Farmall Super C row-crop tractor: 1953

My Super C has a front loader hydraulic attachment and the tractor has enough power to use it. But I bought a home made hydraulic wood splitter. And my question is why does the tractor have enough power to run the loader but doesn't have the power to run the splitter?

Hello startrek welcome to YT. Shooting in the dark I
believe your pump will produce about 1250psi, which
on a 4 in cylinder should give you a bit over 7.5 tons of
push. Does it move the splitter cylinder at all? Is it
connected through the stock remote outlet
connections. Did it move the cylinder one direction but
not the other? Pictures of the setup and connections
would be helpful.
Here is a rundown on posting pictures here. I would
suggest just trying one in a reply. Then try 2 in the next
reply just so you do not get over the file size
restriction.
Pictures post through the ..Browse or Choose files..
button just below where it says ..Upload
Photos/Videos.. down lower in the ..New post and reply
windows. Clicking that will give you a choice to select
the file or folder the pictures are stored in on your PC
or phone. Then select the photo from the file and
..Add.. it. They cannot be pasted into the text area as a
file.

I don't know if this is helpful, but I had a homemade splitter that would do just fine if you used the outside inch or two of the wedge, but would stop dead if you used the whole wedge. This was one where the wedge is attached to the ram and pushed into a solid surface.

Wood splitters use 3000 PSI hydraulics, while early 1950s tractor hydraulics are lucky to have 800 to 1000 PSI when new. The loader cylinders are likely sized to work with the tractor's hydraulic capabilities. Also check the flow rates of the two systems (gallons per minute).

I would guess that your tractor has only a third of the pounds per square inch of pressure that the wood spliter needs as that was normal pressure at that time and untill you get into the 70's you will not find a tractor with enough pressure to do the job. Check stores that sell engine powered spliters and see what pressure they operate. But to get enough pressure you are going to need a PTO powered pump with pressure way higher than your tractor is capable of.

how big of pto pump would i need? and would it have to have it's own hydraulic tank?

First you need the spects off the spliter and yes would need its own tank
unless you can find a self contained unit and I have no idea if they are
made now or not.

Do you get any movement of the splitter? It appears
you added those hoses to the back. Is this a tee where
it is connecting circled in the attached. If so that
means the tee has 3 connections. 1 connects to the
hose to the back, 2 connects to a Touch Control
(hydraulic box) port? 3 Connects to?? Take a photo of
that area where the hoses connect. What is the
diameter of the splitter cylinder. This guy may split a
lot of wood and has used a 15 or 20 ton splitter for
years and thinks anything less is like zero. Per the
calculations I first gave 7.5 tons will do a lot of splitting
it may not be a record setter in cycle times due to the
lower gallons per minute of the pump.

Okay, let's take a step back here and ask, what do you mean "Doesn't have the power to run the wood splitter?"

What happens when you try to run the wood splitter? Nothing?

I think I can see why. You have the hydraulics hooked up wrong. You are trying to "TEE" off of the pressure to run the wood splitter, and that won't work on a simple open center hydraulic system like that.

What is happening is that when you pull the lever for the wood splitter, all the oil is going through the loader valve instead. The loader works because the wood splitter is disconnected at that point, and the supply hose to the wood splitter is blocked off so the oil can't flow through the splitter's valve.

The tractor has plenty of hydraulic power to run a wood splitter. It won't be fast but it will be faster than a Farmall Cub, and people run wood splitters with Farmall Cubs and are happy with them.

This post was edited by BarnyardEngineering on 10/22/2023 at 05:17 am.

the splitter operates but vary slow and as soon as it touches a log it stops dead. it won't even split a 6'' peace of 2x4.
So if i have hookup wrong. Where do I into to run as rear remotes to get more pressure the splitter didn't come with a lever. and since the tractor doesn't have it's own remote lever i just added one to the splitter. When i got the splitter it just had hoses that connected to rear remotes. The splitter i bought was home made from someone else for a 100.00. so i have no specs.

This post was edited by Startrek2505 on 10/22/2023 at 06:26 am.

