Engine and pump sizing for wood splitter

[LD1]

Time wise, factor how many times you would need to cycle the splitter to make a cord of wood.

For me, I have found that 400+/- pieces of wood are a cord based on the size I split.

Now some of them dont need split, and some of them yield 2 pieces for each cycle of the splitter. But I figure a fair average is 200-250 splitter cycles for a cord.

Dads splitter is 16 seconds, mine is 8. I cannot split twice as fast with mine, because there are alot of times I dont have to wait on the retract even with his slower splitter as I am grabbing another piece of wood. And rarely do you need to do a full cycle as well.

But figure if you can pick up 2 or 3 seconds per cycle, thats 10-minutes per cord. Not much, but when you split 20 cord a year, and sell wood, time is money and it adds up. I'd guess an average cord of wood takes me ~1hr to split with dads splitter, and ~45 minutes with mine.

 

[4570Man]

He is using a 4" bore cylinder not the more typical 5". 11 GPM on a 4" cylinder is pretty fast.

 

[escavader]

I'm building a faster splitter just cause I want to.when you start looking at the bigger pumps you also need a bigger hydraulic tank just FYI .im building mine right into the I beam on the splitter trying for at least 10 gallons.and I'm using a vertical shaft riding mower engine this time

 

[MossRoad]

I'm using my in-law's 30 year old splitter. Its got a 5hp briggs and the typical 24 x 4 cylinder. It works just fine, but can seem a bit slow, but in reality, when I bring a load of wood home, I dump them off the end of the trailer. I park the splitter next to the pile, turn one round on end for a seat and start splitting. As they split apart, I hit the retract and drop in the next piece as soon as the ram gets back far enough. I have to wait 2-3 seconds for that on 16" pieces. 2-3 seconds doesn't seem like much, but as others said, you do several hundred pieces and it adds up. For me, I use about 24 pieces of firewood per day when its cold.

24 pieces times 30 days = 720 pieces
720 pieces times and additional 3 seconds per pieces = 2160 seconds
2160 seconds divided by 60 seconds per minute = 36 minutes per month of heavy wood usage for me.
36 minutes times 4 months of heavy usage = 144 minutes
18 minutes times 2 months of lighter usage = 72 minutes.
144 minutes plus 72 minutes = 216 minutes, or about 3.6 hours more for the year VS a faster splitter.

Sometimes its nice to rest between pieces and sometimes I'm in a hurry and its annoying. But the splittter is free to me, I have the time, I'm not doing it for commercial sales, etc....

With that said, if I was building a splitter from scratch and had nothing to begin with, I'd go for a faster unit. If I already had smaller/slower components, I'd think about selling or swapping them for faster components.

 

[jcook5003]

Lots of valid points here. I guess maybe I'll shop around for a larger engine. If I find a deal before I start the build I'll upgrade and order the appropriate pump. If not. Slow and steady wins the race for me with the smaller Honda in already own.

Next question. Vertical shafts engines....how are you guys mounting them. I've got some ideas but always open for more.

 

[jcook5003]

He is using a 4" bore cylinder not the more typical 5". 11 GPM on a 4" cylinder is pretty fast.

Any reason to use a 5" over a 4"? Both seem sufficient for the intended use. 4" is readily available locally is why I decided on that size.

 

[4570Man]

I wouldn't turn down a faster cycle time, but I'm happy with mine. It is 13 seconds and I hardly ever have to wait on it. I would use the Honda motor you already have. My Grandpa has a ragged out Kubota G5500 lawn tractor which has a 16.5 hp Diesel engine. I want to use it for a parts donor to build a self propelled splitter with about 20 GPM pump.

 

[4570Man]

Any reason to use a 5" over a 4"? Both seem sufficient for the intended use. 4" is readily available locally is why I decided on that size.

At 2500 psi a 4" bore cylinder will push 31,000 pounds. A 5" cylinder at 2500 psi will push 49,000 pounds. The 5" cylinder will cost more, but you are only paying for that once. The major advantage to a smaller cylinder is with the same GPM it will cycle faster than the larger cylinder.

 

[triptester]

Lots of valid points here. I guess maybe I'll shop around for a larger engine. If I find a deal before I start the build I'll upgrade and order the appropriate pump. If not. Slow and steady wins the race for me with the smaller Honda in already own.

Next question. Vertical shafts engines....how are you guys mounting them. I've got some ideas but always open for more.

Pump mounts are are available for most horizontal shaft engines. For vertical shaft engines generaly require a custom pump mount.

 

[handirifle]

I too, would use what you have, unless you really need the speed (commercial?). I also have a 15hp vertical shaft riding mower engine that I plan someday to build a heavy duty splitter with, but that is down the road a bit. In the meantime I have a Honda 5hp with a 11gpm pump and 4x24 cylinder. It has done everything I can ask of it so far, and that includes occasional cross splitting. I also have a 5 gallon tank for fluid. Plan on getting at least a 10 gallon, as mentioned above.

Unless you really need the speed now, MossRoad had a lot of good points.

My plan for my upgrade, is when I "happen" across the materials needed to make the larger one. Also one BIG reason, I will build mine, is I want a horizontal/vertical model, and mine is horizontal only.