Bearing's Splitter Build

[bearings]

I wanted to share my splitter build with everyone on this site. I have been working on this for a while and hope to have it running very soon.

The specs are a 10.5 Briggs, 16 gal/min pump, 4in cylinder with a 30in stroke. The hydraulic tank is 12 gal max and the beam size is 8x8x1=1/2. I used a LS3000 prince valve. I liked the design of the Timberwolf designs TW-5 and the TW-2HD. I dont have that kind of money to use on a splitter so i picked up some parts and build this on my own. I will have less than $900 into the total build. Here are some pics.

 

[bearings]

More Pics

 

[bearings]

more pics

 

[howellhandmade]

Looks great. I like how you boxed in the ends of the beam, very tidy.

Jack

 

[Circle B MN]

Looks pretty sharp der eh..

 

[nparch726]

Looking pretty good so far, a nice bright paint job sure sets off a nice looking product!

Never quite seen a wedge built like that, kinda looks like you've got a couple pieces sandwiched together to make one solid wedge, kinda different design.

Looking forward to hearing how it works!

 

[bearings]

Yes the wedge was made with some bucket wear edge that our steel supplier had suggested. I wanted it to be a little thicker so i added some spacers or shims. Its should work good as everything is welded and v ground. Still waiting on some of this paint to dry. It could take weeks. LOL

 

[iowa]

Looks great there!!! The first pics of the cylinder mount... The 90 deg angle plates you have welded to it could be eliminated. They really serve no structural strength. Just my .02 though...

Keep up the pics.. Video?

 

[davec]

Very nice! The lateral braces are probably not needed, but I wouldn't argue much as they will eliminate any issues with torquing the cylinder mount during an odd loading of the cylinder/ram...

You in the Twin Citieis area? Have some rep!

-Dave

 

[Steve NW WI]

More rep! (Enjoy your first nova - the big yellow star under your name)

What did you cut the plate steel with? Hard to tell in the pics, but I'm guessing water jet? I have a 4400W laser at work, but on 1/2" and up the surface isn't as smooth as it looks in your pics.

I like the laminated wedge idea. One thing you might want to add before long is some traction to your push plate. Lots of guys here use bolts with a bit of a point ground of them to keep wood from sliding off sideways if it's not cut straight.

If you split a lot of elm or other stringy stuff, you might consider adding plates on either side of the wedge on the push plate so you can split through, instead of just to the end. lemme see if I can show what I mean:

Flat push plate (!'s are the plate, --- is the ram)
!
!----
!

Stepped push plate

!!
!----
!!

I can shoot a pic or two of my pusher, or make a good drawing if it will help.

 

[bearings]

The braces on the rear cyl. mount are not really for the side pull of the mount but i figured that i wanted a bit more surface area to hold the bracket. So that is what i came up with. I always over build things but its way better than under building them. For the cutting questions i ordered most of the plate steel to size because i don have a good way to cut the big thick plates. I did notice that they used a bandsaw for most of the big cuts. I cut some of the smaller stuff with my bandsaw that i have. Then a little grinding to make every thing look nice. I will have more pics in the next few days.

 

[Blazin]

Lookin good! Still needs a few more coats of paint though

 

[mga]

nice job, man.

looks great.

 

[Baldman]

Very nice!

 

[rogert906]

nice work. I think steve has some good ideas about the push plate. stringy pieces don't always finish well, and you're gonna want something on there so they dont slip sideways. expanded metal works good as well as makeshift studs as steve suggested. (expanded metal is like heavy duty industrial screen). BURN IN THE USA!

 

[mga]

looking at the push plate again.....can i suggest bringing those angle plates you have welded on the sides up higher?

the more meat you have holding that push plate in a solid position, the better off you'll be. there's alot of force there, and not all pieces of wood are perfect shape. some will put pressure towards the top of that plate.

just my thoughts. mine isn't very high..about 6" only, but i made sure nothing will distort it:

 

[BlackOakTreeServ]

Looking good, keep up the good work!!!!

 

[HARRY BARKER]

looking at the push plate again.....can i suggest bringing those angle plates you have welded on the sides up higher?

the more meat you have holding that push plate in a solid position, the better off you'll be. there's alot of force there, and not all pieces of wood are perfect shape. some will put pressure towards the top of that plate.

just my thoughts. mine isn't very high..about 6" only, but i made sure nothing will distort it:

wow....some of you guys should take up knitting and sell your welders.

 

[mga]

wow....some of you guys should take up knitting and sell your welders.

i didn't do the welding, if your comment was to critisize it. all the welding was done by my son when he was an apprentice. it's been three years now and probably hundreds of cords of wood split on that thing and never had a problem with welds.

 

[Beefie]

Looks good so far bearing , now finish it off take some more pics and run some wood thru it. It will never look that good again. Remember worn down paint adds character.:hmm3grin2orange:

Beefie