How hot should hydraulic fluid get in a splitter?

[sean donato]

Amen brother! Welder and a torch some swear words later the splitter will be fixed.

 

[sb47]

I've used a few of those tip and tilt splitters and much prefer a log lift. Much easier on the back imo.

I agree, trying to get a heavy round on the splitter in the vertical is to much work and hard on my back staying bent over all day. This gorilla log lift works great, but it is limited to 200 lbs. I would like to fab one up that is way more beefy then this one. The winch is not the problem, it's the light steel tubing that will bend if you over load it.

 

[JRM]

Here is the best I could do.

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Can you grab me 1 more pls, the width of the plate the wedge is welded to, the one that is captured in the beam. My huskee 35 is set up identical to yours except the wedge height is less than 7" tall. I'd really like a taller wedge, much of what I split is large diameter and doesn't split all the way through on the first pass.

I am working on setting mine up to split horizontal instead of vertical. Problem is picking up many of these big rounds i get. I recently built a large bench the same height of my splitter to stack my rounds on with my tractor. A few minutes with the tractor will supply me with a Good hours worth of splitting horizontal without killing my back. But it becomes a real pita when the round doesn't split all the way in half, hence my search for a taller wedge.

 

[sb47]

I think I'll go out and run a tank of fuel through my saw and get some rounds cut so I can split some more when it cools down the afternoon. Catch ya in a little while.

 

[sean donato]

Can you grab me 1 more pls, the width of the plate the wedge is welded to, the one that is captured in the beam. My huskee 35 is set up identical to yours except the wedge height is less than 7" tall. I'd really like a taller wedge, much of what I split is large diameter and doesn't split all the way through on the first pass.

I am working on setting mine up to split horizontal instead of vertical. Problem is picking up many of these big rounds i get. I recently built a large bench the same height of my splitter to stack my rounds on with my tractor. A few minutes with the tractor will supply me with a Good hours worth of splitting horizontal without killing my back. But it becomes a real pita when the round doesn't split all the way in half, hence my search for a taller wedge.

So the simple solution it to add a wedge piece above and just behind your current wedge. This give the original wedge the chance to start the cut then the added height can just slice through. Sorry bad picture. I'm on call at work...

 

[c5rulz]

Dang that's that's mean looking splitter, the cylinder shaft is huge Holy cow!

Looks like a pretty big oil tank. Have you tried using less oil and not filling it all the way up? That would decrease the amount of fluid and may make it heat up better on cold days. Or you could look for an oil designed for cold weather and be a little thinner. That might help.

The builder also suggested using less oil, but I didn't want to drain it.

2nd, the tank holds 35 gallons, it has a port for a threaded heater if I want to install one but the cooler temps really don't hurt anything.

The insulation does help some.

I am thinking the hottest the splitter ever got was 120 degrees on day that was in the upper 90s after running several hours. That day the pavement was 130 and the side of my house which is dark blue got to 160.

 

[JRM]

So the simple solution it to add a wedge piece above and just behind your current wedge. This give the original wedge the chance to start the cut then the added height can just slice through. Sorry bad picture. I'm on call at work...

That's actually the plan but will take away the ability to use a 4 way which I am also going to try on smaller stuff. The plan is to buy another wedge and make one taller and one into a 4 way. But if the taller wedge on sb's splitter will fit my machine I'll be further ahead buying that one vs another 7" tall wedge like I have now.

 

[sb47]

That's actually the plan but will take away the ability to use a 4 way which I am also going to try on smaller stuff. The plan is to buy another wedge and make one taller and one into a 4 way. But if the taller wedge on sb's splitter will fit my machine I'll be further ahead buying that one vs another 7" tall wedge like I have now.

You might be able to order that wedge from TS. I can get you some mesurments if you want. Might be awhile, I just got through running 2 tanks of gas through my saw and it's in the mid 90's today, so I need a little break.

 

[JRM]

You might be able to order that wedge from TS. I can get you some mesurments if you want. Might be awhile, I just got through running 2 tanks of gas through my saw and it's in the mid 90's today, so I need a little break.

No hurry, whenever you get back out is great. I do appreciate you taking the time to help me out with this.

 

[sb47]

I noodled up some 48'' rounds with my little MS261C with a 20'' bar.
I'm not trying to hijack this thread but I took some pics today. Might be pic heavy.

The ol MS261C with a 20'' bar ready for some light work
Some 48'' rounds I noodled up


Gettin it done


Some big wood in this pile.


Can forget about my old Kubota 5200 I bought new in 1985 and she is still a solid work horse.


Some big rounds fixin to get noodled.




Those big rounds 15 min later all noodled up.

Stacks of smoking wood all bagged up.


More bagged smoking wood.


One of my 7 little trailers I use around the wood lot.

 

[c5rulz]

Mine is fairly slow with an 18gpm pump, at least it's fast enough I can work it by myself at a nice pace and not be waiting on the cylinder. The engine is run at around 3/4 throttle. More so because it's not balanced that well (not a counter shaft single cylinder) and it doesn't make a lot of difference in cycle times.

