3-Point Hitch Anyone with a 3pt log splitter on a ck20

natem · Jan 1, 2008

I was going to order a 3pt log splitter from northern tool, but as i looked at it closer they recommend a 11gpm hydro flow. I was sad to find that my ck20s has about 7.5gpm. Do you think that it will still work it just wont go as fast?? If anyone has one hooked up to a ck20 i would love to hear what your setup is and how it is working for you.

IslandTractor · Jan 1, 2008

natem said:
I was going to order a 3pt log splitter from northern tool, but as i looked at it closer they recommend a 11gpm hydro flow. I was sad to find that my ck20s has about 7.5gpm. Do you think that it will still work it just wont go as fast?? If anyone has one hooked up to a ck20 i would love to hear what your setup is and how it is working for you.

I never hooked one up to my CK20 but I think you are correct that the only issue would be slower performance. Do you have rear remotes? If so it should be a trivial matter to hook it up.

natem · Jan 2, 2008

yes, I do have the rear remotes.

Highbeam · Jan 2, 2008

Should just be slower.

Question for all: To get the 7.5 GPM does the tractor need to be at full rated RPM? I wouldn't want the tractor be screaming all day long while I split wood.

I vote for a stand alone splitter with its own engine.

glmf · Jan 2, 2008

I have a splitter on my ck20. I built it myself so not sure of the hydraulic flow requirements but it works fine. It has a 4" X 24" cylinder and the speed is fine, and as Highbeam asked, I am running the engine around 2400 rpm. It seems quieter than an 8hp gas engine anyway and certainly uses less fuel. I just and tired of keeping motors running around here with my cylinder count way up there. Plus I like the ability to lower the splitter to the ground for the big pieces and raise it to whatever height I like when the production starts. Good luck

IslandTractor · Jan 2, 2008

If an 8hp gas engine can efficiently drive a log splitter, why should you need to run a 21hp diesel at PTO speeds to do the same. Seems to me that with the appropriate sized cylinder you could run a log splitter from a CK20 at 1500rpm or so without any trouble. That rpm will give a lot of power. 1500rpm is where I used to set the throttle when using the backhoe and it was very effective. I hate having lots of gas engines around to maintain when I could run a hydraulic device of the tractor PTO.

laurencen · Jan 3, 2008

just my ideas, I am building a log splitter, plan using a 4 inch cylinder 24 stroke so 12.5 sq inches area and roughly 300 cu inches at full stroke or 1.3 gallons, the CK20 will split logs 6 logs at full stroke and I figure when running half throttle and 1/4 stroke it will split faster than I can put them in and stack, my best guess is easily one log average 5 seconds, for me this will be fast, maybe not comercial but good enough to heat the cabin

Slacker · Jan 3, 2008

My tractor has 8.1gpm flow for implements and I run a Northern Fool splitter no problem. I always run the tractor lower than 540rpm, anything faster seems like a waste. It's plenty fast on stroke speed for my uses. I've got A PTO pump for BH also, so if I ever get the need for more speed I'll just switch pumps.

glmf · Jan 3, 2008

IslandTractor said:
If an 8hp gas engine can efficiently drive a log splitter, why should you need to run a 21hp diesel at PTO speeds to do the same. Seems to me that with the appropriate sized cylinder you could run a log splitter from a CK20 at 1500rpm or so without any trouble. That rpm will give a lot of power. 1500rpm is where I used to set the throttle when using the backhoe and it was very effective. I hate having lots of gas engines around to maintain when I could run a hydraulic device of the tractor PTO.

Your right Island, but when I have two helpers, I need to get things going so to speak! If your alone, the lower speeds will be fine. And I agree as well to the backhoe, that works fine around 1500RPM. But have found the need for speed on the splitter, and this year I am going to try a Prince 11gpm pto pump and get the engine speed down some,,,,

Highbeam · Jan 4, 2008

With that big herkin PTO pump don't you need to have a hydraulic reservoir? The 3pt splitters that I've seen don't have a reservoir the PTO bakhoes usually incorporate the reservoir into the frame.

With the PTO pump route on our Kiotis a guy could select the 1000 rpm PTO setting and then set the RPMs much lower than PTO 540.