Splitter failures

[triptester]

Since I first joined this forum I have read 100's of thread about splitters. There has been many discussions about the different types of splitters, their power, speed,and quality. Opinions have varied greatly when comparing one against the other and I realize one splitter does not fit all. Each one of us often has different views of what works best. It's the old Ford, Chevy, Dodge argument.

What I would like to hear is what failures have people actually experienced with different brands of splitters. I want to hear about actual failures not opinions.



jerry

 

[Booshcat]

First Person Experience Please,

Sh#t, the hearsay could go on into the next milennium.....

 

[mga]

i built my own, so if i have a failure, it would be one of two things:

a poor design on my part

or, a bought part failure.

so far, after splitting tons of wood, the only thing that failed was my engine to pump coupler, which is now fixed.

 

[skid row]

i built my own, so if i have a failure, it would be one of two things:

a poor design on my part

or, a bought part failure.

so far, after splitting tons of wood, the only thing that failed was my engine to pump coupler, which is now fixed.

What fix did you end up doing with the pump coupler?

 

[eric_271]

i built my own, so if i have a failure, it would be one of two things:

a poor design on my part

or, a bought part failure.

so far, after splitting tons of wood, the only thing that failed was my engine to pump coupler, which is now fixed.

Same here but no failure unless the bad twist counts that the beam would get under heavy pressure. I never liked that but it never broke. I took that into account be for I built the second splitter. The beam on the first one had a tall web, about 12'' if I remember right and 8'' flanges. I thought the web was the problem and as it turned out I was right. The second splitter has 8'' flanges and 8'' web with no noticeable twist even in hard wood and its 34 ton compared to 22 ton on the first splitter.

 

[mga]

What fix did you end up doing with the pump coupler?

i bought two of the same type. i also spent a little more time checking the alignment between shafts and made a slight adjustment. used a rubber spider between.

split about a cord of ash today and the couplers are perfect.

i think i ran into trouble when i changed from the 18hp briggs to the 12.5 hp kohler. i probably didn't have the engine mounted perfectly to the pump. all appears well now.

 

[mga]

Same here but no failure unless the bad twist counts that the beam would get under heavy pressure. I never liked that but it never broke. I took that into account be for I built the second splitter. The beam on the first one had a tall web, about 12'' if I remember right and 8'' flanges. I thought the web was the problem and as it turned out I was right. The second splitter has 8'' flanges and 8'' web with no noticeable twist even in hard wood and its 34 ton compared to 22 ton on the first splitter.

on some special tuff pieces, when the wood is stringy and knotty, i see the same slight "twist" action on mine. so far, nothing has gave way, even with the most stubborn logs.

maybe someday i might stiffen up the H beam in that section.

 

[cjk]

The engine on the old JD splitter I am using threw a rod thru the crankcase due to lack of oil before I got it.

 

[skid row]

i bought two of the same type. i also spent a little more time checking the alignment between shafts and made a slight adjustment. used a rubber spider between.

split about a cord of ash today and they couplers are perfect.

i think i ran into trouble when i changed from the 18hp briggs to the 12.5 hp kohler. i probably didn't have the engine mounted perfectly to the pump. all appears well now.

All it takes is a little out of alignment and the coupling insert is trashed.

Glad to hear your splitter is up and running.

 

[mga]

All it takes is a little out of alignment and the coupling insert is trashed.

Glad to hear your splitter is up and running.

yea...me too!! lol...my son and i are going to be cutting up more ash tomorrow. there are 5 huge trees that blew down and the owner just wants them out. naturally, i'll oblige him.

the splitter sure beats swinging a wedge. i used to split everything by hand, but, man, that gets old after a while. (or, is it me?)

 

[drmiller100]

built my own. hose leaks, had the return line come undone, had the ears on my 4 way break off, bend off.

originally i had a piece of grader blade as my knife. it broke after about 20 cords. wrong material - couldn't stand the shocks and twisting.

had some welds come loose. all my fault as i'm the builder.

 

[skid row]

yea...me too!! lol...my son and i are going to be cutting up more ash tomorrow. there are 5 huge trees that blew down and the owner just wants them out. naturally, i'll oblige him.

the splitter sure beats swinging a wedge. i used to split everything by hand, but, man, that gets old after a while. (or, is it me?)

Sounds great. Boy that ash splits so nice. Have fun.:greenchainsaw:

 

[triptester]

I have built four splitters all of the same style but because I used recycled materials changes had to be made. I used H-beams, channel, and rectangular tube. Each had different characteristics which required design changes due to failures.
I am glad to hear that those who build their own are willing to admit their mistakes. Keep them coming we can all learn from each other.

When I started this thread I was hoping to hear about store bought splitter failures. This would give future buyers facts rather than opinions.


jerry

 

[woodfarmer]

how long should the seal on the ram last under normal conditions

 

[triptester]

The seals should last for years. Dirt or scratches on the shaft can cause early failure of shaft seals. Contaminated fluid can damage interior seals. Cylinders that are rigidly mounted will cause early wear on seals if the shaft is not kept in perfect alignment during it's full stroke. This is one of the reasons there is a pivot at both ends of a cylinder.

 

[cmetalbend]

One of the first one's I built didn't have a big enough return line from the filter to the resivoir, most units the filter is mounted to the res, however on mine it wasn't and the pump pushed enough pressure into the filter where it couldn't escape fast enough. The result was a balloned filter, I cought it before it exploded. And of course an few broken spider units in the coupler, but I will say that the love joy coupler was only rated at 10-12hp and I am pushing 16hp, so really what can I expect?

 

[skid row]

Had bypass valve failure in the filter head.