home made log splitter

[moose13]

Yes it is on the return side.

[hockeyguynick]

looks good, I've been wanting to build one myself someday. Good and heavy duty too....Are those 14.5" wheels?

[moose13]

looks good, I've been wanting to build one myself someday. Good and heavy duty too....Are those 14.5" wheels?

Yes, trailer house axle and wheels.

[kelly_obanan]

Nice work done Moose13 you really done the great job at your work place especially you work on the light grade steel which is so appreciating. Thanks for sharing sharing these cool pics of your log splitter.

[Hartmann]

If the filter were installed with the bottom toward the ground it would at least make less of a mess when it came time for a filter change. Also the filter could be prefilled with fluid and the pump would not be run dry for the restart. Hydraulic pumps are highly machined precision pieces of machinery and will not last long if run dry for any period of time. The hydraulic fluid serves to lubricate and cool the internals of the pump while in operation. Ideally the filter should be placed on the discharge side of the pump and not the suction side. If the filter becomes clogged during operation the pump becomes starved of fluid and loses all lubrication and cooling, quickly trashing the pump. Even new fluid has some contaminants in it and should be filtered as it is added.

Agree with this, I would change filter angle. Excellent work, BTW.

[Bistineau]

I saw on Welding Web where you posted this project and had installed the hoses. There was mention of it on an arborist site, though I didn't search for it. I'm surprised you didn't return here to update everyone on the status of this handy project.(on WW you said you were proud of it,and rightly so) I see you left the filter in the angled position, this will most likely hold an air bubble at the highest point in the filter, reducing effective filter surface area. You said it had a pretty quick cycle time, which I mentioned would happen in a previous post regerding pump size vs. cylinder size.
With the height of the rack it would seem the easiest way to use this rig, would be to roll the wood directly from the tailgate of the truck directly onto the spltter, eliminating having to lift it a second time for splitting. Is this the way you work it?
You shouldn't have any trouble keeping that "Homade Firewood Box" full now. I would suspect you will eventually build a twin to it, to increase the amount of wood you could store inside, to keep the fire burnig for a longer period before you run back out in the cold to restock it.

[moose13]

Thanks for the kind words.
Yeah the plan is to split directly from the trailer, the trick to firewood is to handle as little as possible. Yeah, i figured the pics already posted should get the point across. Only difference now is hoses and fittings installed. I burn about 5-7 cords a year, so yeah another bigger firewood box would be handy.

[woodtick007]

I have my splitter that level with my trailer. This way I can roll huge rounds right off the trailer and on to the splitter without any lifting or wrestling with rounds that weigh 200 lbs. I can split 30 face cord a year by myself and never pickup one stick of wood from the ground except to load it on the trailer. Here is a pic of my splitter...It was a 5hp store bought unit made by a company called Brave that I bought used and it morphed into what you see. It currently has a 22gpm barnes pump, with a 13hp Honda and a 17 gallon hyd tank. The original tank was on 2.5 gallons and when your splitting wood it would just get burning hot. That was solved by the additional tank I added.

I am working on a new splitter right now that will have a 26hp Briggs, with a 26pgm pump, a 5x24 hyd ram, an adjustable 4 way wedge and a hydraulic drive system. I am debating on a log lift, but at this point I would really have no purpose for one.