Using a forklift mast and hydraulics for a log splitter

[SteveJ]

I really appreciate all of the information and suggestions. I will look at the cylinder and see if I can more accurately calculate the lift capacity. I may find that this is not a reasonable project and just sell it if I get it running. If I clean and paint it, and it is operating (probably figure out the loose wires and remove them), I should be able to get more than I paid. If I can't, and I have the time after retirement, I may tackle the splitter just to prove I had a use for it. Actually, watching eBay and Craigslist, as well as other places, I have seen plenty of new and used hydraulic pumps and cylinders. Since the mast pretty much just requires pull the tilt pins, that would come off easy. From what I could see on the parts book I found, it appears that the pump is open faces and bolts to the block, so it would be difficult to use anyway. The cylinders and mast are probably the difficult part to fabricate anyway. I agree that putting it horizontal will make it more difficult to load, but I like the idea of a hydraulic loader to fee it anyway. The Clark is only about 32" wide, and the mast a little narrower.

The pictures included by 4570Man look similar to the size of my Clark, and I have the same type and size of tires. I'm curious how well it runs off of pavement. I live over near Lake Michigan, and anything you have not added gravel to is sand, so I know it won't operate in sand, but I have hopes it will operate on the gravel driveway that goes up to the house and the new attached garage we are building. If I can attach the mast to the Kubota, then it is not a problem. I have the Big Joe pallet stacker that will operate in my detached 24 x 32 shop and I have a man lift steel pallet that loads onto the forks and works as a great work table. It has straps under it so that when you slide the forks through them, it can't tilt or slide around. It originally had a railing around it, but that was removed before I bought it. That makes it easier to lift loads up into the rafters too. It is rated at 1,000 pounds with a ten foot lift, and is much more versatile in my small shop than the Clark would ever be. I only paid $350 for it when I got it about 10 years ago. I just have to remember to plug the battery charger in occasionally. Since I don't have the Clark running to use at the house end, I just bought a Harbor Freight engine lift. It was their 2 ton model for $160, and I plan to use that to lift Big Joe into the back of the trailer and unload it when I get there, then I can get by with just Big Joe (unless I get the Clark running before I start moving stuff). The new garage is not built yet and I have been waiting three months so far for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality permit for building in the protected dunes area. I have to have the DEQ permit before I can get a building permit. I will be spending about $1,000 for permits to build a $7,000 garage. Isn't it wonderful?

Thanks again for the information and next time I'm home (I work on the east side of the state four days a week and have an apartment over here) I will try to get more information off of the Clark. Even if I don't do anything with it, it is fun to think of possibilities and to learn more in the process.

My Kubota probably weight less than the Clark and I did think about mounting it to the Kubota for a few minutes. The B6100 is only rated about 900 pounds, with no attachments. I have the loader and backhoe, so I don't know the actual weight. I would have to remove the backhoe and mount it to the backhoe frame. It is only a category 1 3 point hitch and you can't mount much to that. The Kubota backhoe came with a frame that it attaches too that hooks under most of the length of the tractor. That distributes the weight. It has its own self contained hydraulics, and only uses the tractor PTO to run the pump. It would be nice to be able to hook the mast to the Kubota and use it for a forklift, but just not sure if the Kubota can handle it. My Big Joe pallet stacker only has less than an inch of clearance under it, and it will not operate off of pavement. One of the reasons I bought the Clark was that it had more clearance and could hopefully run on my gravel driveway. Have not tried that yet, but it at least has a couple of inches clearance. Having tires with no tread causes problems with the slightest incline when wet. I also had a problem getting the Clark hung up when turning on the sloped garage apron. I never thought about the fact that it has no suspension, so when I got turned at an angle, the drive wheel was off the ground when the back wheels were on it. I had to get the Kubota to push it and then tried to go straight up and down the apron, and it worked fine if dry. Having the forklift capabilities on the back of the 4WD Kubota would be great. I may try that option, using the backhoe frame, before going to the log splitter option. I may still need to get a larger pump than the backhoe uses, but if that is all it takes, that would be okay too. If I did that, the single acting cylinder would be fine too. The tilt cylinders are double acting, so does that make a difference in the type of controls I have? I really need to learn more about hydraulics. I owned a 36 foot cherry picker for a couple of years (you can see why my wife gets upset with me). I bought it to work on my sons old house in PA, and it certainly beat using a 40' ladder to get up on the roof. It was on a Ford F600 and work pretty good for $2,400. We were going to use it for a crane to eventually replace the attic rafters with some pre-build rafters, but both of us got laid off and moved before that happened, so I sold the truck. I wish I had it now. It had live hydraulics in the bucket as well as on the base, and I was looking for a hydraulic chainsaw to use with it. That is long gone, and as the old saying goes, "wishes were horses, beggars would ride". I had to ever sell tools, but some things like the cherry picker are just too large to keep if you don't have a use for them. I am heading down to my daughter's this weekend, but will be home the next weekend and will see if I can get more information on the Clark cylinder. How do you size a pump, and can it be too large? If I were looking for a pump to use as a tractor mounted pump if I could attach the mast to the Kubota, would it be the same thing I would want if it didn't work out and I tried for the splitter?