Whats the make and model of your splitter?

It was custom made by Alex of A.E. Metalwerx.

There are a ton of features that aren't obvious.
30" stroke with limiter for rounds of 19"-30"
Dump valve
Auto cycle
Very high capacity filter rated for 125GPM
Large rod for faster retract

BTW, you can see the port for the heater.

 

[sb47]

No hurry, whenever you get back out is great. I do appreciate you taking the time to help me out with this.

The I beam is 8 1/2'' at the back. Then the working part of the beam has some plates welded on for the wedge to slide through and that part is 11 1/2''
The bottom of the wedge is 11 1/2 '' long and 8 1/2'' wide and the thickness of the wedge plate is 3/4''
I hope that helps I took a few pics for you.

No hurry, whenever you get back out is great. I do appreciate you taking the time to help me out with this.

The bottom plate that slides on the beam is 11 1/2'' long by 8 1/2 wide by 3/4'' thick.

 

[JRM]

Perfect! Same dimensions as mine. The hunt is on....

 

[sean donato]

It was custom made by Alex of A.E. Metalwerx.

There are a ton of features that aren't obvious.
30" stroke with limiter for rounds of 19"-30"
Dump valve
Auto cycle
Very high capacity filter rated for 125GPM
Large rod for faster retract

BTW, you can see the port for the heater.

I worked on a wood processor down in Maryland made by Daubs weld shop. Real big thing, live deck, conveyer, hydraulic saw yanmar diesel on it. They had a smaller unit made by the same company they used for nasty rounds. Looks darn close to yours from what I can remember. Why I was interested. It's a solid design from the pictures. I'm a bit envious lol.

 

[miller755]

So I read through most of the comments and I saw the ones that talk about the things that are causing the friction which in turn causes the heat. Adding capacity would mean adding a bigger reservoir which would give you more surface area to cool the fluid, which would help if reducing restrictions doesn't, you could also weld some pieces of flat steel onto your reservoir to act as fins that would add surface area if you do do this position the fins vertically because that would encourage natural convection on the fence which would promote more heat loss.

 

[sean donato]

So I read through most of the comments and I saw the ones that talk about the things that are causing the friction which in turn causes the heat. Adding capacity would mean adding a bigger reservoir which would give you more surface area to cool the fluid, which would help if reducing restrictions doesn't, you could also weld some pieces of flat steel onto your reservoir to act as fins that would add surface area if you do do this position the fins vertically because that would encourage natural convection on the fence which would promote more heat loss.

Would be just as easy to loop in a return side cooler imo.

 

[sundance]

Would be just as easy to loop in a return side cooler imo.

@sean donato any info you can share on a cooler? I've thought about adding one to my splitter but haven't had a lot of luck finding an appropriate one.

 

[sean donato]

I have one one I found at a junk yard off a piece of equipment. 3/4" inlet and outlet. It's a aluminum tube and fin style. My original thought was to tie it into the return side after the return filter before the tank. Just let it act like a radiant heater. Adding a fan would have been a bit expensive as the Subaru doesn't have a charging system, and buying the stator and a new flywheel would have been pretty expensive. I monitored my fluid temperature and found I never exceeded 150* in the tank, and ran around 180 at the cylinder. Just didn't make sense to add it.
There are commercial coolers available. that you could do the same thing with. Doesn't really have to stand up to much pressure on the return side. Just find a good place to mount it and run hoses to it. Add a fan for forced cooling is need be and wire a thermostatic control into it.

 

[cookies]

Simply leaving the ram fully extended so its full of oil to help radiate heat when you walk away to reload helps drop temps. When I got my splitter I did the usual engine oil change after the first tank of gas then after the 10th I changed the hyro oil to a full syn and the filter to a lower micron higher flow rated filter. Before changing the hydro oil it would cause a welt if you leaned against the cylinder but now its hot enough to hurt but not blister the skin. I recently changed the muffler outlet size and its internal baffle to flow better and added magnetic dipsticks and drain plugs. Re jetting the carb and muffler mod added about 250 rpm during maximum load scenarios like these 24" hickory rounds with huge knots it has to cut through.
If I was after cooling I would look for a oil filter mount that had a internal heat exchanger and ports to run coolant or water through it then simply using a garden hose and water.

 

[kevin j]

So the simple solution it to add a wedge piece above and just behind your current wedge. This give the original wedge the chance to start the cut then the added height can just slice through. Sorry bad picture. I'm on call at work...

I’ve done this to several, when we were getting a lot of stringy elm. Works wonderfully without adding much stress on the machine

Personally I don’t like these strippers that are supposed to push off a piece of wood stuck on the wedge. They seem like a safety issue pinchpoints so you could get your arm in there somehow. I just have a little short block of 2 x 4 stored on the splitter and if one gets stuck grab that piece and put it in between the cylinder tube and the piece stuck on the wdege and then retract the rod. My cylinder is pretty tiny, but if you read the wood correctly I only use the 2x4 half a dozen times a day