Want to Build a Logsplitter

[Rubicon1]

Hey folks,

This is my 1st posting and I love your site. I was looking at building a logsplitter and wanted some advice. I was looking at a 22GPM Haldex 2-stage pump. I also found a Prince VALVE LS-3000-1. I was wondering if this combination would work with a 9HP Honda? Also, What size of cylinder should I get and what do you guys think the tonnage rating would come out to. I have no real idea on how all the calculations work and I know you guys are the experts. Thanks in advance for the advice!!!

 

[ericjeeper]

what cylinder are you planning on using?

And are you a damm good welder? If not forget it

 

[ray benson]

The 9 hp engine is undersized for the 22 gpm pump.
http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2007031119195960&item=9-4896&catname=hydraulic

 

[WoodTick007]

#1 You do NOT have to be a"DAMM GOOD WELDER"......anyone with decent to poor welding skills can build a logsplitter. Some people think welding is like splitting the atom, or sending a man to the moon....Its not. Just make sure that you grind the area your going to weld and you should have no problemos.

#2 With a 22gpm pump.....I would look at a 4' x 24" or 5 x 24" ram.... You will be very happy with the speed and power.

#3 Make sure you use a large hydraulic tank. I would consider a 20 gallon with a 22gpm pump.

#4 Make sure you select a strong H-Beam. Perhaps an 8" x 8" made of 1/2" steel.... should set you back about 100 smackers.

Good Luck and have fun with your project

 

[CaseyForrest]

First, Welcome.

OK, for a 22 GPM pump you need a min of 11 horse. I would go 13 just because the price difference between the two is neglible.

Im not sure if the Prince 3000 valve has the right size fittings to carry the volume of fluid your pump is going to put out. That is something you need to keep in mind when plumbing. Stay on the safe side and keep your fitting sizes above the min volume requirements. It will save on pressure loss and heat build-up.

As for cylinder size.....running a 22 gpm pump I would not go smaller than 3.5", and even at that your cycle times will be faster than you can feed the splitter. I forget the calculation to determine tonnage.....something like Diameter x 3.14 to figure the total area of your piston x the pressure you are running. EX: a 4" cylinder will have a total area on the piston of 12.56", x 2500 ( which is the standard pressure most splitters run) =31,400 pounds of splitting force. I built a splitter with a 4.5" cylinder and ran my 16 gpm pump at 3000 psi and the splitter was built with an 180 amp welder (Hobart 180). Eric is right, you really need to know how to weld, and where critical areas should be gussied up.

 

[CaseyForrest]

#1 You do NOT have to be a"DAMM GOOD WELDER"......anyone with decent to poor welding skills can build a logsplitter. Some people think welding is like splitting the atom, or sending a man to the moon....Its not. Just make sure that you grind the area your going to weld and you should have no problemos.

True, sort of. There arent many welders that the average homeowner will be willing to put the money out for that can correctly fuse 1/2" steel.

Not to many homeowners know the difference between Flux Cored wire and solid and why each has its place.

Its real easy to get a small welder and start sticking 12 gauge together and not have a failure. When you get into 3/16 and up, and you are in an application where extreme and sometimes viloent forces are being exerted on a joint...you really need to know how to correctly prep, clean, and fuse the joint.

EDIT: Unless you have a stick welder....

 

[STEELHEAD]

welders

There is a difference between strong welds, and good lookin welds ..My point is it might not be pretty but stronger than the pretty one,.To make a strong weld you got to have good penatration, not a pretty pattern,..

 

[CaseyForrest]

There is a difference between strong welds, and good lookin welds ..My point is it might not be pretty but stronger than the pretty one,.To make a strong weld you got to have good penatration, not a pretty pattern,..

Right on.

You also need to have some understanding of how much filler material you need based on the thickness of what you are welding together.

 

[flewism]

What?? , any $269 arch welder will kick out splitters all day. I'm sure if he is contemplating building his own splitter, he can, or has a buddy who will do it for him. Engine, pump, valve, cylinder, matching and finding then cheap enough to justify building, instead of buying a splitter.

