What features will my new splitter have ?

[rustynut]

first year with my second stove......
nice to be warm again
slid a bunch of logs out of the swamp a couple weeks back on the ice
worked like a charm but i could use some type of a skidder
anyhow
i'm thinking it's about time for a splitter investment
rented and borrowed before
they all seem to function about the same
earlier ones that i rented didnt have the vertical option
borrowed one a couple years ago with the vertical option
thats #1 on my list
wondering what other "got to have features" might need to be on that list ?
rustynut

 

[Gooserider]

IMHO, the basic hydraulic splitter is about as close to "generic" as you can get... I agree that going vertical is a "Must have", indeed I could possibly live quite easily with a "vertical only" splitter, though I haven't seen many for sale. Otherwise, it's pretty much a case of pick the set of features you like, but there isn't a lot of difference, and it isn't that hard to modify things that you don't like such as control positions.

Biggest thing I would say to look at is cylinder size and pump gpm ratings. Cylinder size will determine your tonnage, NOTHING else matters, and regardless of advertising claims, a 4" cylinder will give you 18-20 tons, a 4.5" cylinder will give you about 23-24 tons and a 5" will give you 27-30 tons. A 20 ton will handle nearly anything you throw at it, though you might have to futz with the position on really gnarly logs. A 30 ton will go through or crush anything you can get under it. (Note that the real gnarly stuff may well end up being so crunched up and twisted that it almost isn't worth it, but...) From the purely functional standpoint a 20 ton will do fine, but if you really want to do the macho guy "bigger is better UGHH!" thing %-P go for the 30 (Note what I ended up with - but a 20 would have done me fine)

Next look at the pump gpm ratings - this will determine your cycle times - any pump will work with any cylinder, but for any given cylinder size, smaller pumps will give slower times, larger ones will go faster.

Last, make sure the engine has the power to drive the pump in low range, which with the usual two-stage pumps used on splitters is about 1/2 hp per gpm of pump. Significantly bigger engines than needed don't really give any advantage, though sometimes you will see a slight bump just because of the stock sizes a given engine company makes - i.e. a 9-10 hp motor on a 16gpm pump that only "requires" an 8hp

The "standard" homeowner size combos are

Cylinder  Pump  Engine
4"            11gpm  5.5hp 
4.5"       13.5gpm  6.5hp
5"            16gpm   8hp

"Commercial" machines will go to one or two sizes larger on the pump and engine in order to improve the cycle time.

Engine brands will get lots of religious debate, go to the church of your choice... :cheese: Pumps are going to be Haldex/Barnes or a clone, the valve will be Prince, or a clone, cylinders vary in brand, but are pretty generic, etc.

Gooserider

 

[CTBurner]

i have a 5.5 honda with a 11 gpm pump, can i increase pump size to 13 without changing engine

 

[Gooserider]

i have a 5.5 honda with a 11 gpm pump, can i increase pump size to 13 without changing engine

Not really, according to the hydraulic sites I've looked at. When the 13.5 pump kicks into the high pressure / low volume range on a gnarly bit you will be overloading the engine, and will probably kill it if you get close to driving maximum pressure.

If you lower the pop-off pressure you might get away with it, especially since Hondas tend to be conservatively rated, but that will also cut down on your tonnage capability as well.

Gooserider

 

[Shipper50]

The one thing I put on my splitter that I think should be on all new ones is a table so the splits can be kept from falling on the ground. Sure does help the old back not having to bend over so much.

Shipper

 

[rustynut]

now their's a mouth full
thanks for all the good info Gooserider
rented an 8 hp a while back and it was more than i could keep up with.........
borrowed a 5.5 a couple years back and it was enough to get the job done
have to see what i can find
what about filter systems or coolers ?
any brands on the "watch out for" list ?
rustynut

 

[trafick]

One feature on my splitter I really like is the throttle control. I like the fact that the engine is not running wide open when I go to get another round.

 

[Highbeam]

The only decision you might want to consider is whether the ram pushes the wedge (pretty standard on vert/horiz units) or whether the ram pushes a plate that forces the wood through a wedge which is typically only available on horizontal splitters. The beauty of the fixed wedge design is that you can put a 4 way splitter wedge on it so that each split cycle produces four splits. I've seen some pretty cool commercial splitters that have 6 or 8 or more way splitters which means you put a round through the splitter and then get another round. It takes more power though.

