Log splitter woes

dbNga

Member
I was using my splitter and the cylinder anchor pad broke at the weld. I found this after I noticed a shifting movement from cyl as it was in the splitting mode. I had the anchor pad rewelded and now after about 20 minutes of use, I am getting a moaning/scraping sound that seems like it is coming from the cyl. If you look at cyl from side there is a slight bow along the ram/cyl plane. I had the cyl rebuilt last year. Would it be worthwhile to try and prevent the shifting/bowing by strapping the cyl to support it? TIA.
 
Run the cylinder out all the way. Then check the cylinder rod to see if it is straight. I would bet that you bent it when the mount broke. The rod can be straightened by most machine shops. IF you keep running it you will just scour the rod and ruin the end plug in the cylinder. Then it will start leaking.

IF the rod is straight, then check the mount. IF it is welded at an angle grind the weld off the mount and straighten the mount an re-weld it straight.
 
Don't know about strapping the cylinder - mine has a lot of movement, but it's 35+ years old and well worn.

My son bought a "new" splitter from Rural King. It had been returned as defective - someone had abused it somehow and bent the cylinder shaft. It was obvious to even a casual observer, and he got it for a fourth of it's normal price. (He should have offered less - the manager almost jumped through his hat accepting his offer) Long story short - he straightened the shaft himself, using ordinary tools, without removing the cylinder. He's been using it for about three years since he straightened it. I've forgotten exactly how he straightened it, but I'll check if you're interested.
 
Just talked to son. He extended the rod all the way and used a porta-power jack slid between the cylinder rod and the beam. He disconnected the rod end of the cylinder only, and raised it up to provide clearance for the porta-power. He used blocks of wood with V-cuts in them to protect the shaft. Blocks of wood with V-cuts and log chain were used to anchor the rod end of the cylinder to the beam, and two more chains/blocks were used to isolate the area that he wanted to bend. With the cutter disconnected from the cylinder rod, you can rotate the cylinder rod to your advantage (with bend toward the beam). Like straightening a bent lawnmower crankshaft, he had to over bend it a little and let it come back straight. It was all strictly eyeball work. He cautions you to be very careful with fingers, eyes, etc., and if this is not your area of expertise, just don't fool with it. Son mechanics for a living, and is comfortable with projects like this. He also said to tell you that the shaft has bent slightly since he straightened it, (I didn't know that) and he's going to build a bracket to tie the mid point of the cylinder to the beam, as you originally suggested. He has about $300 in this splitter, and did not have much to lose if it wouldn't straighten. His shaft was pretty badly bent when he bought it - enough that you could spot it from across the store parking lot. Let us know how it turns out, and good luck with what ever you try.
 
Thx for the info, I have the means to try the exact same process, but never thought of it. I will let you know how it turns out.
 
Motorized Log splitters are for lazy people.

Mine helps keeps me in shape :lol:
mvphoto2420.jpg
 
I thought that too when I was bulletproof, but now that my joints are rusty, I have to improvise, bite the bullet and use mechanical power every chance I get. Have riding lawnmower for less than 1/2 acre of grass so I can walk the next day after cutting...rusty joints are a b!@+h.
 
I have both . If I can't get it to split by hand I use log splitter. There are some woods that aren't worth beat you your brains out.I throw all the pieces that don't want to split by hand in a pile and when it gets big enough I drag the log splitter out.
 
(quoted from post at 23:41:21 01/08/14) Motorized Log splitters are for lazy people.

Mine helps keeps me in shape :lol:
mvphoto2420.jpg



[URL=http://s1231.photobucket.com/user/MissouriMasseyMan/media/Wood%20splitter%20with%20MH%2044/WoodsplitterwithMH44015.jpg.html]


I seem keep my heart rate elevated at least slightly keeping the 36' x 10' x 12' shed filled for myself and two other homes....and I do it without swinging a maul even once. However, splitting wood by hand is good for the soul, been there to the tune of many a pile too long ago to remember.



I'm not opposed to some good natured visiting over the wood pile, so if you are in the neighborhood there will always be a place for you to elevate your heartrate too...if its early enough, there may even still be some coffee in the coffeepot... javascript:emoticon(':lol:')
 
You've got it shined up good!

When I was a young man, I cut a heaping truck load of dead elm and hauled it home. Dad used to say that you could split the elm with the red center, but not the elm with the white center, or wait - was it the other way around? He was dead and I couldn't ask him. Anyhow - after unloading it, I found that I had the kind that wouldn't split. I couldn't even get a splitting wedge to stand up in it. I loaded it up to take back to a ditch on the farm, but I stopped at the corner gas station on the way. As I was there, an old timer came in and commented on the wood I was "bringing home". I told him the story, and he laughed - said HE could split it. I bet him a soda that he couldn't. I have to say - he was a big man, and he DID get a wedge to stand up in it, but when he'd roundhouse it, the wedge would jump as high as his head. He really drew a crowd, and we all took another try at it - and all failed. I really enjoyed that soda, and the friendly razzing that went with it.

You're right, we've gotten lazy. . .
 
Our wood splitter has a 5 inch bore cylinder,
with a 3-1/2 inch diameter rod. Some elm wood
actually bent the splitting wedge, so it isn"t
straight, but still splits.
 
Well it took me not too long to figger out that some woods are better left were they are.:wink:
If i can't split it with the maul it ain't worth fighting with.
I never tried elm cause it does not grow here.
I tend to leave those big trees like the spruce (in the pic with the maul) in the woods but this one was in the way of a fencing job. It is a little tough and knotty but i can still split that in a couple blows as long as i split in the direction of the branches.

I split daily as needed for the wood stove,..takes only 5 min/day.
 
Yeah, there's tricks to splitting it. Start around the outside and work your way in. That's what the old timer was gonna show me, but this particular tree was like trying to split an anvil.

I don't have any trouble with elm, now that I'm "wealthy" enough to own a splitter, ha. Some of it will make the splitter cry the blues though.

Sycamore is what I hate to mess with. It's stringy, and won't separate until the last inch. It's undesirable as firewood, but I have a creek bottom that grows it too well, and if I cut it, I'm gonna burn it. It's spring and fall firewood - it just doesn't have the heat in it that hickory and oak have.
 

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