Catersplitter fixes and upgrades.

Was getting ready to use the splitter and have a few problems I need to address. First up is the winch. When I first made the splitter I bought 2 cordless remote winches at Harbor Freight. Couldn't find a cordless anywhere else at the time so it was my only option. First one worked great and lifted everything. All was fine till something dies in the remote and it won't recognize commands. Yes, the battery was fine in the remote. Installed the second one as the remotes signals were different. It was not as strong and it wouldn't lift a few 4fters I had to work up. Then, over the summer it decided to spool up on it's own. I didn't notice till one day I looked at it and it had everything bound up. Switched the battery out and it will just infeed constant. Decided to try a winch from the local farm store so I installed it to try.



Came with a manual switch as well. I'm going to leave it hanging till I see if it works out. I'll tidy everything up then. We're just in a trial mode here. If anyone out there knows of a good, 12 volt winch with a cordless remote, let me know.




Cordless remote is a lot bigger and has a lock out switch, both features will be nicer.




Bolt pattern was narrower but at least the other 2 bolts lined up.



Just quick wrapped the wires now till I get some time on it. Everything looks fine and works so we'll see.

I'll start on the next piece in a few days. Snow is here and a good time to do some shop work!

 

Gotta love the Chinese quality. Lol

I'd just leave it as a wired remote. Less to have an issue with.

 

Problem is I've grown accustom to dragging large rounds in from 30 ft away. that is why I wanted it in the first place. I don't want to worry with a cord as it'll get wrapped up in stuff and I'll be tripping over it.

 

Ahhh. I see.
What about a Warn brand? Or superwinch?

 

At that time of the build they didn't make one that I saw. I got this latest one when I went with dad and they had 30% off everything so I bought it as a spare to try. I'll start looking again tonight. I'd think with all the new side by side atvs they have a quality one out there. i was hoping someone on here would have something they like and had good luck with.

 

Next issue was the boom lock. I figured this would fail. The swivel boom was bought and the lock is pretty weak and poorly made. Lets see if we can make it nice and build it to last



They just had a small diameter mild steel thread screwing into the booms 3 inch tube. Naturally, it has stripped and mushroomed the end. had to use Vise Grips to get it out.



A single, standard thickness nut was welded to the tube. Time to change this



The whole hoist just sits in a tapered roller bearing and rests there. I just put a strap on it and lifted everything up using the Gantry I made and a winch.



Here you can see the bearing on the bottom. The whole thing is a little sloppy and I may see about addressing that.



I wrapped a bag around the bearing and taped it to keep the dirt out of it. I strapped the hoist to the splitter top keep it from moving around as well.



Cut the nut off first.



Went to the stainless stack and was looking for a bigger pipe/tube but all I had was this. I go to my local scrap yard occasionally and the have a stainless pile and they sell by the pound. Pennies on the dollar of new and such a sweet place to get steel. I don't know what this was for but it would be VERY expensive to have made.

 

Don't know if this was made from a solid hunk or they welded the ears on and turned them smooth. I'm leaning toward a solid hunk though in looking at it. I'll use as is and keep the holes there. If nothing else, I now will have a coat hanger rack on the splitter. LOL



Stuffed some towels in the tube to keep debris out and I have an issue with the sizes as you can see. I originally thought I'd slice a section out and weld angle on it. Drill some holes and just clamp it together. When I measured them, they were exactly .250 different. Hmmm, plan B.



I have .125" hard poly strips left from another job the will work just fine. Lots easier and probably better.



Cheating here as I clamped it and just plunge down on the cut lines, just to the edges.



Nice, easy and quick



On the sides I did the same only went real slow as it wants to push out/deflect if you try to go fast.



I just use a hacksaw blade to finish to the corners on the longs.



Now I'll drill a hole and run a burr to the cut lines making 2 halves.

 

They are about 1 inch wide so I cut them to the correct length and pushed them in for a test fit and work great. Warmed them on the stove to make them more pliable as this stuff is tough



Going to used brass as a grip to the tube. It'll spread the load and can slowly wear. It'll probably outlast me though. Started by facing on end smooth.



Made up a pattern for the "window" for the brass to pass through. It's .950" x 1 .400". I also clamp the tube in a vise and brought a cut off wheel down and just gave it witness marks. This locates the flat side exactly in the back where I want it. I center the pattern to the marks.



I then took a marker and trace the outside. Now I have cut lines to go to. You can see I marked the pattern with a center line as well.



Then just pry out with a small pair of Vise Grips



Clean up with a file and one hole is done.



Now I'll repeat the process on the splitters tube. Would have liked to go a little lower but the hole is there.



Now both holes/windows are done I have my final size for the brass

 

Nice pile of splits

 

Did the math and ground one side till I was equally centered with the flat.



Used the chuck as a surface plate and squared the flat to do the other side. Once it was to size I resquared again(shown here) to do the drill hole side the will locate/trap the screw thread.



