Log splitter plans?

[*chris*]

I would like a log splitter and would like to try building it myself. I own a Lincoln 175 square wave TIG that will AC or DC stick weld up to 175 amps. I also have a MIG, but I think it will be of limited use.

I don't heat with wood, and really only need to split a half cord or so per winter. I have used a 10hp splitter before which was nice, but am wondering if I could get away with powering the thing with a 5hp electrical motor or so.

Does anyone have any suggested downloadable plans and suggestions where to buy the cylinder and hydraulics?

I think I would like to find plans for a vertical version unless the horizontal version is easier to build, better.

Chris

[Oldiron2]

With the two-stage pumps which put out higher volume at lower pressure for easy work, but switch to the higher pressure, lower volume when obstructions are met, a true 5 hp motor (running on 220v or more) would be fine. If you are not in a hurry at all and rig limit switches, a single stage pump will do and you can be moving wood or doing other chores while the ram is returning.
Someone recently posted that there are plans available, but I don't think they are needed by most mechanically-minded people. You might need the info. about motor size vs. pump output, etc. if you don't copy something you know works.

[mudbugone]

http://surpluscenter.com/ If nothing else you will enjoy their catalog. You should be able to power a light duty splitter with a 3- 5hp gas engine unless you just want electric,which might cost more to hook-up.

[denrep]

I agree with Oldiron2 and mudbugone on all points.
I don't split wood, but somehow I end up with enough of those contraptions!
Design should follow whatever materials are readily available.

If you pick a cylinder with a large diameter rod, it will use less oil volume to retract and thus be faster on the return.

Good Luck

[Oldiron2]

If you pick a cylinder with a large diameter rod, it will use less oil volume to retract and thus be faster on the return.

But then if you are splitting a difficult piece of wood like Eucalyptus and it gets stuck on the wedge, you have less effort to pull it off.....so you might have to drill it, pack it with black powder,.....
The larger rod/faster speed is probably a good idea, I agree.

[William McCormick Jr]

I would like a log splitter and would like to try building it myself. I own a Lincoln 175 square wave TIG that will AC or DC stick weld up to 175 amps. I also have a MIG, but I think it will be of limited use.

I don't heat with wood, and really only need to split a half cord or so per winter. I have used a 10hp splitter before which was nice, but am wondering if I could get away with powering the thing with a 5hp electrical motor or so.

Does anyone have any suggested downloadable plans and suggestions where to buy the cylinder and hydraulics?

I think I would like to find plans for a vertical version unless the horizontal version is easier to build, better.

Chris

If you can find an old Briggs&Straton with the all cast iron body and head. Rebuild it. It is worth every penny. You can cut oak sidways with it by revving it up. The super large fly wheel develops some serious power.
It actually cuts oak sideways. And for normal splitting you can idle it down so that you can whisper to someone as you are splitting wood. The two stage pumps still allow the piston to come out fast even at an idle.

I have built a few with my father. One about thirty five years ago. That one was the one that cut oak sideways. You have to watch it shoots out the oak sideways at you. And the oak goes as much as fifteen feet. Big pieces of oak. It had a cleaver blade. Often wood would get stuck but you can just put another piece on and push it through. It cut right through knots.

We found that the blunt point works best all around. But does not cut wood sideways well. Or big knots. I do not recommend that anyway. Because it puts to much stress on the 'I" beam or the box tubing. And your guides and hydraulics. But awfully fun.

The nice thing about box tubing is that you can make it part of the oil reservoir and put the vent into the long structural box tubing. And then weld another piece of box tubing underneath and seal it to the long structural box tubing as the reservoir. You have to make holes in both to connect them. Before you join and seal them.

Then you can keep your tires really close, by mounting the motor over the cylinder. While the tank is underneath the main box tubing. Sweet to go in and out of sheds. I will try to get a picture of one of my fathers latest ones.

Sincerely,


William McCormick

[Weldordie]

Chris,

Here are a few photos of a neighbor's splitter that I reconditioned for him a few years ago. 8 hp B&S engine. Vertical means you can just roll a log onto the foot to split. I just don't like to lift wood.

