My log splitter build

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93green12v

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I want to start off by saying it's all your fault. All you guys on here building some very nice works of art. So I decided I was bored and need a new project. Found a project splitter on CL that had the major stuff that just wasn't put together well. Picture is t great but that's what I started with.
 

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More pics
 

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More pics. I'm at a point on my tank and need some ideas. I was trying to split the tank in half with a baffle to make the oil travel as far as possible but I don't think I want the return on the side of the tank closest to the engine where the suction line will go.
 

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More pics. I'm at a point on my tank and need some ideas. I was trying to split the tank in half with a baffle to make to oil travel as far as possible but I don't think I want the return on the side of the tank closest to the engine where the suction line will go.
Put 2 baffles in, not just 1.
 
Going to use some 3/4" plate and attach on the underside of the I beam and drill thru the flat stock that over hangs and attach with bolts. Saw it done on here and can't remember the person that made one this way. I haven't gotten that far yet anyway.
 
How long should the baffles be? The tank is 36"L x 16"T x 12"W.
 
Your pump appears to be 22gpm or larger which will give fast cycle times with the 3 1/2" bore cylinder. But the 4-way wedge design might be more than that cylinder will be able to handle.
 
The nice part is the wedge is off a Timberwolf TW-6 that my friend owns. So we will see if it has enough grunt and if it handles the 4 way I'll grab the 6 way and see what happens. I'm not out anything if it doesn't. I see most of the builds everyone has a wing in the back of the wedge. Is this a preference or proven to be a better design with smaller cylinder?

When I bought it the guy said it was a 22 gpm pump and also said the engine was an 18hp Wisconsin but further research on the engine found it to be a 14 hp TFD Wisconsin. So I'm hoping he was at least right with the pump.

Anyone who is a Wisconsin fan want to confirm my findings?
 
Going to use some 3/4" plate and attach on the underside of the I beam and drill thru the flat stock that over hangs and attach with bolts. Saw it done on here and can't remember the person that made one this way. I haven't gotten that far yet anyway.
Looks like you're going to have a real HD machine there. I'm sure you've put a lot of thought into it but why not use angle iron instead of 3/4 plate to hold the ram down? I would be concerned with the ram lifting and bending the overhanging areas. Angle iron would give before the over hanging plate and would be easier to replace. Are you also going to anchor the front of the cylinder so it doesn't rise? Looking forward to seeing more progress on this!
 
Looks like you're going to have a real HD machine there. I'm sure you've put a lot of thought into it but why not use angle iron instead of 3/4 plate to hold the ram down? I would be concerned with the ram lifting and bending the overhanging areas. Angle iron would give before the over hanging plate and would be easier to replace. Are you also going to anchor the front of the cylinder so it doesn't rise? Looking forward to seeing more progress on this!
To be honest never thought of angle. Only reason I was going to use the 3/4" plate was because I had it, would be plenty thick enough to thread it and figured that it may work. What wall thickness would you recommend for the angle 1/4" or something heavier?
 
I was basing my design off this pusher.
 

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Pic of the push plate
 

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Should I run the baffles parallel with the tank or perpendicular? I'm guessing perpendicular. Thoughts on running return line thru the top or into the side?
Perpendicular!!! I run my return line through the top of my tank. It goes through a diffuser and doesn't just dump into the top of the tank. There's some piping involved so you don't induce air into the oil.
 
Looks like you're going to have a real HD machine there. I'm sure you've put a lot of thought into it but why not use angle iron instead of 3/4 plate to hold the ram down? I would be concerned with the ram lifting and bending the overhanging areas. Angle iron would give before the over hanging plate and would be easier to replace. Are you also going to anchor the front of the cylinder so it doesn't rise? Looking forward to seeing more progress on this!
That's a bad idea. Most rams have the top piece, a spacer and a wider piece on the bottom, all bolted down. Some use a few grade 8 bolts, others use 5+ soft bolts, that way if something does bind and keeps pushing, you will shear the bolts and not damage anything. It's a lot easier to replace bolts then to replace angle iron.

Here's an early pic of mine.

2015-05-04 (2).jpg

might be tough to see, but well there's 5 bolts.......one is out. But you can see the top piece, spacer and the bottom piece that keeps it from moving up an such. All bolts are soft bolts, found any any hardware store.
 
Looks good. The pusher design is different than what most use. I didn't bother with a diffuser but I did dump the oil in at the bottom. I think I have enough storage that circulating it won't be an issue. I don't work that hard or fast. My Speeco gets too hot to touch but I'm trying to wreck it. 36" cylinder for scale. Ports are in 1st pic on left side of tank. Tank is about 14"x14"x 36" long.
IMG_20151031_163945.jpg IMG_20151030_190548.jpg
 
Having the return in the bottom is fine, as long as it doesn't shoot under the baffles. Then it won't let the oil have a slow draw and not let the hot oil go to the top. Hard to explain, but you want to make sure all the oil is being circulated. I had a splitter built by a guy that makes a lot of "commercial splitters" but his tank designed sucked and I had oil temps all over the place. In the corners of my tank, where the temp gauge was mounted, was 20 degrees difference. I had an oil cooler with a 140 degree temp switch, how I found out the difference (it turned on and the temp gauge read 160). You don't have to work hard or fast. When you aren't doing anything, oil is still circulating through the system. My new splitter, that's how I raise the temp, just let it run. I have a 28gpm pump and the first valve is a 30gpm valve with power beyond to a dual spool, 25gpm valve bank (used for the 4 way and log lift) which creates heat. I run a good oil cooler to maintain my 30+ gallon tank. In 89 degree weather, my cooler was cooling all my oil from 135 down to 126 and then shutting off till the temps raised again.

It's all in the design of the system. A million ways to do it.
 
Grimmy did you buy a diffuser or make one? How far does it go into your tank?

I was planning on making the baffles solid except for clipping the corner that way the oil has to travel around versus going thru or under the baffle.

As far as the push plate goes I plan on bolting it together. When I get a chance to cut the steel I'll pull it off and take some pics to show exactly what I plan on doing. I have a cheap splitter from a store that has the spacers and what not and its all wore out and constantly shears bolts. So I'm trying to stay away from that issue down the road but we'll see what happens.
 
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