Welding a log splitter piston

[Karrl]

Has anyone successfully welded the end back on a log splitter piston. Through a combination of a sloppy pushblock and someone trying to split something they shouldn’t have we have ended up with the end broken off. I’m guessing it can’t be welded properly because of hardening and heat treating but I’m not an expert. Anyone know any good places to buy a replacement piston? It needs a seal kit either way so taking it apart first is an option.

 

[triptester]

I have shortened three cylinders and welded the rear cap back on. The caps had to be carefully removed to retain the shoulder that inserts into the barrel. Also kept a wet rag on the cylinder to attempt to protect the chromed inside of the cylinder from the welding heat. None have failed.

 

[muddstopper]

Has anyone successfully welded the end back on a log splitter piston. Through a combination of a sloppy pushblock and someone trying to split something they shouldn’t have we have ended up with the end broken off. I’m guessing it can’t be welded properly because of hardening and heat treating but I’m not an expert. Anyone know any good places to buy a replacement piston? It needs a seal kit either way so taking it apart first is an option.

Are you trying to say the end of the cyl barrel or the actual piston itself. I doubt you will weld the piston. It has to be a exact size and is a machined part. Welding with out benefit of a lathe just wouldnt work. If you are talking about rewelding the end back on the barrel, that is something a competent welder should be able to do.

 

[Karrl]

So, my dad called in a favor and by 3 o clock we were back in business. It was the end of the piston where it’s machined down to fit in the push block. I’ll try to get pictures at some point. The guy who fixed it used to do structural welding so it should be good.

 

[Captain Bruce]

Can anything be welded?

Of course, next question...............

 

[morewood]

Same thing happened to a used Timberwolf TW-3HD we bought. The break was ground back clean and opened up so that the weld penetrate. Hasn't failed us yet over three years. The stroke is about an inch shorter, but that hasn't stopped me.

Shea

 

[Captain Bruce]

Same thing happened to a used Timberwolf TW-3HD we bought. The break was ground back clean and opened up so that the weld penetrate. Hasn't failed us yet over three years. The stroke is about an inch shorter, but that hasn't stopped me.

Shea

Shortened stroke is irrelevant as long it splits. The log doesn't know.....good job morewood.

 

[lwmibc]

That seems to have been solved, but for another 2 cents--

Last year I wanted to make a hydraulic top link for one of my tractors but the cheap Craigslist cylinder I got had a piston rod a couple of inches too long and of course the wrong end; I cut the piston rod off and welded on the category 1 three point hitch swivel-ball end and two seasons later with 500 lb implements on it, it's fine. I just protect the chrome of the rod with a wet rag wrapped around the piston rod a couple of inches away from the weld. A little bit of preheat of the piston rod with a torch immediately before welding helps a lot; my more-experienced neighbour told me that anything an inch and over needs preheat before welding.

I also bought a 33,000 lb excavator a dozen or so years ago that had a leaking piston rod seal on the 5" stick cylinder that I couldn't get off; took it to the best hydraulics repair shop locally and had them try. With 120,000 ft-lb of torque they couldn't get it off either, so the solution was to cut the end of the barrel off and slit it to pop the threads, recover the end cap, throw away the cut off section and weld a new 6" length of the same 5" barrel pipe to the end of the cylinder, thread it and clean up the inside on a lathe and give it back to me to reassemble. Again, totally successful if a bit costly; that had to be over a decade ago and it's been working ever since.

So there's a bit of personal experience of what can be accomplished with welding hydraulic cylinders if that helps anyone. Just like Captain Bruce said--'of course; next question?'

 

[Captain Bruce]

Work is not for every guy. Splitting wood....well thats like mowing the lawn. When it gets to a skill-set that includes welding your stuff, having heavy equip't is just a part of that process. Not sure if the original poster is a homeowner.......but there is nothing more satisfying, than taking equip't BACK into the wood lot, next day, because you fixed it after supper.........wheres that beer fridge, next to the wood burner, and across from the saw bench.....

