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38" capacity electric log splitter

aczlan

Good Morning!
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
159
Messages
1,980
Loc
Fingerlakes region of NY
Building a log splitter with/for my brother, he has a gasification wood boiler that takes 40" long pieces of wood and he wants to be able to split wood to use the full length.
He also wants it to be electric so it's quieter.
Started with a 12' long ibeam, 14" tall, 8" wide, 1/2" flanges and a 3/8" web and welded a tongue onto it:
1000086989.jpg



And a GM 6.5" 4 lug axle that has been under at least 2 other trailers:
1000086943.jpg

Axle got a new pinion seal so it stopped making a mess on my shop floor, pretty sure the differential bearings are shot because if I tighten the caps beyond finger tight, the wheels stop turning.
Don't particularly care as long as they keep moving.

Laid out the cylinder, wedge, etc to see how it will all fit:
1000087355.jpg


Welded the axle under the beam so I can roll it out of the shop:
1000087336.jpg


The original plan was a 1760 RPM 10hp 3 phase motor to a jackshaft and a 2 stage pump powered by a DIY RPC.
However, a 7.5HP single phase 3600 RPM motor came up for sale and we picked it up, so the pump will be direct driven off of that.
Those will sit on the right side of the axle in the picture with a tank sitting in front of that.

Aaron Z
 
aczlan said:
Building a log splitter with/for my brother, he has a gasification wood boiler that takes 40" long pieces of wood and he wants to be able to split wood to use the full length.
He also wants it to be electric so it's quieter.
Started with a 12' long ibeam, 14" tall, 8" wide, 1/2" flanges and a 3/8" web and welded a tongue onto it:
1000086989.jpg



And a GM 6.5" 4 lug axle that has been under at least 2 other trailers:
1000086943.jpg

Axle got a new pinion seal so it stopped making a mess on my shop floor, pretty sure the differential bearings are shot because if I tighten the caps beyond finger tight, the wheels stop turning.
Don't particularly care as long as they keep moving.

Laid out the cylinder, wedge, etc to see how it will all fit:
1000087355.jpg


Welded the axle under the beam so I can roll it out of the shop:
1000087336.jpg


The original plan was a 1760 RPM 10hp 3 phase motor to a jackshaft and a 2 stage pump powered by a DIY RPC.
However, a 7.5HP single phase 3600 RPM motor came up for sale and we picked it up, so the pump will be direct driven off of that.
Those will sit on the right side of the axle in the picture with a tank sitting in front of that.

Aaron Z
Click to expand...
The nice thing about an electric one is no one will borrow it. I have 2 of them now. :flipoff2:
 
I was gonna say don’t weld the axle under it until it’s all done. So you can put it directly under the cg so it is light enough to lift and roll around by hand.
 
HYDRODYNAMIC said:
Internal stops are better for the seals.
Pull the end cap off slide on a spacer and put the cap back on.
Doesn’t have to be a perfect fit ID or OD. Could even be DOM.
Click to expand...
This post reminded me of my stop question, I have a 4"x60" cylinder that originally had a cross tube welded on the ends (Prince PMC-5660: 4x60x2 Double-Acting Hydraulic Cylinder Prince PMC-5660 | Double Acting Hydraulic Cylinders | Hydraulic Cylinders | Hydraulics | www.surpluscenter.com ) that we are looking at using.
Someone cut the cross tubes off and drilled a hole through the rod about 3" from the end (they had it sitting vertical and lifting a platform up):
1000086984.jpg

We want to limit the stroke to about 38", limiting the stroke extension would be easy (piece of steel tube on the rod inside the cylinder), but what is the best way to limit the retraction stroke so we don't shred the seals with the edges of the hole in the rod?
I have come up with:
  1. A piece of tube sitting loose inside at the base of the cylinder and live with it being off center
  2. A piece of tube on the outside (to hit the outside of the cap)
  3. A stop on the beam that the carriage hits to stop the retract stroke
Any thoughts on the best way to stop the retract stroke and connect the pusher to the cylinder?

