Looking for Log Splitter Ideas
- Thread starter stickboy
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JonLeonard
Silver Member
Cadplans.com sells a plan for one. You might be able to get an idea just by looking at the pictures.
I looked into doing this using the existing hydraulic pump on my tractor and it turned out there would be a trade-off somewhere for sure.
The bore of the cylinder makes a lot of difference. (With a pump of a certain number of gallons per minute, increasing the bore of the cylinder will get you more pressure, but it will travel slower.)
You can figure this stuff out with a bit of math, but you have to find out how many cubic inches in a gallon first, which I forget.
Say the cylinder is 4" diameter. To travel 24", you need Pi*r*r*l = 3.14 x 2 x 2 x 24 = 302 cubic inches of oil, however many gallons of oil that is. But with a 3" cylinder you only need 3.14 x 1.5 x 1.5 x 24 = 170 cubic inches.
Next find out how many gallons of oil your pump can supply per minute and you can see how long it takes the cylinder to extend 24". When I went through this exercise with my 5 gpm pump (or was it a 5 cu ft/min pump? - can't remember) it turned out that it would take 17 seconds to extend, if I remember right. Don't forget the cylinder has to return too.
Then there is the force the wedge will apply to that monster elm stump that has been taunting you for three years. It sounds pretty good, until you check out the force versus speed tradeoff. So again with the 4" and 3" examples - let's say your hydraulic pump operates at 2000 psi. For the four inch piston, the force will be 3.14 x 2 x 2 x 2000 = 25132 lbs, or 12 1/2 tons. For the three inch: 3.14 x 1.5 x 1.5 x 2000 = 14137 lbs, or 7 tons. (Not much!) So you think - let's just move up to a 4 1/2" cylinder. 3.14 x 2.25 x 2.25 x 2000 = 16 tons. Now we're talking!
But 3.14 x 2.25 x 2.25 x 24 = 380 cubic inches of oil, which means that by going from a 3" to a 4 1/2" cylinder, the travel time will be 380/170 = 2.24 times as long. This is really significant; we're talking about the difference in cycle times of say 40 seconds versus a minute and a half.
So if your pump isn't too high a volume you might want to consider a pto pump, or a belt driven one, for the logsplitter, which of course adds a lot to the cost.
Jim W
The bore of the cylinder makes a lot of difference. (With a pump of a certain number of gallons per minute, increasing the bore of the cylinder will get you more pressure, but it will travel slower.)
You can figure this stuff out with a bit of math, but you have to find out how many cubic inches in a gallon first, which I forget.
Say the cylinder is 4" diameter. To travel 24", you need Pi*r*r*l = 3.14 x 2 x 2 x 24 = 302 cubic inches of oil, however many gallons of oil that is. But with a 3" cylinder you only need 3.14 x 1.5 x 1.5 x 24 = 170 cubic inches.
Next find out how many gallons of oil your pump can supply per minute and you can see how long it takes the cylinder to extend 24". When I went through this exercise with my 5 gpm pump (or was it a 5 cu ft/min pump? - can't remember) it turned out that it would take 17 seconds to extend, if I remember right. Don't forget the cylinder has to return too.
Then there is the force the wedge will apply to that monster elm stump that has been taunting you for three years. It sounds pretty good, until you check out the force versus speed tradeoff. So again with the 4" and 3" examples - let's say your hydraulic pump operates at 2000 psi. For the four inch piston, the force will be 3.14 x 2 x 2 x 2000 = 25132 lbs, or 12 1/2 tons. For the three inch: 3.14 x 1.5 x 1.5 x 2000 = 14137 lbs, or 7 tons. (Not much!) So you think - let's just move up to a 4 1/2" cylinder. 3.14 x 2.25 x 2.25 x 2000 = 16 tons. Now we're talking!
But 3.14 x 2.25 x 2.25 x 24 = 380 cubic inches of oil, which means that by going from a 3" to a 4 1/2" cylinder, the travel time will be 380/170 = 2.24 times as long. This is really significant; we're talking about the difference in cycle times of say 40 seconds versus a minute and a half.
