I am building a splitter. I have two hydrostatic gear boxes. I was reading a post asking about using the same type of pumps for a FEL. I was under the impression that it wont work.

I am considering buying a regular hydraulic pump or maybe trading someone for these pumps. In order to get a very powerful splitter what type of pump should I get as far as specs go? Also what type of ram as far as dimensions go and how are rams rated? The mtor I plan on using is at least 25 hp. I found a guy on a local classified site that has some rams , but , I dont know if they will work. I need some info please.

Thanks guys

Bruno, First......
Welcome to MBN.
Second, If you are looking for raw power then a gear pump rated for twenty five horsepower it the way to go. If you are looking for a balance between raw power and usability than a two stage pump is the way to go.
I am running a 22GPM Barnes Two Stage pump on my splitter. It has a 5" X 24" cylinder on it and is powered by a 18 horsepower Wisconsin TJD two cylinder engine.
Cylinders are figured by piston area, a 5" cylinder has an area of 19.635 square inches and if you multiply that time the pressure you are supplying to it say 2750psi, that works out to roughly 27 (26.99813) tons of force.
Dan.

Hey Bruno. I built mine with a Northern Hydraulic 16gpm (2 stage)unit with a 8HP Briggs off an old Mayrath hay elevator. The 8hp has plenty of power. I really recommend the 2 stage pump. The cylinder is 4x24. I wanted a longer one but the price of a new one was prohibitive for me. The tongue is from a Hesston haybine, the axle is Ford Ranger, and most of the rest of the hyd system is Massey Ferguson combine. I only have about $500 in the whole thing. It isn't really pretty, but it sure gets it done.

Jeff

Thanks for the welcome dan. Is your splitter pretty quick? I am afraid that if I buy the wrong components that I will end up with a very slow splitter. This is why I am trying to ask the questions before I build. I have a line on a couple of cylinders that I can get from friends. The prices are very attractive. One is $75 and the other is $100. I havent seen either one yet though so I have no idea what the dimensions are. I will find out in a day or two.

Welcome to the gang, Bruno!
T

Thanks Terry. I dont think I am bringing the skill level that I have been reading about in some of these posts. There seems to be some very talented people here. I did a little machine work when I was a kid , but , that was 20 yrs ago. I do a little welding and have wrenched on big trucks and autos for a few yrs also. i am not scared of much. I have worked in a construction trade for several yrs. I am a lather and plasterer by trade. I have been doing that for close to 20 yrs now. I can do all kinds of construction work that I dont do on a regular basis. I am a stickler for work done well. before i attempt anything that I am not familiar with I do plenty of research. The biggest part of the research is determining who actually knows what they are talking about.

I wish that I had paid more attention to people that were trying to teach me something when I was growing up, but , I am trying to make up for it now.:D

bruno2,we built a splitter years ago and I can tell you that you'll play hell trying to keep up with a 16gpm pump+detent valve coupled with a 4"cylinder.You can use a smaller rod cylinder like a 1.5"dia but it makes for a slower return stroke and isn't as strong as a 2"rod.In my opinion a 5"bore cylinder is totally unecessary.Even a 3"bore will split most woods when coupled to the right engine/pump combo.Do be sure to use a 3/8"thick beam or better,mine is 1/4" and it's all twisted to hell.We split eastern US hardwoods;-oak,maple and some ash and beech.An 11gpm pump is fine for most folks,if you wanna pump out the cords then go for the 16gpm pump.Make sure you have about a 22-24"stroke cylinder unless you only split small woodstove lengths.

Plaster and lath huh? Wow! Sounds like skill to me. That is the beauty of this site and the people that post here.....we all bring some sort of experience to the table for everyone else.
The last plaster and lath experience I had was a bad but funny one my Dad and I got into years ago. We had just been putting the finishing touches on the restoration of my grandparents 110yo house when after painting the parlor ceiling Dad saw a nail popped out. He tried to drive it up gently but it just bounced in the lath so he locked a pair of vice grips to the nail and gently pulled. That is when the entire ceiling came crashing down on top of us along with 110 years of dust, dirt and of course, soot from burning coal. Here we were, 11 feet in the air stairing at each other with only the whites of our eyes showing Dad says...."Guess that wasn't such a good idea was it son?" That is when I learned how to hang sheet rock.
Sorry, my tales have been known to hijack a thread or two, but your experience is welcome here. All you need to know is you want to do it yourself!
T

