While lurking around the internet, it seems there's a lot of knowledge about wood splitters on this site. I'm getting ready to build a new splitter and wouldn't mind and advice or opinions about this project. So far it's going to start with two 4"x24" cylinders and two I beams side by side. The engine is a Kubota D905-E three cylinder diesel out of a light tower. I plan to run a two stage 28 GPM pump with a single valve, 25-30 GPM. If the engine runs about 3000 rpm, is this the best pump to run? With the twin I beams and two cylinders, will the pusher want to bind? I was planning on building a 6 way wedge, but have never used one. Do you think I'll have issues with this set up?
New guy needing advice building a splitter
- Thread starter mgray
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
Unless you bore the ports out on the cylinders to accept a larger hose you won't gain anything by going to a 28gpm pump. IMO
What are you needing to split that will require two 4" cylinders?
Oh and it will most likely be slow with two cylinders.
Why try to reinvent the wheel with two I beams & two 4" rams? Twice the work, twice the $$$$$ twice the hose & headaches when something doesn't work right. Two stage pumps do their best at 3600 rpm, not sure that diesel's going to like that. I'd rethink this if I were you.
Okay I'll start with the pump and cylinders. Most pumps are rated at 3600 RPM so your 3000 RPM engine will probably only produce about 23GPM from your 28gpm pump. The two cylinders (vs one cylinder) is really not a problem. Speed will be about the same as a single cylinder at 11gpm which is a very common setup for log splitters. Your biggest potential problem lies in the design of your twin beams. The wider your beam layout is...the more your sliding mechanism for your wedge (or push block) will tend to "rack" and hang up. Now this has nothing to do with the two cylinders...its purely the geometry and make-up of the sliding mechanism itself. I can only speculate how your design looks....but I would definitely watch that area of your design very closely as you build it. Also, you did not mention if your 28gpm pump is two-stage. If not, you WILL be very VERY disappointed when that 28gpm pump puts the fire out in that little Kubota diesel. If your pump is only single stage I would consider installing a belt driven, say, 7-8gpm pump to run parallel with it and plumb in a dump valve that will dump off the 23gpm pump back to tank at around 800 psi. This will allow your engine to have enough power to run that pressure on up to around 3000psi while starting into the split without kill it.
Thanks for the advice so far. With two cylinders I'm hoping to have enough fluid volume/power for a 6 way wedge. I'm not opposed to a single larger cylinder, it just seems the price jumps up quick over 4". I'm planning on the beams being about 1" apart. Planning on the pusher being a little longer (parallel to the beams) to help keep it straight. The pump will be a two stage. Is there a 4" cylinder with 3/4" ports? I'm trying to up-size every thing to avoid having a pinch point in the system.
This whole project started because I had an engine, trailer, beams, and lots of heavy scrap steel. I don't have any money invested yet, but want to get my ducks in a row and build something a little bigger than everyone else.
This whole project started because I had an engine, trailer, beams, and lots of heavy scrap steel. I don't have any money invested yet, but want to get my ducks in a row and build something a little bigger than everyone else.
I agree with the other AS people your plan is not good. You may have some stuff laying around that you want to use, but do not. Sell some of your misc. items and go with a tried and proven system that will give you years of satisfaction. I have learned more than once it does not always pay to venture too far out of the normal line of thinking. Thanks
One 6'' cylinder ram will by far produce more force than two 4'' rams which would be considerably more manageable. One of my splitters has a 6'' ram with 3/4'' ports. I ran it using a 22 GPM pump which was OK. I tried a four way splitting wedge, but had pretty much just problems. It could not produce enough force to over come knots and it twisted the frame too much. Where you are the trees are small and you would have an easy time making multiple splits. My suggestion would be to use a four way and maybe design it to be removable. A single cylinder with one control valve could be assembled in less than a month. I was able to most of one together in two weeks using a helper. My helper was to just cut and grind, but he was a newbie so not completely effective. Thanks
mgray Welcome to the forum.
I have have been around two splitter's that were built with two four inch cylinders and neither one worked well. Its hard to have your oil flow split so both cylinders feed the same and not get some binding on you push plate. Both were built using four inch cylinder because of cost. You can run a 28 GPM two stage on that motor by running it threw a jack shaft to boost the speed up to 3600 RPM for the pump. I have done this several times using motors that didn't run 3600. I don't know what type of wood you want to split but in my area I split a lot of hedge and locust and I really have to watch my processor running a six way with a 7 inch with a 4 inch rod cylinder. A lot of times I lift the wedge up and use the four way or single and re split the pieces instead of breaking iron. You are right big cylinders cost money and you better have heavy iron backing them up. Look around you can find surplus cylinders fairly cheap that's what I did.
