hydraulic log splitter issue

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
The brute that i have is much older than whats on their site I called Built -rite who used to make the brute and spoke to one of the owners. He was very nice but does not have any data or specs from that far back. He is attempting to do some research and said he will get back to me. That being said Im not sure if there was an autocycle valve on it originally. idk
 
Unless you clean out all the hoses, both ends of all cylinders and the tank you're going to see it for a long time. That stuff sticks to the walls real good. A heated garage is best to use to loosen that crap. Been there with the transmission on my tractor. You have to heat the oil real good to get the water to separate, if it ever will. If it separates it will settle to the lowest point. Tip the splitter to the front and pull the suction line off the tank.
 
Unless you clean out all the hoses, both ends of all cylinders and the tank you're going to see it for a long time. That stuff sticks to the walls real good. A heated garage is best to use to loosen that crap. Been there with the transmission on my tractor. You have to heat the oil real good to get the water to separate, if it ever will. If it separates it will settle to the lowest point. Tip the splitter to the front and pull the suction line off the tank.
well thats a big suckerooo. thank you for the help
 
Sounds to me like you better find the relief valves and get them set right. I run a similar set up on my splitter. Just with a single instead of a double spool for the lifts then through the power beyond port to the splitter ram. Both valves have pressure reliefs, both needed set right. My first valve is set to 2900psi (lift) and second (ram) is set at 2800psi. I was told I couldnt have the first valve set lower then the second valve relief pressure. My ram valve also has auto return function wich has really no affect on system pressure as it's set to kick out at 300 psi on return stroke. I was having a bit of a hard time assessing your plumbing but it should go some thing like this, pump out to lift/wedge valve, out the power beyond fitting to the ram valve. Both the ram valve and first valve should have returns hooked back up to the tank. If that's all hooked up, system max pressure will be set off first valve and ram pressure set off second valve. There shouldnt be anything wrong with your pump If it hit 4k psi and didnt blow anything up. It's a relief issue or valve issue. The muck is a separate issue and very irritating, but easy enough to deal with.
 
This is a technique I use to pull water out of fuel and hydraulic tanks.

I position the piece of equipment so that one corner of the tank is the lowest spot. For my log splitter I raise the tongue up about a foot and have one wheel on a red brick.(any color brick will suffice). I let the equipment sit like this for a day or more. Then I use a soft piece of 1/4" copper refrigeration tubing and work it so that is rest in the lowest corner of the tank. Next I siphon out about a gallon of fluid into a one gallon glass jar. The jar lets you easily see the water/fuel/hydraulic oil separation line. I let the jar sit for a day and then siphon out of it(hand holding the tubing) the good liquid in the jar leaving the water behind. It is surprising how much water ends up is tanks. Of course I use water separating fuel filters on diesel and most gas engines but these can quickly become overloaded if there is much water in a tank. It may surprise you how much water, rust and crud gets removed.

Some water will still be mixed in the oil and not be able to be removed this way but this is a good start.

I play with a few outboard motors, too, and water end up in the foot oil sometimes. I save all foot oil in glass jars and let the water separate out. I then use this oil in a motor foot that I'm not sure of just to test for a short while. I do this because on more than one occasion I've found foot oil to leak out overnight and end up on the ground. It's a shame to waste new foot oil in this way. The leaker that started this process was a 1976 135hp Johnson that leaked out all of it's new foot oil overnight leaving a puddle on the cement. Wasted dollars. I don't pressure test motor feet but I should. That is what the pros do. Am I rambling?
 
Here's a pic of my set up, I took the gauge out after I had the pressure's set, as I use it for testing other systems, but you should be able to see how its plumbed fairly easy. And full stop on letting the pressure get that high, your going to make something explode.
 

Attachments

  • 20210122_152230.jpg
    20210122_152230.jpg
    2.4 MB · Views: 14
Sean Thanks for the pic I did have the first valve pressure set at almost 3000 and the next one set just under it and it was still acting that way. To air on the side of caution and to sleep easy at night ordered new auto cycle valve should be here this week Thanks for the help Keep you posted
 
Back
Top