Wood Splitter Build - "The Don"

Ok, here goes... After several years of needing a new splitter and (literally) saving my pennies, I'm standing at the bottom of the mountain ready to saddle up.

My question to all of you is "What would you like to see and or learn from my build?"

I hope that doesn't come off like I think mine will be the best ever. I have learned a great many of my skills by watching and asking questions from folks that maybe knew a little bit more than me. I have also learned as much if not more from failures and from idiots... Both are expensive teachers!

I am currently (for now... budget cuts) a high school / community college welding teacher. I have a strong background in fabrication, engines, etc. I weld professionally during my "real job" over the summers for a large manufacturer, both steel and aluminum. I am also an American Welding Society Certified Welding Inspector and Educator. (That means I have the legal responsibility/authority to sign my name and stamp to any structural steel project and/or personnel and say "yep, good to go.") I am telling you all of that just so you can have some sort of confidence that I know what I'm talking about (sorta )

I pretty much know I will get laid off from teaching so this is my last good chance to do this and my hope is that you can learn something from my progress and my screw ups. Like I tell my kids, there are no dumb questions, because chances are there are at least two other folks who have the same questions as you but they're just scared to ask.

I am building this splitter in memory of my grandpa Don, who had me out helping him run his splitter (the one I use to this very day) the day I turned six, (no kidding! I was roofing with him when I was nine! What was my mom thinking?) and taught me the value of always having warm, dependable heat for my family

Thanks, Hellbent

 

So here is my goal... I am trying to produce the most rugged, dependable splitter I can, that maybe someday I can pass on to my grandkids. I want a splitter that will produce wood for my family but also be rugged enough to use for starting a small firewood business to supplement my teacher's pay.

Searching high and low I think I have found it. The SplitEZ by P&J Commercial Products. IMHO I think their splitters are simply the toughest, most well made I have seen. I particularly like their M 25000 horizontal/vertical model. I was tipped off to them by Kevin in Ohio's famous wood processor build (I wouldn't dare call that thing just "a splitter!") All the praise he gave P&J was spot on! (no I am not a paid spokesperson! but I wouldn't mind it!)

The folks at P&J are great and really, really know their stuff. James has spent a great deal of time explaining the ins and outs of different choices available. I ended up ordering their "most popular" splitter kit. It was a stretch for my budget, but I'm glad I did! I'll fill you in on the specifics later. It arrived today and WOW is all I can say! The first thing I noticed was the large scale (read heavy duty!) of everything I recieved. I have to admit that I had some reservation about why certain things seemed a little more expensive, but opening the boxes it all makes sense. Nearly everything is made in the USA (buy American, China is a long way to drive to work!) and of TOP quality! I'll try to get some picks up!

 

Sounds like a fun project
Looking forward to the build & lots of pics.
Cost to build vs buy one ready to go? May not be a fair ? but,
when I looked up parts to build , , was cheaper to buy it than make one. bought a 22 ton Speeco.

But building one would be a lot of fun & a great learning experience, (priceless stuff )

 

James IS one of the nicest guys I have ever dealt with and glad you found the same thing out. Saved me a lot of headaches while doing mine and his willingness to help was much appreciated.

He used to have a splitter on his site that he built called the "Big Boy". I do not see it now but it was a beast. I know at that time he would make whatever someone wanted as far as HP, cyclinder size, height, etc.

What size components did you get? Lift? C'mon, give us some details! Looking forward to seeing your vision come to light.

 

Looking forward to the build!

 

I can give some advice on hydraulics.

Run as big a tank as you practically can. Its all about residence time. More time for oil to cool and settle to prevent entrained air. A zig zag baffle will help too.

For max life you need to be running your oil cleanliness at 18/16/13 or better. A 12 micron beta 1000 filter will get you there. New oil is usually in the 24/22/19 neighborhood. After you fill with new oil, I recommend running your splitter with no load for a while to clean up the oil.

 

I'm on pins and needles.

 

Thank you for the link to p&j. That is a great web site. I'm working on converting a 3 point hitch wet line splitter to a stand alone style with a spare engine i have. Lots of great info and parts

 

Cost to build vs buying... A great point that I'm glad you brought up. With the cost of steel and components I'm estimating (high) around $2500 all said and done. Keep in mind that's counting paint and hydraulic fluid. Here is the trick... The splitter I am going for STARTS at $6200. Looking over the pics of their splitters on P&J's website splitez.com and the quality and durability of the parts, the price is more than fair.

