

 

[blades]

It was myself on rebuilding the hf unit. Becareful on how you load crotches they take a lot of pressure to crack open if loaded with the crotch to the wedge. In this design all the stress forces are captivated and transmitted into the beam, foot plate and the rear mount of the cylinder. AS HF is still using the 3 piece guides for the wedge, the center spacer easily get forced wider allowing a lot of slop in the travel. This can and will torque the beam and/or flanges. I would recommend welding the spacers to the wedge plate and use soft bolts in this area. If you are splitting very large rounds the stress to the top edge of the foot plate will either or both cause bending of the foot plate or beam. Straight grain with little or no knots should be ok just do not expect it to slice through a over-sized crotch it is not designed for that. When assembling unit check to make sure the return filter assembly is installed with flow in the correct direction , mine was installed backwards, very exciting to have the filter blown off and hydro sprayed all over. I also would recommend having the cylinder mount assembly (at the rear) rewelded. The weld penetration was worse than a first year welding student can achieve with minimal instruction. AS others have noted keep an eye on the packing nut on the cylinder some have had these come loose and then blown out stripping the threads. There is a lot of restriction in the plumbing and due to the location of the return line to the tank, which is faily high ( causes air entrainment in the oil), causes a lot of heat build up in the oil.

 

[Wood Doctor]

It was myself on rebuilding the hf unit. Becareful on how you load crotches they take a lot of pressure to crack open if loaded with the crotch to the wedge. In this design all the stress forces are captivated and transmitted into the beam, foot plate and the rear mount of the cylinder. AS HF is still using the 3 piece guides for the wedge, the center spacer easily get forced wider allowing a lot of slop in the travel. This can and will torque the beam and/or flanges. I would recommend welding the spacers to the wedge plate and use soft bolts in this area. If you are splitting very large rounds the stress to the top edge of the foot plate will either or both cause bending of the foot plate or beam. Straight grain with little or no knots should be ok just do not expect it to slice through a over-sized crotch it is not designed for that. When assembling unit check to make sure the return filter assembly is installed with flow in the correct direction, mine was installed backwards, very exciting to have the filter blown off and hydro sprayed all over. I also would recommend having the cylinder mount assembly (at the rear) rewelded. The weld penetration was worse than a first year welding student can achieve with minimal instruction. AS others have noted keep an eye on the packing nut on the cylinder some have had these come loose and then blown out stripping the threads. There is a lot of restriction in the plumbing and due to the location of the return line to the tank, which is faily high ( causes air entrainment in the oil), causes a lot of heat build up in the oil.

Harbor Freight often relies on a lot of good engineers educated and trained in the USA. That's how they keep costs down. :msp_wink:

 

[nvrs]

AW32 hydraulic oil will be fine. You will need a 5 gallon pail, might not use all of it, but it is slightly cheaper than buying five separate gallons.

View attachment 236396

So the manual states it should be running aw64 oil. Which is better? From what I gather from various google searches, aw32 is 10w and aw64 is 15w.

 

[blades]

If The manual calls for 15w use that. it gets a little chilly around here at times and the 10w allows easier starting during the cooler temps.
I have no idea who or where their engineering depart employes or location, everything now days is built to a price point/ profit margin.
I can only relate my personal findings and those of a few others that this old noggin can remember. On my unit the heat build up even in 40 deg temps was severe. You did not want to touch the cylinder as you would get burned. Heat is the enemy of hydro systems and on mine it was in excess. That said, I ran my unit for about 10 years before the rebuild splitting some 10 cord or so a year. Likely a higher use factor than eng. estimates.

Robotic welding has its place, but unless it is checked on a regular basis it will go out of spec and the quality of the weld will be in question. HF is not the only company to become victims of this. I have a very large company just down the road from myself that has a serious problem in the welding (robotic) of various sub assemblies. As yet they have not corrected it, that's ok though as it supplies me with an income repairing the failed assembles. I have contacted them about this several times, returned sectioned pieces as well as pictures to the Eng. dept. Planned obsolescence ? ( these weld fails are on brand new equipment, the sub-assembly oem replacement is a $700 item and not a warranty item most of the time )

 

[owbguy]

I can't believe you had that sitting in your driveway for almost 4 months. I would not have been able to stand that thing taunting me every time I looked at it.

 

[nvrs]

I can't believe you had that sitting in your driveway for almost 4 months. I would not have been able to stand that thing taunting me every time I looked at it.

oh it was... just had absolutely no time... thing is, i already had split all the rounds i had with a rental splitter...

