Done splitting for the day

[Oww My Back Hurts]

Thought today would be a good day to get some splitting done. But midway thru look what happened

This was the 1/2" bolt that connects the cylinder to the wedge. Lasted about 4 years of pretty heavy use so I guess it was time. Rats, that meant spending the rest of the afternoon stacking instead of splitting, no fun

 

[Ward]

About a month ago, we broke the bolt on a four-year old NorthStar 30-ton splitter (which has been outstanding in all respects) while splitting about a cord of pretty messy hickory, after maybe 24 cords of mostly beech, cherry and locust over the last four years. Called Northern Tool, had a very pleasant conversation, and ordered three bolts, figuring that would take care of us for a while. Unfortunately, the bolts didn't come with the nuts, which as I recall though may be mistaken, did not have a part number in the manual. Oh well--we were able to get the old nut off the broken bolt.

Anyway, the first replacement broke in just several hours of use on very tangled beech. There had been a lot of play in the wedge. We stuck two washers in the wedge, have seen virtually no play, and haven't had a problem since. We're good for the season now--we'll see how it goes next year.

 

[Lone_Gun]

Too bad it snapped, but on the bright side, a bolt is much cheaper to replace than other parts of the splitter. [emoji851]

LG


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[fishki]

Cant really see the bolt head so not sure what grade it is. I would get a new grade 8 bolt to replace it with. It will give higher shear strength.

Here's an Identification chart just in case.

 

[Oww My Back Hurts]

Thanks! It was a grade 5, 1/2". I had been planning on replacing it with the same, but going up to a grade 8 sounds like a good call! I'll do that instead.

Lone_Gun: I hadn't thought of it that way, yes you are right. Thank you

 

[fishki]

It actually looks like that bolt had already failed by looking at the color of the metal on the broken end, maybe it just now decided to fall out? Looks metal fatigue from all the use.

 

[pma1123]

I find that bolt is a seasonal replacement item with my splitter also. It always seems to wait to fail until I'm really thrashing to get as much split as I can before the sun goes down.

 

[Oldman47]

Thanks! It was a grade 5, 1/2". I had been planning on replacing it with the same, but going up to a grade 8 sounds like a good call! I'll do that instead.

Lone_Gun: I hadn't thought of it that way, yes you are right. Thank you

Be careful "upgrading" the bolt. Would you rather have something else fail?

 

[Tar12]

Be careful "upgrading" the bolt. Would you rather have something else fail?

You are exactly right about upgrading the bolt...they are often designed to fail for a reason...so you don't tear anything else up!

 

[Paulywalnut]

It's like a shear pin on a snow blower. I would try to determine why it's snapping in half. You could possibly damage something expensive.

 

[Tar12]

More often than not it due to the side to side motion of the head. It wears and fatigues and breaks...keep one or two on hand...