Logsplitter 2.0

[rswyan]

Also welded in a 3/8 pipe bung on the bottom of the 2nd hydraulic reservoir for a drain since it didn't come with one:

 

[rswyan]

Trimmed the sides of the table grate. Since the span is getting pretty wide, I decided to beef it up a little by sticking in 3/4" solid round inside the pipes:

If I had used Schedule 80 pipe rather than Schedule 40, I wouldn't be as concerned ... but my supplier was out of Schedule 80 at the time I ordered the steel originally.

 

[rswyan]

Still have a little bit more welding to do to get the pipes all tied in but it's getting there ... should have all the welding done on the table grate in the next hour or so:

Will need to swing by U.B.'s tomorrow and put the torch on the new pipes and bend them down.

The additional space on the table should make doing resplits a lot easier.

 

[rswyan]

Got the pipes on the table grate all welded in last night after dinner.

Pic from the front that kinda shows how wide it ended up being (with a little illusion of the camera lens as well ):

 

[rswyan]

Welded on a 7" piece of 3/4 solid round onto the center section of the table grate:

This allows the receiver hitch to bear some of the weight of the table and its contents, when the drawbar is removed ... so all the weight isn't resting on the 1" stop pins back on the beam (lots of leverage if I hadn't done this):

 

[rswyan]

Also managed to get the guard for the log lift side fabbed up and welded on:

I used 1 1/2 x 1/4 flat stock and 3/4 solid round to build it. Seems pretty stiff.

The 3/4 solid round is set on an angle to cause a wild log round to be inclined to roll down and away from the center ... where the expensive stuff is.

Still need to bend the ends of 3/4 solid rounds towards the rear once I get over to my friend's place that has the torch.

 

[rswyan]

Threw some water in the 2nd hydraulic tank to leak test the pipe bung I welded in, will see how that's doing when I head up to the shop here in a bit.

Most likely will try and get the guard for the engine/operator side done today.

I noticed the other day when I was splitting that the (warm) "cooling" air coming off the engine pretty much blows right at the operator ... so I figured I'd see if I could incorporate a movable deflector into the design: ... warm air deflected when it's warm out, warm air not deflected when it's cold out ...

Probably will also try to finish up the mount for the 2nd hydraulic tank and see if I can't get some of the plumbing done.

Mebbe change out the engine oil too ... before I forget to do it ...

 

[rswyan]

Got the frame for the guard for the hydraulic pump and engine pretty well fabbed up and welded on ... just need U.B.'s torch for six bends in the two pieces of 3/4 solid round and I can finish welding those to the flat stock:

Should have decent accessibility for all components and room in the future for a larger pump/engine combo should I ever want to do that.

Still need to figure out the deflector for the cooling air coming off the engine.

No leaks on the pipe bung on the hydraulic tank which was good news.

 

[Leejohn]

Do you walk aroud the splitter each time to load the lift or there 2 people when you are splitting wood?

 

[rswyan]

Do you walk aroud the splitter each time to load the lift or there 2 people when you are splitting wood?

Leejohn,

It's been a mix of the two, but overall, it's mostly just me.

Sometimes I load the lift by hand ... small stuff that I can easily lift, I'll pick up and stack on there. Some of the bigger rounds I'll roll onto it ... others I set on the lift with the grapple.

With a helper tho', I could really crank out some splits ...