A couple more big things then it's done. PIX

Coming right down the wire. Son added several more pieces to the puzzle, then it will be painted and ready to go to work. Daughter gets her wood delivered tomorrow,AM, so hopefully the new splitter will get its workout. Been taking a lot of time off due to hot humid weather 80- 90 degree day with rain. I really don't see how my son can keep up with everything, IE splitter, garden, lawn, etc.etc. Figuring when the log splitter is done, it should be in the neighborhood of costing ( a new one) around $2,000.00 to 2500.00, if we had to buy it new. Our cost is below 1/2 that for materials,not counting labor.

The motor came with a frame and a complete manual trans-axle,which we have no use for and will put up for sale. Not sure what lawn mower manufacturer it came from. If I was younger it would be on a go-cart,so I could go check the mail.Oh well. The case that says, better late than never, is better never than late . The guys on here who were contemplating building one, I say do it, they are quite a project,and a worthwhile one at that. The splitter saves a whole lot of problems with aching back and worn out joints. When we get it all finished we will show you the end result. Warmest regards,
LOU

Nice job. I built one 2 years ago from an old lawnmower too but did not custom build all the parts like you did. Hope it works for you.

Why would you put the drain over the axle behind the tire. It would be much easier to drain if it was next to the engine, or on the other side from the engine. It looks good otherwise.

Caterpillar guy,
The reason is we can put the other side up on a block and drain all the fluid out in case of contamination. Right now it has a hose adapter on it to keep out bugs, this will be changed over to a 90 deg street elbow with a plug to get it out past the axle. The other side of the engine is where the suction is located.

LOU

Texasmark1,
Our first one works just fine. They are quite a project,but well worth the effort.When you built yours, did you buy all the parts,for assembly? Would be interested in seeing a picture of yours.
LOU

Man that is one nice looking beast! The only thing I would do is pick up a Nelson QUIET run muffler. The handy dandy flea bay store has all types. Get a long big one. They will make your log splitter VERY quiet and a real pleasure to work with.

jeffcat,
Thanks for the reply.
But have you priced them mufflers? I think ear plugs are cheaper.lol. We took off a Nelson that was pretty well beat up, and got another internal baffle one for a briggs. The original Nelson was anything but quiet when it was running at the sellers place. But appreciate the information, when we get in speaking terms with the bank or happen to hit the lottery, we might buy one.lol.
Anyway thanks again for the reply and information.
LOU

I think I would run a pair of 1" pipes from the ends of the axles to the hitch. Triangulating the axle is cheap and prevents very bent tongue mounting points. Jim

Looks good. I made a electric power splitter years ago. They are sure handy. You will be glad you have it if you burn a lot of wood. Stan

You are going to need safety chains if you are ever going to tow that machine on a public road.

Neat design.

Agree on the axle braces !
In addition,
because single cylinder engines have lots of vibration,
you might also triangulate or gusset the fuel tank bracket and the long exh. pipe.

Priced mufflers? Farm and Fleet- Stanley for a Ford N is $19.95 with coupon, $24.95 straight retail. Farmall Cub is $29.95 with longer pipe. Both can be fitted to motorcycles when needed to pass a inspection after a 'no required muffler
ticket. A Honda motorcycle muffler $10.00 salvage yard find for a 360 can be fitted to a Tecumseh 12 hp tucked into a old Simpicity 725 frame. Walker Glass packs for various foreign cars goes for $19.95 to $29.95 in couple different lengths and pipe diameters. some small engines have a flanged fitting for muffler and a 3/4 to 1 inch pipe thread inside the end of exhaust port so standard plumbing pipe can be fitted and used as extensions to whatever muffler is handy- a takeoff quiet stock Harley muffler setting on shelf after a custom system installed used to be a $20.00 item- maybe now a $50.00 item but the old stock sporty shorties are still going for $50.00 a pair of $20.00/30.00 for unmatched singles at swap meets and some shops off the salvage shelf. think about a chromed sporty muffler at end of a couple right angled pipes and how the rig might look then. Mild Teasing Alert! RN

I have them. See if I can dig them up. I already had a home made splitter but used the remote hyd. from the tractor. To get decent splitting pressure I had to go to a 4" cylinder and to split longs had to have a long splitter. Volume was just too much for it to have any kind of cycle time.

I had an old lawnmower with a bad deck and I partially stripped the frame and built up from there using the engine, running gear (no power to the hydro.... gotta push it), Steering wheel and pedestal with built in fuel tank and battery slot.

I'll look for them this evening and if I find them, probably will, will go to Modern view and edit this post!

Mark

Edit: I already had this. I deliberately wanted it close to the ground so I could work alone and roll the logs onto it, no lifting. I do not transport it so I didn't need much for wheels even though I have some. It sits at the wood pile.


The lawnmower was a Scotts and has a 17.5 hp Kohler single engine. The drive to the pump is off the bottom pulley that used to drive the hydro tranny.....that's why I have to push it now...I keep this part in my shop......but the solid rubber tires make it effortless.

I had to mount the pump that low to get the correct direction of rotation and had to have room to put the torque less pump to drive Lovejoy connections.

The pump is a double stage 16 gpm requiring 8 hp to operate.

The tank is 2 gallon and has the filter on the inlet with a pressure gauge added since this pic was taken...want to know what pressure is on the inlet to the tank incase the filter clogs!

The control is made for the application.

I made the brackets to mount the controls and mount the pump which included a belt tensioner to keep the belt from vibrating too much since it is quite long.

Hoses are 1/2 inch and 6' long.

I read up on what you have to do to have high flow rates and incorporated these ideas into the design. My cycle time is 6 sec one way and 7 the other....must be 7 to close (no product) and 6 to open...whichever. It solved my slow speed problem.

The wedge is a 3 stage development and was started before I got to where you see it now. I designed it to operate with a smaller cylinder before I bought the 4" so I couldn't brute force bust logs like commercial sharpened chunks of steel do.

Pump, Lovejoy parts, pump interface bracket, control, filter and storage tank all came from Northern tool and I got the cheapest they had. Not sorry, they are plenty adequate.





That's about it. Oh the wood pile is gone. It took care of it including the y's and v's in the tree trunk/limbs.

Mark

Hey Lou! Did you get the pictures you asked for?