 

[Wood Doctor]

oh it was... just had absolutely no time... thing is, i already had split all the rounds i had with a rental splitter...

You rented a log splitter? Good grief! :bang:

 

[nvrs]

You rented a log splitter? Good grief! :bang:

Not as bad as it sounds... Sister works for rental place... Cost her ten bucks... Gave her all the long pieces for campfire wood and she was happy. The Ryobi worked great for eucalyptus but sucks for pine and oak.

 

[Bowhunter58]

Does anyone know what name ram this is and where I can get seals for? I called harbor freight and they don't make it anymore and don't know anything about the machine . Unreal!

 

[blades]

it is a chi-com mfg cylinder from somewhere in that portion of the world, either need to pull it apart and take the seals and wipers to a hyd. cylinder repair shop or take the whole cylinder in. some shops will not work on chi- com mfg cylinders.

 

[Bowhunter58]

it is a chi-com mfg cylinder from somewhere in that portion of the world, either need to pull it apart and take the seals and wipers to a hyd. cylinder repair shop or take the whole cylinder in. some shops will not work on chi- com mfg cylinders.

Thanks for the response that's what I'm being told that they don't want to work on them !

 

[kevin j]

Take it apart and see what dimensions are. Might be inch sized, but probably metric.

Some cheap cyinders don’t even use piston seals they just have backup washers and orings. cost reduction.

Shops don’t want to mess with them for the same reasons saw shops don’t want to work on an ‘it don’t run’ chinese saw:
because they will get money in parts and labor, find out and tell you that the ID finish or construction is crappy, spend a lot of time finding parts to fit (that they can’t put on the daily order to the Parker rep), then customer is shocked at the diagnostic charge if they don’t fix it, or the repair charge if they do fix it, and really mad when it fails in 4 months due to bad finishes, or due to a totally unrelated failure.

+ = make a few dollars possibly
- = way too many possible downsides for this equation.
= shop doesn’t want to get into that quagmire

 

[Bowhunter58]

Take it apart and see what dimensions are. Might be inch sized, but probably metric.

Some cheap cyinders don’t even use piston seals they just have backup washers and orings. cost reduction.

Shops don’t want to mess with them for the same reasons saw shops don’t want to work on an ‘it don’t run’ chinese saw:
because they will get money in parts and labor, find out and tell you that the ID finish or construction is crappy, spend a lot of time finding parts to fit (that they can’t put on the daily order to the Parker rep), then customer is shocked at the diagnostic charge if they don’t fix it, or the repair charge if they do fix it, and really mad when it fails in 4 months due to bad finishes, or due to a totally unrelated failure.

+ = make a few dollars possibly
- = way too many possible downsides for this equation.
= shop doesn’t want to get into that quagmire

Ok thanks appreciate the response!

 

[Streblerm]

I bet you could buy a whole new cylinder cheaper than having it rebuilt. Unfortunately that is the world we live in. Any time I have taken a cylinder to a shop for repair that has been the case. Unless it is a really specialized cylinder it probably isn’t worth rebuilding. Usually log splitter cylinders are pretty standard.

 

[Bowhunter58]

I bet you could buy a whole new cylinder cheaper than having it rebuilt. Unfortunately that is the world we live in. Any time I have taken a cylinder to a shop for repair that has been the case. Unless it is a really specialized cylinder it probably isn’t worth rebuilding. Usually log splitter cylinders are pretty standard.

I bet you could buy a whole new cylinder cheaper than having it rebuilt. Unfortunately that is the world we live

I bet you could buy a whole new cylinder cheaper than having it rebuilt. Unfortunately that is the world we live in. Any time I have taken a cylinder to a shop for repair that has been the case. Unless it is a really specialized cylinder it probably isn’t worth rebuilding. Usually log splitter cylinders are pretty standard.

in. Any time I have taken a cylinder to a shop for repair that has been the case. Unless it is a really specialized cylinder it probably isn’t worth rebuilding. Usually log splitter cylinders are pretty standard.

I bet you could buy a whole new cylinder cheaper than having it rebuilt. Unfortunately that is the world we live in. Any time I have taken a cylinder to a shop for repair that has been the case. Unless it is a really specialized cylinder it probably isn’t worth rebuilding. Usually log splitter cylinders are pretty standard.

thanks your right I can get this cylinder on line for $240 delivered not worth rebuilding it!

 

[Polish hammer]

I just rebuilt my cylinder for $40 worth of o rings or seals really isn’t that hard at all.. I was nervous to do it but was in same boat if your going to just junk it why not try it’s pretty easy just keep it clean of dirt when putting back together