Harbor Freight 24 ton hydraulic splitter review

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Do you have a way to get that 600# crate off the back of the truck? I constructed a platform on my garden tractor cart that came up to the level of the truck bed. Top heavy, yes, but the real challenge was coming down the ice-covered driveway with that load!

Also, you will need a bearing packer.

Did I mention that this thing is heavy?

It's heavy.
 
The trucking company said it will be on a straight truck with a lift gate... If it's an 18-wheeler, we'll have a problem as I'm near the end of a curvy dead-end street, which will be reall fun (NOT!) to get an 18 in and out of... If they don't have a lift gate, I've got a couple of 2 x 10 ramps that should let me get it down. We have a paved driveway leading to our garage, so it shouldn't be a problem.

I don't have a bearing packer, but have never seen a need for one either, you can do a much better job of packing a bearing by mashing the bearing into a glob of grease in your palm. IMHO The only thing the bearing packers are good for is wasting money and grease...

Gooserider
 
Ah, well you know what you are doing then. That makes all the difference. I wonder what people who are not too mechanically inclined do when the crate arrives.....
 
Goose, I strongly suggest you have some blocking to support the ramps. I did not use blocks under my ramps & the weight of my splitter turned my ramps to splinters.
Al
 
Well, I'm waiting anxiously for the truck - sometime on Tuesday between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM w/ a 30 minute warning...

If the truck has a liftgate (the trucking co. said it would), then it should be no problem at all. If not, these ramps are pretty stout - I've loaded my sidecar rig into a truck with them, and they flexed but didn't break. I've also used them for moving a couple of stoves in and out of the basement, and getting my VC from the van into the house - the splitter may be heavy, but it's probably a more distributed load than some of those others...

As far as getting it together, I'm not worried in the least once it's off the truck. I've looked at the online manual and read the comments others have made, sounds like no big deal in terms of what has to be done. Looks like the biggest challenge might be getting the hydraulic fluid into the tank - I may have to get a pail pump or flexible funnel - seems like bad design to make the hydraulic fill go in sideways like it appears to do in the pictures...

The mechanical assembly part looks about as simple as can be other than the brute force lifting the beam into place, and I have several possible ways of dealing with that, along w/ a fair bit of practice moving heavy stuff into place w/ cribbing and jacks, etc.

Will be posting more news and probably photos when it gets here...

Gooserider
 
Q....design to make the hydraulic fill go in sideways like it appears to do in the pictures… Q





Can you add a pipe street elbow to the port to make the port point upward, and fill it that way? Leave the elbow on, or take it off.....
Or, like on our trials motorcycles, just flop it over on its side and pour it in?

ATF vs. Oil. I would definitely use AW46, not ATF, but not because of the fluid. The HF guy is giving you BS. ATF is a very good fluid, no more agressive to normal nitrile or viton seals than any normal good AW hydraulic oil. It does have many additives to achieve its properties. It is good in many hydrostatic systems also as well as open loop systems. I suspect HF has has issues with the cheap china cylinders/seals being marginal and not standing up to the ATF, but it is because of poor seals, not the characteristics of ATF. That said, no question, I would NOT use ATF, because if HF recommmends against it, all warranty bets are off if you do.

AW32 is comparable viscosity to ATF, but I'd go 46 because even though minnesota, I split mostly in fall and above 10F in the winter. 46 is a bit thicker and better efficiency, less leakage, less pump wear also. 46 is a good all around compromise.


GR: side note: ran the Dolmar 7900 about 5 tanks Saturday. I will add notes to the other post later. Hated it in small wood, loved it in bigger wood. Nice running, awesome power, and loosening up better and better. Wouldn't want it as my only saw, but when compared to a Poulan, I can see why you like it. Got to get a nice 50 cc saw in your hands to add to your arsenal.

kcj
 
kevin j said:
Q....design to make the hydraulic fill go in sideways like it appears to do in the pictures… Q
Can you add a pipe street elbow to the port to make the port point upward, and fill it that way? Leave the elbow on, or take it off.....
Or, like on our trials motorcycles, just flop it over on its side and pour it in?

I've thought of adding an elbow, will have to see what kind of thread it is, don't know if it's something that will work w/ american NPT thread sizes or not... Also not sure what I have for clearances.

Flopping it over is NOT going to be an option - we are talking about 600lbs here, plus I'm not sure what it would do to the engine.

ATF vs. Oil. I would definitely use AW46, not ATF, but not because of the fluid. The HF guy is giving you BS. ATF is a very good fluid, no more agressive to normal nitrile or viton seals than any normal good AW hydraulic oil. It does have many additives to achieve its properties. It is good in many hydrostatic systems also as well as open loop systems. I suspect HF has has issues with the cheap china cylinders/seals being marginal and not standing up to the ATF, but it is because of poor seals, not the characteristics of ATF. That said, no question, I would NOT use ATF, because if HF recommmends against it, all warranty bets are off if you do.

AW32 is comparable viscosity to ATF, but I'd go 46 because even though minnesota, I split mostly in fall and above 10F in the winter. 46 is a bit thicker and better efficiency, less leakage, less pump wear also. 46 is a good all around compromise.

Well, I already have the two buckets of AW32, which is what HF specifically reccomended - again the tech support guy was not reccomending it, though not as emphatically as the advice against ATF - this was more on the order of "some people use AW46 and get away with it, but we don't advise it, AW32 is preferable" - Possibly in a few years when I've used up the 32 I might switch to the 46, but hopefully it will be a while.

GR: side note: ran the Dolmar 7900 about 5 tanks Saturday. I will add notes to the other post later. Hated it in small wood, loved it in bigger wood. Nice running, awesome power, and loosening up better and better. Wouldn't want it as my only saw, but when compared to a Poulan, I can see why you like it. Got to get a nice 50 cc saw in your hands to add to your arsenal.

kcj
I wouldn't mind having a lightweight 50 at all, but it just isn't in the cards moneywise for now.... If the Pull-on ever dies, maybe, or if I started earning money with the saws, but probably not until.

At any rate, the guys just got here with the truck, so I've got to go start putting it together....

No problems with the unloading, truck had a liftgate and they had a pallet jack, put it right in the garage where I wanted it... The driver said that I was lucky, my crate was intact, he'd had a couple previous where the crate was smashed and he'd had to take things apart to get them off the truck. However he had some advice on how to put them together, apparently he's delivered several of the units, mostly 22 tons, but enough for serious practice. He made it sound even easier than I was expecting.

Got to go start taking the crate apart, and putting things together - more details in a few.

Gooserider
 
I've started a new thread with my experience on the 30 ton unit, at this link,

Lots of photos, enjoy...

Gooserider
 
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