Here's a trick to get reasonably central on a round. Once clamped in position, just grind a small flat with a narrow wheel. I eyeballed to the scribed line and the center punched it.



I center drill the hole and then step drilled it to .650 deep and .500" diameter. Here I'm flat bottoming it to the same depth.



I then flipped it 180 degrees. To get rid of some of the stock, I just cut it out. I need the curve going the other way and I'll have to grind that.



Lay the vise the other way and cut it off.



Tube diameter is 3.00 and I need it to be accurate so it will grip nice. I just ground a wheel passed the paper to 3.050 to rough in. You notice I had to relieve the holding tang as the hub would hit other wise. this stuff grinds like butter so I set a table stop and infeed. Made several passes to lessen the heat.



I then redress to exactly 3.00" and did the final infeed to clean.

 

Used a prior made thread holding jig and ground a 1/2 inch bolts end to perfectly flat.



This way it won't dig into the brass. I'll smooth the edges too on a deburring wheel.



Cut the block off and ground the cut side to size.



Bolt will push this into tube



Here's a visual of what I'm going for. Now I need a threaded collar



Off to the junk drawer. Found a 1.00" long round with a hole in it. I'll drill it to size and tap it for a 1/2 coarse thread.



Got it tapped so now I'll do the collar holder.



For the collar holder I found a small piece of strap. Put a couple lines equal distance from the end and bent it with the compact bender. Makes quick work of it.

 

Nice machine. Nice work. I like to build stuff to fill a need and in the end things generally work. My stuff is primitive and amateurish compared to your work. Impressive!

 

I'll weld this to the big round but I have to drill the hole for the threaded collar. I'll do a press fit hole.



Pressed it in and it'll make it easy to TIG weld. Next is the handle.



Had a piece of .500 round that was 10 inches long and that will work out great. I want a T handle as opposed to just one side like it had before. That way which ever side you are on it will be easy to lock the boom in position. Need male threads on both ends for the ball knobs so instead of turning them, I just drill and tap.



Once they are both done, I just thread in some bolt and tighten. I threaded only enough that it would stop midway on the thread. bottoming out if you will. that way it will stay. Especially since I locktighted them too!



Then I just cut the heads of. This way you have a hard corner with threads all the way. Makes the knobs look better to me as they are tight.



Here you can see what I mean. I'll drill a .250 hole in the middle next but only go about 2/3 through. This will lock the handle in position. You'll see what I have in mind shortly



Hole is done.



Junk draw yielded another piece. I'm drilling a .500 hole here clear through for the handle to pass through. I'll then drill and tap a 1/4 - 20 thread on the lathe to hold the handle there.

 

On the other side of the piece I recessed it. Went just about the thickness of the bolt head. I'll TIG weld this on as well.



I also want to get the hole for the grease zerk done so I marked it and drilled it out a little small. Once I was certain it was right, opened it up big enough to get a grease gun on it easily. I think I'll add another one to the other side in the same spot.



Other side is done and to size so I'll finish the poly band. I'll have to take the stock off where the zerk holes and brass block passes through.



Quick measurement for the blocks width and height and cut that out. This will work to keep it in place as well.



So glad this is working out. I would not want it any tighter.



I'm also going to put a spring on the inside to keep drag pressure on the boom. Threaded collar serving double duty here



I'll just trace the hole and drill close. Then finish with a burr in a die grinder.



Need to make 2 braces for strength. Out comes the cereal box for pattern making. Should be able to get both of them out of this little leftover.

 

I love watching your builds !

 

Great job and workmanship as always Kevin.

I am just going to sit around the rest of the day and feel incompetent.

 

^^^ What he said,

 

Nice work as usual!

For the winch, I would wire a switch so you can turn the wireless receiver off when it is not in use. Any winch can be made wireless.

Here are a couple of options:

100ft 12V Wireless Winch Remote Control Switch Handset for Car ATV SUV UTV BI567 | eBay

Wireless Controller 100ft Premium - PF Adventure

 

I had ordered that first one you listed a few days ago. Hasn't arrived yet. I figured I try to get it to work with my first winch as it had enough power. I'd really be interested in anyone who has a 3000 - 4500 lb winch that they are happy with. Willing to spend the money on a good one if the one I have on there now isn't up to par. I just want a real world/honest review of the model. The ones I have now are pretty slow but it's not something you wanting flying fast when it lifts. They didn't have all this stuff around when I made the splitter and with the UTV craze this class of winch is getting a lot of makers stepping up. Looks like some are just rebrands though.

 

I've been thinking about making a couple of winches wireless and getting on for the dump trailer. Now they sell the stuff in kits on ebay. Before you had to piece you own parts to together.

I have a Superwinch S5000. It looks like they don't make that model anymore. I think it has a lifetime warranty. It has not been used much but I really like. I don't think you will ever go wrong with a Warn winch. One thing you might want to consider is synthetic rope. It is safer to use. It will be lighter to carry out rounds. A popular synthetic rope is Amsteel Blue.

Warn Industries - Synthetic rope vs steel rope: Which one is best?