Splitters in my neck of the woods with comparable features would be $1800-$2200 and those would be store brand. The other factor is quality and durability. I'll post with some specs that will give you an idea of what I'm talking about. So I deceided for a bit more why not have the best I can.

 

Will be watching.
Gonna be a great build thread with several on-lookers

Sounds like an awesome splitter.

 

As for specs of what I got from P&J here is a link to the page

http://www.splitez.com/log_splitter_parts.html

The kit I got is the part no. LSPKIT

Honda 390gx engine - 390cc or a little over 13hp
22 gpm two stage pump
Prince USA Royal Plate 5x 24" stroke (their higher grade of cylinder construction and finish) cylinder with 2" rod
Prince USA splitter valve with 3/4 (big) ports
Engine to pump couplings - (Wow! Immaculate quality and machining. Also, ENORMOUS for what these are.
Engine to pump mount - very nice quality, heavy cast aluminum!
10 micron return filter with up to 70 gpm flow (This filter is freakin MASSIVE! I'm used to seeing them on heavy equipment and large farm machinery, not a logsplitter!)

I also splurged on the 1055 Plow steel wedges they offer. I am glad I did. 1055 is right on the dividing line between medium to high carbon steel. The 55 means it contains .55% carbon. What that translates into is extreme impact and wear resistance and extreme service life (Sound about right for a splitter wedge? ) The most common application is earth moving/mining equipment and where extreme abrasion resistance is needed. Also, primo knifemaaking steel.

Thanks for all the interest! Hellbent

 

Sweet! I will need it. Repairing hydraulics no problem, done lots of that. Building a system...

As far as tank size goes I will have 27 gallon capacity on just the tank, not counting the rest of the system.

I have a few questions for you since you "volunteered"

Would you be willing to sketch out what you think is a good baffle design and post it? I need some guidance on that!

18/16/13 can you explain what that is and what it means?

How are micron's ranked? lower the number = greater filtration right?

Thanks, Hellbent

 

To express the quality of a filter, you need to know two things. The particle size and the efficency. This is all governed by ISO 16889:1999 Particle size is measured in microns, 1 micron = .000039" Efficency is given as a beta number, which can be converted to a percentage of crap captured by the filter out of the total circulting crap load in the system. Beta 1000 = 99.9% efficent. The smaller the micron and higher the beta, the 'better' the filter. Keep in mind 'too better' is possible, such a constrictive filter that your deltaP is too high.

18/16/13 is an ISO particle count code. This is a way of quantifying just how severe your crap load is, measured per milliliter of fluid. The first number is all particles smaller than 14 microns, the 2nd all smaller than 6 microns, the 3rd all smaller than 4 microns. The numercial value relates to a count range. 18 means more than 1300 but less than 2500 particles, 16, more than 320 less than 640, 13 more than 40 less than 80. It is a way of breaking down huge numbers into something useful. Each jump in ISO code doubles the number of particles. So your system needs to be running at 18/16/13, you dump in new 'clean' oil at 24/22/19; the oil you just added is roughly 64 times more dirty than what you dumped out of the system! The new oil may have a higher BN, less molecular sheer, less disolved water, etc... but it sure ain't clean. Thats why it needs to circulate through the filter for a little while before you start working it hard.


A simple zig zag baffle will help, think of the roped off waiting lines at a theme park. Your net displacement is only like 40 feet, but you spend two hours shuffling back and forth through a maze to get there....

 

To redneckdan, is there an advantage to baffles to a dispersion tube. I was told to use a tube so that is what I made up.



Just wanting to learn here so any insight would be appreciated.

To hellbent, I'm surprised by the 22 gpm pump. your motor would be close to within range but I went with the 28 using the 5 inch cyclinder for the cycle time. More heat but no issues with mine and I'm not running a cooler.

 

Here are some pics of the wedge. I meant to insert the image showing the height. It's 9"

 

Here is what I will be using as the foot (I think... I just ran across some 1 3/4 today but it may be too much of a hassle)

 

Here is my cylinder. The retracted pin to pin measurement is 36 1/4". The bottom pic shows it on the beam in the rough orientation.