Ideas on straightening splitter beam

[Weesa20]

Hey guys. Just looking for ideas on ways to straighten the beam on my splitter and then reinforce it because it is probably weakened from being bowed once. You can see the straight edge in the pics. With the 4' straight edge on the bottom side of the top I-beam flange, it is touching at the 2 ends and there is a gap in the middle. With the straight edge on the top of the bottom I-beam flange, it is touching in the middle at the double arrow and not touching at the 2 ends, so consistent bend on top and bottom I-beam flange. @kevin j

My first thought was to take it to take it to a auto body shop and see if they can straighten it, but that sounds expensive. Could a winch or come-a-long generate enough force if I could secure the two ends and pull opposite the bow? Heat needed? other ideas?

You can see that I have taken considerable time de-identifying the splitter. So this is NOT about the brand, how it happened, or anything to do with use or design. It is ONLY about ideas on straightening out the bow. Please keep it on topic and limit the trolling. If you want to talk about anything else, just PM me. Thanks.

Straight edge bottom of top flange:
Straight edge top of bottom flange:

 

[disk_55FL]

Probably flame straightening .......... unless you have an industrial sized press.

What will you do to keep it from bending again ....... and why did it bend ( these two items are related )

 

[JeffHK454]

Do you ever use this splitter in the vert. postion ?

If no, could you add a spine down the back using the "pull" from welding to straighten and strengthing it at the same time?

 

[Weesa20]

Do you ever use this splitter in the vert. postion ?

If no, could you add a spine down the back using the "pull" from welding to straighten and strengthing it at the same time?

I do use it in vertical. I could ask a welder about a spine to straighten it and have them remove it and reinforce it with a different method. Thanks for the idea.

W

 

[disk_55FL]

OK ..... I see what happened. So ...... do you plan to fix this your self ? ( do you have the tools ? )

If it were mine ( I assume you are going to want the extra wedge set up after you fix the beam ) ..... I'd just add another " I " beam under the existing one. Am I correct in assuming that the splitter will still work .... you just don't want it to bend more than it already is ? .... and make it so it won't bend any more in the future ?

 

[kevin j]

it’s going to take one really healthy press to bend it using just straight mechanical effort. Search on heat straightening it involves heating localized areas on the in this case it would be the top flange not to cherry red just to a gray color in a very localized area crosswise on the top flange. and then letting it cool. It shrinks and pulls. you do that over and over along the flange. it works amazingly well. I saw an old master straighten one of our machine frames that was 16 inch i beam 12 wide flanges an inch thick. frame rails were bent almost 3 feet from a collision with the train and it took him about a day and they pulled the big I-beams back straight. again it is not heating it to red hot and pushing it it’s just heating a pencil size stripe and then when it cools it pulls.

personally if it moves back-and-forth fine I would leave it alone as is and just reinforce it like discussed before.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I'd pull the beam, put a block on each end and push down in the middle with an excavator. Works best with 2 people, someone in the machine and someone spotting as it's pretty easy to overbend it. I did this not too long ago on some square tubing that are the live deck legs on my processor.

May take some heat, all depending on machine size. Same idea if using a dozer, shovel loader, etc.

As far as strengthening, weld some 1/4" plate on both sides of the web.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

From my experience the beam never will be altered back to original shape. It will take the same force the distorted beam had to bring it back to the same. I tried to use a star wedge on one of mine many years and it twisted, My I beam was much more heavy duty. So I removed my motor flipped it up side down and welded two 1/2" .050'' straps for the slide to ride on then got the grinder out to fine tune it. The slide had to be modified to accept the wider surface to ride on, but it slowed down the wear of the slide dramatically. Thanks

 

[Husky Man]

My best guess, is that hydraulics are what bent it, and probably what it would take to straighten it again. I would take it to an automotive or truck frame shop, they will have all the anchors, frames, jigs and what have you to very precisely straighten your beam. It's been a few years, I forget what it cost, but I had some trailer axles straightened , required much more precision than you will need, but scuffing tires off because of an axle distortion got real expensive real fast, axle straightening was cheap in comparison. This is basically just a more refined way to do Valley's suggestion.

If it is just a straight Bow, that would be much easier to straighten, if it is twisted, it could probably be DONE, but whether or not it would be worth the extra expense could be questionable.

Be careful using heat, a little my help a lot, to much, can be a real problem.

Good Luck

Doug

 

[Weesa20]

Thanks guys for all the great ideas. I don't have a torch but know (kinda) how to use one and I think I could rent one pretty cheap. I'll get a quote from a couple auto-body shops too.

The wedge end and anchor end are fixed pretty tightly with a bolt at the wedge end with the wedge pretty tight in its track and a cross pin at the anchor, so very little play, which makes me think the bend, along with some pretty good heat generation in the hydro system, is leading to the seal failures. Planning to add an auxiliary hydro tank as well, if I can straighten the beam enough or add more play to accommodate for the bow.

husky man- any idea how much it cost to straighten the trailer axles and did they hold up pretty well?

W

 

[deezlfan]

I'm wondering if the I beam is truely bent or if it is just the C channels welded to the edges that the wedge rides in. The only way to know is to strip off the wedge and cylinder and put the straight edge on the top of the beam. I suspect it is only the channels that are bent and if that is the case, bending the beam will only make things worse. Straightening the flanges shouldn't be that difficult with heat and brute force.