I couldn't believe how the piston had worn an oval into the cylinder, but it still starts on the second pull every time, and just putts along, splittin' like there was no tomorrow.

[daddy]

This is one of those projects that I passed on because I found it less expensive to buy a new one with all the bugs worked out already.
Similar version to Weldordie's pics at Tractor supply for a grand. Splits wood as fast as I can feed it.
You can do it cheaper if you are willing to scrounge and wait...
Good luck.

[*chris*]

Weldordie, that looks fairly simple. An I-beam with some channel iron. How do I match the pump, valve, cylinder, and motor? How long of a stroke do I want? What is the implication of cylinder bore? I was looking at surplus center and they show that an 8 GPM pump would require a 5hp minimum gas motor.

As Daddy says, it seems like the parts maybe around $500 without the steel. I can't believe that the i-beam is going to be cheap either.

Chris

[mudbugone]

Unless you have at least some of the major parts to build a splitter that were picked up cheap somewhere...buying a used one or even a new one will probably be less expensive than building one from scratch...

[*chris*]

Unless you have at least some of the major parts to build a splitter that were picked up cheap somewhere...buying a used one or even a new one will probably be less expensive than building one from scratch...

Well, I am not necessarily doing this to save money, I think it would be a neat project. It seems like 5 hp splitters are around $1000, so I should be able to get all the parts for a little more than half. Once I get the parts figured out, I can price it out. I still don't understand hydraulics enough to pick the right motor/pump/cylinder/valve.

Chris

[69 chevy]

Know this: gas engine horsepower is NOT equal to electric motor horsepower or hydraulic horsepower. Here's a link to the thread where I posted pics of my build: http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...203#post211203

Go to this page on Surplus Center: http://surpluscenter.com/hydraulic.a...name=hydraulic Click the link on the left side, TECH HELP. Everything you need to know is there.

[Weldordie]

Weldordie, that looks fairly simple. An I-beam with some channel iron. How do I match the pump, valve, cylinder, and motor? How long of a stroke do I want? What is the implication of cylinder bore? I was looking at surplus center and they show that an 8 GPM pump would require a 5hp minimum gas motor.

As Daddy says, it seems like the parts maybe around $500 without the steel. I can't believe that the i-beam is going to be cheap either.

Chris

Sorry, Chris, but I don't have the specs for the splitter. I merely posted the photos in hopes they would be helpful for your design.
Weldordie

[triptester]

Here is a rough list of parts needed to build a splitter with approx. average cost,
4x 24 cylinder 175.00
11gpm 2-stage pump 150.00
pump mount bracket 40.00
hydraulic hoses 50.00 min.
log splitter control valve 80.00
hydraulic oil filter 20.00
hydraulic fittings 50.00 plus
hydraulic fluid (5 gal. min.) 5.00 per gallon
gas or electric motor 300.00
tires
axle
wedge
beam
misc. materials

Care must be taken when choosing electric motors there are many different types with the same hp. rating .Some will fail completely where some types may last forever.

For 2-stage pumps 1/2 hp. per gal. is required.
For single stage pumps 2-3 hp. per gal. is needed.
When the correct type of electric motors are used hp. requirement can be reduced by 1/3.

[69 chevy]

triptester, you forgot to list the hydraulic fluid reservoir and the electric power cord.

[MoonRise]

chevy, he listed that under "misc materials".

[William McCormick Jr]

This is the latest one my father built. He built the oil reservoir tank into the side of the main box tubing. And elevated it for the air space. I remember now that there was a problem with doing it the other way. If the lower tank was not large enough to hold the bulk of the oil.

Those tires will extend out a bit for extra stability, but there was never any need.

This thing will cut wood too. So many people have borrowed it that most would not believe it. Sometimes they trailer upstate and split truck loads of wood. This is electric start.

Here are a couple more pictures of it in PDF format.

http://www.Rockwelder.com/Tools/LogSplitter.pdf





Sincerely,


William McCormick

[farmersamm]

William

That's one nice looking machine. I can't get over how compact it is.

