Splitter control valve recomendations

[JUDGE1162]

I have an older Splitter with a simply open and close valve, I would like to upgrade the control valve to an auto return valve and I have read about 2 stage valves that basically have 2 forward speeds one fast at low pressure and one slow but high pressure.

If it matters this is for a tractor mounted unit (using the Tractor's Hydraulics) Pump flow: 8.2 gpm

Looking for a recommendation for a new valve, price is an issue so top of the line might not be what I am looking for more bang for my buck with at least the auto return

 

[agvg]

Have this on my tractor splitter

http://www.princehyd.com/Products/Hydraulic-Valves/Mono-Block/Rapid-Extend-Log-Splitter

Works very well

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[JUDGE1162]

Looking at this Valve

Prince LSR-3060-3 Rapid Extend Log Splitter Valve

IS this a good valve? Is there a better one?

 

[muddstopper]

That valve is a regenerative type cv. How it works it recycles the return oil on the rod end of the cyl into the piston end of the cyl on extention. This will give it a little more speed as the cyl extends, with very little power. You will see no pressure change from low speed to high speed, but you will see a big drop in power. Once your pusher plate contacts the log, more power is needed to make the split and you have to manually move the control lever to shift the cv out of regenerative mode, into the slower, high power mode. The regent wont work at all on cyl retraction so you are stuck with the 8gpm your tractor provides. What this means to me is you can speed up the extention of your cyl for a few inches of travel and then you are no better off than you would be if you had a regular log splitter cv. The actual time saved might be 1 or 2 sec per split. Whether or not that one or two sec is worth it is entirely up to you. The auto return is certainly a upgrade over having to hold the control valve to retract cyl.

 

[agvg]

In my case it's quite time saving vs a std valve

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[4seasons]

Double check my numbers here but I believe that Prince regeneration valve is only rated to 5 gallons per minute. The way regeneration works you will only have the power of a cylinder the size of the rod. If your cylinder is like most and has a 2 inch rod in a 5, 4.5, or 4 inch cylinder with a standard 2500 psi you only have a little less than 4 tons of force. If you can push 3500 psi that gives 5 tons. So as you can imagine the high speed mode would only work on small wood and resplits from large round with straight grain. Forgot about running a 4 way wedge in high speed. If you happen to have a 3 inch rod you may find regeneration more useful as your tonnage goes up to 8 to 12 tons depending on psi. That would handle most straight grain wood unless it was huge or gum. Overall regeneration circuits tend to be over hyped but can work with the right set up. That Prince 3060 valve just is not high flow enough for practical application.

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[muddstopper]

Double check my numbers here but I believe that Prince regeneration valve is only rated to 5 gallons per minute. The way regeneration works you will only have the power of a cylinder the size of the rod. If your cylinder is like most and has a 2 inch rod in a 5, 4.5, or 4 inch cylinder with a standard 2500 psi you only have a little less than 4 tons of force. If you can push 3500 psi that gives 5 tons. So as you can imagine the high speed mode would only work on small wood and resplits from large round with straight grain. Forgot about running a 4 way wedge in high speed. If you happen to have a 3 inch rod you may find regeneration more useful as your tonnage goes up to 8 to 12 tons depending on psi. That would handle most straight grain wood unless it was huge or gum. Overall regeneration circuits tend to be over hyped but can work with the right set up. That Prince 3060 valve just is not high flow enough for practical application.

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He is connecting to a tractor with just 8.2gpm. He can control flow with engine speed to get that valve to work. I doubt he will ever get his tractor pressure up to the 3500 psi range.

 

[4seasons]

He is connecting to a tractor with just 8.2gpm. He can control flow with engine speed to get that valve to work. I doubt he will ever get his tractor pressure up to the 3500 psi range.

I have no idea what his tractor hydraulics can put out in PSI. I know my tractor won't put out anywhere near 3500 psi. That is why I gave both 2500 psi and 3500 psi ton ratings.
My point was that without either a large rod or a lot of psi a regeneration circuit doesn't have enough force to bust lots of rounds. Then add in the 5gpm flow rating and the prince rapid extension valve is a far cry from being rapid.

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[muddstopper]

I have no idea what his tractor hydraulics can put out in PSI. I know my tractor won't put out anywhere near 3500 psi. That is why I gave both 2500 psi and 3500 psi ton ratings.
My point was that without either a large rod or a lot of psi a regeneration circuit doesn't have enough force to bust lots of rounds. Then add in the 5gpm flow rating and the prince rapid extension valve is a far cry from being rapid.

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I agree. I think most older tractors are rated at 2250psi, but dont quote me on that. I once built a splitter using a gas engine that pretty much split anything I threw at it. I sold it to a guy that decided he wanted to run it off his tractor hyd. It wouldnt split anything after that and he sold it. Last year he bought a factory 3pt splitter (used bushhog brand) again using the tractor hyd. He was complaining to me how it wouldnt split even small stuff. I asked him if he had ever checked his hyd pressure on his tractor. Of course the answer was no. Well, without adequate pressure, he is never going to have good splitting force. To get good force, he will need to go with a bigger cyl, and doing so would slow the splitter down to a crawl. I suggested he forget the tractor hyd and 3pt splitter and convert it to a small gas engine and 2 stage pump, or go with a pto pump.

 

[kevin j]

Remember the Regen circuit only speeds up the cycle during the time

1. When it moves in free air, approaching the log, or
2. if the regen has enough force to stay in regen mode while splitting.

Since with a small rod, there won’t likely be enough force to split, #2 won’t likely happen.
That means the regen speeds up a lot, but only maybe 4 or 6 inches out of the entire stroke, and no change on return.
It is a good valve for use on the small single stage (2-3 gpm) pumps because they are much cheaper than two stage pumps. Only place I have seen them used is on small ones trying really hard to keep the cost way down.

For my own use, I would only consider a two stage pump. However, since you are stuck with the tractor capacity, it may make sense, but I think the valve may not work with that flow.

Another option is a separate regen valve (try Sun Hydraulics website) plumbed between valve and cylinder. That will automatically shift in and out of regen, so you don’t do it manually. Still no change on retract.
Sun regen valves will. Be expensive though. I’d guess manifold and a couple cartridges will be 200 and up, more if MSRP retail price.