 

[Blue Oaks]

Short of inductively heating the piece and then hitting it with a HUGE press or forging hammer, I think it's a lost cause.

 

[Hinerman]

Short of inductively heating the piece and then hitting it with a HUGE press or forging hammer, I think it's a lost cause.

I agree. Unless you already have the equipment and knowledge to do it yourself, a shop (auto, machine, or possibly both) is going to drop the hammer on your check book to fix it the right way.

 

[greenskeeper]

does it still work? if not fix until broke?

 

[Husky Man]

Thanks guys for all the great ideas. I don't have a torch but know (kinda) how to use one and I think I could rent one pretty cheap. I'll get a quote from a couple auto-body shops too.

The wedge end and anchor end are fixed pretty tightly with a bolt at the wedge end with the wedge pretty tight in its track and a cross pin at the anchor, so very little play, which makes me think the bend, along with some pretty good heat generation in the hydro system, is leading to the seal failures. Planning to add an auxiliary hydro tank as well, if I can straighten the beam enough or add more play to accommodate for the bow.

husky man- any idea how much it cost to straighten the trailer axles and did they hold up pretty well?

W

It has been probably 5 years and I am going to guess it was in the neighborhood of $200, but that was for a tandem axle trailer and included realigning the axles for both Toe In and Camber, requiring more precision than you will need.

I will NEVER have another house with a Curved Driveway again. I had to jack knife the trailer into the driveway, I have been a truck driver for 30 years, and Dreaded putting the trailer back into the driveway every time we used it. We had a couple other storage options when we bought the trailer, that we eventually lost, leaving the driveway the only option in the end. I would be jack knifed hard enough, that after seeing the bad wear on the tires, after the trailer was parked, I would use a floor jack to relieve the side loading on the tires.

I don't know what a beam like that would cost to straighten, it would take more force than my axles, but they wouldn't be crawling around under a trailer to do it, much easier to work on, for sure.

I don't know if it will be cost effective for you or not, but it would be worth making a phone call.

Good Luck with your project

Doug

 

[Weesa20]

does it still work? if not fix until broke?

I think the bow is decreasing the life of the hydro cylinder seals. Repacking will add up to pretty quick I think.

I'm wondering if the I beam is truely bent or if it is just the C channels welded to the edges that the wedge rides in. The only way to know is to strip off the wedge and cylinder and put the straight edge on the top of the beam. I suspect it is only the channels that are bent and if that is the case, bending the beam will only make things worse. Straightening the flanges shouldn't be that difficult with heat and brute force.

Here's a pic with the cylinder removed and the straight edge centered over the I-beam web as best I could. Small space (1/4") gap at the front, touching at approx the middle, and big gap at the rear. I've put in arrows at each of these points. Unfortunately that makes me think the I-beam flange and web are all bent



Thanks for the info.

I'll call some auto body shops tomorrow and see what they say, then consider the torch method.

W

 

[greenskeeper]

I think the bow is decreasing the life of the hydro cylinder seals. Repacking will add up to pretty quick I think.

How "tight" are your connections at the hydraulic cylinder to the i-beam and the cylinder to the wedge?

Mine has "enough" play for there to be slop when splitting so there is no stress on the seals.

Now I'm gonna have to go out and check for plumb on my splitter lol

 

[Weesa20]

It seems pretty snug to me. Wedge connects to the cylinder with a through bolt and seems like the hole is just enough to pass bolt through. Same at the anchor but it uses a pin instead of bolt.

If I'm thinking about this correctly, it has between 1/2 and 1 inch of bend over 4 feet, so the cylinder also needs to have that same or more slop at full extension, which I don't think it does, putting stress on the seals.

W

 

[muddstopper]

I have straighten a lot worse that that. The heat method that Kevin suggested is probably the best. Also as Kevn stated, it doesnt take heating a large area at time. Best to find the center of the bend. Heat a thin straight line across the top and then quinch with water. Then Move over on the surface and heat another fine line and quinch. If you keep repeating the procedure alternating from each side of the first heated line, it will eventually pull back in place. I have at times used a large bottle jack with a chain hooked to each end of the beam and the bottle jack placed under the chain to put some pressure to help the straighten bend. The goal is to just keep tension on the beam, not try and jack the bend out, and being very careful that the jack doesnt slip out from under the chain. The jacking will help the metal contract under the heating and cooling. Second and fasted, but not the best method is using a welder and grinder. Welding a straight bead across the top flange and then grinding it back flat. You again weld another bead beside the first bead and repeat alternating each side of the first bead. This will work faster than the heating and cooling method, but requires a lot of grinding to keep the surface flat, and the welding can harden the metal and might cause future cracks. Peening each weld bead as you go will help control the hardening and relieve any stresses.

 

[kevin j]

If the pins are in the horizontal plane on both ends of the cylinder, the cylinder can go up and down at closed end, and the wedge plate can tilt to follow the bent beam, and there should not be any side load on the rod.
Left and right, if you have some clearance in the pin to holes, the force can move to one side of the eye, but there should not be an bending sideways on the rod.

I would move it through its cycle, checking the cylinder and pins every couple of inches, and if it is not a problem, just add some reinforcing to the sides and run it and let it move through the arc of the bend.

The bending of the base plate of the wedge has to be dealt with, or just run two way wedge from now on. But I think the bent arc in the beam might be a non issue. Of course, that is ‘internet inspection’ and not seeing it. Might be things you see that we don’t.