PTO pump for 3-pt Splitter

[Buckethead]

I was splitting up some Red Oak today with my 3-pt hitch splitter and had a bit of an "incident." I don't have an anti-torque chain on the pump because a couple bolt heads on the tractor catch on the pump housing to keep it from spinning. Well, today the pump must have walked a little...I got into a big round and stalled the splitter. Before I knew what was happening the pump had spun about 5 times tangling the hoses and crimping them all to poo. It also blew out the pump shaft seals and dumped about half a gallon of fluid on the ground before I could stop the PTO.

The pump was weak before before this "event" so, I'm ready to replace it with a new fully cast iron pump. My problem is that I can't decide what size to get...a 21 gpm or 11.5 gpm unit. I'm not sure what size is on there now. It's got a 4" x 36" cylinder and a very small 6 gallon oil tank. Regardless of the pump I end up with, I'll replace the tank with a proper sized one.

So, what's my best bet....11.5 gpm or bump up to the big one and go with 21 gpm?

 

[skidsteer.ca]

I'd guess that would depend on the size of the tractor and how fast you need to run the motor to get the flow you desire. If you tractor is real small you right have to run the engine fast to have enough power to tun the pto pump. However if its 30 hp or more you can likely run the engine any rpm you desire. Then I would be looking at the large pump and planning on running the engine fairly slow.
What size pump did you currently have?
Is the splitter fast enough or do you feel like your waiting for it?
Do you run the tractor engine relatively fast or slow?

I have a high flow skidsteer that pumps 24 gpm at 3000 rpm, I like to run it on my splitter wth the 4" cylinder at about 2000 rpm. The 40 hp engine has good power and fuel economy at this rpm and the 16 gpm from the twin pumps whistles the splitter back and forth nicely.
Ken

 

[FLCM]

How many PTO HP is your tractor?

 

[Buckethead]

Currently I have no problem with the speed of my splitter. Because of the shape of the wedge I rarely have to run it out to the end of the stroke. Typically it only has to travel about 12". Unfortunately I have no idea what size pump I have now. I do know that the 6 gal. hydraulic tank gets very warm when I'm using it. This leads me to believe that it's undersized for the size of the pump. I figure about the biggest I can go on the hyd. tank is 18 gal. so either pump will work.

I'm running this on my MF202 which is about 30 hp at the PTO.

 

[wkpoor]

I've posted countless times here on my PTO powered splitter with the same size cylinder you have. I run the Prince 21GPM. At 540 that will give you 6secs cycle. Diffidently go with the 21gpm so you'll have good speed at part throttle. I would run a 40gpm if they made one for 540. Not because I want 40gpm but because I could have good speed at 700 rpm idle. When get the new pump make a bracket that bolts onto the side and picks up the bottom top link hole. Make sure the hole is oversized so bracket can float otherwise you could take out the pto bearings. Also about 15gal tank will be enough. In cooler temps I run as little as 7gal. In summer 15gal.

 

[skidsteer.ca]

21 gpm

 

[flxblx]

Would your tractor have both 540 and 1000 rpm pto.

That might increase your options and flow.

 

[Buckethead]

I've posted countless times here on my PTO powered splitter with the same size cylinder you have. I run the Prince 21GPM. At 540 that will give you 6secs cycle. Diffidently go with the 21gpm so you'll have good speed at part throttle. I would run a 40gpm if they made one for 540. Not because I want 40gpm but because I could have good speed at 700 rpm idle. When get the new pump make a bracket that bolts onto the side and picks up the bottom top link hole. Make sure the hole is oversized so bracket can float otherwise you could take out the pto bearings. Also about 15gal tank will be enough. In cooler temps I run as little as 7gal. In summer 15gal.

BINGO! That's what I needed to hear. I really like your setup with the quick disconnects....the anti-torque bracket is slick too! Have you got pictures of your entire splitter?

My big concern was overheating the hyd. fluid with the 21 gpm pump but, it sounds like the bigger tank will be enough to address that problem. Well, hopefully I'll be back in business by next weekend....I've got about 5 cord of Red Oak to get split by the end of the month.

 

[Mike Van]

BH, if you go with quick-connects, make sure they're rated for the flow you want/need as many restrict flow down to a small hole. They aren't recomended on most every pump suction I ever saw.

 

[skidsteer.ca]

Go big on the suction especially, and try to keep the pump flooded, (oil res level higher then the pump) Most coupler manufactures publish a gpm rating.

As for heat doubt it wil be a problem and the percentage of time a splitter in under high load is relatively low.
If it starts getting over 230 degrees, you can always add a inlne cooler.
Ken

 

[FLCM]

I have a very similar setup as wkpoor. The 21 gpm pump is very fast and I get by fine with 8 gal of hyd fluid.