can I use a 16" dia pipe for the hydraulic tank on my splitter?

Yes, as there is no pressure. Commercially it is faster and easier to mount a square tank, and a lot of the units the tank acts as the axle or the support for the beam. With a tank that large you might want to add a couple baffles inside.

I see no reason why pipe wouldnt make a perfect resivoir if you are or have access to a proficient welder and i beleive you are right it would be much easier to cap the pipe than to fab an entire tank. if you weld in a threaded collar for a pipe cap dont forget to drill a hole in the cap for a vent. Install a cotter pin from the inside to prevent debris from entering. if youre gonna pull it with a tractor i wouldnt fuss with the baffles.

I saw a beer keg used for one. :cheese:

I would put a drain plug on the very bottom of the tank. Consider a magnetic plug. No need for a drain valve given how infrequently it would get used. Don't tap the threads, weld on fittings. Factor fluid loss during filter changes when locating the return line and filter housing. Ideally, it should be high enough to prevent loss but low enough that the oil doesn't pass through air.

Pipe will make a great resovoir. I would use a weldolet like you said. Definetely put a valve on the drain! I have had to drain things so many times and have been frustrated when there is no valve, invariably you end up with a fist full of oil. Also if you leave your splitter sit for a while before firing it up you can drain off just a little oil from the bottom to make sure you have no water/sludge in the bottom. The $5 bucks you will spend on the valve will more than pay back the first time you use it.

No reason not to use the pipe... I'd agre with using a valve on the drain if you have the extra cash, but a plug would work... However if I used a valve, I'd probably want to make sure I safetywired it closed in between uses, just to make sure it doesn't get vibrated or bumped...

Also, if might be worth putting a dip-tube on the return line so that the oil coming back to the unit enters the tank below the oil level, which will reduce aeration and foaming, but keep the connection above the oil level to minimize fluid loss when changing filters, etc...

Do a good job of cleaning the tank out after construction, but do NOT use a suction side strainer - that is a good way to cause cavitation problems with your pump....

Gooserider

topofthehil said:

I had a second thought about using the pipe, but I think I will still use it.
I read someplace that there is less surface area of pipe compared to a rectangle.
so, there is less of an area for the heat to dissipate.

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This is sort of true, but it probably doesn't matter all that much, especially since you are putting FAR more fluid capacity than many splitters have. I doubt that as long as you have decent air circulation around the tank you would see a significant difference in cooling... Just as a comparison, I did some number crunching, a 16" circle has a perimeter of about 50", and an area of 201sqin. A square with the same area would need 14.7" sides, giving a perimiter of 56" - 6" x your 36" length is 216 sq" - Thus your pipe tank will have about 1,800sqin of surface area, vs 2,016sqin for a square tank, or about a 10% difference - but I've heard circular tanks make better convection surfaces, so it's probably a wash...

and, a 36" length of 16" sch 40 pipe weighs about 180 lbs.
so far, I have about 900 lbs of steel going into this splitter, with more to add... I.E. a log lift.

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That is a lot of weight, but I guess that's what they make tractors for... A sheet metal tank might save you some weight, but I don't know if it would be worth it.

I think I'll plug the end of the drain valve, so if it does get bumped open, it won't leak through.

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Sounds like an excellent idea, even better than my idea of safety wiring the valve...

I thought using a suction side strainer was "the law"? so, I bought one.

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No it isn't required, at least according to some of the stuff that I've read. In essence ANY kind of suction side filtering has the potential to cause more problems than it prevents... You shouldn't be allowing the kind of crud into the tank that would make you NEED a filter there in the first place... If you do, it is very likely that your strainer would get stopped up and kill the pump by starvation anyway, and even when not plugged it will serve as a constant flow restriction on the pump intake, which greatly increases the risk of pump damaging cavitation. A strainer that is coarse enough to not cause a flow restriction problem isn't going to be fine enough to do very much good in stopping pump damaging size crud. In addition, if you have properly located the suction line a little off the bottom of the tank, any harmful bits will tend to end up at the bottom of the tank where they won't be a problem anyway. Bottom line, if you have good construction and operating practices a strainer won't help much, and can cause problems. If you have a situation where a strainer might have been useful, it probably won't really help all that much.

