Log splitter on a budget project!

[J_J]

Thanks for everyones input.

The splitter is plumbed to my rear remote circuit, which is controlled by a dual acting valve with detents in both directions. I wanted to verify the cylinder was good before buying a regen valve (and it looks like it isn't!).

It is made by the Peninsular brand Mich Iron mentioned below. It's a MMHC-505, 3.25" cylinder diameter. I've been working with Bob @ Michigan Iron on how I should proceed, he has been very helpful as always! He got pricing for a rebuild kit and it's obnoxiously priced at more than $140!

I may go the McMaster Carr/custom route, or just replace the cylinder with a 3.5". So much for the budget! Agggh.

To check that cylinder for bypassing, do this. With the rod extended all the way out, remove the rod end hose at the valve, and place in a clean bucket. Start the engine, and keep the rod extended for several minutes, and if it is bypassing/leaking past the piston seals, then fluid will continue to come out the hose. If the relief does not come on, that tells you that the fluid on the base side is not building up to operating pressure. Check the detent valve before the log splitter valve, to see if fluid is being relieved. Also check the pressure on the log splitter valve, with a test gage.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

$140 for seals on a tie rod cylinder? You can almost buy a new cylinder for that! Those cylinders are so pathetically simple to rebuild. Rip it apart and take the seals to a shop and get new ones. Should be less than 30 bucks.
Andy

 

[MichiganIron]

That is rediculous. Most of the packing kits we install are $20 to $30. This happens to be a custom industrial cylinder, not what we usually see. It is built to a Daimler-Chrysler spec, so it's a bit different. The pricing came directly from the cylinder manufacturer. The o-rings may not be so bad, but the backer rigs, z-seal, u-cups, and wiper might be hard to come by.

Yep, nornmally $40 bucks to re-pack a cylinder. We were pretty shocked too.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

That is rediculous. Most of the packing kits we install are $20 to $30. This happens to be a custom industrial cylinder, not what we usually see. It is built to a Daimler-Chrysler spec, so it's a bit different. The pricing came directly from the cylinder manufacturer. The o-rings may not be so bad, but the backer rigs, z-seal, u-cups, and wiper might be hard to come by.

Yep, nornmally $40 bucks to re-pack a cylinder. We were pretty shocked too.

Just my experience here, but most outrageous seal kit prices are NOT the fault of the selling dealer. Everybody here knows Rick Wallace as a great guy to deal with, fair and honest. However, price a seal kit for a Kioti. Not his fault. When you go to a place like www.herculesus.com for seals, you can pay a tenth of what some manufacturers charge for seals that come in the same bag.

 

[Peterjnel]

Hi, my name is Peter. I've been lurking around here for about a month just trying to absorb some of the knowledge.

I have some questions about using a regen valve for a log splitter. As far as I know, the regen function on a regen valve works only for extending a cylinder. That is when you need the most power on a splitter.

What I understand is that on a regen circuit the force of the cylinder would only be the fluid pressure times the area of the rod. That would be just a fraction of the force available if you supplied that same pressure to the big end of the cylinder.

What I don't know is how much force is actually required to split a chunk of wood. Is the force generated in a regen cycle sufficient?

 

[J_J]

The answer is maybe. There is not much power in the regen circuit, it is used for speed by almost doubling the volume of fluid going into the base end of the cylinder. It has about 1/4 the power of the cylinder in the 2500 psi mode, which is the slow mode, high power.

HOW THE LSR VALVE WORKS:
Just press the handle all the way in for high speed "Rapid-Extend" performance. The cylinder will split many logs in the fast mode, but if it can't, just pull the handle back a little and get the full power of your cylinder to break the split open (about 4 times the force of the high speed mode). This motion will become "natural" after just a few splits. Then shift into the detented retract position and reach for the next log. NOT FOR USE WITH 2-STAGE PUMPS