Lickity Splitter - 16ABS19 - O-RINGS

[stevek123]

Hi Folks,
I inherited this old splitter from a relative that had it stored in a shed forever (probably 25+ years). It's very small, can only split wood 20" long or less. It has a 5hp Briggs.

Hydraulic oil (?) or motor oil (?) started shooting out of the rear of the cylinder.

I disassembled cylinder and could see a cut in the rear o-ring. I've never replaced o-rings before and am a little confused about the sizing. Using calipers, i measured 3.5" for both the rear and ram diameters.

Searching this Forum, i see references to o-rings 425 and 329 for other Lickity Splitters, what do those numbers mean? Vendor part numbers? What Vendor? What size are they? I don't know how to specify replacement o-rings. Exact size, over size... not sure?

I appreciate any help you folks could offer. Thanks.

 

[kevin j]

Those may be uniform numbers. Go to a seal and bearing supply house and they will have them. there was an American Standard AS568 established after World War II for standard o rings sizes. cross-section dimension and diameters. they are called ‘Dash numbers’ and a size will be a AS568-220 for instance. (just picking a number). there are of course custom o rings but probably 95% of those used in the world are based off of the AS 568 or the metric standard. the only thing else you need to know is the material which most likely will be nitrile. and the hardness which could be N7o or N90 durometer.

you can Google the Parker o-ring handbook and get groove dimensions so you can work backwards by measuring the piston you have to determine what size O ring

 

[woodsplitta]

I purchased o-rings for my lickity from MSC and have leftovers as they had a min quantity to order. Let me know if you would like a few and I dig them out and verify the size. My machine is the two speed model not sure if rings are the same although 425 rings a bell.

 

[rancher2]

I would find you local hyd cylinder rebuild shop and take the parts there and have them measure it for you and get the o rings from them. They are probably very standard sizes that you need.

 

[stevek123]

Thank you all for you're replies... i did a google for Hydraulic Repair and came up with a shop about 20 miles away. Appears to be a small garage operation. Can't get there until Saturday.

 

[stevek123]

I gently tried to remove the o-ring off the Ram but it broke (brittle), it could have been the original (35+ yrs old). The o-ring popped right off the Rear Cap.
i finally managed to get over to the Repair Shop this morning. The guy was a grouch... maybe cuz the small shop was packed with people at 8:30 A.M.
I asked for o-rings for a log splitter cylinder, he growled that they are Piston Seals. After grumbling and searching through his bins, he found what appear to be the correct sizes.
My question is: does anyone hone the cylinder before reassembling? Do you just use hydraulic fluid/lube to reinstall the Ram?

 

[rancher2]

I have hone cylinders before but the hones I have won't reach to the end of the cylinder so if I rebuild them myself I just use hyd oil on the o'rings and or seals and put it back together. If I think it needs honed I take it to a hyd shop and have them hone it and rebuild it. I would just try the new o'rings you bought.

 

[Bob95065]

What model splitter do you have? Please post pictures if you don't know.

Lowell Webb of Webbs Farm Supply in Soquel, CA bought out all the parts when Lickety went out if business. He has done IPLs on his web site: http://webbs-farmsupplies.com/Lickity1.htm. He has many parts but they are hard to come by and he knows it. Prepare to pay a premium if you order from him.

I have an EK308 splitter I got for free as a basket case. I replaced all the o rings including the cylinder rings. I bought them from this place: http://www.oringsusa.com/. They were #425 from the IPL. EK348 and EK528 use the same rings. In looking at the IPLs ABS225 splitters had a 5HP Briggs engine and they used a 337 ring. That may be your splitter.
let me know if you need anything else. I hope this helps.

Bob

 

[Jwent727]

My Lickety Splitter 348 started bleeding oil from under the cylinder while splitting wood today. Made a mess but ran fine. Trying to determine if it's a broken line or an "O" ring gone bad. Never have tried to remove cylinder, a bit nervous. Any suggestions on removal of cylinder appreciated. john

 

[Bob95065]

I tied ropes on the springs at the wedge end of the splitter. The ropes allowed me to pull the springs and remove the retaining pins. Once they were out I took the cable off the ram and pulled the ram out of the cylinder. Don't forget to replace the o ring in the cap at the end.

 

[Jwent727]

Bob, appreciate you're response. Great idea to use rope to release those springs.

I will probably try to finish splitting and then move splitter into shop this Fall,to see what I can do. John

 

[Jwent727]

Well, I finally replaced the two "O" rings in the front of the ram of the old Lickity Splitter and that stopped all the oil leaking issues. However, as I was testing the splitter today, I split a few chunks of wood and noticed I am not getting any oil along the guide shoes, like it did before I replaced "O" rings. Any thoughts?
john

 

[Bob95065]

You stopped the leak so there's no oil for the guide. I keep a can of bar oil handy to lubecthe beam.

 

[Jwent727]

You stopped the leak so there's no oil for the guide. I keep a can of bar oil handy to lubecthe beam.

 

[Jwent727]

Good idea., Bob!
I was under the impression that unit was self oiling. I have an old oil can somewhere in my shop. Not something I use since PB Blaster.

 

[rarefish383]

Some splitters specify to not oil the beam, it attracts grit and turns the ram into a big grinding stone.

 

[Bob95065]

The manual said the beam was self oiling. I read between the lines: the o ring leaked. I think I put a better o ring in than OEM and fixed the leak.

What condition are your shoe and guides in? Mine were worn out and were crazy expensive. I'm using a set I made out of nylon that are working great.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Some splitters specify to not oil the beam, it attracts grit and turns the ram into a big grinding stone.

I've wondered about that.

 

[Jwent727]

The manual said the beam was self oiling. I read between the lines: the o ring leaked. I think I put a better o ring in than OEM and fixed the leak.

What condition are your shoe and guides in? Mine were worn out and were crazy expensive. I'm using a set I made out of nylon that are working great.

My shoe guides are brass and in very good condition. I am having occasional hi/low shifting issues, but,usually push the plunger in manually and splitter does great.

Also, the hook on the ram that brings my wheels up, if I have beam on the ground, finally wore out and broke off, so I need to have a new hook welded back on.

 

[rarefish383]

Nice to hear you are keeping the old rig going. I started restoring mine. I had the engine off and made a 2" thick base out of spalted White Birch. Someone saw it, and after I explained how it worked, he was so intrigued by the technology, he made me an offer.