 

[triptester]

Building a log splitter can be a great project but if you are trying to build a splitter to save money you need to have a lot of free or half priced components. A splitter made with all new parts will cost $500.00 more to build than to buy.
Basically with a 2-stage pump 1/2 hp. per gallon. 11gpm= 5.5hp.,16 gpm=8 hp.,22gpm =11hp., 22gpm=11 hp.these are min. hp.
A single stage pump will require 2hp. per gallon at 3000psi.

A good combination would 12hp. motor,22gpm 2-stage pump, 5"x24" cylinder. This will give you good speed and tonnage.

Attached is a link for free calculators.

http://www.baumhydraulics.com/calculators.htm

 

[sawinredneck]

This is where I come in. Unless you have more time, money and garage space than you know what to do with, dont do this!! Unless you can get most of you're parts for free/deeply discounted, and have a bunch of steel laying around really handy, DON'T DO THIS!! This seems to come up onc a month. $100 I-beam, $300-800 for a motor, $270 for the pump you are lookng at (and that motor is WAY TO SMALL) $75 minimum for the control valve, $150 up for the cylinder, a cage for the pump to mount to the engine, hoses, a resovoir, hyd. fluid, $100 plus for grinding wheels welding rod misc. Figure in a new grinder, cause you will buy and burn up a cheap one. Then a LOT and LOT more time getting it right!!!!
This is not something that happens in a weekend, and is not for the faint of heart!! Usually you can go buy one better and cheaper than you can build one!!! Watch the paper, my dad has picked them up for $500, deals are out there!

 

[WoodTick007]

I don't wanna Sound Like a Richard

Can I put it all into perspective....... Steel vs Wood. Steel's gonna win 99.9% of the time. A weld only needs to be stronger than wood fiber.... Correct? I am not a Rocket Scientist, but my splitter/steel/welds only need to be stronger than wood fiber... Anyone disagree?

If the guy makes a bad weld and it cracks or breaks....All he has to do is grind it out and re-weld it....Or he could just Crank up the power and weld over and thru it. :bang:

 

[Mr. Firewood]

This is where I come in. Unless you have more time, money and garage space than you know what to do with, dont do this!! Unless you can get most of you're parts for free/deeply discounted, and have a bunch of steel laying around really handy, DON'T DO THIS!! This seems to come up onc a month. $100 I-beam, $300-800 for a motor, $270 for the pump you are lookng at (and that motor is WAY TO SMALL) $75 minimum for the control valve, $150 up for the cylinder, a cage for the pump to mount to the engine, hoses, a resovoir, hyd. fluid, $100 plus for grinding wheels welding rod misc. Figure in a new grinder, cause you will buy and burn up a cheap one. Then a LOT and LOT more time getting it right!!!!
This is not something that happens in a weekend, and is not for the faint of heart!! Usually you can go buy one better and cheaper than you can build one!!! Watch the paper, my dad has picked them up for $500, deals are out there!

I just receintly built two for friends and I had less then $350 in each one, I bought 2 of those Chinese Honda 6.5 knockoff motors for $50 each at an auction and then I bought 2 3.5"x20" cylinders at surplus center for $100 each, I had the control valves already from a preious auction... I went to the local scrap yard and bought 12' of 12" H-beam for $100 and then 2 dodge caravan rear axles and wheels for $100 and then 2 12gpm single stage pumps off of ebay for $30 each.... the one has already split 2 cords of maple and the other has done a face-cord or so to test it out

but then again I love to weld and build stuff in my spare timeumpkin2:

 

[sawinredneck]

I just receintly built two for friends and I had less then $350 in each one, I bought 2 of those Chinese Honda 6.5 knockoff motors for $50 each at an auction and then I bought 2 3.5"x20" cylinders at surplus center for $100 each, I had the control valves already from a preious auction... I went to the local scrap yard and bought 12' of 12" H-beam for $100 and then 2 dodge caravan rear axles and wheels for $100 and then 2 12gpm single stage pumps off of ebay for $30 each.... the one has already split 2 cords of maple and the other has done a face-cord or so to test it out

but then again I love to weld and build stuff in my spare timeumpkin2:

But you and I aint right in the head to start with, and we have connections/know where to look for the deals!! Pretty much everything, other than the motor and pump, I got for free or managed to make money on them gettng them. But every day Joe isn't going to know where to look, much less want to put in the time hunting for them!

