My splitter build

[Haywire Haywood]

Hurry man hurry..
Winter is just around the corner.....

You wouldn't be makin' fun of a fellow with a little enthusiasm would ya? LOL

Next year's wood is already split... as well as most of the following the year too. I need to find some wood and get to cutting.. the goal is to be 3 years ahead.

Ian

 

[dustytools]

Looks good so far Ian.

 

[Steve NW WI]

Looks good so far, Ian. Nice job on the scrounging by the way!

 

[Henry G.]

I like where this is heading: a cool project with someone who knows how to weld, innovate and scrounge parts, I think this thing is going to rock.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

with someone who knows how to weld

Correction... I know how to hire the welding done... LOL

The bottleneck is going to be the valve I'm sure. Looking down into the valve openings while you pull the lever doesn't inspire much confidence in it's ability to flow a lot of fluid. Problem is, I've been looking at valves and the ones designed for log splitters appear to be very similar. As someone said on my other thread, even the ones with 3/4" work ports are the same internally as the ones with 1/2" ports. It will only affect the 1st stage though. As soon as the pump kicks down to low flow/high pressure, it'll only need to flow 9.3gpm, so then it won't be an issue.

I did the math yesterday and if the fellow comes through with the engine, I'll have enough hp to push 28gpm to just over 1000psi. The unload valve is adjustable from 400 to 900 with the stock setting being 650 so I took off the jam nut/cover and gave it a few cranks in. Not maxed out, but maybe half way to the stop.

Ian

 

[AIM]

Is your valve an auto return? I'm gonna start my splitter here in the next month or so and I really want an auto return but I'm not sure what to buy or how that works.
I've got everything for my splitter collected minus pump and valve.

 

[triptester]

Here is a link to Prince Autocycle valve. Good info under autocycle manual.

Model RD 5200

http://www.princehyd.com/Default.aspx?tabid=46

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Is your valve an auto return?

Auto? There's a detent on the return so you can push the lever to retract and walk away to get the next round. It clicks back to neutral when fully retracted. Is that what you mean?

Ian

 

[TonyK]

I have used this group to source parts for my Unimog and other bits and parts. https://www.surpluscenter.com

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Well my engine fell through.

Went to get the 19.5hp engine today, the one he said "ran like a top". Got there, hooked the jumper cables to it and found that it had a frozen starter. It drew lots of current but wouldn't engage or turn the engine over. The 21hp he showed me also had starter problems... wouldn't turn the engine over even though you could turn the flywheel by hand until it got to the compression stroke. They've set outside in the rain too long apparently. He's supposed to be repairing it but I'm not holding my breath.

I'm hoping that I come across a 21-25hp engine now. I have the idea of upgrading the engine on my mower which I have always thought of as underpowered and using the 17hp Kawasaki that's on it now for the splitter.

Still driving ahead with getting the chassis put together though. I'll have the tongue on and it standing on wheels this weekend. Might even have the beam mounted if everything goes well. I'll post pics as it comes together.

Ian

 

[ericjeeper]

Bummer about the engines

But you can have everything ready for it to mount up....

 

[Haywire Haywood]

It's cramped in the barn so I can't get a good pic yet.. the beam is just sitting up there for the glamor shot. The tires ended up being 16" instead of 12 like I thought and the suspension added a couple inches I didn't think of, so the beam height is 36" instead of the 32 that I intended. A tad high, but I can always go to smaller tires to lower it some if needed.

 

[ericjeeper]

Might as well be...

Fabricating up some sort of table for out the front..No every piece needs to fall to the ground.. And it is 36 inches to lift it back up to the beam..

 

[Slick]

Now's the time to lower it if you want, that big square tube riser between the tank and torsions has to be what, 4".....cut that out now if you want it lower...it's just metal, it can be cut and welded

 

[England14]

I agree now is the time to lower it. If it is to low it is easy to put it on blocks, but if it is to high that is harder to fix afterwords. Looks like you could just weld the axles on the tank without the riser blocks.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

The axle risers are 6" tube but the axles are bolt on. I want to leave them that way so they're easy to change if need be. We thought about cutting a 3" section out of them so they're 6x3 instead of 6x6. That would shorten it and leave the bolt on capability.

Eric, the table is next on the agenda.. we ran out of gas for the mig.

Ian

 

[ericjeeper]

always, I say always

The axle risers are 6" tube but the axles are bolt on. I want to leave them that way so they're easy to change if need be. We thought about cutting a 3" section out of them so they're 6x3 instead of 6x6. That would shorten it and leave the bolt on capability.

Eric, the table is next on the agenda.. we ran out of gas for the mig.

Ian

Keep a spool of flux core wire on hand.. That way you can at least keep on working to finish a product.
NOTE to use flux core you need to reverse the polarity of the leads.. easily done under the side cover..Then switch back when you go to solid core and gas.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

I'm cutting the 6" tube down to 6x2 C-channel. That will get me back down to 32" and still let me bolt the axles on. --Ian

 

[ericjeeper]

Ian I think you remedied this well.

Now you are going to need a jackstand. I would use an implement jack. One that mounts with a circular pivot. I would place it directly under your vertical support that goes from the tongue up to the beam.Not one with a wheel ,but one with a fairly good sized plate under it.. To keep from driving it down into the ground when dropping large chunks onto the beam..
I am glad to see you are putting this thing to good use.. Sure looks better in your garage than it does leaning in my barn. LOL

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Like this? I bought this 6 months ago for my firewood trailer to replace the tongue jack it came with because it doesn't swivel up and out of the way. I drug it off in a steep parking lot one day when I had a big load of dirt in it. As you can see, it never got installed.

For the splitter, I was going to do what they do for a leg on the box store splitters, just a piece of C channel that bolts up to the tongue that you just drop down to make a leg. --Ian