Anybody use a 30" cylinder for your splitter?

[nparch726]

I'm still doing quite a bit of thinking and planning on my next splitter build. I was just curious if anyone uses a 30" stroke cylinder on their splitter? My current splitter has a 24" and has always done just about everything I've wanted it to do, but I'm heating with the OWB now and thougt it might be handier to go with a 30" on my next one since the OWB will take the longer logs. I found a pretty good deal on new 4"x30" cylinders and was thinking about grabbing one, but thought I'd throw the idea out here first and see what you guys think.

 

[WadePatton]

longer is more leverage from the design standpoint. iow the longer span may flex more than the same metal cut shorter. address that if it's an issue.

otherwise, why not? a bit more oil in the tank too. and i have seen adjustable splitters. "foot" being a movable piece with blade on ram design. it was a great design, but underengineered. lots of warpage/wear in the adjustment areas.

That's what i'd do with 30". set it up for full length busting and make a drop in spacer for "standard" length splitting. easy


oh--and i've not built my _own_, but was just in the shop again tonight with my neighbor who is building number 7. in less than 2 years. people keep buying 'em and messing up my "borrower" status. have used three of his, they're all -slightly- different. i have soaked up a lot of info on splitter building.

 

[sly13]

My Dad is in the process of his retirement log splitter project. He's thinking of going with 30" for his shop stove. If it keeps going I'll keep you posted.

 

[bearings]

I am building a wood splitter currently and i am going to be using a 30in cylinder. I have a wood boiler also and can burn longer pieces. There is some good and bad with a longer stroke on a log splitter. One bad thing is the wood blocks are going to weigh more and you will have to work harder lifting and moving that bigger piece around. Second is the complete cycle will take alot more time with a smaller hyd. pump. I found personally that you just cut your normal wood 18 to 20 inches you manage to carry the wood easier, stacks better. I found a good deal on a 30inch cylinder. The splitter that i have used in the past has a 28inch cylinder. So i would have to say that 24 inches is pretty common but there is alot longer stroked splitters out there. Good luck. Thats my 2 cents.

 

[cpschevy]

Just got done with my splitter about 2 weeks ago with a 4" bore x 30" stroke with a 2" rod.This thing is nice i can split 30" logs for my shop wood stove which is 42" deep. By the way i used a 10x12 H beam for the base and it works great.

 

[rx7145]

My American has a 30 inch cylinder.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=66167

 

[mga]

do you have use for 30" logs?

most fire wood is less than 24"...which is why 24" is popular.

 

[oneoldbanjo]

I have to agree on the length vs. weight issue. My splitter will handle 24" length and I only split the logs that are too heavy to lift in one piece. When I get a round that is 24" long and a 12" diameter it probably won't get split. Rounds that are 18" diameter get split in half - generally if the piece can be lifted and is not too heavy to stack or throw in the back of the OWB I stop splitting and move on. Rounds that are 24" in diameter usually get split into quarters.....wet Hickory maybe a few more pieces.

I often cut wood that is 6" or smaller into longer 36" pieces - but they never get split. When I get to the larger rounds I can't imagine trying to manhandle pieces longer than 24".

 

[hypothesis]

:agree2:

 

[WadePatton]

do you have use for 30" logs?

most fire wood is less than 24"...which is why 24" is popular.

i was cutting 27" until i got access to a splitter. then i started cutting 24"--but ir really sucks when you miss cut by 1.25 inches. so i started cutting 22" for splittable wood.

and yeah, 22" is lighter than 27"

I'd build to 26" capacity with a 24" stroke. when that last inch or two is needed-it's easy enough to jam another piece of wood in there.

as to heavy rounds. think i may build a round lifter. seems pretty simple on the timberwoof site.

anybody else build simple mechanical lifters? i'm a one-man and two dog operation.

 

[Farmall Guy]

our splitter has a 36" that came off a 100' bucket truck and I can honestly say we have never split anything that long. 24" is about the max because of the weight trying to wrestle anythin g longer up there. I will say its nice to have the extra room though, when we're splitting we leave the cyl extended out to where the next piece will fit in (saves a little cycle time) but if the next piece is a little longer its no big deal, just run the cyl back a little more

I'd build the same splitter again with the same cyl, we run it off the remotes on our 856 international so it's got 90-100 horse driving the hyd pump Never had an issue with twisting the beam although it did peal the wedge off the end once, but that didnt have anything to do with the length of the cyl, just a stuborn piece and a little to much throttle on the tractor

 

[nparch726]

I dunno, I'm still debating, I've found a 30" cylinder for the same price as a 24" cylinder and just thought I'd throw it out there for opinions. I hadn't really considered the extra weight yet, but that's a good point, none of us are getting any younger! I was kinda throwing around the idea of putting a log lift on whatever I build, but weight would still be a factor since I'd still have to roll pieces onto the log lift.

 

[bearings]

I am looking at the 30 inch cylinder on my bench and its huge. Its to late to go back so i have to look at all the positive things on a a longer cylinder stoke. I always figured that one can put a sled stop to stop the cylinder on the return stroke short of the complete return. So by using some thing like this you would and could have a 18" 20" 22 or 24 inch on the same splitter with a 30 inch stoke from the start. I dont think it would take much but its something i will look into if i feel that i want to speed up the complete cycle. Just some more to think about. You can always go smaller with a big cylinder but its hard to go bigger that the size you have. ???

 

[biggenius29]

Mine is a 32 or 34" stroke. But I put stops in it for 24"

 

[nparch726]

I like the idea of an adjustable stop of some sort, I could just make a stop with a few sets of holes at different lengths that could be easily bolted or pinned in place. Then I wouldn't be kicking myself in the butt for using too short of a cylinder!

 

[Boogieman142]

Yes, but its not done yet so no input from me. I just chose it cause my firebox will take a longer chunk.

 

[mbutts]

I built my log splitter like 15+ years ago. i went with a 5x30 cyl. Never had any problem with it. I am more for diameter of cyl than length. It give u alot more working ton to split with, but is slower unless you go with a high vol pump. I think mine is like 20 or 24 gpm 2 stage. For me 30 is overkill, but I wanted to make sure it would be big enough in case I ever decided to go with a stove that took bigger wood.

 

[Schinny]

A 30 inch splitter would be nice for cull logs.

 

[olyman]

at the time--i built mine with a bridge beam,and a 5 foot travel cyl,6 in dia-----was going to cut locusts for ex fil,and make fenceposts---THAT didnt work out.................................... so brought blade up next to ram,within 1 inch,and thats the way it is today, cyl was 50 smacks,beam was free,axles from rambler car. pump friend bought as he was going to use it, and only proceeded to break the ram piston rod!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!took the engine back to him also--as got a gene engine for near nothing--welded end of crank,and rekeyed it. should pay him for the pump one of these days--she aint beautiful--but sure works---just need to put the other electric start engine on it........................................

 

[nparch726]

I'm not so sure about the cylinder stops that go right on the cylinder rod, seems to me that would damage the rod no matter how it was set up. I was thinking of a stop that bolts directly to the beam, so when the push block comes back after splitting, the push block stops against a solid stop, and nothing ever touches the cylinder rod itself. Just an idea, I think it might work, but trial and error has proved me wrong before.