Nothing says the additional tank has to be attached to the original. If you feel compelled to add storage capacity you could add a new tank in series to the existing tank using hydraulic lines and fittings.
Good point. And actually, separate tanks would have better cooling, due to larger surface to volume ratio. Thanks!
I'm not quite sure why you are so focused on getting a relatively small improvement in cycle time.
Relatively small? I cut it in half!
As to the "why", I find standing next to a splitter waiting for that cylinder to cycle, even a small fraction of the total stroke length, about as frustrating as willing grass to grow before my eyes. I just don't have the time to wait on a slow splitter, given the amount of wood I'm trying to process in just a few Saturdays each year.
On amount of wood: My peak production for personal use was three years in a row at 14 full cords per year, 2011 - 2014, as I was burning 10+ each year and trying to work ahead to build a fresh 3-year stockpile after moving house, so it could be properly dried before I burn it. Then we had two other years when I did not get to split at all due to either weather or other house projects, and each of those was followed by a year or two back at the 15+ cord level.
You try splitting that much wood, and then tell you don't care about splitter speed!
When I split it is extremely rare for the piston to still be retracting when I am getting the log re-positioned for the next split. I do tend to split larger logs so maybe it takes longer to position than what you are splitting.
Yeah, it definitely varies. Weather calamities (hurricanes, tornados) and the place from which I'm harvesting each year dictate the dominant species I get, with me doing nearly all oak for many years, then two years of almost entirely hickory, and now lots of ash due to EAB. As soon as I get used to one wood that pops apart easily with partial strokes, I'm back into full years of another that requires a nearly-full stroke on every split.
So while the actual savings is less on those rounds that can be short-stroked (e.g. black walnut, ash), I'm not so lucky to consistently get those woods. In 45 years of splitting wood every year, starting from when I was just helping dad, and now averaging 10 cords per year on my own, I've probably seen and worked with nearly every type of firewood that's predominant around our area.