 

[SWI Don]

The only splitters you can build for less are the commercial style with log lifts / multiway wedges etc. Think Timberwolf and others that build $5K plus splitters. You can put together a $5K splitter for $2.5-3K.

That is not what most people are gunning for. If you are looking at a 22gpm pump you are already looking at building something in the commercial level as most (almost all) splitters you will see aimed at homeowners are 11 or 16 gpm pumps with 5-9hp engines depending on pump size. Most of them will be set up with 1/2" hose / tubing for pressure lines. As you work your way up the gpm levels you will need larger hoses 3/4" - 1" = $$ also your sump gets larger and your engine gets larger.

I have a 28 gpm setup on my splitter with an 18 hp engine. It works great, cycle time is roughly 5 sec each way with a 5" cylinder. It takes about 3 guys to keep it busy buy you can go through wood in a hurry. I could have bought most any Husky, Northstar, Iron & Oak, MTD, etc for less than I have in it. When I get the log lift and hydraulic multiway wedge on it will be that much more productive and I will finally come out ahead on the $$ anyway.

Don

 

[Gologit]

If you build your own splitter you'll :
1. Spend a lot of money
2. Spend a lot of time designing
and fabricating
3. Wind up with a machine that you know
everything about beause you put it all
together yourself.
4. Wind up with a machine that's just right
you.

If you buy a splitter you'll
1. Spend a lot of money
2. Spend a lot of time running
around doing comparison shopping
3. Wind up with a machine that you have to
learn everything about. This includes
the inevitable weak points.
4. Wind up with a machine that,while capable
of doing the work, may not be exactly what
you want.

Kind of like choosing between a steak and a TV dinner...both will fill you up but which would you really rather have?

 

[Patrick62]

Damn good welder?

You might think that 40,000 lbs of force is a bunch.
I have been involved in building 2 or 3 splitters now, and it isn't that difficult. In fact we almost considered using a home made wooden beam! It could work....

I actually had one wedge pushed off the beam. Clank. nothing more spectacular than that. welded it back on with 7018. Then when I wanted to upgrade to my changable wedge design I removed it, sort of. First I cut way deep into the welds, then I tried pushing it off with the ram. I blocks inn half sideways, busted a 1 inch press plate, smashed a brake rotor, and finally found a combination of available stuff that would stall the 5in cylinder!

It still held. :bang:

More cutting... grinder was smoking, eventually I pushed it off. This was AC7018 at 120A.... common welding. Plus I truly suck at welding. It ain't pretty like it should be, but rarely do things fall off.

If this fella is willing to do the work then I say go for it! Excellent project, and you get a chance to do it YOUR way:rockn:

I will eventually get pix of my latest modification, it is the cat's Meow to be able to swap wedges to suit what I am splitting. 2 way? 3 way? 4 way? The trickiest part is building a "socket" thru the beam. Once in, it actually is a stronger setup than simply sticking a wedge on a beam.

My 2 cents worth...
-pat

 

[Mr. Firewood]

But you and I aint right in the head to start with, and we have connections/know where to look for the deals!! Pretty much everything, other than the motor and pump, I got for free or managed to make money on them gettng them. But every day Joe isn't going to know where to look, much less want to put in the time hunting for them!

true dat bro!

 

[turnkey4099]

true dat bro!

It took me two years just to collect the parts for mine. I got almost all of them out of the company salvage yard. I worked for a company manufacturing fertilizer applicators togo with the fertilizer they sold, machines up to 90 ft with hydro wing ups to fold to roadable size. So even if you have access to scrounging, it takes awhile.

Most of my welding was done by the pro welders in the shop. Even then our first prototype failed by having the wedge push right out of the armature so, no, a good welding job doesn't come from joe blow just learning to weld.

Cost: Even scrounging you don't save all that much. Hydraulic fittings and hoses alone are spendy to put it mildly.

Harry K

 

[STEELHEAD]

THE can do attitude

I support the ,.I can do it attitude Often times survival is spelled 1 dollar at a time,.1000.00 dollors is a big stroke when yur bringin up a family,.I wood"nt change thoes times for nutin,..E, J,