ThePanzerFuhrer I said that I had welded it, but a heavy tack would be more accurate. It's got a 1" long bead of weld at each "corner" where the C channel connects to the ibeam.


Aaron Z
 
www.baileyhydraulics.com

Stroke Control Kit for Hydraulic Cylinders 1.75 TO 1.875 Rods

<ul><li><span style="color: rgb(56, 68, 72); font-family: lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Unique "Finger Tab" design for easier installation and removal </span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(56, 68, 72); font-family: lato, Helvetica...
www.baileyhydraulics.com www.baileyhydraulics.com

Put something like this on it.
 
aczlan said:
This post reminded me of my stop question, I have a 4"x60" cylinder that originally had a cross tube welded on the ends (Prince PMC-5660: 4x60x2 Double-Acting Hydraulic Cylinder Prince PMC-5660 | Double Acting Hydraulic Cylinders | Hydraulic Cylinders | Hydraulics | www.surpluscenter.com ) that we are looking at using.
Someone cut the cross tubes off and drilled a hole through the rod about 3" from the end (they had it sitting vertical and lifting a platform up):
1000086984.jpg

We want to limit the stroke to about 38", limiting the stroke extension would be easy (piece of steel tube on the rod inside the cylinder), but what is the best way to limit the retraction stroke so we don't shred the seals with the edges of the hole in the rod?
I have come up with:
  1. A piece of tube sitting loose inside at the base of the cylinder and live with it being off center
  2. A piece of tube on the outside (to hit the outside of the cap)
  3. A stop on the beam that the carriage hits to stop the retract stroke
Any thoughts on the best way to stop the retract stroke and connect the pusher to the cylinder?

ThePanzerFuhrer I said that I had welded it, but a heavy tack would be more accurate. It's got a 1" long bead of weld at each "corner" where the C channel connects to the ibeam.


Aaron Z
Click to expand...
Cut the barrel to the proper length.
 
Not sure I see where an internal stop makes any difference to the seals. Still doing the same thing - cylinder is stopped, and pressure will increase until the detent trips. Any form of a hard stop will accomplish that. That being said, the problem you have is that the cross hole is much too small for anything strong enough to handle the max retract force. Since you have plenty of stroke, I'd probably just weld a collar onto the rod such that the bottom is below the cross hole. Make it big enough to bear on the gland body and not the seal. If you want to really be fancy, machine a relief on the OD in way of the seal. If you weld on only the size away from the gland, the working surface of the rod should be fine. Could also make this into a structural attachment for the pusher.

What are you using for a wedge? Working on building one myself and have been tossing around ideas of how I want to do it.
 
sdmuleman said:
Not sure I see where an internal stop makes any difference to the seals. Still doing the same thing - cylinder is stopped, and pressure will increase until the detent trips. Any form of a hard stop will accomplish that. That being said, the problem you have is that the cross hole is much too small for anything strong enough to handle the max retract force. Since you have plenty of stroke, I'd probably just weld a collar onto the rod such that the bottom is below the cross hole. Make it big enough to bear on the gland body and not the seal. If you want to really be fancy, machine a relief on the OD in way of the seal. If you weld on only the size away from the gland, the working surface of the rod should be fine. Could also make this into a structural attachment for the pusher.
Click to expand...
Internal stop would just be to keep the pusher off of the wedge and reduce the amount of rod sticking out to be bent if something went wrong.
One thought was to use a schedule 40 pipe with a floor flange or disc of steel on it for the stop/attachment point to the pusher (planning on a fixed wedge and a moving pusher)
sdmuleman said:
What are you using for a wedge? Working on building one myself and have been tossing around ideas of how I want to do it.
Click to expand...
Recycled wedge from the splitter he got at an auction for cheap with a bent beam, looks like a piece of 1" with "wings" on it, a picture of the bottom before cleaning it up:
1000087018.jpg



Aaron Z
 
aczlan said:
Internal stop would just be to keep the pusher off of the wedge and reduce the amount of rod sticking out to be bent if something went wrong.
One thought was to use a schedule 40 pipe with a floor flange or disc of steel on it for the stop/attachment point to the pusher (planning on a fixed wedge and a moving pusher)

Recycled wedge from the splitter he got at an auction for cheap with a bent beam, looks like a piece of 1" with "wings" on it, a picture of the bottom before cleaning it up:
1000087018.jpg



Aaron Z
Click to expand...
A piece of square tube behind the piston will limit compression stroke. Round can be used but make sure it doesn’t block the port. Square leaves gaps around it. You could also move the port to the end of the body.
 
