build a splitter

[chainsawnut]

Hey guys I posted on the end of an old thread so will put this one up looking for more information.Firstly JJ thanks for pm and surplus centre email adress ,But I have had no replies so anyone got a street adress for them,I am situated in south australia,With the sled,I intend using I beam with the wedge at the opposite end to the ram.
What sort of clearance should the sled have on the beam.
I intend to use a 4 1/2 ram 18 inches long a 13 gpm pump and a 5 or6.5 engine.
There are lots of splitters here made in china around 1,500 dollars but I suffer from deep pocket short arm syndrome so DIY is the only way I will end up with a pump.
Here in oz a 2 stage 13gpm pump runs at close to 400 dollars so surplus centres prices look pretty good even with exchange rate and postage.
I have spent many days enjoying the many build it yourself posts this is a great place to visit cheers

 

[lostcause]

a little over a year ago i built a similar sized splitter. i used a 3-1/2"x18" cylinder. i designed it so that i had 19" between the wedge and the plate on the end of the cylinder. so far this has worked well. i used the remains of a slip-on 4-way wedge for my splitting wedge, and the angle causes most wood to pop apart long before the cylinder reaches maximum stroke. for the one or two odd pieces that are too twisted and stringy to split apart before the cylinder reaches the limit, i just leave it there and put another piece of wood on. the new piece pushes the first log the last inch to finish the split.

 

[chainsawnut]

thanks lostcause,does your pusher just float above the I beam or is it held down in some way.I gather yours rruns from tractor power,still have had no luck contacting surplus centre any one got any other reasonable priced suppliers in mind

 

[lostcause]

the angle that pushes the log toward the wedge is secured by guides along the toes of the flanges that are slightly thicker than the flange. another wider guide sandwiches the beam flange in so there can be nothing but a nominal amount of vertical movement. pay no attention to the missing bolt. i was one short when i put it together and i had the intention of getting one for it, but it hasn't happened yet. maybe i will when i paint it. i intended to do that once i had assembled and tested it, but we can see how that went too.

the thing to remember with this is that it isn't necessarily the exact way i would have designed it - it was designed around what i had for steel. i had two lengths of 4" beam to work with. one was about 3' long, the other about 1'. the two pieces are not even from the same original piece, and probably not even the same heat. they are the same shape: w4x13, and are within rolling specs (i assume) but the flanges are not parallel with each other and not quite the same thickness, width, or depth. this makes the splitter construction look a little poor when examined closely, but it was the nature of trying to splice two non-identical pieces.

i chose to put 1" plates in the middle (directly under the valve support) and on the ends to lengthen the beam, but i get the added bonus of a little flange stiffening.

the angle that pushes the log is a 4x6x3/4 x 6" long. ideally i would have had a 6" vertical leg, but i didn't have one. i've also been meaning to attach a 2" plate to the top of the 4" leg to make up for this, but that hasn't happened either. i also think i may drill 4 holes in the vertical leg of the angle and thread in bolts sharpened to a point to help hold the log in place. i have seen this on another homemade splitter and i like it compared to a weld build-up pattern.

i'll gladly answer any questions you may have or give you any insight you might want. one thing that i have noticed here is that most here who have splitters would not accept one as small as i did. i based my decision on the fact that while growing up my in the 70's and early 80's family had a standard 4x24 splitter on a 4" deep beam driven by a 3.5-5hp briggs motor. it split every size log imaginable, and for several family members each year. probably 15-35 cord per year. it was abused and broken occasionally, but not from use. rather from falling out of a truck or similar accidents. it is still partly in use by different family members now with various additions and repairs, but still the same cylinder, valve, and beam. i'm not sure about the pump and motor, but they may be partly original.

myself, i've never seen the need for these massive 35+ ton splitters sold today. i'm sure ours was rated 12-16 ton and did everything for a good sized family. maybe if splitting for commercial sale i might want bigger, but even then i'm not sure.

 

[lostcause]

oh yeah, one thing i will add... since cost is as much of an issue as quality to you, i'm going to give you the bad news that it will probably cost more to build one than it will to buy one. aside from metal, welding rods, and bolts, i have around $450 in mine: $200 for the cylinder, $100 for the valve, and $150 for hoses, fittings, and couplers. i did buy everything locally, so the prices were a little higher, but after factoring in shipping, not that much higher.

if you have to buy motor, pump, tank, valve, cylinder, hoses, fittings, wheels, and tires, you're probably close to the price of a purchased splitter already, not even including the metal. if you can find a damaged one for real cheap it's a great start, or if you have access to any sort of salvage yards where you can buy parts used, then it could turn out fairly cheap.

i think a complete 3ph tractor driven splitter similar in size to mine from northern was in the $600 range, plus $100 shipping and $100 for couplers and connecting hoses. if i had to putchase all the steel i probably would have been at the same price. i looked for the pieces i needed at scrap yards, but never found anything. maybe your luck will be better.

 

[49er]

This is another mounting option for the slide.
The sides come down past the top of the beam and solid bars bolt on which ride underneath the beam. I used UHMW plastic in the corners of the base of the slide for smooth movement.

 

[chainsawnut]

Thanks lost cause and 49er I appreciate your replies,I have a ram ,plenty of offcut steel 1 inch plate included,a box of hydraulic conectors some hoses from old hydraulic systems.I dont need a big splitter as I can no longer handle large logs
.When my dad passed away 2 years ago he left behind a machine shop ,milling machine slide shaper 3 lathes tool and cutter grinder large stick welder.and stacks of other stuff all 440 volt.
I now need to clear this all out for my mum who is 85 but I can keep whatever tools I want for myself or my sons,one is in the airforce studying plane maintainence,cant think of the proper term.
What I want to do is build something which will make my life easier before I start to part out his shed.
I also have a few honda motors available smoky but functional,I at 10 hp 1 at 6.5 I will use the smaller if I can no longer have the strength for cranking over the big one.
The 6.8 has a gear reduction box fitted can I remove this or just run the speed back up at the pump by using a larger pulley on the pump and belt drive.Pump and valve are way to dear down under so will try buy them in the usa. cheers and thanks for the support,due to financial restraints this thing will be built bit by bit

 

[chainsawnut]

Any clues as to wether I can remove the gear reduction gearbox from the honda engine,and still use the motor.Have not had any luck in getting email replies from surplus centre or northern maybe they dont ship abroad anymore.
But I tried 1 more email tonight.I received a reply from an ebay store that could supply a pump and valve butcould give me no info on what matched what and could not provide motor mounts couplings etc.His pumps only weighed 6pounds so I gather they would not be Hb pumps I think they weigh in at around 12. cheers

 

[49er]

Sorry, no clue here.

 

[jimmysisson]

Not sure about the gear reduction either, but I endorse the sharpened bolts for securing the log at the pusher. It's just a safety factor for those logs that are not cut square (who does that?) jumping off into your leg. A gnarly piece under full ram pressure has lots of power in it.
I only question the ram length, but if you already have the cylinder, that speaks louder. Good luck with your project, and moving all dad's HEAVY machinery!
Jim