Log Splitter Rail Bent

[ColdNorCal]

My DHT 25 ton splitter rail bent today. It happened fast. Apparently when splitting, the wood pushed the rail outwards breaking the welds. The welds look nice and thick but have very little penetration. I am not a welder, it just looks that way to me.

Also, one cylinder arm mounts was bent. Not sure if that needs to be fixed or just left alone...Maybe it can not be fixed and only replaced? And trying to bend it back may create more problems.

Its still under DHT warranty but DHT is defunct. Lowes only has a 30 day warranty unless the Lowes extended warranty was purchased, which it was not.

Im thinking of taking it to a shop and having the rail heated then bent back into place. Followed by lots of welds.

Suggestions appreciated.

 

[ColdNorCal]

Thought about this some more. What do you think about cutting the rear part of the rail off and trying to straighten it? No blow torch or anything, just some sort of leverage. Then grinding the weld just a little to remove some paint then weld with a 3/32 or1/8 rod?

Im not a welder but have been known to make some blob welds. The rails seem not to be structurally important other than being a guide for the wedge. The rail wont look perfectly straight and will likely have several 3+ lb hammer marks on it due to trying to make it somewhat straight after bending it.

What is the easiest/best rod for this situation, 3/32 or 1/8, 6011 or 6013? The splitter beam can be positioned vertically so welds will be made vertically.

 

[Corey]

Sounds like a pretty good plan. If I had to go about it, I think I'd do it similarly. Go ahead and cut that rail off. I'd probably use a torch/heat to straighten it vs hammer blows, though... or try a sturdy vice with some leverage to just bend it back straight.

But once you get it reasonably straight, bevel the edges of the rail and the beam on the splitter so you can get some decent penetration, then stitch weld it along the length. Might not hurt to do some clean-up and stitch weld the other one, too...its welds might not be much better than this. If you have space to add a brace across the top of the log stops, that might help with some rigidity, too.

I'd definitely stitch weld it, that way if one weld cracks, it will stop at the space between it and the next stitch - it won't unzip down the whole length of the rail. Also never hurts to keep your wedge sharp so it is easy to slice through logs and doesn't build as much sideways force.

PS - I'd also consider pulling the cylinder and straightening out that mounting ear. With it bent, its likely to put a lot more pressure on one side than the other - which could eventually lead to a failure there.

 

[xman23]

I wonder how this happened? Did to valve not bypass at the rated pressure? There was something I liked about the beam flange being the guide.
A good welder can get it straightened out. I would look at adding some additional steal to reinforce the guide.

 

[ColdNorCal]

I wonder how this happened? Did to valve not bypass at the rated pressure? There was something I liked about the beam flange being the guide.
A good welder can get it straightened out. I would look at adding some additional steal to reinforce the guide.

Dont know what you mean about the "valve to bypass at..."?

Splitting a ~20 inch long, ~12 inch round, that was 95% split one way. I rolled it 1/4 way again to make a smaller split. I think a piece of the split got caught underneath the rail and pushed it outward. Not exactly sure but that is what I was doing... By time I realized what was happening, 1 or 2 secs, and reached for the valve to retract the wedge everything was bent.

Those welds look terrible and if it were made better perhaps this would not have happened. Always been told that welds are much stronger then metal. The metal did not deform, dent... or lose its angle anywhere. It seems the 90 degree angle should he been bent or deformed some where. Its still straight and only bent at the very end. The way it is bent leads me to believe the rail got pushed out at the top of the split, not at the heel.

 

[Jags]

That can be straightened and rewelded. 7014 x 1/8" would be my rod choice...and weld the hell out of it.

 

[ColdNorCal]

That can be straightened and rewelded. 7014 x 1/8" would be my rod choice...and weld the hell out of it.

I cut it right after the bend, about ~8 inches from the heel. I pounded that piece as straight as possible then clamped it to the Beam and welded it first. Then welded the long piece back on. Looks good, not perfect, but pretty good. Welding was a p-i-t-a. Because the weld had to be at an angle pointing where the rail and beam meet, literally inside of the I Beam, the weld rods had to be cut in ~5 inch lengths. And it was impossible to see where the weld was going because of the thickness of the helmet, hydro lines, valve, hydro oil tank... Stab, drag, vertical up, vertical down, weld by feel.... As a noob it took a lot of sticks and words not meant for children's ears. The welds look terrible but they will hold. Maybe a wire feed would have been a lot easier to get in their and just drag it down by feel where the beam and rail meet, in the corner pocket so to speak. Dont know, never used a wire feed, just seems like it would have been a lot better "if" the gun would fit in their.

 

[Jags]

Good to hear that you got it hot glued back together

 

[ColdNorCal]

Good to hear that you got it hot glued back together

Its impressive how much stress hot glue will hold. The rails serve only as a guide for the wedge and an occasional block to knock off a split if it is stuck to the wedge and the wedge is retracted. And the hot glue is far better then the original welds... 3/32 7014.

 

[Highbeam]

You can just grab and bend the rods for future reference. You'll lose a bit of flux coating but the pros would just bend the rod.

I would have taken the beam off and flipped it over on the ground to get it away from the engine, hoses, ram, and to do an easier horizontal weld.

Yes, the 60 series rods are 60,000 psi strength and the steel is probably just 36,000 psi strength so the weld should be stronger but the weld can be weak with porosity, internal voids, and cracks which is why they x-ray important welds.

Wire feed is nice but there is still a place for both technologies. There are also better stick machines than an AC225 tombstone.

