Need some hydraulics help...

The splitter my buddy and I borrow from another friend has a very small tank too. It's an old splitter as well, but I see a few like the one we use out there, so they must've sold a bunch of them. I think they didn't size the fluid tanks properly back then, but we also want faster operation now too, so that needs more fluid capacity.

 

I know you said you want to keep it on the cheap but do watch your standard pipe fittings on the pressure side of things. Return is okay but looks like they are pretty tall on the pressure side and that leads to vibration fatigue at the threads. At least wear some safety glasses and laying a piece of tin over it may be cheap insurance till you get all the bugs worked out. Long sweep 90's are best and help to keep temps lower.

 

This is a great observation I would have missed. Pallet Pete makes a great point that a little cash will go a long way here, so I'll replumb those sections while I'm sorting out the other issues. At this point, it looks like I have a new winter project. Might as well make it go vertical while I'm at it!