Log Splitter Attachment

[scottbrrtt72]

All done except for the hydraulics. Will send photo's of that soon.

 

[Skeptic]

Scott, it is looking great.
Okay now for the questions on the specifics. There have been lots of questions and comments over the course of your project.
Can you give us a summary breakdown on the components and prices?
Size of the beam? Is the blade hardened steel? The valve is from Northern right? What did you end up on the size of the ram?
Are you concerned that you might get some torsion on the pushing plate? How long is the slide area that is in contact with the beam?
Thanks for sharing the pictures and project. I hope to start my log splitter here soon.

 

[scottbrrtt72]

I split about ¾ of a cord last night. It works really well. I am very pleased. I found that there is some torsion on the pushing plate. I am going to try a few things tomorrow to see if I can correct it. I did make the push plate too close to the splitting wedge. It will hit the wedge if your not watching it. This was my mistake when I designed the push plate. There were two instances with large knotty wood where it had a hard time pushing the log through. All I had to do was maneuver the wood differently and it was fine. My recommendation is go with a 4” rod. I feared with a 4” on my machine it would be too slow. The opening between the splitting wedge and push plate is 23 ¾ inches. For what I will be doing with it I am very happy with the results.

Here are the specifics:

Metal I-beam:
6’ long by 11 inches tall and the bottom and top are 6 inches wide. $ = Free

Detent valve:
Northern tool $64.00

8” weldable wedge:
Northern tool $20.00

3” Chief Hydraulic Cylinder:
Northern tool $94.00

Shipping was $23.00

Custom hydraulic lines, fittings, labor, etc. $290.00
(I could have got away with this cheaper; I paid someone to plumb everything)

Additional metal costs: $50.00

Paint, grinding discs, materials, etc. $50.00

Grand total close to $600.00

 

[scottbrrtt72]

Here it is in action with my helper. Acually, after I split a few pieces he dragged it to the yard to chew on. Makes more work for me.....what a helper!

 

[rmorgan]

Scott--

What a professional result--congratulations. Looks like you ought to be making those for resale!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[rambler]

You really did some nice work there. I'd still want more power; my furnace takes 27" long wood, the door is 9"x12", and I hate to waste effort making smaller wood. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif so I'd need a 30" cylinder, & maybe a 5" diameter push. Typically you want 20.000 lbs of push on a splitter, the tractor will put out about 2,000lbs per square inch. Since I split a lot of wood that's 2' in diameter, & a bit over 2' long, I need all the push I can get. If speed is a problem, you can get cylinders with thicker rams, so the back-stroke doesn't need much oil, but you still get all the force on the push stroke.

Really nice work on your frame, nice smooth design.

--->Paul

 

[ns_in_tex]

Looks great, Scott,
Now weld a small catch table on either side of the Ibeam, located so when the split is finished, the wood falls on the table so you don't have to pick it up off the ground. Sure helps big time when you have extra big pieces that have to have several splits.