So if your pump isn't too high a volume you might want to consider a pto pump, or a belt driven one, for the logsplitter, which of course adds a lot to the cost.
Jim W
wroughtn_harv
Super Member
Log splitting ideas when a man has an FEL.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm, that dawg would hunt, as they say in France.
How about using the FEL as the force to operate a lever?
Or how about using the FEL in place of the hammer. They work great for driving posts, splitting logs would be a walk in the park.
Let's say you build a frame for a log splitter. But instead of a cylinder to push or pull you have a lever attached to a pivot below your track the splitter rides on. You have the leve come up.
Then all you do is let the motor on the tractor idle in neutral. When you want to split a log you go over to the FEL control and clam the bucked pulling the lever splitting the log. Declam the bucket, put in another log, clam the bucket.
Nuttin' to it. The travel on the bucket edge from horizontal to verical empy position is more than enough to operate a lever to split the log.
It sound to simple but your expense is nil after the frame which you have to have anyway. It can't be much slower when you consider the time to push and pull in a the cylinder on a splitter versus clamming and unclamming the FEL. There is the extra distance to walk from the front of the tractor to the FEL control but you needed the excerise anyway. You wife told.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm, that dawg would hunt, as they say in France.
How about using the FEL as the force to operate a lever?
Or how about using the FEL in place of the hammer. They work great for driving posts, splitting logs would be a walk in the park.
Let's say you build a frame for a log splitter. But instead of a cylinder to push or pull you have a lever attached to a pivot below your track the splitter rides on. You have the leve come up.
Then all you do is let the motor on the tractor idle in neutral. When you want to split a log you go over to the FEL control and clam the bucked pulling the lever splitting the log. Declam the bucket, put in another log, clam the bucket.
Nuttin' to it. The travel on the bucket edge from horizontal to verical empy position is more than enough to operate a lever to split the log.
It sound to simple but your expense is nil after the frame which you have to have anyway. It can't be much slower when you consider the time to push and pull in a the cylinder on a splitter versus clamming and unclamming the FEL. There is the extra distance to walk from the front of the tractor to the FEL control but you needed the excerise anyway. You wife told.
Kerry
Bronze Member
Stickyboy, here are some pics of my logsplitter,it is manufactured in Oz ,I power the unit with my 1920 N.H.It is called a Mini Superaxe.Makes life a lot easier.There is a website,http://www.superaxe.com.au. I hope this may give you some ideas.Kerry in Oz.If you have an E.mail address I can E.mail the brochure to you as it is too big to put on the forum.K
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s1120
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2000
- Messages
- 1,716
- Location
- Columbia county NY
- Tractor
- 87 Ingersoll 444, 84 Ingersoll224/'44 GreavlyL/60'sGreavlyL/49 Ford 8N
Heres a Case splitter on the back of one of my Ingersoll tractors. The Case/Ingersoll tractors put out about 8 to 9 GPH out of the hydro system. The splitter splits on bolth the out, and in strokes. This thing works great. The stroke is a little slow, but makes up for it in that it splits bolth ways. I just love using it, I can't wait till winter so I can start splitting some wood.
s1120
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2000
- Messages
- 1,716
- Location
- Columbia county NY
- Tractor
- 87 Ingersoll 444, 84 Ingersoll224/'44 GreavlyL/60'sGreavlyL/49 Ford 8N
DOHHHHHHHH The picture would help./w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif
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stovepoker
Member
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2002
- Messages
- 43
Nice little rig, Paul. BTW, you're supposed to be splitting wood
now, not in the winter!!
now, not in the winter!!
s1120
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2000
- Messages
- 1,716
- Location
- Columbia county NY
- Tractor
- 87 Ingersoll 444, 84 Ingersoll224/'44 GreavlyL/60'sGreavlyL/49 Ford 8N
<font color=red>BTW, you're supposed to be splitting wood
now, not in the winter!! </font color=red>
Na, There is no panic if you do it now. I got to wait till the last min. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif
now, not in the winter!! </font color=red>
Na, There is no panic if you do it now. I got to wait till the last min. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif