Thinking about this.

[wiley_p]

A couple of my cousins in Nebraska had an Olds that they had converted into a splitter. They jacked and blocked the rear end, mounted what was basically a large coarse screw on the wheel, they set the wood in the trough, pushed it into the spinning screw with a cammed lever on the trough and it split wood like mad.
Violent, dangerous, sure. But they split hundreds of cords in this manner, for maybe a hundred bucks and a few hours of fabricating. I would do this before I would buy any piece of machinery from Harbor freight. It is full on savage, but works.

 

[sotc]

go to northen tool and buy the parts you need with the money instead. you said you have the i beam. moneys tight, seems you have the time right? youll have the machine you want for the same money or less

 

[sotc]

http://stores.daltonhydraulic.com/-strse-Logsplitter-Parts/Categories.bok

 

[squisher]

Never buy cheap tools. If you can't afford a good set-up wear that maul out until you can. Probably add years to your life too.

 

[sawinredneck]

I've done the "build your own" route,. Overpowered, under engineered! Give me a blueprint, I can build whatever you want, but I'm not an engineer! The last one was going to cost me $740 in hoses until I bitched that I was quoted around $400.

I took stock today for the mini splitter. Not real happy with what I have on hand 8x6 1/2 x 52" beam, little short, might be a lot weak. The cylinder I thought would work, well it's 14.5" stroke, 3.5" bore, little short, little small dia. I do have a twin spool control valve that locks both ways, might work for auto-cycle, but a bit scary on the feed side!
I found a Spliteaze splitter on CL i Springfield MO, problem is it has a B@S motor, Spliteaze doesn't list B@S motors as an option? The machine is less than a year old
I also found a Brave 22 ton, coming out of the rental fleet:roll:
Fun ain't it?

 

[sawinredneck]

So I don't loose my mind again, the Brave:
http://springfield.craigslist.org/tls/986294723.html

The big Brave:
http://desmoines.craigslist.org/for/985760534.html

Still looking for the Spliteaze............
And here it is:
http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/grd/992484856.html

 

[SkwerI]

The second and third ones both look good. Remember, everybody in the country is feeling the affects of this recession so there is always some bargaining room.

 

[sawinredneck]

The Brave's are a "poor mans" Iron and Oak, nothing wrong with that. I don't like the B@S motor that much though.

The Spliteaze is weird. That is the one that I cannot find info on having a B@S engine on? Might have a Honda and he doesn't even know? Either one is a helluva drive!

 

[lumberjack]

Andy, the engineer () in me feels compelled to tell you the only way that last splitter makes 30 tons is if you give it 4777psi, which is fawkin high.

12hp MIGHT could do 4gpm, but that'd most likely stall it.

My point? Don't think it's a 30T splitter, figure on it being a working 19T splitter (18.84T).

 

[SkwerI]

The newer Briggs motors are supposed to be pretty darn good, from what I've heard. Not the same as the Briggs we grew up with. I have a Briggs on my generator and it hasn't leaked a drop of oil after getting run for a week straight without shutting off and then parked for 3 years.

 

[sawinredneck]

Andy, the engineer () in me feels compelled to tell you the only way that last splitter makes 30 tons is if you give it 4777psi, which is fawkin high.

12hp MIGHT could do 4gpm, but that'd most likely stall it.

My point? Don't think it's a 30T splitter, figure on it being a working 19T splitter (18.84T).

And see, there you are making my point for the HF model Carl

Yes Brian, they are claiming quality improvments. But they have been overated for so long, and they dropped so fast with the China parts, it will take a while before I am sold again! The disposable carbs are not helping me much either!

 

[lumberjack]

The HF is a folded sheet metal Chinese reject of a turd after a bad night of eating.... Chinese.

Do you have the specs on the replacement pump on the mini? Is it a stock displacement in both sections?

 

[sawinredneck]

The HF is a folded sheet metal Chinese reject of a turd after a bad night of eating.... Chinese.

Do you have the specs on the replacement pump on the mini? Is it a stock displacement in both sections?

It was the same part No. as the one I took out, 12.3GPM, just a different input shaft. I've heard rumors it might fit a RamRod.

 

[lumberjack]

Then it should be 8 and 4 for a combined 12 between the sections.

You could combine the outputs to a single valve and get 3kpsi w/o stalling the motor. Downside is you are on a single stage pump so the cycle times will be slower, upside is you already own it.

Your beam should be strong enough(1/2" web and flange), unless you go crazy high on the cylinder mounts. As far as I can tell there's no advanatage to mounting the cylinder any higher than just enough to clear the beam, plenty of disadvantages.

If you put the wedge on the end (not tragically hard to accomplish) and the cylinder on the other (would require some planning on the mount) you could have a 20" stroke with a 24" bed with a good bit of planning of the pushing foot to get it's face as close as possible.

Another foot on the eye beam would make it alot easier to do, but what you have is paid for and is workable. $650 or less for the cylinder and the valve, maybe $100 in steel plate/flat bar, $100-$150 for the hose work, and either a mounting plate for the mini or some sort of stand for it, and for $900ish and a 8-12 hours of work, you've got a 19T splitter that can be easily upgraded when you get the money up for another motor, 2 stage pump, and resevoir for some fairly speedy cycle times.

 

[Al Smith]

It's common practice to over rate splitters ,they all do it .In practicality it takes a 5" cylinder for a 30 ton unit. Even then it has to exceed the design pressure of 3000 PSI .A 5" cylinder at 3000 PSI is 58,905 .A 4" is 37,699 .

That said though generally a 4" will split about anything .

Now to compare .Toms splitter is a 4" mine a 5" .Because I have a larger pump the cycle time is the same . His kicks into low speed more often than mine because of cylinder size .Mine seldom does . I think both valves are factory set at 2250 kick off .His is 1/2" working ports ,mine 3/4" but basically the same valve otherwise .

So with that pressure setting his puts out 28,274 while mine is 44,178 .Both considerably lower than the 28 and 30 tons respectfully .

 

[Jamin Mayer]

Dunno why, but Harbor Freight stuff seems to break easily.:what:

 

[Jamin Mayer]

Here is my splitter. Me and the boys make a good team with it too.

http://www.timberwolfcorp.com/log_splitters/video.asp?id=12

 

[MasterBlaster]

Now that's nice!

 

[sawinredneck]

Now that's nice!

STOOPID NICE!!!! And only about $10k!!!!!


The problem with the I-beam, Carl, it's only 3/8"s web. So I see no need in tying both sections of the pump together!! This is a minimulistic splitter at the best!

No the beam Dave tried to haul home, it's 8'. 10x8" 5/8" web. A 5" or 6" cylinder with 24" of stroke would do it justice!!
I've got steel, I've got steel beyond. Problem is the smallest plate I have is 1/2", it goes to 1 1/4", it takes hours with my smallish oxy/acetilyne setup to cut 1/2", days to cut the bigger stuff!
I found some 3/8"s by 3 1/2" angle I am toyin with to makethe guide for the push block, and some 3/8"s 3 1/2x7" to build the push block itself.
I am just having visions of parts flying eveywhere!

 

[lumberjack]

Tying the sections together does nothing to increase the pressure the cylinder can produce.

Your beam is fine, or use the bigger one.

If you say you suck at designing, why do you persist?

 

[sawinredneck]

Tying the sections together does nothing to increase the pressure the cylinder can produce.

Your beam is fine, or use the bigger one.

If you say you suck at designing, why do you persist?

I'll save the bigger one for when I am more prepared/funded.
It seems to be a survival trait Carl, nothing more.

 

[lumberjack]

Your 54" beam, 8"x.5" flange, 5"x.375" web, the fillet between the flange and web is .25", since I don't know the actual measurement.
The material is "plain carbon steel",
The restrained end is a block of steel (so it won't calculate it to be the weak spot) that's 4" above the top of the flange
The load (20T) is applied equally (unrealstic and simplistic) to another block on the opposite end, that is 12" above the face of the flange.
Both blocks are the same width as the flange.
The element size is .75" with a tolerance of .0375".

The safety factor is only 11.5%, which means it will deflect too much to be safe and the beam will fatigue quickly.
The area that falls under a 2:1 SF is the top flange and the very edge of the web.

Adding a 8"x.5" piece of flat bar on the top of the flange increases the SF to 2.09:1, or 109%. It'd cost about $60 locally.

Reducing the "wedge" block's height to 8" above the surface increases the SF to 118.4%.

"What piece is crooked and it stalls the cylinder on the top inch of the wedge?"
The SF falls to 70%. The parts under the original SF of 118.5% are transitional areas between the blocks and flange. Fixable with gussets.


Maybe someone else can calculate deflection with a 20T load.

I generally like to see a minimum of 1.7SF in steel to increase fatigue life, 2 being a better goal.


Anywho, it can be made to work. I'd just use the larger beam. The only upgrade would be a 2 section pump.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I need more details.

 

[sawinredneck]

The "flange" is 3/8".

I retract that, sorry!! Just measured everything again, top and bottom are 3/8"s, center is 1/4".

The "plan" was to weld a 1" thick plate alond the center of the beam and cut it with a knife edge, sticking up no more than 7.5"s. With the possibility of adding 1" angle to seperate the wood 3"s back. The 1" plate would be cut in a trianglular pattern, thinner at the top, thicker at the bottom to spread the load.
The cylinder will be all but rubbing on the I-beam, a hard lesson learned. Using the 3 1/2" by 3/8"s angle.
The push block uses the 5x3 1/2x 3/8's angle, 3 1/2" on the beam, 1" on each side of the beam for bolts, and 3"x3/8's angle, cut down, on the bottom of the beam with a spacer in between on the 1" space..
20 ton is VERY optomistic from the 3 1/2" bore, but I have a 3x3x3/8"s box that could be welded to the bottom for strength. (sould equate higher than the 1/2" plate on top)

I am not liking any of the 3/8"s steel, maybe I am paranoid?
Anything else I am missing?

 

[Al Smith]

Great detail but bear in mind it's a wood splitter not a rocket ship .

Theoretically according to my structural steel books any beam that has the same poundage per foot has about the same strength . In other words a 10" wide flange at 21 pounds per foot has the strength as an 8" in the same poundage .