 

[northmanlogging]

Has anyone successfully welded the end back on a log splitter piston. Through a combination of a sloppy pushblock and someone trying to split something they shouldn’t have we have ended up with the end broken off. I’m guessing it can’t be welded properly because of hardening and heat treating but I’m not an expert. Anyone know any good places to buy a replacement piston? It needs a seal kit either way so taking it apart first is an option.

Day late as always...

Hydraulic cylinders can generally readily be welded, (how do you think they built them?) You just have to be a little careful, make sure any of the seals and rings are well away from the heat, and do your best to get alllll of the oil away from the area to be welded. A little bit of preheat helps too.

I've personally welded both blade cylinders on my skidder, the jib cylinder on my log loader, the thumb on my excavator, and helped weld several thumb cylinders on other folks excavators.

and the rod on my skidders articulation cylinder has been welding, ground and rechromed (hydraulic cylinders are not steps, especially while wearing calked boots...)

 

[chipper1]

Same thing happened to a used Timberwolf TW-3HD we bought. The break was ground back clean and opened up so that the weld penetrate. Hasn't failed us yet over three years. The stroke is about an inch shorter, but that hasn't stopped me.

Shea

Pretty sure I remember that one. I think I've seen it happen in a video on YouTube too, they were trying to shorten the stroke with a device that was going to stop the rod on the way back, didn't work as they had hoped.

 

[Captain Bruce]

Day late as always...

Hydraulic cylinders can generally readily be welded, (how do you think they built them?) You just have to be a little careful, make sure any of the seals and rings are well away from the heat, and do your best to get alllll of the oil away from the area to be welded. A little bit of preheat helps too.

I've personally welded both blade cylinders on my skidder, the jib cylinder on my log loader, the thumb on my excavator, and helped weld several thumb cylinders on other folks excavators.

and the rod on my skidders articulation cylinder has been welding, ground and rechromed (hydraulic cylinders are not steps, especially while wearing calked boots...)

Thats the skillset I enjoy! How about some photos?

 

[Karrl]

I know the cylinders are weldable, I just wasn’t sure if the pistons were heat treated or anything that would require extra steps. You can weld cast iron but if you don’t do it right it won’t last.

We already welded a different piston on the splitter for the 4 way but that broke. That was done in one pass on a mug. This most recent fix has multiple passes and was done with 7018 so thats as good as it’ll get. I’ll get pictures later so there’s a reference point in case someone else has this issue.

 

[Karrl]

It broke right off where it’s machined down. No loss of stroke with the piston, which is nice. Initially I was looking at it from a worst case scenario but I’m happy I was wrong.
I appreciate everyone’s info here. It’s nice having this out of the way so I can get back to mowing my lawn

 

[muddstopper]

So you actually broke the end off the cyl rod and not the piston. Weld will hold in most cases. Lots of cyl have the rod eye welded from factory.

 

[kevin j]

I don’t mean to sound like a ****, but you’re talking about the ROD. The piston is inside the cylinder tube and moves back-and-forth with the seals on it. The whole thing is a cylinder. It bugs me when people talk about the ‘ram’ when they mean cylinder. , a ram is one type of cylinder that only has one hose on it and doesn’t have a piston seal it’s just sealed at the rod, like old style snowplow angle cylinders. Single acting, and extend only, and retract by gravity force
Preheat is your friend.
Rod material is typically induction hardened and then chrome plated. the cheap cylinder threads are machined onto the rod. industrial cylinders typically the threads are a high strength hardened stud that screws into female threads in the end of the rod. In those cases, the rod end can be heated to break the Loctite, and the broken off portion can typically be unscrewed and replaced.
Sounds like it all worked out

 

[cumminstinkerer]

@kevin j I agree with you completely, I don't mean to sound like an a** either, but it would be very helpful if when dealing with cylinder questions people would use the correct terms, I am sure that there is something on the net that has it but if I can find my hydraulics book from when I went to diesel tech school I will try to post s a couple pages from it that show the different types of cylinders and component layout of each.