The attention to detail is something to look at. I really like the pedestal that the control valve's sittin' on. That's nice

[Weldordie]

William,

Just curious... can one person balance a log on the slider bar, while operating the valve at the same time, or is this a two person rig? Thanks for posting.

[triptester]

There is a lot of items in the misc box and unfortunately they are not just nickel and dime items all to often they are 5 and 10 dollar items. I have built 4 splitters in the last 5 or 6 years as I find enough low cost or free components. With free engine ,cylinder ,tires, and low cost steel the least expensive one still cost about $750.00.

I don't burn wood so I design and build them as a challenge to make them as user friendly as possible. They all have log lifts, work table ,full suspension , and lights. Some of my requirements are that they have to be safely tow-able at sustained interstate speeds by an auto, towed thru the woods by an ATV, and easily movable by hand on level ground.

I think what most of us are trying to say is if you just want to make a basic splitter it is hard to beat the price of what is already on the market. If you want to spend the time to build something special it can be a very rewarding project.

[triptester]

William,

Nice attention to details. Looks well thought out.

[denrep]

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
One of these may have been the reaction to the beautiful McCormick splitter build:
Attachment 23549

Attachment 23550

Attachment 23551

McCormick has the Hadron Collider of splitters

[William McCormick Jr]

William,

Just curious... can one person balance a log on the slider bar, while operating the valve at the same time, or is this a two person rig? Thanks for posting.

You can do it by yourself. But you know in my part, we have fun while splitting so we always have two or more guys. Lots of Lumber jack champaign. I don't drink so I am often the designated operator. Ha-ha. I get to say things like don't put your head in between the ram and wedge while I have the piston coming out.

But in all honesty I can split a half chord in an hour by myself. Depending on the size of the wood involved. Sometimes we get thirty inch bases. So it would be a bit of a pain for me to lift them alone, hold and split them.
But usually what happens is we get a build up of split wood and shavings. And soon the ground is almost as high as the splitter anyhow.

I have done some big stuff by myself, but it is mostly for fun now. We have the System 2000 from Energy Kinetics. Ha-ha. We used 500 gallons of oil the whole year. Wahoo! Down from almost 2000 gallons the year before.

Being Irish they of course doubled the price of oil as soon as I tightened the last bolt on the unit. But still the best darn deal around that I know of.


That box beam is actually a pretty big flat surface to work on.

The next one we make is going to be a vertical model. Just to see how it works. Do the chips build up around them?

The horizontal unit is great if you have two wheel barrels and wheel the wood up to the splitter, and wheel barrel the wood away. Takes a lot of pressure off the back. You can pickup truck the wood to the splitter as well, and take it away in garbage cans for stacking too. I see good and bad in both, horizontal and vertical.

We made a lot of these over the years.

Sincerely,


William McCormick

[Weldordie]

The next one we make is going to be a vertical model. Just to see how it works. Do the chips build up around them?

Greetings, William,

When you go vertical be sure to put the flat foot on the bottom of the upright. Makes it a lot easier to place the flat end of a log upon a flat foot. I've seen some splitters built with the wedge on the bottom. Never could figure that one out. Must be fun, trying to balance a log on the edge of the wedge.

Chips? What chips? We must be splitting different wood. Don't get chips here on fir, pine, and an occasional western maple. Oh, now I remember... maybe a couple of shovels full of chips, but no big deal.
Cheers, Weldordie

[*chris*]

Very neat, right now I am thinking about buying the following components:

Honda 160cc (5 hp) motor
11 GPM dual stage pump (maybe 8, I dunno)
4x24 cylinder

How do I determine what size I beam to use? Height, width, thickness?

How do you weld what looks like a 3/4" steel plate splitting wedge to the box beam? The biggest welder I have is a 175amp Lincoln square wave TIG/Stick. Is this a vee out multi pass process? How much danger am I in of the weld fails under pressure? Will it fail catastrophically? I know this is a welding forum, but I am thinking about bolting that part together with some grade 8 bolts and angle iron.

I think I am going to make mine vertical only and have no desire to tow it except around the yard. I have a trailer if it needs to go long distances.

Chris