Brutus: It lives!!!

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K9-Handler

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Meet Brutus -- the answer to the question everyone has been asking me since October -- "Where have YOU been?"

OK, so it's not a saw. But it's what the wood goes through AFTER the saw!:)

I decided to build my own splitter after the neighbor's machine that I'd been borrowing proved to be frustrating and unreliable. So I started by digging around in the weeds in the back field where the corpse of an old '76 Wheel Horse was trying to quietly return to the earth. After ripping out the engine and instrument console it took about six weeks to tear the engine down and restore it, including replacing the head that had become one with the spark plug. The lower fan shroud had rusted to nothing.

Then it was trying to find a suitable I-Beam, and nothing could be found. A local supplier could only get a 10-foot minimum piece that the market said was worth over $400. No thanks. So plan B was to get two C-channels and a plate, weld it all together and make a box frame.

This is what it looked like at Halloween:

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So today was the big roll-out! He's officially done. :clap:

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Specifications are:
Engine:Ancient Kohler 16-hp Thumper
Pump:22 gpm two-stage
Cylinder: Prince 3000 psi, 4.5" dia., 24" stroke
Crane winch: 3000 lb. (that aughta do it...)
Wheels and tires: 15" alloys, 50-series radials
Core splitting blade is 12" high, 1" thick, with angle-iron wings to 5" wide total.

Cycle time: out and back, no load @ 3400 RPM = 10 sec.
Frame members, crane, slide and log-catcher all sandblasted and powdercoated.
Crane held my weight (265#) at full extension without deflecting. As a design sample I had a piece of 20" diameter X 16" wide piece of 2-year dried red oak that weighed in at 146#, so I have plenty of room to go larger without stressing the crane or winch.

More photos below...
 
nice looking splitter but, it has nothing to do with the chainsaw category post it in firewood. ahh who cares something like that i can deal with in chainsaw
 
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Brutus, cont.

Well, photos above didn't post as well or large as I would have liked, but I was trying to stay within the pixel count.

Anyway, a couple of more details:

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As I was building it people would tell me that it wasn't financially smart to build your own -- that you could buy a commercial machine for the same money.
I think they are missing the point. Sure, I could have bought a hell of a machine for the same money, but it wouldn't be EXACTLY what I wanted -- there would always be a compromise.
A few days ago, after the frame came back from the powdercoater and most of the components were hung on it, I found myself just pulling up a bucket and sitting and staring at it with a full, sh:censored: t-eating grin on my face!

And that's worth a whole lot of $$$. :)

K9-Handler
 
Very nice! How much do you figure it cost in materials, if you don't mind me asking?

Honestly, I tried not to keep track. It would have ruined the experience.

I already had the engine and console, so that is a chuck of it, but if I had to guess I'd say in the neighborhood of $2500.
Just don't tell my wife I said that! :hmm3grin2orange:

And lots and lots of hours. And laying in bed problem-solving for the next build time. Lots of trips to the hardware store because the bolts were 1/2" too short.

I figured I probably quadrupled my total arc welding time. :dizzy:
 
Nice looking rig. Dang! that's the exact same engine that's in my skid loader (310 Bobcat). Ever seen the main bearings in those Kohlers? They're huge, and spendy!
 
Fantastic, you'll have much greater satisfaction than one that is store bought!
Great work, could you post how you have made your crane pivot smoothly under load? I have the equipment and want to add a similar crane lift to mine.
 

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