car battery log splitter

[bigfirestaywayback]

Anyone ever use a splitter that was powered by a 12 v car battery? There is one for sale and just wanting some opinions.

 

[Jags]

Post linky? Without more specifics it will be very difficult to evaluate or even give an opinion. One thing for sure is:
A: its gonna be really, really slow....or
B: Its gonna be really, really short lived (needing charging)

And for sure it will be very hard on the battery. I would have to assume electric over hydraulic unless there is some type of screw mechanism involved.

 

[Sean McGillicuddy]

You might have to hook up to a running vehicle.

 

[Jags]

You might have to hook up to a running vehicle.

Yeah - but...
A normal car battery is not gonna do well under repeated high amperage loads. It is gonna have a short life span, even if being recharged by a car alternator. Logically a person would lean towards a battery that is designed for high discharge rates, such as a marine deep cycle/starting battery. A typical (average) battery of this design would be somewhere around 125 AH discharge rate. That equates to about a 1500W constant (I realize that the load will not be constant, but gotta start somewhere). At 1500W that equates to about 2.0 mechanical HP or right around what the little 5 ton 115V units on the market are at. That is assuming best case where all components are properly matched.
Point being - it is doable - but the build design is gonna make or break the unit as something usable.

 

[bigfirestaywayback]

Yeah - but...
A normal car battery is not gonna do well under repeated high amperage loads. It is gonna have a short life span, even if being recharged by a car alternator. Logically a person would lean towards a battery that is designed for high discharge rates, such as a marine deep cycle/starting battery. A typical (average) battery of this design would be somewhere around 125 AH discharge rate. That equates to about a 1500W constant (I realize that the load will not be constant, but gotta start somewhere). At 1500W that equates to about 2.0 mechanical HP or right around what the little 5 ton 115V units on the market are at. That is assuming best case where all components are properly matched.
Point being - it is doable - but the build design is gonna make or break the unit as something usable.

 

[bigfirestaywayback]

https://quadcities.craigslist.org/grd/5349934255.html

 

[Jags]

Interesting, That appears to be a screw jack if i am looking at it proper. I would guess pretty slow.

 

[jeff_t]

The seller says it has a leaky cylinder.

 

[xman23]

Interesting for a wood splitter museum. I would look for something newer.

 

[Jags]

The seller says it has a leaky cylinder.

I see in the add that the second pic does show a hose going to the rear. Good catch.
I can't see this as much of a production machine.

 

[Pat32rf]

Well a plow on a pickup truck has a lift cylinder about that size and is often cycled every minute or so. Might be fun to play around with if you only need to split a bit for Sunday afternoon fires....
If the price is right you at least have a few components...

 

[festerw]

Well a plow on a pickup truck has a lift cylinder about that size and is often cycled every minute or so. Might be fun to play around with if you only need to split a bit for Sunday afternoon fires....
If the price is right you at least have a few components...

A plow pump runs maybe 10 seconds to lift or angle and it's still very easy to discharge a battery with frequent lift and angle cycles.