(quoted from post at 08:21:30 10/22/23) the splitter operates but vary slow and as soon as it touches a log it stops dead. it won't even split a 6'' peace of 2x4.
So if i have hookup wrong. Where do I into to run as rear remotes to get more pressure the splitter didn't come with a lever. and since the tractor doesn't have it's own remote lever i just added one to the splitter. When i got the splitter it just had hoses that connected to rear remotes. The splitter i bought was home made from someone else for a 100.00. so i have no specs.

This post was edited by Startrek2505 on 10/22/2023 at 06:26 am.

Click to expand...

fter reading this I think Barnyardengineering has you covered. When I built a splitter for my Kubota, I put quick connects on the hoses for the loader and ran long hoses from the middle of the tractor to the rear. I could only have one or the other, but it was simple and worked very well.

So if basically if i disconnect from the loader then it should work better?

I -we need you to answer my question about where you
connected the hoses you ran to the splitter. I am not
100 percent familiar with that system but I do not think
any of the ports on the cast block that the rock shaft is
in are set up to take hydraulic flow from to operate
remotes. You do however have an add on auxiliary
bypass plate that operates the loader lift. See the
linked post. That is bolted between the lines and the
touch control. I believe I can tell you how to connect it
but the valve for the splitter will have to stay on the
tractor. That is because the fluid has to loop through
the valve, the loop cannot be disconnected with a
quick coupler that would block flow and dead head the
pump. I need a photo that shows the entire connection
setup for that loader valve. Essentially the fluid will
need to come out of that fitting on the block the line
connects to you have a tee in. This will be a straight
connection no tee. It will loop through the valve you
are adding for the splitter and then through the loader
valve. Then out of the loader valve into the port in the
bypass plate as it does now. The fluid flows back in
there to operate the rock shaft. Also need a picture of
the valve you are adding for the splitter. I can tell you a
fairly simple way to get a couple test run strokes or
part strokes to see if you are satisfied with the
pressure and speed it operates with before you go
through all the connections. Get the machine in a place
you do not mind a little oil is spilled. Set the loader on
the ground. Disconnect the hose from the loader valve
that goes to the cylinders I think it is the one shown
with the galvanized elbow pointing down. Connect a
hose to that that goes to the push or extend port of
the splitter cylinder. Now when you operate the loader
lever to the position that would normally raise the
loader the splitter cylinder will extend at the speed and
pressure that it will once you get all the valve set up
properly. You will also need to have the hose for return
side of the cylinder open an directed into a clean
bucket. But two things are going to happen. If it is a 4
inch cylinder in part of the stroke it will empty the
small reservoir. This will be less of an issue when
correctly connected because the return oil from the
cylinder will be flowing back in the system. Second,
the cylinder will have to be returned by physical force
probably using a chain and a pry bar. To return it the
loader valve will need to be held in the down position.
This is because that loader is from what I can see that
loader is set up with one-way cylinders.
Post with info

Edit: This is a response to this and forgoes my other reply.. So if basically if i disconnect from the loader then it should work better?

I did not want to go down this road, but if that is where
your hose is connected to feed the splitter you could
put a valve in there to shut off the flow to the loader
when using the splitter. Apparently the hose I circled is
the return back to the Hydratouch reservoir. In the
photo it was hard to see but it looked like both hoses
you added were connected somehow to the front of
the reservoir block.

More edit: That valve WILL HAVE TO BE OPENED when the splitter is disconnected or the pump will dead head. I checked and it looks like the pump has a built in pressure relief or I would have NEVER proposed this option. If it had NO relief in it and you ever forgot to open that valve it would likely immediately split the pump case.

This post was edited by used red MN on 10/22/2023 at 08:38 am.

I don't believe pressure is his problem. My 8n put's out less pressure and runs my #5 JD splitter just fine, all be it a little slow. Something must be connected wrong.

(quoted from post at 09:35:23 10/22/23) So if basically if i disconnect from the loader then it should work better?

Click to expand...

'm several miles from an expert, but yes, that is my opinion.