log splitter valve
- Thread starter jonsstihl
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ptsg
Super Member
LD1
Epic Contributor
What's wrong with a standard log splitter valve? They are simple.
If I understand.....on the splitter you currently use....you pull (and hold) the valve while it's splitting. The moment you let off it retracts automatically.....until the cylinder retracts completely.....then a mechanical linkage of sorts stopps the valve?
If that's true....a standard valve ain't much different. Instead of simply letting off after the split....just let off and push the other way. It still retracts in auto because there is a decent. And pressure automatically kicks it out rather than some mechanical linkage that adds to complexity.
Also....maybe I missed it but why a trunion mount? Those are about the most complicated cylinders to design a mount for, for the average hobbiest. Just get a welded cylinder with simple clevis ends.
If I understand.....on the splitter you currently use....you pull (and hold) the valve while it's splitting. The moment you let off it retracts automatically.....until the cylinder retracts completely.....then a mechanical linkage of sorts stopps the valve?
If that's true....a standard valve ain't much different. Instead of simply letting off after the split....just let off and push the other way. It still retracts in auto because there is a decent. And pressure automatically kicks it out rather than some mechanical linkage that adds to complexity.
Also....maybe I missed it but why a trunion mount? Those are about the most complicated cylinders to design a mount for, for the average hobbiest. Just get a welded cylinder with simple clevis ends.
thanks for the link to the calculator, didn't realize there was one.
The trunnion mount is so the vertical only splitter can be dropped from about 85" tall to about 50" tall. fits in the garage and is less likely to tip over when stored.
for the trunnion mount my brother in law works for a metal shop that does laser cutting bending and welding so I<m not too worried about designing a mount.
I just really like the way this splitter valve works. Because it is vertical I can picture getting fed up of fighting with the detent as well as gravity when I have been spoiled for the last ten years and just have to let go of the valve.
The surplus center 4X24 trunnion mount for 129$ is looking better every day unfortunately, I can't seem to find one in 30" stroke version.
Talked to a local hydraulic shop and sounds like just the detent would have to be modified. Maybe prince makes a kit to modify the standard valve.
The trunnion mount is so the vertical only splitter can be dropped from about 85" tall to about 50" tall. fits in the garage and is less likely to tip over when stored.
for the trunnion mount my brother in law works for a metal shop that does laser cutting bending and welding so I<m not too worried about designing a mount.
I just really like the way this splitter valve works. Because it is vertical I can picture getting fed up of fighting with the detent as well as gravity when I have been spoiled for the last ten years and just have to let go of the valve.
The surplus center 4X24 trunnion mount for 129$ is looking better every day unfortunately, I can't seem to find one in 30" stroke version.
Talked to a local hydraulic shop and sounds like just the detent would have to be modified. Maybe prince makes a kit to modify the standard valve.
LD1
Epic Contributor
Do as you will, your splitter.....
But my advise.....make a vertical/horizontal unit. Just like the commercial ones. Don't make a vertical only....that still has a pivoting cylinder to lay down to fit in garage. (If that's the plan). Make the whole beam pivot and have option to split horizontal if you ever feel like standing up and not bending over.
And.....I know you only asked a few simple questions.....but a splitter isn't as simple as it looks. Lots of things to consider. Just browse Craigslist for homemade sitters. ALOT of what I would consider failed designs.
Don't be one of them. Splitter mfgs got this down to a science, and buy in bulk. Hard to beat them by building.
Have you considered just buying one?
But my advise.....make a vertical/horizontal unit. Just like the commercial ones. Don't make a vertical only....that still has a pivoting cylinder to lay down to fit in garage. (If that's the plan). Make the whole beam pivot and have option to split horizontal if you ever feel like standing up and not bending over.
And.....I know you only asked a few simple questions.....but a splitter isn't as simple as it looks. Lots of things to consider. Just browse Craigslist for homemade sitters. ALOT of what I would consider failed designs.
Don't be one of them. Splitter mfgs got this down to a science, and buy in bulk. Hard to beat them by building.
Have you considered just buying one?
I lowered the 3pt hitch on my father in laws so I don't have to bend down to split. I usually split with the 3pt raised all the way up. A 3pt log splitter is fairly simple when there is only a valve and a cylinder. When you start making them tilt they get too far from the tractor and take up lots of space and get more complicated to build. I have looked at buying new but Not one manufacturer has returned my e-mail about prices.
here is a pic of a similar splitter without the retractable setup. If a round is too heavy to lift I just slide the plate under it and back the tractor up. All the other vertical tractor mount splitters have either too small a base plate or too thick or both like the wallensteins.
I am copying a proven design that has worked for the past 20years with no maintenance. no engine to maintain no pump to wear out.
so far I can get the cylinder and valve from surplus center for 230$ so the rest is steel and hoses and fittings. I'm not trying to save money I am trying to get a splitter that has all the features of my father in laws. The company that built his went bankrupt in 2015.
Any info on how to modify the detent in the valve so it will not spring to neutral. I don't really mind if it ends up not having a pressure release at the retract stroke.
Thanks for all the opinions.
here is a pic of a similar splitter without the retractable setup. If a round is too heavy to lift I just slide the plate under it and back the tractor up. All the other vertical tractor mount splitters have either too small a base plate or too thick or both like the wallensteins.
I am copying a proven design that has worked for the past 20years with no maintenance. no engine to maintain no pump to wear out.
so far I can get the cylinder and valve from surplus center for 230$ so the rest is steel and hoses and fittings. I'm not trying to save money I am trying to get a splitter that has all the features of my father in laws. The company that built his went bankrupt in 2015.
Any info on how to modify the detent in the valve so it will not spring to neutral. I don't really mind if it ends up not having a pressure release at the retract stroke.
Thanks for all the opinions.
LD1
Epic Contributor
Don't know the valve on your FIL's....buy I don't think anyone makes one.
Valves are typically spring return to neutral. Meaning nothing happens in neutral.
To have one spring return to retract makes me think of a 2-position valve. No neutral. So what happens when it returns all the way. No neutral to kick into. Only forward or reverse....that's it. It will deadhead a pump.
Which begs another question. What tractor is this used on?. Deadheading would be just fine on a closed center system.
Any pics or specs or mfg info (even though you said they don't make anymore) might be helpful
Valves are typically spring return to neutral. Meaning nothing happens in neutral.
To have one spring return to retract makes me think of a 2-position valve. No neutral. So what happens when it returns all the way. No neutral to kick into. Only forward or reverse....that's it. It will deadhead a pump.
Which begs another question. What tractor is this used on?. Deadheading would be just fine on a closed center system.
Any pics or specs or mfg info (even though you said they don't make anymore) might be helpful
there is a lever that on the splitter that is actuated by the rising wedge that manually returns the valve to the neutral position against the spring tension. the valve is a walvoil unit but may have been modified by the company that built the splitter. I have to listen carefully because if the stop loosens on the rod the valve goes to the retract position and dead heads the pump. My tractor has an open center system.
I was just writing to surplus center asking them about that and I realized that if I just remove one spring from the spring to center mechanism and remove the detent ball it would effectively spring to the retract position and let itself be returned to the neutral position by the lever.
I think I may end up getting the prince ls3000 and trying in its original state before modifying it. My only concern is that the pressure release detent will screw my plan up. Am I better off getting a valve with no pressure release detent and modifying the mechanism
got to get to bed. more on this tomorrow.
I think I may end up getting the prince ls3000 and trying in its original state before modifying it. My only concern is that the pressure release detent will screw my plan up. Am I better off getting a valve with no pressure release detent and modifying the mechanism
got to get to bed. more on this tomorrow.