After seeing all of the comments, I really do want to see if I could attach it as a Kubota mounted lift (not to the 3 point hitch). I would prefer this option over selling it, if I can get it running. It would be trial and error to see how much I could lift, but with the tractor length and the loader sticking out even further, I suspect it could pick up a ton with no problem. Going for two tons might be stretching it without some front bumper weights. I had given up on this ides, but the mast really should not weigh more than the backhoe, and if I don't try to pick up too much, it should work. It would be very nice to have an off road forklift.

Thanks,

Steve J.

 

[4570Man]

I think my yellow forklift pictured above is quite a bit bigger than your Clark. It weighs 11,800 pounds. It doesn't go at all off pavement. My Cat pictured above holding a trackhoe bucket weighs a similar amount, but has taller tires. It goes decent at best on gravels and bone dry dirt. My 3rd forklift goes pretty good on firm surfaces. If you could drive a pickup over it without leaving a rut it will usually go.

 

[4570Man]

I have a mast off a 4,000 pound capacity lift. I have contemplated attaching it to my Kubota. Like you I want a solid mount and not the 3 point hitch. The backhoe 4 point subframe would be perfect, but I haven't figured out how to get it on it. It relies on the backhoe hydraulics to get it lifted up and attached. Edit. Factoring in some guess work and the hydraulic pressure of my tractor this mast would be capable of lifting over 8000 pounds.

 

[SteveJ]

Your forklift pictured here is a LOT bigger than my Clark. It would be nice, but I don't have anyplace large enough to store something that size. When I bought the Clark, I could have gotten a large off road with a diesel engine that would probably have been a better deal, but it was too big to even fit in my garage and I skipped it. Only spending $550 was more palatable to my wife, even though she will comment on my "junk" when I buy cheap and have problems. I like your barn even better than the forklift. I miss my 36 x 45 Morton pole barn I had 12 years ago in Ohio. I keep downsizing. From there I went to a 30 x 40 pole barn, and now as I am planning for retirement, I have a 24 x 32 garage to use for my shop. Oh well, it will be paid for so I can afford to retire and have fun with what I do have room for.

 

[SteveJ]

The mast you show is probably similar to mine, but I suspect it is a lot newer. The tractor you show looks like your L series tractor, not the B7100. It is nice to have live hydraulics at the back. If I can install the mast on the back of the B6100, I am sure I will be limited to about 1,000 pounds of lifting, just to keep from picking up the front or screwing up the tires. It would be a little trial and error to see what I could carry. I suspect that 1,000 lift capacity would be plenty for most of what I would use it for anyway. I am going to try and do some measurements on my mast and see if with a little help, I can come up with an approximate weight, and then find out if anyone has any idea of how much a Kubota backhoe that went on the B6100 actually weights. this would be a starting point for my trying to mount it as a lift on the back of the tractor, instead of getting rid of it or making it into a log splitter. The log splitter is probably my last option, based on the comment so far, and would only be to show my wife that the money was not a complete waste. I hate to get rid of anything that works, which is why I need a larger barn. Once I retire, I hope to put in a couple of hundred feet of concrete retaining wall on a logging trail behind my house. It cuts up the hill behind us and would give me access to the back half of our property where I would like to build a larger barn. On the lower property, I can't put anymore than I already have. I am less worried about the hydraulics on the B6100 than the mounting itself. I have the PTO hydraulic pump that runs the backhoe. I have the front pump that operates the FEL, and I have the internal hydraulics. If one of those doesn't work, then I just get the appropriate pump and controls to operate off the PTO, like the current pump. There is no mounting on it. Just a bracket to keep it from spinning. Other than that, is just mounts to the PTO. That would not be too hard to go with a different option. The B6100 has three different PTO speeds (could be 4, but I think it is 3 - I have never used anything but the lowest speed). I replaced the FEL controls a while back, and went with three controls to give me an extra if I wanted to install a grapple. I haven't, and it would not control the mast anyway, since I would need four. That just means time on eBay and Craigslist to find one at a reasonable prices. That assumes that I could use the current FEL hydraulics, which would be nice, or I can upgrade that pump to one that would work for both the lift and FEL. The FEL doesn't go very fast and it would be nice to have more volume anyway. Good luck with your project. I would like to hear more and see pictures if you are able to get it mounted on your Kubota and get it all working. I have a smaller tractor, but I suspect the information would still help me.

