Sad day at Nebraska Firewood

Same. I say smart....not lazy.

 

I'm getting ready to build a custom splitter, thinking of going with an 8HP snowblower engine...120V electric start...would work for me.
Just bought the "donor" Husky 22T yesterday (sans blown engine)

 

That, and a hose clamp!

 

Maybe I should hang on to the old one and try those ideas or send it to brenndatomu to run on his project.

 

I skipped the electric start and swapped the 7hp gas motor for a 3hp electric. The electric runs it better than the gas and I have no desire to go back.
It's still 20 tons and splits anything. Operating cost is less than a dollar a day and no oil to check or expensive gas to buy and no fumes or engine noise/vibration. It has a 100 ft cord so I can move around a bit. It's easy to trench a wire out to where you need it if it isn't too far.

 

What size pump is on there?

 

The only reason for a battery would be for the old farts that use it

 

Boy what I would have given for electric start the day I was trying to split wood when it was 10* out...played heck getting things going!

 

I think it's a 12 gpm pump. There weren't any numbers on it so I measured the gears and then did the math and it was something like 12 gpm and then 1.8 gpm when kicked down. It's a darn near perfect match for the 3hp motor. I think a regular 13 gpm would work too. A 16 gpm would be great if it was a 5hp motor, but then you need a bigger cord.
The shift point is set at around 650 psi and the max is around 2800 right now. It was at 3400, but I kept bending the pusher, so I backed it off.

https://youtube.com/shorts/jeB8dWQIOr8?feature=share

 

I'm waffling between using a 8hp snowblower engine, or a 5hp 220v air compressor motor, either one with a 16 GPM pump.
Maybe I'll set it up with a quick connect, and do both!
I'll hafta do the math and look up what I'd be getting into for a cord on it.
I can start my own thread on this if Stephiedoll would rather not have her thread cluttered up...

 

All good with me. Carry on.

 

The reason I used a 3hp motor is because that's all my pump required. It also saved me money on a cord. I bought a heavy duty 100ft 12 ga cord and put 220v ends on it. It draws around 17 amps at full load, which is at 600-650 psi. Once it shifts to low flow/high pressure, the power reduced. During normal movement and when the lever is in neutral, the amp draw is very low.

A 5hp motor would draw around 25 amps at full load, so you would need a bigger cord, maybe a 10 ga. My motor/cord don't even get warm under the heaviest of use on stringy hardwood with the 4 way and 2 guys feeding it non-stop, which is around 4+ face cord an hour. I would quickly upgrade to 16 gpm and 5hp if I got a deal on the motor/pump, but the current setup is not lacking for speed.

We are running 246 volts here, so the amp draw is even lower than spec'd.

 

I've found a new 5 hp 220v compressor motor and a new 100' 10ga RV cord for $200 total...and a 16gpm pump from Ruggedmade is $145. The gas options are a used 8 hp snowblower engine for $50...or a preowned/unused Predator 8 hp for $200...this stuff is all on local FBMP

 

Go with the electric. Use a gauge and amp meter to set your kick down pressure. You want it to kick down just above the rated amps. Make sure the motor is 3600 rpm.

 

that's a great deal.

 

FYI the rugged made pump is an aluminum body pump. I have a Rugged made splitter.
I have not had any problem with it but just tossing this information out there.

 

X2 and good luck with the build.

 

Yeah, thanks for that...I think most of the BBS splitters (or pretty much any that aren't full blown commercial) are that way now

 

Yep, me too.