 

[Jack33]

i have a 5.5 honda with a 11 gpm pump, can i increase pump size to 13 without changing engine

Not really, according to the hydraulic sites I've looked at. When the 13.5 pump kicks into the high pressure / low volume range on a gnarly bit you will be overloading the engine, and will probably kill it if you get close to driving maximum pressure.

If you lower the pop-off pressure you might get away with it, especially since Hondas tend to be conservatively rated, but that will also cut down on your tonnage capability as well.

Gooserider

Assuming we are talking about a Haldex/Barnes 2 stage pump, both the 11 and 13.6 pumps have the same second stage volumes and pressure setting. First stage is for speed and that is where they differ. And we are not talking about much of a difference. If your pump is junk and you are looking for a replacement, I would be more concerned about your inlet hose size so you don't have to change any hoses or fittings. The 11 GPM uses a 3/4" inlet and the 13.6 uses a 1" inlet hose. So if you have a 1" inlet hose on there now, get the 13.6 pump. If you are just looking for more power, it is not worth the investment.

 

[Gooserider]

now their's a mouth full
thanks for all the good info Gooserider
rented an 8 hp a while back and it was more than i could keep up with.........
borrowed a 5.5 a couple years back and it was enough to get the job done
have to see what i can find
what about filter systems or coolers ?
any brands on the "watch out for" list ?
rustynut

It is pretty standard to have a filter on the return line from the valve to the tank - looks like an oil filter, but is specific to hydraulics. They come in different "micron" sizes for the smallest particle they will reliably capture, with smaller being better, but you have to ensure that the filter has the capacity to handle the pumps volume, preferably with a large margin. The best filter units have an indicator on the housing to tell you when the filter is getting clogged and needs changing, but these are pretty rare, you might need to get them from an aftermarket source (but they are supposedly not that expensive)

I haven't seen many units with coolers of any sort, nor a huge indication that they are needed - the two splitters that I use both get hot, but apparently not to the level where it's a problem for the fluid. This is somewhat surprising considering that most hydraulic design advice sites say you should have a fluid tank equal to 1-2x the pump gpm, but most splitters actually only use about 4-5 gallons of fluid, and work fine. As a rough guage, the stuff I've seen says hydraulic fluid starts breaking down around 180*F, but both splitters that I use a lot (My 30 ton and a friends 20) get to the point where their tanks and cylinders are uncomfortably hot to touch, but not burning - which by the usual rule of thumb is only about 120*F max...

In terms of brands to go for / avoid - there are a lot of people that say bad things about the various MTD brands, but others that say they've had no problems with them. Ditto for Harbor Freight - on mine I had several parts that did leak, but I will say that when I called and complained, they promptly sent me both a new valve and a new cylinder, and didn't even want the old ones back... One thing that concerns me about some of the HF units is that they seem to have switched from the Subaru/Robin engines which were excellent to "China clone" versions, which are somewhat of an unknown quality wise, and may be a challenge to get parts for (though they MAY be able to use parts from the Honda / Subaru/Robin engines they copied).

I haven't seen any major complaints about the Huskee units that Tractor Supply sells for whatever that's worth. One guy did manage to bend his toe plate on a 30ton unit (which they fixed) and a few have compained about debris building up in the enlosed beam track, but that's about it.

One of the features I like on my HF unit (and one of the major reasons I chose it) is that most splitters have a separate trailer tongue, which results in a very large storage footprint. The Hor/Vert HF splitter models use the splitter beam as the trailer tongue, which means that if you store it with the cylinder vertical, you end up with a very small foot print - about 3'x 4' instead of the 4'x8'+ that most splitters need.

Another possible concern that I haven't seen anything real definite on are the units that use a "trunion mount" cylinder on a short beam, as opposed to a full length beam with a clevis mount on the end of the cylinder - there have been some claims that the trunion mounts are more prone to breakage, and are harder / more expensive to get replacements for. The clevis mounts are definitely "commodity" cylinders that can be found from lots of sources for relatively low money...

As to working tables, log lifters, etc., a great deal depends on the type of unit and your work setup. Generally they aren't needed (and will get in the way) on a unit used mostly in vertical mode. On a horizontal unit they can be of great assistance. I would say that if you have a horizontal only unit they are worth investigating, on a horizontal / vertical, they are more questionable, and if I planned on doing vertical much, I'd want them to be easy to take off.

Gooserider

 

[smokinj]

I hate to split so the only feature i like on splitters is a motor that starts easy (ele. would be cool)

 

[Stevebass4]

i put an hour meter on mine and a swival jack

 

[rustynut]

wow
with all these good features this thing ought to run itself !
going to have to look see whats out there
thanks guys
rustynut