Splitter build. Done.

[palmrose2]

Some pics of my splitter build. None of progression, but more or less finished product. It ain't finished finished, but my brother in law needs it as is.
Every piece of steel used in the making of this product was scrap, except for the u-bolt holding the ram down.
B-n-law wanted Ibeam biased towards front. That's what he got.

 

[palmrose2]

Once again, all these pics were right side up. why they rotate is beyond me.

 

[palmrose2]

Used Lincoln WeldnPower-150. AC only welder, powered by rope start 10hp K series. Vintage 1980. 5/32 and 3/32 6011. A little bronze. Oxy/Ace, Sawzall, 7"grinder, drill with a hole saw, square and level. Tape measure.

The Ibeam was 4"x9" and said CAMBRIA on it. OLD steel.

 

[Tim321]

Looks like some of the elbows are for water pluming. If they have a split seam they will not hold up hydraulic pressure. For a couple of dollars to put the right fittings in you may save yourself a hot oil bath. The rest looks like a great use of old metal.

 

[mainewoods]

Nice job
fixed it for ya.

 

[palmrose2]

Looks like some of the elbows are for water pluming. If they have a split seam they will not hold up hydraulic pressure. For a couple of dollars to put the right fittings in you may save yourself a hot oil bath. The rest looks like a great use of old metal.

Water ells are 1" and only on the low pressure side. Would have used black fittings but Galvanized is what I carry on my work truck.

 

[palmrose2]

Pressure relief is set @ 2700. It is a something or other 3000 valve. I found out it is rated for 2750. WTF? 13 gpm pump, 4" cyl. with 1.5" ram. Cycle time is under 11 secs. Wedge is 4"x9" with a piece of Ibeam at it's core and high carbon bed frame at the leading edge. If you look close, you can see where I hardened the leading edge. Used a rosebud Oxy/ace tip to heat to just beyond magnetic state, then sprayed 50 degree water on it. Wedge just sucked up the heat. Took longer than I expected.

The 5/32 6011 is actually rated @ 70,000 psi. The welder struggled @ 150 amps, so 135 is the max I could use. There were places I REALLY wanted 150.

 

[palmrose2]

Wheels are from a minivan rear axle. Welded the 6" tube to the axle, then cut off the excess. The "cast steel" of the wheel hubs is some interesting stuff. Flowed really weird.

Really wanted the valve to mount on the cylinder to save weight and making a mounting plate. The only way to do that was to turn the valve so that the handle was away from the pusher. We didn't want to reach too far, so I snatched up a bicycle kickstand, flattened the end with some heat and a hammer, and brazed a bolt on the other end for the ball. Good to go.

 

[dave_dj1]

Nice job! What purpose does the u bolt serve?
I like the wheels back out of the way too.
Don't ya just love those Predator motors

 

[Mike from Maine]

Nice job.... But galvanized fittings aren't a good idea for hydraulics.

 

[nathon918]

The 5/32 6011 is actually rated @ 70,000 psi.

... not sure you understand welding rod??? by definition a 6011 rod cant be a 70,000 psi rod... 60xx = 60,000 psi, 70xx = 70,000 psi, 80xx = 80,000 psi, and so on

 

[unclemoustache]

Rep for Mainewoods for straightening the pics.

Great job on the splitter. Any video of that thing in action?

 

[hotrodusa]

looks like it will work nice

 

[palmrose2]

The 5/32nds rod was Murex 6011C and I'm pretty sure it is rated @ 70,000 psi. the 3/32nds rod was some Forney 6011 that I KNOW has a tensile strength of 88,000 psi and a yield strength of 80,000 psi.

I'm familiar with the terms of the nomenclature of welding rods, but if you dig a little deeper you will find that things aren't always what they seem. I generally talk and write from my front, not from my back.

https://www.forneyind.com/store/det...e_e6011_deep_penetration_mild_steel_18_5_lbs/

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/asse...MurexConsumables-Murex-Murex6011C/adcm23c.pdf

The only reason I mentioned the 70,000 psi was because quite a bit of rod was used with the leading edge high carbon bed frame on the wedge. It ain't just 30,000 psi mild steel. God knows exactly what the makeup of the leading edge is, but I can tell you that it is much harder to scratch than half way back.

 

[palmrose2]

Nice job.... But galvanized fittings aren't a good idea for hydraulics.

And yet the hydraulic fittings you can buy are zinc coated. I think the deal here is that engineers are worried that a chunk of zinc may flake off the pipe and get into the system. The few fittings I used were eyeballed by me, and passed the test, and most of the galvanized fittings have a big old filter between them and the pump.

I'm more worried about the red 250psi hose the is rated for potable water under pressure, especially on the suction end of the pump. I would worry less if I was the operator because I could keep an eye on it. Alas, this is not the case. I might have to snatch up some 1" hydraulic suction hose just to ease my mind.

 

[palmrose2]

Nice job! What purpose does the u bolt serve?
I like the wheels back out of the way too.
Don't ya just love those Predator motors

The U-bolt is most likely unnecessary, but is there to give the front of the cylinder a little support so as to minimize the likelihood of the ram bending. I imagine that the piston and cylinder will be under a little less stress too.

Putting the wheels way out back is a compromise. The whole unit is longer than I would have made it had the beam been more balanced. It also weighs more. I made the hitch tongue kind of long so you could get a little leverage if you were inclined to lift it yourself. The beauty of the beam being out front and having a full width axle, is that this baby seems incredibly stable. I think it would handle a log lift pretty well if I ever got ambitious.

 

[palmrose2]

Rep for Mainewoods for straightening the pics.

Ditto on that.

 

[buzz sawyer]

The U-bolt is most likely unnecessary, but is there to give the front of the cylinder a little support so as to minimize the likelihood of the ram bending. I imagine that the piston and cylinder will be under a little less stress too.

Good to see the U bolt. I didn't put one one mine and the end of the ram did lift and bend the beam a little. Mounting the valve directly onto the ram also eliminated one hose.
Nice design!

 

[skindaddy]

thats right on the galvanizing just like now they want it used for natural gas , when before they didnt( when it was dipped and flaked off) now its a different kind of galv. method and dont do that.

 

[nathon918]

The 5/32nds rod was Murex 6011C and I'm pretty sure it is rated @ 70,000 psi. the 3/32nds rod was some Forney 6011 that I KNOW has a tensile strength of 88,000 psi and a yield strength of 80,000 psi.

I'm familiar with the terms of the nomenclature of welding rods, but if you dig a little deeper you will find that things aren't always what they seem. I generally talk and write from my front, not from my back.

you say the rod is "rated" for 70k, It's Not! some tests may have resulted in 70,000 psi (actually 86k at the highest for the Murex) but results vary because no one welds exactly the same, so the rod IS rated at 60,ooo psi per AWS...
as for the Forney rod, from what I found looks like they threw the highest test result in for the tensile strength (88k) but nowhere in their information does it say what the rod is rated for... I'm assuming its rated at 60,000 as its a 60 series rod...
rod is rated at the minimum, not the maximum strength