Just curious what size cylinder and how much pressure you were running that was bending your pusher?
This is only a 4" cylinder and 2500psi setup. About 15.5 tons is all. And after looking at other various manufactures designs online, I think my pusher is built as heavy (if not heavier) than alot of other ones I seen that are running more tonnage than I will be. So time will tell.
and the pusher wasnt hard to make. So if I have to re-design that part, or beef it up later, thats easy.
I thought I posted that I was running basically the same setup as you. I bought everything that I had to buy from Northern Hydraulics and at the time everything was just branded that way so you didn't know who actually made the stuff. I used their24" long 4x2 cylinder, a 22 gpm two speed pump. I'm not sure what valve I bought but I do remember there was one a little bigger with detent in both directions but I opted for the cheaper one because money was getting tight at that point. However this one does have detent on return. I believe your 15 ton number you posted is what I came up with when I ran the numbers back then.
I wondered about the wedge attachment thing also when I was putting mine together but we didn't have internet back then the way we do now so it was do it like everyone else did and just weld it flat to the end of the beam. I had already built a couple before this one with the wedge welded flat to the beam with no problems so I figured....... why not, and as old Joe Gibbs would say,........ what's the worst that can happen?LOL That was a long time ago and it hasn't broke off yet.
It's split some pretty knotted up stuff too. In fact when I was selling wood I had to buy most of my wood from a logger in long lengths and they would always send the stuff that the mills didn't want which was twisted and full of knots. It was really good hardwood and made really good firewood but was a bear to split. Some of it wouldn't split at all and I would have to slice it half way through with a chainsaw before the splitter could slice through it, then most of the time it wouldn't split it it would just cut it's way through a little at a time. Those were the days and a hard way to make a living. I was sure glad when the boat business finally started paying off so we didn't have to depend on wood to feed me and the guys through the winter.
I don't want to bore you but I just have to tell you about the first splitter I built. It was built completely out of junk or salvaged parts. It didn't have wheels on it we just dragged it in and out of the woods when we used it. I had a long piece of railroad rail that I cut in half and placed side by side then welded a piece of flat plate to the top. I made the wedge and push block out of what was left of the rail and it took like about a week to grind that sucker to a point but it worked pretty good. I welded the push bar to the end of a old leaking cylinder that came off of a old bulldozer that had been junked out long ago. I found a old walk behind tractor sitting on the side of the road and with the promise of a few loads of firewood to the proud old farmer owner I drug it home to salvage some pulleys, belts and a 5 hp Briggs & Stratton engine. I scored a pump and valve off of an dump truck had long past hauled it's last load and finally I had pretty much everything I needed to put it all together.
She wasn't pretty, it leaked oil badly, smoked the woods up and was hard on the old back the way it was all welded and bolted together but it did work fairly well. It wasn't a powerhouse but it did split most wood pretty good. It wouldn't split the real knotty stuff but it dang sure beat the ax, hammer and wedge we had to use at the time. We would save the knotty stuff to fuel the wood pile fire that warmed our hands and to have a place to sit when we were done for the day. A working machine, a big slab of cheese, some crackers and a can of beanie weenies.........what else could a man ask for? Oh I forgot the beer! There was always plenty of Bud to go around.