 

[4570Man]

It's extremely unlikely the mast will ever be mounted on my Kubota. With the house finished I have a lot less need to lift stuff heavier then my FEL will lift and I have projects in line ahead of that. It doesn't hurt to dream up plans and I like to keep junk. I have a second and maybe a 3rd forklift mast laying around but that's the nicest one. I've also got a 6 way blade that came off a trencher. It'd be fun to do something with that.

 

[MossRoad]

SteveJ,

I have a hard time reading all of those posts, so maybe you said that somewhere in there and I missed it, but do you understand that you can't use that forklift cylinder for a log splitter because its a single action cylinder?

 

[SteveJ]

SteveJ,

I have a hard time reading all of those posts, so maybe you said that somewhere in there and I missed it, but do you understand that you can't use that forklift cylinder for a log splitter because its a single action cylinder?

Moss Road,

I knew it was single action, but was planning on using the tilt cylinder hydraulics to push it back to load the next log. After reading the previous responses, and probably coming to my senses a little more, I have decided that I probably won't even try to make a splitter out of it. If I can get it running and see it for $700, I can put that toward a used splitter for a lot less work, but I do want to see if I could mount it on the back of my Kubota. It may be too heavy for the little Kubota B6100, but if I mount it to the backhoe frame, I may be able to make it work. It would provide the same counterweight to the FEL that the backhoe does, and carry stuff better than the FEL. Since I do use the backhoe occasionally, the lift and the backhoe would have to be interchangeable without a lot of time and work. First priority is to get it running and sell it, then buy a splitter. If I can't get it running, second priority would be to try and mount it on the back of the Kubota. One more project for retirement in 2018.

 

[LD1]

Fix the forklift and keep or sell......or sell it as is......but its gonna be far more trouble than its worth. Nothing on that lift is really good for a logsplitter.

For starters, its probably only a 3" diameter cylinder. And unless all you split is red oak and similar easy stuff....it wont work well. Forget about elm, maple, hickory, etc.

Second, as others said....its a SA cylinder. A 4x24 logsplitter cylinder is ~$200. And you seem to be set on trying to do an awful lot of work to try to make an undersized SA cylinder work only to save $200.

Third, None of the valves have detent for return stroke. That would be a PITA and I wouldnt want a splitter without it.

Fourth..the pump is gonna be a single stage pump, and probably in the 8-10 gpm range. And would require ~18hp to operate. And a single stage pump isnt really efficient for log splitting, as you arent under peak load all that often. So a 2-stage really speeds things up.

5th, the mast really dont make a good splitter beam. ITs big, heavy, akward, and lots of pinch points and rollers that will constantly be locking up with debris

A 2 HP electric motor is too small for a splitter. They dont make 2-stage pumps small enough for that to my knowledge. And you would be limited to ~1 GPM pump, which is gonna be extremely slow.

As to the weight of your lift......there should be a placard that lists the weight of the machine, as well as lifting capacity at a given distance. But most solid tire internal combustion lifts rated for 4000#, are in the 8000-9000# range. So I'd guess at least 3x's whatever you B6100 weighs WITH the loader and backhoe.

 

[aczlan]

I have a mast off a 4,000 pound capacity lift. I have contemplated attaching it to my Kubota. Like you I want a solid mount and not the 3 point hitch. The backhoe 4 point subframe would be perfect, but I haven't figured out how to get it on it. It relies on the backhoe hydraulics to get it lifted up and attached. Edit. Factoring in some guess work and the hydraulic pressure of my tractor this mast would be capable of lifting over 8000 pounds.

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I would mount that with a triangle of at least 1/2" steel for each side welded to the mast so it goes on one side of the lower pin for the backhoe 4 point, then a 2nd piece of steel offset so it goes on the other side. The triangle needs to be long enough that you can mount a cylinder to the top pin holes for the 4 point.

Aaron Z