Take the ring gear off so it won't spin the pinion and wreck your new seal
 
Update:
Pusher plate base is done, need to get holes bored in the plates so it can all be welded together:
1000093622.jpg


Debating on the wedge brace, option A:
1000093624.jpg

Option B:
1000093623.jpg


Any thoughts?

Aaron Z
 
Why is it so short? My push plate is about 16" lon
aczlan said:
Update:
Pusher plate base is done, need to get holes bored in the plates so it can all be welded together:
1000093622.jpg


Debating on the wedge brace, option A:
1000093624.jpg

Option B:
1000093623.jpg


Any thoughts?

Aaron Z
Click to expand...
G
 
Made 1.75"(ish) holes in 4 pieces of 1.125" plate for the cylinder mount and the pusher plate yesterday.
If anyone is looking for holesaws to make holes in steel plate, skip the Spyder Carbide ones at Lowe's and go with the Lennox bimetal ones.
The Spyder one lasted 1/4" (maybe 3/8"), the Lennox Bimetal one went through the rest of that plate and then the other 3 plates.
If anyone is making holes in thick plate, drill a couple of holes just inside the edge of the hole to give chips a place to exit.
I used my mag drill (clamped to a forklift fork) to make the holes with some scrap steel below the plate to not get into the fork (that was hole 3 or 4):
1000093667.jpg




Aaron Z
 
aczlan said:
Longer is less stress on the beam, this one has 1/2" flanges on the beam.
If the cylinder is centered on the wood being split, there shouldn't be a huge amount of stress on the flanges.

Aaron Z
Click to expand...
Look at firewood processors if you get a chance for what I'm talking about. Or the pro line of splitters.

Some use brass wear bars or grease fittings too.

I know my beam flange is getting thin. It was 1/2" when new, maybe 3/8", if that, now.
Only ~3000hrs on it too.
 
AKnate said:
Look at firewood processors if you get a chance for what I'm talking about. Or the pro line of splitters.

Some use brass wear bars or grease fittings too.

I know my beam flange is getting thin. It was 1/2" when new, maybe 3/8", if that, now.
Only ~3000hrs on it too.
Click to expand...
It's getting UHMW sliders, haven't decided on grease fittings, but its not likely to ever see 3000 hours.
The one Dad and the neighbor built back on the early 90s is steel on steel with no appreciable wear.

Aaron Z
 
aczlan said:
It's getting UHMW sliders, haven't decided on grease fittings, but its not likely to ever see 3000 hours.
The one Dad and the neighbor built back on the early 90s is steel on steel with no appreciable wear.

Aaron Z
Click to expand...
I tried teflon, it wore out very quickly. Brass might be ok.

Always figured grease would make a nassty mess with all the dirt and bits of wood. Maybe even worse that nothing, but maybe not?
I've been douching mine with Fluid Film.
Replacing the beam would be a BIG job on mine.
 
AKnate said:
I tried teflon, it wore out very quickly. Brass might be ok.

Always figured grease would make a nassty mess with all the dirt and bits of wood. Maybe even worse that nothing, but maybe not?
I've been douching mine with Fluid Film.
Replacing the beam would be a BIG job on mine.
Click to expand...
We just cut the top flange off and put a new piece on there. Just did it a few weeks ago on the one that goes on the skidsteer.
 
ThePanzerFuhrer said:
We just cut the top flange off and put a new piece on there. Just did it a few weeks ago on the one that goes on the skidsteer.
Click to expand...
Yeah, still a ton of work. It's a made beam so has the "I" of the beam plus 2 more, and the whole splitter tray is part of it.
 
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