Huskee splitters and others with cast iron bases

[joemeintzer]

As I was wandering the outdoor lot of Tractor supply co. today I saw something disturbing. On a pallet off in the corner were 2 main beams for the splitters one having major weld fatigues at the base the other actually had half the base broke off above the beam! Which reminded me of something I guess I had been wondering when I read the specs. Why would they use a cast iron base? Has anyone else had this misfortune with these machines? I was considering one until this dawned on me!

 

[LLigetfa]

Why do you think the bases are cast iron? I've never seen a splitter with a cast iron base.

 

[fabguy01]

actually, they are cast steel which welds quite well. alot of things that are cast are mistaken for cast iron. basically if it needs to have structural strength its cast steel. car/truck suspension parts ,drivetrain parts ect

 

[LLigetfa]

Maybe speecotech will weigh in here. My guess is that there was insufficient preheat prior to welding that caused the failures.

 

[Stephen in SoKY]

I'd have been tripping over myself finding the manager to offer to dispose of them for him.

 

[joemeintzer]

Perhaps I have assumed incorrectly it could in fact be cast steel. I looked again at their site and couldn't find it called out specifically. The weak point regardless of material seems to be the base which I suppose should be weighed in as much as engine and tonnage of the ram if the base won't take it. I think I will see if the manager can part ways with these items if not needed for warranty purposes. Does anyone have any home build splitter pointers? Any references to sites with sizing engines to pumps and rams etc. would be helpful.

 

[Gooserider]

Perhaps I have assumed incorrectly it could in fact be cast steel. I looked again at their site and couldn't find it called out specifically. The weak point regardless of material seems to be the base which I suppose should be weighed in as much as engine and tonnage of the ram if the base won't take it. I think I will see if the manager can part ways with these items if not needed for warranty purposes. Does anyone have any home build splitter pointers? Any references to sites with sizing engines to pumps and rams etc. would be helpful.

If you look at some of the past threads on splitters you will find quite a bit on sizing relationships... Essentially for a standard 2-stage pump like used on most splitters, you need a minimum horsepowe of 1/2 the rated gpm ouptut of the pump in high range - i.e. 5.5hp for an 11gpm pump, 8hp for a 16gpm pump, etc. For any given size cylinder, the larger the pump the faster the cycle time, for any given size pump, the smaller the cylinder the faster the cycle time, but other than for cycle time considerations, you can use any size pump to drive any size cylinder. The most common size combos on consumer models are 11gpm and 4" cylinder, or 16gpm an 5" - both combos will give a cycle time of about 15 seconds... Commercial splitters might go one size bigger on the pump.

As to the nature of the failure - that joint is HIGHLY stressed - it is inherently a weld across a stress line, which is generally considered a bad thing. It takes the full pressure output of the cylinder combined with the leverage of the distance between the log's contact point with the base and the beam... If the weld between the base and beam is not perfect, it WILL fail sooner or later... I have a friend with a wood business, who has owned at least three splitters, and over the years he has ripped the baseplates off every one, and had to get them them rewelded...

Gooserider

 

[triptester]

Skull,

if you find those beams are available PM me I would be interested in one. I also have a few extra pumps ,pump mounts ,and other components.

Jerry