Olde' DuerrSplitter Beam Bent

[Mischa Shashumshkavich]

....neighbor's old splitter is horizontal & vertical, but when vertical, you can see that the beam is not standing straight ( the beam itself is straight but leaning).....it looks as if the curved hollow square pipe that the beam is hinged to is slightly bent/twisted......I was wondering if anyone has seen this problem before with this or other splitters? Would it be ill-advised to try welding a support from the weak hollow tube onto the tank (hydro)?? there doesn't seem to be any other area to put a support..the thing still works fine, but i would hate for that hinge to break, or keep twisting.....thanks all Hearthinians

 

[Fifelaker]

If it were mine I would weld something to stiffen it up. I am sure the tank is thinner than the bracket so set the welder to the thicker metal and wash the puddle to the thinner. I would also get some scrap the same thickness as the metals you are going to join and run a few beads to practice on.

 

[Jags]

I wouldn't be welding to a tank with juice in it. The heat will cook off some of the juice into some sort of nasty carbon based gunk. Just one dudes opinion.

 

[Mischa Shashumshkavich]

That was one thing i was worried about....causing some cooked gunkery that could cause clogging problems.....or flame problems

 

[Jags]

Personally , unless this issue was some sort of safety issue, I wouldn't get too concerned. It sounds like the operation of the unit is still fine.

 

[Mischa Shashumshkavich]

.....yeah, it does work fine....esp. since getting a new subaru/robin engine....but i know it has broken or cracked in that same spot before......then had a new hinge welded on....maybe the tube was bent from when it orig. broke....i just don't want it breaking while i'm using it.....seems like a ridiculously weak point for such a machine......unless it was purposely designed that way.....''planned obsolesence'' i think it's called.....built 'not' to last.....

 

[Jags]

Naaa...those old Duerr splitters were built for the long haul. Lots of those things still out there busting up wood.
It could have been that somebody goofed and bent the tubing and screwed up the hinge all at the same time. Its nothing more than the pivot point for the beam, there really isn't any splitting stress on it. I would just be mindful of it when going into the vertical position.

 

[Mischa Shashumshkavich]

Naaa...those old Duerr splitters were built for the long haul. Lots of those things still out there busting up wood.
It could have been that somebody goofed and bent the tubing and screwed up the hinge all at the same time. Its nothing more than the pivot point for the beam, there really isn't any splitting stress on it. I would just be mindful of it when going into the vertical position.

.....i think it got bent when it was vertical....a log sitting half off the plate causing the whole thing to lift and or twist....prob. more than once....( & the guy who did the welding did a pretty shoddy job,as wellas with the guard he welded on,which snapped off and went flying across the yard)...also what i need is something that will fit around the base/back plate to make a larger flat section when in vert mode....that back-plate is kind of small sized....i know i can always dig a little square spot in the dirt so it sits flush with the ground, but i don't want a hole in the yard....another project to the list

 

[Hogwildz]

Maybe the new hinge was not welded on quite plumb?

 

[Mischa Shashumshkavich]

well Hogwildz, that may be the case, because it was re-welded by a sub-par person who cared nothing for the equipment...but the bar itself, or tube, or square hollow curved piece that the hinge is welded to has a slight twist to it making me think that it got hit, or damaged before it was re-welded