 

[ColdNorCal]

You can just grab and bend the rods for future reference. You'll lose a bit of flux coating but the pros would just bend the rod.

I would have taken the beam off and flipped it over on the ground to get it away from the engine, hoses, ram, and to do an easier horizontal weld.

Yes, the 60 series rods are 60,000 psi strength and the steel is probably just 36,000 psi strength so the weld should be stronger but the weld can be weak with porosity, internal voids, and cracks which is why they x-ray important welds.

Wire feed is nice but there is still a place for both technologies. There are also better stick machines than an AC225 tombstone.

Tried bending a rod at first. A short piece was easier for this noob. Especially when flying blind.. Used some small pieces of sheet metal to block sparks from hitting hoses, and engine is on other side. Most of the sparks stayed in the beam so to speak. Did think about removing beam, for about 5 secs... lol

Used a 165 amp inverter welder. Had to weld in the barn and only have 120v there. 3/32 rods are not a problem and 120v. 1/8 need 220v.


Do you think its necessary to try and straighten the ram mount? Any suggestions on how to do that? So far one person said straighten and another on a different site said to leave it alone.

 

[Highbeam]

Tried bending a rod at first. A short piece was easier for this noob. Especially when flying blind.. Used some small pieces of sheet metal to block sparks from hitting hoses, and engine is on other side. Most of the sparks stayed in the beam so to speak. Did think about removing beam, for about 5 secs... lol

Used a 165 amp inverter welder. Had to weld in the barn and only have 120v there. 3/32 rods are not a problem and 120v. 1/8 need 220v.


Do you think its necessary to try and straighten the ram mount? Any suggestions on how to do that? So far one person said straighten and another on a different site said to leave it alone.

It would be best to straighten it, otherwise you will be putting a twist into that connection that it wasn’t designed for. The question is how. That’s a stout little chunk of steel.

 

[ColdNorCal]

It would be best to straighten it, otherwise you will be putting a twist into that connection that it wasn’t designed for. The question is how. That’s a stout little chunk of steel.

Maybe put a piece/chunk of steel between the two mounts just where the bend starts then use a press to straighten, I know nothing about presses and how much force is needed to bend that,

Also thought about short welds, ~3/4", on both sides. If the ram fails the welds would have to be removed and the pin replaced. Have no idea how much force short welds can take.

Or use it and see if it does want to twist or pull to one side.

 

[Jags]

I would straighten it just to keep everything in line as intended. That part is under compression load. A straight push will handle a much higher load than an angled one.

 

[Highbeam]

That pin might be wedged in their really hard now.

 

[ColdNorCal]

That pin might be wedged in their really hard now.

I pulled it out with no problem. Looked at cylinders and ohhh crap they are expensive. I would hate to try and bend the mount back and crack the cylinder. Welding it to the pin is ugly and far from ideal but no chance of damaging the cylinder doing that.

 

[ColdNorCal]

Easy solution. Cant take credit for it. A fiend of a friend suggested it.

 

[Jags]

That is a good idea but I would make sure its a number 8 hardened bolt.

 

[ColdNorCal]

That is a good idea but I would make sure its a number 8 hardened bolt.

The J-bolt was used to bend the mounting tab back. In the 2nd pic it is bent back and the original 1" clevis pin is installed.

 

[salecker]

I would either get a grade 8 bolt and leave it tight,or get some washers and take up the extra lenght of the pin so the ears don't have any room to bend again.

 

[Jags]

Not super tight but snug

 

[ColdNorCal]

I would either get a grade 8 bolt and leave it tight,or get some washers and take up the extra lenght of the pin so the ears don't have any room to bend again.

Not super tight but snug

Interesting you guys said that. My friend said the same thing and I didnt think much of it. Will see what I can find.

One thing I had forgotten about this splitter, it uses the same beam as the 20 ton and 22 ton. The only difference is the mounting holes for the log catcher which was optional. I spoke with DHT back when I bought it and they told me this and that the 27 ton beam was completely different. My guess is the 25 ton beam is not built, or is minimally built, for 25 tons.

I ran the splitter and their is definitely flexing and twisting going on. Seems somewhat typical. Or at least not too unusual from what I read. Never paid much attention to this before. Live and learn - now with the large knotted pieces that slow down the wedge to a crawl and look overly stressful, I noodle them. It was only two pieces yesterday and not a big deal going forward.

Also, researched log splitters that had beam or rail problems. Some boxed the frame or added metal in various places. Found one person that added a U Bolt to the front of the cylinder and clamped it down to the beam. According to him, it reduced the wedges leverage and its ability to twist the beam. It helped keep the cylinder straight and better aligned through the stroke.

Is the U Bolt a bad idea or worth the time? Drew a red U Bolt in the attached pic. Some sort of spacer plate would need to be placed between the bottom of cylinder and top of beam. Unsure how structural it would actually be. Seems like it would just twist. And have no idea of the cylinder wall thickness and if clamping it would dent it and inhibit the piston from traveling within the cylinder. Then again, maybe tightening the rear mount with a grade 8 bolt and installing a U Bolt, the cylinder movement and perhaps beam flex would be reduced, helping keep things aligned.

 

[Jags]

I personally would not do that for a couple of reasons:
1. You are using the cylinder as a structural part of the splitter. Hydro cylinders typically have one purpose - push/pull, not part of the "frame"

2. Without the ability for small movement of the cylinder body you will be putting undue pressure on the seal.
Just one dudes opinion...