I have have been around two splitter's that were built with two four inch cylinders and neither one worked well. Its hard to have your oil flow split so both cylinders feed the same and not get some binding on you push plate. Both were built using four inch cylinder because of cost. You can run a 28 GPM two stage on that motor by running it threw a jack shaft to boost the speed up to 3600 RPM for the pump. I have done this several times using motors that didn't run 3600. I don't know what type of wood you want to split but in my area I split a lot of hedge and locust and I really have to watch my processor running a six way with a 7 inch with a 4 inch rod cylinder. A lot of times I lift the wedge up and use the four way or single and re split the pieces instead of breaking iron. You are right big cylinders cost money and you better have heavy iron backing them up. Look around you can find surplus cylinders fairly cheap that's what I did.
When building a splitter using a 6-way wedge the design and materials used are critical. The wood to be split is limited in size and straight grain.
loadthestove
ArboristSite Guru
something else you may want to consider is your engine,Like you I happened across an engine like yours from a light plant.
I built a self propelled splitter around the engine.After about twenty hours run time i had some injectors issues that amounted to $700 in repair.
I understand wanting to reinvent the wheel ,but a lot of times the best has already been built so stay close to proven designs
I built a self propelled splitter around the engine.After about twenty hours run time i had some injectors issues that amounted to $700 in repair.
I understand wanting to reinvent the wheel ,but a lot of times the best has already been built so stay close to proven designs
Load how are you propelling your splitter around. I have one splitter that I added suspension to allowing it to be able to transport it to different locations. The suspension works fine. It however it quite small in that it only weighs about 1500 lbs. It is hard to move around with just one person. I would like to be able to position it where its needed in a easy manner. My current build will be much heavier so moving it into place is even more important. Are you using hydraulic motors to position it into place. Thanks
there used to be a farm conveyor belt using one hydraulic motor for each wheel and warn lockout hubs to disconnect the motors for travel. The huge risk was forgetting to disconnect the hubs if it was towed on the road
Your situation compared to my situation are compared to night and day. We have very extreme road situations so having a hydraulic motor any where near the axle seems like an impossible concept. Most of my engines are electric start so was thinking about having a smaller electric winch to move the splitter around using battery and the charging system to keep battery charged. As another benefit the winch could pull rounds near by up to the splitter. I was quite sure that a hydraulic powered winch was the way to go, but thinking that might not be the best approach. Thanks
Power split uses a hydraulic motor with chain drive on their splitters for self propulsion.
Click on the photos to get a clear view of the drive system.
https://powersplit.com/gallery-buggy-splitter-self-propelled/
Click on the photos to get a clear view of the drive system.
https://powersplit.com/gallery-buggy-splitter-self-propelled/
I am well aware of the common propelling system of many of the splitters. The problems arise in the pictured splitters in that they can not be transported. They do not have sophisticated suspension. My compromised solution is to have a mounting plate to mount a small winch to enable the splitter to be moved in place. As another benefit would have the splitter enabled to drag rounds up to the lifting table. My current design could weigh more than 2,000 lbs, Thanks
Years ago I built a very heavy splitter for a buddy and I self propelled it using a dana 60 front diff with springs from a K-30 Chevy pickup. Used a hyd motor on the pinion to drive it. It had the springs so it towed nice. You just unlocked the hubs on the axle and you were ready to tow at highway speeds on any road.
I could not imagine a Dana 60 for a splitter, but a small differential might be very possible. It certainly would add some weight, but maybe 200 to 100 lbs which would not be completely unreasonable. I am planning on having a small utility winch any way so might play around with it first. Very good concept though. Thanks
This splitter was very heavy never ran it across a scale but the way pulled down the road I sure it was some were between 2,000 to 3,000 pounds. It run a engine and transmission from a ford pinto. It ran a six inch cylinder and hyd pump off a Cat. IT also had a buzz saw on the back also. We had the Dana 60 around so that is way we used it.
I have learned the hard way that to always keep an eye on the issues that are practical. Such as if I build a piece of equipment that is too heavy to transport or it can not take boucing around over rocks it will not work. But using differential certainly sounds like it might be worth some thought. Right now I have about 20,000 cords of wood to move if I can. The wood is piled in a rather flat and level area that I could haul a D9 to it. However an association owns the property and has signed a lease to a contractor tht is in default so any thing could happen. For all other splitter applications the roads are rough making lighter equipment more preferred. Thanks
Ted I understand completely everyone has different places they have to get into with there equipment. This guy mostly split wood in what most people would call wood lots. No problem hauling a heavy splitter in there. It would either be froze up or dry when he split his wood.
Similar threads
