HOMEMADE HYDRULIC RUNNING OFF MH 44 HYD PUMP

Your comments on adding weight to help you pull the stump out because the tractor is jumping really worry me - if you increase traction you run the risk of the tractor flipping over and crushing you - this is how many people get killed every year - the front wheels lift, the rear wheels grip, and over she goes, on top of you. Messy, and not something you want your family/loved ones to clear up.

Sorry if this sounds harsh but pulling stumps is not a job for the inexperienced, if in any doubt get someone else to do it who knows what they are doing.

Digging round the stump, and then cutting the roots before pulling the lump out of the way is much safer and would be my preferred way of doing it. Any re-growth from the roots can be poisoned easily.

I don't like using steel cable because of what happens when it parts suddenly under stress - it's like a whiplash - and will slice through whatever gets in its way. Chain will just break and then drop quickly.

From what you have said, you should seek local professional advice on the best way to tackle the job you are planning before you do yourself or anyone else some harm.

1, yes the 44 hydraulics will work fine, mine runs a hyd motor that turns an 8" unloading auger on a feed mill, doesn't overheat doing this.

2. My 44 has 2 hitch points, 1 very high, which keeps a PTO fairly close to in line, but should NOT be used for heavy pulling, the other is about 18" or so from the ground. This is the only place you would want to hook to for heavy pulling. Being underneath a 6000lb tractor is not the place to be. If you can't pull it, by all means find someone with a bigger machine to do it for you.

3. Most of the cylinders on my machinery are 3", 44 runs them at a good clip, much faster than my M Farmall. But 42" stroke? just wondering what you are splitting? My PTO drive splitter has a 24" stroke, and is all my stove and my back will handle.

If you'd like pics of my splitter, shoot me an e-mail. D-8 Cat pump and ram, runs off PTO, never met anything it couldn't split.

Steve NW WI

(a woodburner)

You shouldn't overheat anything - the pump in the MH should only pump at a maximum pressure before the relief valve kicks in (Check this, I don't know MHs well).

The flow rate from that pump into the ram you have may mean that with that big a bore the movement is....v..e..r..y.....s..l..o..w as a flow into the ram of, for example, 500 cc a minute on a piston surface area of 20 sq. cm will move the piston by 25cm. BUT you will get something called force multiplication because of the diameter of the piston, so the force acting on the log you are splitting will be enormous.

For example, if the pipe into the ram has a fluid cross section of 2 sq. cm, then as it is acting on a surface area of 20 sq. cm you have a force multiplication of 10. This means that if your line pressure is 2000 psi, then you can potentially get a ram force of 20,000 psi (depending on the shape and style of the splitter - it will be less as your splitter head will have a surface area acting on the log)

Only thing to do is try it - but make sure that the frame you build for the splitter is a really tough one!!!!

You will also need a return spring for the ram.

Just some thoughts . . . hope they help, sounds like a fun project.