Bruno, yes my splitter is fast, both ways. We have had many discussions here about splitters, most of the various equipment has been hashed and re-hashed in one thread or another on the old site I linked to.
I run my engine at 2800 - 3200rpm, at that rpm it produces about 16hp. More then enough power for the 22gpm Barnes two stage pump that is on it.
I had to buy a new cylinder as none were available used locally, so I opted for the largest I could afford. Now I have stalled a friends 5hp 11gpm 3-1/2" cylinder splitter during testing of repairs I made on it, the added square inches in my cylinder made short work of the chucks that stalled his splitter. Both splitters are set at the same psi (2750psi), so in some wood the larger cylinder is a plus.
My hydraulic tank holds Around 19-1/2 gallons clear full, but operating level is around 15 gallons to the middle of the top sight glass. It is better to have too much oil then not enough.
The first thing to settle on is the gpm of the pump, for most people a 16gpm pump is sufficient, I had the 18hp engine and that would have been overkill to run a 16gpm pump. I could up my pump to a 28gpm pump but then I would be running the engine at high rpm all the time to get the pressure needed, GPM governs the speed at which the cylinder moves, the pressure X piston sq.in's governs the force the cylinder exerts on the workpiece(the wood or various body parts that could get in the way. )
Once you have picked your pump it is time to select your engine, 5hp is fine for 11gpm , 8hp for 16gpm, 14 - 16hp for 22gpm and 18 - 22 for 28 gpm. These are pretty standard for the various pump outputs. Do not under power the pump as you Will be unhappy with the resulting splitters performance.
I repowered a splitter over the summer that I bought at an auction sale, it had a 5.5hp china clone on it from whomever built it, the poor engine had been beat to death trying to run a 16gpm pump with the pressure relief cranked up to 3000psi. I was looking to flip it, new engine and some new hoses and a new paint job and sell it. I bought an engine off of the net and replaced the old worn out one with it and had a running splitter, the difference in price between the 5.5 china clone and the 13hp china clone $80. I took it apart pressure washed it and repainted it IH red. It took two days to sell it once it hit the local bulletin boards. I paid $100 for it at auction, the engine and hoses cost me $300 and the paint was leftover from another project, it sold for $1000. The moral of the story is the person who built it under power a very nicely built splitter and then ruined the engine through pure ignorance, but I made out like a bandit.
More tomorrow as it is my bedtime soon
Dan.

Ok the motor is apparently a 17 hp kawasaki motor with a verticle output shaft. I have seen some couplers on various site that I think will work to attach the pump shft to the crank shaft. however I am wondering how to mount the pump. If the engine has a verticle output the pump will have to be mounted shaft up. Will this be a problem for the pump?

Also I suppose I will have to make a mounting plate that attaches to the bolt holes on the bottom of the motor and attaches to the mounting holes on the pump. I just need to measure the distance between the shafts along with whatever distance the couplers add to it.

Most pumps won't have any problem with a vertical shaft. You can probably find an adapter housing to go between the pump and the motor. Just watch that you get the right adapter for the distance between the motor and the pump.

Chris

My 25 hp Kohler mated to an SAE A mount 2 section pump on my little articulated loader.I had to cut and modify an aluminum C-face electric motor pump mount,because I couldnt find a mount for the Kohler.Makes no difference how the pump is mounted,just make sure it's square and seated right on the adapter or you'll hear pump whine and blow out the coupler spiders every couple hours.You'll be using the L100 or better couplers for 17hp.Try to get the Hytrel spider over the buna-N spiders,they last longer.

Here's a few pics of one I made a few years ago. It's powered by the Cadtrac hydraulics. 22 hp Kawasaki running a 25gpm Prince gear pump.

I saw something like this on a backhoe. What I liked was he left the wood on the ground and put the splitter over it. So turn that darn thing over and you won't have to lift the tree on to it.
Maybe it does work that way I cannot see how far you can curl it.

i have watched them work on skid loader to me it was good for breaking larger diameter wood into managable chunks to split by hand (faster). the lines were the problem getting in the way when you curled and rolled the wedge setup.(bucket)
i got out of the wood business. had to buy the logs/trees. then split.. very little money by the time you add up the costs..

The splitter can be used in its current position, in the vertical position or turned completely upside down from its current position. There are some pictures of it under construction on the old site under the heading

Cadtrac Additions:
http://www.machinebuilders.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2456&PN=1&TPN=1

So far I've only used it in its current position and in the vertical. While I think it would work fine upside down it would be a real bear to manuever it into position especially on a hill.

Hey Everyone, I just was wondering what size beam you used for your log splitter? I'm building one too and all I have is 10x10 H beam.

Bruno2, I'm going to use the 16 GPM pump for mine. I had built a couple of them in the past and I have never skimped on the engine. Bigger is better. On my last splitter I had a 10 hp Briggs and Stratton that set up worked good. Always remember that in hydraulics that volume is speed. I used 3/4" hoses for mine too. That makes the cycle time fast.
Kevin

Kevin,
Welcome to the new site!
Dan.

Here is a link to where I am considering purchasing my cylinder:
http://baileynet.com/index.php

The 24" stroke cylinder is the one I am considering.The 5" cylinders were quite a bit more. Like $150.00 mor, but, I still havent ruled out the 5 , just considering the 4.

Here is another silly question. Everything that I am looking at has 1" and 1-1/4" ports for the hydraulic components except for the detent valve. The valve has 3/4" ports. Will this choke my flow down to where I am not receiving the benefits of the larger ports?