Diesel log splitter?

I'm on the look out for a used log splitter, and found the following one for sale locally:

Anyone have any suggestions on evaluating an older home made splitter? Is there any way to figure out a rough estimate of how many tons splitting pressure this unit could produce based on the stats given?

I've heard the 9 hp Yanmar diesel is an excellent engine.

Doesn't look like a bad deal. Something like that for sale around here would easily be $1k more than what they are asking.

Can't see much in pic about the fab work but I think a diesel splitter is a fantastic idea. Technically my splitter is diesel powered and it sips fuel.

Find the area of a circle 2.5 inches in diameter (3.14x 1.25x1.25) or Pi R2 IIRC. Multiply by the psi of the pump, which you should be able to determine at the Northern website, or you could assume 1500 but I would look it up, it could be higher. Then divide by 2000 to know tons.
At 2.5 inches, it is not superpowerful, but otherwise looks like a great deal and should be very fast with that small piston.
If you need more power you could always upsize the piston to say 4". The engine alone is worth the price.

The max tonnage would be 7 tons.

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?item=9-7873&catname=

I'd drop every thing i was doing & go get it ! The rod coming out the cylinder looks to be 2.5 ". The one i'm building just the cylinder is $645.00 , so i wouldnt hesitate for 700.

This is a very good point, the cylinder looks much larger than 2.5 inches.

Evaluate the condition of the hoses. Splitter looks like it's been outside most of it's life. I see a pressure gauge. It will indicate the max psi of the hydraulic system if you extend/retract the cylinder fully and hold the valve open briefly. If that's a 4 inch piston in that cylinder then assuming the pump throws out 2800psi (a typical setting) 2800psi X 12.56 in sq. = 35168 lbs of force / 2000 = 17.584 tons. Assuming a 24" stroke that would give it a cycle time of about 12 seconds. (301.44 volume out + 183.69 volume back = 485.13 total volume for cycle * .0043 gallons in 1 cu in= 2.086 gallons required per cycle 60 seconds / (11GPM pump / 2.086 gallons required) = 11.4 sec cycle time)

You can buy a new horz/vert splitter with similar performance for about $900-$1000 but it wouldn't be diesel. Engine is very over powered for the application. Would be fast with a 16GPM pump should drop it to about 8 sec. Personally I'd offer $400-$500 depending on condition. What's with the receiver on top of the wedge?

He said he used to use it with a tire business for crushing wheels for recycling, so I'm assuming he had some sort of device that slid into the receiver for that.

I've read these small diesels will run a very long time on just a little fuel.

I'm going to look at it this week. If it is seven tons, I'll probably pass, if its 17, I'll probably buy it.

As bioman noted, the rod coming out the cylinder looks to be 2.5" (owner stated, "cylinder is 2.5" bore x 30" stroke").

I'd be buying that dog RIGHT FRIGGIN NOW......That cylinder is WAY BIGGER than 2.5". I think he meant the ram was 2.5". Thats more like a 5" cylinder, which would put it in the 20 to 24 ton range if I am correct. You can always upgrade or repair parts on that thing, if it is a diesel and it runs good, you can make your own fuel and make it cheap! Only if you are mechanically inclined though, there looks to be some tinkering in that old girl....

Offer him 450 bucks CASH MONEY.......get that dang thing. Awe man, A DIESEL!@!

OK, sounds like a thumbs up ;-)

I was wondering about the cylinder size versus bore size. It looked like a 4.5" to 5" cylinder in the photos, but I wasn't sure how these things are actually measured.

I know a guy here making biodiesel. A couple years ago a friend and I had a federal ethanol permit. We were licensed to produce up to 10,000 gallons per year for personal use. It was a really enjoyable project, and we were using a 3" copper still and 300 gallon water tanks for the corn mash with a 300 gallon oil tank as our boiler. I put together two 55 gallon barrels end to end under the oil tank with a Vogelzang barrel stove kit as our heat source. That thing would crank out 193 proof ethanol all day long, as long as we kept adding the corn brew into the boiler and wood into the barrel stove.

But we never got past the first hundred gallons (we had about 65 when we shut it down, I wrecked my back so I couldn't help him any more).

However the fellow making the biodiesel is using our ethanol now in his biodiesel conversion process, so I'm sure I can get enough biodiesel off him to run this thing quite a while.

Go for it Brian. You will be the envy of everybody when gas hits 10 bucks a gallon this fall....

No way that thing crushes wheels @ 7 tons. Gotta be more.

Yeah I was thinking that too. It looks like it might be a lot more than 7 tons, as Scotty pointed out above.

I'd pass on the homemade diesel. I don't know specifically about the little Yanmars but as a rule the most fragile and expensive part of any diesel engine is the injectors and fuel pumps, and the quickest way to frag your injector(s) is with janky fuel. If you want to save a few pennies buy off-road diesel and always use fuel treatment/stabilizer and always keep it topped up when in storage, or better yet see if it has a petcock to drain the tank. You will never save enough on free homemade diesel to make up for one fuel-related failure.

Yanmar makes diesel engines for John Deere diesel tractors. Are the John Deere diesel tractors experiencing these kinds of failures? A number of farmers here are making biodiesel out of the soybeans they grow themselves.

I don't have a problem buying high quality diesel fuel and using the proper fuel treatment. Biodiesel is an option if the price of diesel skyrockets, but it's not a primary consideration here, just a side thought.

Even in a worst case scenario, if the Yanmar quits, I can still just replace it with a similar sized (or larger?) gas engine, right?

Will the Yanmar run at the correct rpm's for the pump? Most gas powered splitters are around 3600rpm.
Are these pull start or electric?

Yes you can Brian. You could even make it electric if you wanted to. There are different methods of making biodiesel, some use no ethanol or methanol at all. My one buddy has been running his own simple formula for YEARS in his equipment with no problems whatsoever. I would definitely be interested in that motor should you buy that splitter and not want it. I'd be putting that motor on my splitter ASAP.

That's a question that's been in the back of my mind since I looked up the pump on the Northern Tools site:
http://m.northerntool.com/northerntool/product/detail.do?itemId=1012

I wasn't sure if a small diesel is made to run that high of rpms continuously.

The motor is pull start but it has a decompression setting for start up.

After digging around the Internet a bit it appears the Yanmar L90 air cooled 9hp diesel is routinely used in 3600rpm applications.

Agree with Jags on all points, go get it!