Log Splitter Problems

   / Log Splitter Problems #1  

micromike

Silver Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2002
Messages
163
Location
Deep Creek Lake Maryland
Tractor
None In decision Mode
Well I went and picked up my log splitter from a "buddy" I loaned it to last fall. I've asked him to return it several times but I've heard "I've been meanin to do that" one to many times. Grrr. I guess I figured out why he hasn't returned it. It doesn't work!

The shaft will move in and out but there is not enough pressure to split a log. I called him and asked him if he had had any problems and he told me that the filter (looks like an auto oil filter) had collapsed. Sucked the metal casing together he said. He replaced it but didn't use it after that. Right.

Has anyone ever had this happen or know what might cause it? This is a 25 ton cylinder 8 HP stand alone towable type from Lowes. It worked great up until I loaned it out.

How can I tell if it's the hydrolic pump vs. the cylinder that is bad?

Unfortunatly I don't have any literature on the splitter. I bought it used (one year old and used very little) from another buddy who's house burnt down and he needed money badly.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Mike
 
   / Log Splitter Problems #2  
Not to sound stupid, but if the filter did that, It may have also pissed out all of the oil. Is it full? Have you run it yet? Maby it just needs to be topped up, and bled. [I know, not likely, but sometimes its the easy stuff./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif] What was he spliting, rocks?
 
   / Log Splitter Problems
  • Thread Starter
#3  
2ll20

Thanks for the response. I thought of those too. It's full of oil. I looked for some way to bleed it but I can't find any obvious way, no fitting. I thought about cracking one of the pressure lines and did crack the low pressure side. Didn't help. Didn't know if I should creack a fitting on the high pressure side or not. I had visions of a several thousand pound pin hole size stream shooting out and injecting me with hydrolic fluid.

Now that I said that I guess I could crack the fitting and THEN start the motor, lol. I'll have to try that. Any other thoughts are welcome.

Mick
 
   / Log Splitter Problems #4  
Is the screen in the reservoir plugged up?
 
   / Log Splitter Problems #5  
Since you say the piston moves but doesn't develope pressure, it sounds like the pump is being deprived of sufficient oil to develope pressure.
First thing I'd look at is did he replace with the correct oil filter.
If the filter is correct, check for a collapsed suction line from the filter to the pump.
 
   / Log Splitter Problems #6  
The seals could be gone in the cylinder. I had a dump trailer one time with a Harsh scissor lift. I went through four twelve volt pumps I'd gotten here and there and none of them would lift it under load. I even hooked it up to my Little Beaver hydraulic auger power source with the same results.

It would lift like it should empty. But five to six hundred pounds in the bed and the puppy would just move a little bit and that was it. A bud who had a hydraulic repair shop assured me the problem was the pump and that the cylinder was fine.

I ordered out a new unit from Harsh, twelve volt pump and resevoir. Same results and so they shipped me another before I even sent theirs back, great company to do business with btw. Same thing happened. So I took the cylinder over to bud and told him to rebuild it, period. When he did he told me the unheard of had happened. Some seals inside had let go and under pressure everything was bypassing. The thing works like a champ now. Of course that was after weeks of messing with it now and then along with probably sixty or seventy cubic yards of bad words if you took the time to stack them just right.

So it could be a weak cylinder but I would try to test it first. If your tractor has auxillary hydraulics you might attach to it and try operating the cylinder off the tractor to see how it works. If it works fine off the tractor then it is in the pump. I do know that some of the pumps have means to adjust the pressure. That might have vibrated or worked so that the pressure is down to where it won't exert pressure.

If you do attempt to use the hydraulic source on your tractor do a check. I believe it should be around fifteen hundred psi where I believe most of the stuff like your splitter run like twenty five hundred psi. It'll be in the manuals. If that is what it is then you shouldn't be in any danger physically doing the switch. The other thing to check is the oils being compatible. My tractor uses motor oil for it's hydraulic system.
 
   / Log Splitter Problems #7  
I assume the filter you are talking about is in the suction line since this would be the only line I could see the filter collapsing in.
If this the case the pump may have been deprived of oil for some time. If it was the pump may be burnt up from running without the cooling and lubricating effect of the hydraulic fluid.
Best way to find out would be to put a pressure gauge on the pump and stop the guesswork.
 
   / Log Splitter Problems #8  
mike
If there is a rubber hose between tank and filter, the hose may be pinched or the inside liner of hose could have collapsed. Both of these could cause same problem.
 
   / Log Splitter Problems
  • Thread Starter
#9  
Hey guys, all good suggestions. Thanks. I checked the lines and they all look in good shape, not pinched and still very plyable. Heck, the splitter is only three years old, splitt about 30 cords and stored inside. It looks practically new, but if it was abused.... who knows what the internals are like. I guess I need to get a hydrolic pressure gauge and try that route first. I'll let you know if I get stuck. Thanks again.

Mike
 
   / Log Splitter Problems #10  
By the sounds of this guy, he may or may not be telling you the truth. He could have punctured the filter with a hole and ran the system dry and ruined the pump. Does the fluid smell burnt? Like the other mention install a pressure gauge and see what is going on. The gauge would be handy to have in the future for reference while splitting or with diagnosis.

I'm sure he won't get very much lent to him from you in the future. I'm usually very **** when I borrow stuff. I baby it, clean, fuel it, basically return it in as good as shape when I got it or slightlt better. The only problem is people beg me to borrow their stuff /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif!
 
 
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