So, I happened upon a 4" ram....already had an 11 hp Honda engine under the bench doing nothing......log splitter control valves were on sale for 1/2 price.....got a bunch of free 1/2" and 3/4" hydraulic hose from work.....anyway...you can see where this is going. I want this thing to be faster, not more powerful. The only thing it will be splitting is lodge pole pine, and birch...and nothing ignorant when it comes to the birch. I don't need wood so badly that I'd up the size of a splitter just so I could bust the crotches in two. I don't need a 60 ton splitters here. Time to get you guys thinking. I have a choice to make. There's a 16 gpm 2 stage pump available. The vendor says it's rated to be run on a 13hp engine. My questions...... Is anyone running an 11 or 13hp engine on their splitter ? If so, what is the volume rating of your hydraulic pump ? I'm considering going up to a 22 gpm pump to get more speed out of it. I just don't know if I'm setting myself up for a lot of engine restarting due to stalling it out. Any advice on what pump to match up to my Honda GX340 11hp would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I have been running a 22 gpm 2-stage pump with a 11 hp engine and a 5" bore cylinder. Seldom does the pressure go over 1000 psi.. With the 4" cylinder the pressure will be higher but the relief can be set to prevent engine stall.
My splitter runs a 16gpm pump on an 8hp honda . I generally run it at about 2500 rpm . Haven’t stalled it yet . Pretty sure that 11 hp and 22 gpm will be a great combination . Go bigger than 1/2” hose ,and get a 20+ gallon tank .
I run a 28 gpm pump with a Honda GX630, but my pressure relief is set at 2200-2300, and it doesn't even grunt that GX630. The pressure is set there to be easy on the equipment. You start getting higher than that, things tend to bend and break. Have a properly designed wedge, and 2300 will be enough, and that's pretty much for any splitter. The way I see it, if you get a piece stuck, it's nothing to grab a saw and make a cut from the top and weaken it enough that it will push through. I actually had the worst stuck piece I've ever had this weekend, I had to make 2 cuts, one on top, and another on the pusher side to get it weak enough to push it through. It's all about design of the wedge.
A gallon of tank size for each gpm of pump size is a prtty good ratio . Mine had a 5-6 gallon tank ,and the fluid got a bit warmer than I was comfortable with during warm weather ,and long run . 130-159*f . Went to 25 gallons ,and it runs about 110 no matter what .
Obviously the bigger the hydraulic reservoir, the better, but I don't think you'll need a 20 gallon res, even with a higher GPM pump. 20 gallons isn't really that big but make it as large as you can. The reservoir on the old didier splitter I have is pretty small. I'd say maybe 2 gallons at most.
They have 10 gallon ones on sale right now for $90 Canadian pesos. Im going to grab one of those tomorrow. As for today...made up the pins for the ram. 1 3/4" stainless. Why stainless you ask ? Well...there's a very specific reason. It was 1.770"...it was propped up in the corner...I needed 1.748"...so I only had to cut off 22 thousandths. It was the first thing I found that was close to the right size and it was long enough. LOL. It was just something I've picked up somewhere out of a scrap bin at some point in the past, so its not like the cost was high. I'll just keep chipping away at it over the winter, and by spring I should have something that looks like a splitter built. Oh...and the reason the ram looks like a Halloween prank is because it's extended half way out. It's off a telehandler (zoom boom) and has load hold valves in it's manifold block. In order to allow movement, they require hydraulic pressure against them. I wasn't going to take the whole thing apart and make a big mess in the garage, so I just wrapped cardboard and tape around it to protect it from getting dinged up.
If the tank isn't baffled, then the design really doesn't matter, as it won't be very efficient in getting rid of heat. I had one that was designed poorly and next thing I knew my oil was 180 degrees, and you could burn yourself by touching the tank. If you can draw out the oil, have a first in first out, but also a way for hot oil to rise and stay put, would be best. Having 90s in your plumbing will also create heat. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, as you do want some heat in your oil to help get rid of water (condensation) and to make things work better (flows and seals). I got fancy with mine and had an oil cooler installed, but I knowingly has inefficiencies installed to help heat things up quicker as well (25 gpm valves on a 28 gpm system). I have a temperature controller set at 140 degrees, and the tank is just warm enough that you can put your hand on it for a while before it gets too warm. I do split in the middle of summer, but also when it gets cooler out, so that was my reasoning to spend the extra for the cooler. A well designed tank will help, but the smaller amount of oil in the system, the harder it will be to lower or keep the temperature lower of your oil. All my return oil runs through the cooler except through my dump valve, which is only open on the return stroke. If you only split when it's cool out, a good designed tank is all that's needed. Split in summer, then either you have hot oil or need a cooler (I've heard of creative things to do with the tank to get rid of heat, but it's still doing the same thing as a cooler).
