Wood splitter Hydraulic pump quit

[mx842]

Is it just me or is anyone else that's gets peeved when you buy something and it gives up before something is broke in good. I built this splitter a couple years ago and although I have split a lot of wood with it but yesterday while splitting wood and about maybe 45 minutes in the cylinder stopped about mid-way through a stroke just like someone cut a switch off. No noise just quit pumping. At first, I thought it was just low on oil but that wasn't the case. I pondered it over a cold beer for, well maybe two beers worth and I came to the conclusion that something had broken in the pump.
I went in and ordered a new pump from Surplus Center and a rebuild kit to try and rebuild the old one to use as a spare. I went back out and commenced to take the old one off I found the problem as soon as I pulled the pump free of the Love Joy connector as the pump shaft stayed with the coupler. I ran back in to see if I could cancel the kit order which they did because it had not been all the way processed yet. The first splitter I built dang near 40 years ago still had the same motor, valve, pump and cylinder on it the day I decommissioned her. The old BS motor is still going on my son's rototiller, the valve, cylinder, and motor I gave to my youngest son for his old splitter and it's still splitting wood as good as ever. I bought all those parts from Northern Hydraulics many years ago and it's a testament to just how things have changed over the years. You can hardly buy anything now days that is made to last, you just use it for a while then throw it away and buy another piece of junk that will last who knows how long.
I bought two of those MTE pumps one I put on a friend's splitter and this one I had on mine and both of them quit way before they should. Sadly, that's about all any of the places you buy this stuff from even offers anymore accept the cheap China stuff. The one I just bought was a Dynamic 16 GPM pump and hopefully I can get it on good before it flies apart. End of rant.........

 

[dodge man]

I often think the same thing, why did it break, it’s not that old. Then I think back and something I just bought is really twenty years old.

 

[oldnslo]

MTE is made in Rockford, Illinois so not Chinese.

Where did the shaft break? If you take it apart curious if one of the gear sets broke causing shaft to break.

 

[mx842]

I often think the same thing, why did it break, it’s not that old. Then I think back and something I just bought is really twenty years old.

Yeah, I know what you mean time does fly by. When I was talking to Surplus Center the guy looked it up and told me I had bought 3 pumps from them, one in 2019 and two in 2022. One of the ones in 2022 was for a friend of mine that I replaced on his splitter. The one in 2019 is one that I replaced on another beater splitter I was using while I was working on my new splitter. The other one from 2022 was the one that just broke.

 

[mx842]

MTE is made in Rockford, Illinois so not Chinese.

Where did the shaft break? If you take it apart curious if one of the gear sets broke causing shaft to break.

I haven't taken it apart yet but just judging the length that came out I would say it broke right where the high and low flow gear sets are. When it happened there was no noise, no jolt like something got jammed up. It did it right at the farthest end of the out stroke. I don't think that pump ever worked right, the transition between hi and low flow always was slow. Sometimes it would take 20/30 seconds to start pumping again and it always seemed to have a rather strange noise it would make at high RPM's. It wasn't a rattle or grinding noise just a type of harmonic rhythm type noise. I asked them about it and they said the noise was normal but blamed the slow shift on my control valve that I had bought from Dalton in Tenn. Of course, when I called them, they blamed it on the pump. Imagine that.....

 

[WranglerX]

Maybe time to try a different brand pump.... I got a really old pump on my 1990 DUERR splitter and I have a name plate on pump but manufacturer does not even come up in i-net searches....

 

[oldnslo]

I haven't taken it apart yet but just judging the length that came out I would say it broke right where the high and low flow gear sets are. When it happened there was no noise, no jolt like something got jammed up. It did it right at the farthest end of the out stroke. I don't think that pump ever worked right, the transition between hi and low flow always was slow. Sometimes it would take 20/30 seconds to start pumping again and it always seemed to have a rather strange noise it would make at high RPM's. It wasn't a rattle or grinding noise just a type of harmonic rhythm type noise. I asked them about it and they said the noise was normal but blamed the slow shift on my control valve that I had bought from Dalton in Tenn. Of course, when I called them, they blamed it on the pump. Imagine that.....

I workef at MTE 45 years ago and they were a decent product then. Not sure if quality has gone to heck since original owners and company founders are gone and 3rd generation silver spoons are running the show.

Used to be Fenner Stone in Rockford also made splitter pumps but they where purchased by OMC power team and have no clue what they build today.

Haldex Barnes was another company that made gear pumps in Rockford but they have also been purchased and I am not sure what products they build today.

 

[mx842]

MTE is made in Rockford, Illinois so not Chinese.

Where did the shaft break? If you take it apart curious if one of the gear sets broke causing shaft to break.

I pulled it apart yesterday and it broke right at the main drive gear. There was a small C clip laying there. Nothing looked banged up and all the gears turned smoothly. As I said this thing never shifted like it should have. I've never been too fond of pumps that you can't adjust the pressures on but that was all they had at the time, and I wanted to get rolling.
It seemed at the time they were pushing these pumps right hard. They had Dynamic pumps in their book, but they were never in stock, the same with Dalton in Tenn.

 

[mx842]

I workef at MTE 45 years ago and they were a decent product then. Not sure if quality has gone to heck since original owners and company founders are gone and 3rd generation silver spoons are running the show.

Used to be Fenner Stone in Rockford also made splitter pumps but they where purchased by OMC power team and have no clue what they build today.

Haldex Barnes was another company that made gear pumps in Rockford but they have also been purchased and I am not sure what products they build today.

Yeah, All I used back in the day was Haldex Barns. They were bullet proof then. Anytime you can get 40 years out of something like a hydraulic pump they were doing something right. It's hard to find anyone that carries them anymore. I used to get them from Agri Supply, but they started pushing the cheaper stuff. I think Northern Hydraulics still carries them though.

 

[mx842]

Maybe time to try a different brand pump.... I got a really old pump on my 1990 DUERR splitter and I have a name plate on pump but manufacturer does not even come up in i-net searches....

This time I bought A Dynamic pump. I don't know how it will hold up but at least you can adjust the pressures. If this one poops out sooner than it should I'll probably just go the Amazon and get one of those cheap aluminum bodied pumps for $75.00 or so and just throw it away every couple years and get a new one. I've looked at them, and they have good and bad reviews. The ones that people complain about most of the time quit working pretty quickly and most of them have some kind of a warranty that is good for a short period of time.