I would however say that you DO need a very hefty return side filter that should hopefully be able to handle 100% of the system flow without needing to bypass, at least when the valve is in neutral. Return side filtering is low pressure, and doesn't put any extra strain on the system, so it's a good deal all the way around.

if I have the pump below the strainer, would this be ok?

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It would help, but not that much - I'd still not use it. Note that optimally the pump should be lower than the oil level in the tank under any condition, and the lower the pump is in relation to the tank the better - you want to get as much "NPSH" (Net Positive Suction Head) as possible... Also don't scrimp on the suction line, make it at least as big as the intake port on the pump.

also, I have a SS wire mesh (1/8" dia wire with about 3/8" gaps) that I could weld in the tank next to the return.
again, I read somewhere that this helps collect and remove air bubbles so they don't return to the system.
this may also act as a baffle.
is this needed, or a waste of time to add.
thanks for the help.

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It probably wouldn't do much as a baffle, as it doesn't offer much flow resistance. A baffle would normally be a flat plate that fills most of the tank area in order to prevent sloshing when doing sudden speed / direction changes. If I were trying to design a baffle for a pipe tank, what I would probably do is look at making a couple squares out of sheet metal sized so the corners just touched the inside of the pipe, and welding them in at the corners at 1' intervals, so that the oil could flow through the gaps at the sides and bottom - possibly punching a few additional 1" holes in them below the expected oil line...

As to stopping bubbles, I don't know... I know that in hydronic air separators, they sometimes use a mesh to help coalesce "micro-bubbles" and collect them, but I believe the mesh is a lot finer - however it probably wouldn't do any harm...

I don't see it as "needed" but it probably wouldn't hurt so long as it didn't pose a flow restriction.

Gooserider

I personally prefer a vertical mode "wedge on ram" design, but IMHO it is better to have the wedge at right angles to the beam. My HF splitter has the wedge slightly angled, and it has a definite tendency to spit the top of the rounds out of the splitter as tougher rounds will skid out on the tip of the wedge rather than splitting. I also use a friend's machine that has the wedge more at a right angle to the beam, and it has much less of a tendency to spit out the rounds.

I just tried welding a little "tooth" on the outside of my wedge so that it sticks down just a little further than the cutting edge, and contacts the top of the round before the main cutting edge does - this seems to help considerably as it provides an anchor to keep the round from sliding... I also put more angles on and edging around the base plate to keep the wood from being able to slide off on that end. Between these two steps I'm getting much better splitting with fewer "spit-outs"

Gooserider

When you weld the fitting in the tank for the return line it needs to be below oil so the oil does not foam.

Another Question.

Could a large diameter Piece of PVC be used for a tank? or would the temps be too high and the fluid be too corrosive?

Thanks,
Dan

Backpack09 said:

Another Question.

Could a large diameter Piece of PVC be used for a tank? or would the temps be too high and the fluid be too corrosive?

Thanks,
Dan

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Don't think so... Not sure offhand just what the specs are on PVC, but I know it isn't OK w/ hot water, and the hydraulic fluid does get quite hot. Also I'm not sure how PVC reacts to oils, but I cant recall any places where it is used with them.

Gooserider

PVC is not a good condutor of heat , so the cooling effect will be lost. Hydraulic fluid will not effect PVC.

Absolutely do not use PVC for a hydraulic tank. Hydraulic systems have tremendous vibrations, and the PVC tank will be subject to stress failure. Even stainless steel does not work well for a hydraulic tank for this reason, unless the thickness of the metal is overengineered.

does your tractor have hydrolics ? if so use em