Building a Wood Splitter

I have built a wood splitter, and I think that the I beam that I used was too light. The splitter I built is for the three point hitch of the tractor, and runs off the remotes of the tractor.
It is also Vertical. with the wedge that does the moving up and down, while the blocks of fire wood rest on the base of the splitter.
I have had the the I Beam twist, while I hit a tough block of fire wood, that is why I think that the I Beam is a little on the light side.
Any Idea what thickness of steel the I Beam should be, to be able to with stand that kind of pressure? Your input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again. Bruce.

i used a 12 inch. that is what i had . can you get too big with 3 pt. i didn"t think so

What I was asking, the thickness of the steel the I Beam is made of.
The width of the I Beam itself, isn't the issue that I'm experiencing.
Another thing, I was thinking about, would bracing the sides help from it twisting as well?Thanks again. Bruce.

If it is really twisting, boxing it in might help. I beams have poor torsional stiffness and strength. Tubular (hollow) closed sections have much greater stiffness and strength.

How about Chanell Iron? Would that be better than I Beam? Also (not trying to be smart or anything) what do you mean by Boxing? Thanks again. Bruce.

When I built this splitter back in 1982 I used a 4-inch I beam. It eventually had a slight bow in it too. I should've used a 6-inch I beam. I copied this splitter off one I rented and it had a 4-inch I beam, but I'm sure it was tempered since it never bowed. Hal

Do not use an "I" beam technically called an "S" beam but rather a "W" beam more commonly called a "H" beam. The top and bottom of the flanges are parallel (spelling?) on the "W" beam. If you have a 4" cylinder a W - 8x24 would be ideal. This beam has a height if 7.93 inches a web thickness of .245 and a flange width of 6.495 and the thickness of flange is .400. It will weigh 24 pounds per foot. Do not buy more weight than you need.

Boxing an I beam would be to add flat iron to the I along the sides of the beam. I assume there is some sort of guide that keeps the push plate centered. The flats would have to be put back in far enough to not interfer with your guides.

In other words the upright on the I beam is called the webbing. You would add 2 more webbings.

Gary

I used a piece of 120lb rail, because I got it for nothing, came off a bridge crane where I used to work. Use it upside down so the hardened part is in compresion, and added two pieces of 1/2 square stock for runways for the slide carriage to slide on. 3 1/2 x24 cyl. at 2500 psi. On the 3 point of our JD 4600, works great!

If you build another splitter or redo the one you have make the wedge stationary and not on the cylinder. They seem to work much better this way.

What is the tractor's hydraulic pressure and did you use a control valve separate of the tractor with it's own relief valve?

If NOT, the high pressure from the DEERE tractor may be more to blame for the bend that the strength of the beam.

If you don't have a relief I suggest installing one when you re-do the splitter and setting it only high enough to reasonably split wood, yet protect the splitter.

I havn't read all the other replies but I wanted to ask.

What kind of wood are you trying to split?

You can buy one cheaper than making one,i see them all the time on farm auctions.Homemade stuff doesn't hold any value if you want to sell it.

i built one back in 1985 that is a total of 12 ft long.so i can split a 8ft locust fence post.i boxed the beam in with 3/8 plate and have never twisted it once. RICK

Mine's much more compact, & it lifts high enough to easily hook a wagon tongue under it allowing me to make one trip to the woods:

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It uses a 4X8 cylinder so cycle time is around 3 seconds or a little less. I"ve been very happy with it for over 15 years.

I have my splitter some what like what you have here. It stands Vertical as well. I have a back problem, and the Horizontal splitters like El Toro has shown, is a killer for a person with a bad back.
While I'm in the bush, I do all my splitting while working off my knees. Have no choice, and when I have to handle those bigger diameter blocks of fire wood, I just roll them close as possible to the splitter, and tip them onto the platform of the splitter.
I built the platform 20" deep X 15" wide, and is 4" high. At the top of the tower, I have a chunk of 1" X 4" X 16" Flat bar, and that is where I have a the cylinder mounted. The height of the splitter is 5' high.
My wedge is 12" deep X 3 1/2" wide at the top, and is 9" high.
The material I used I beam, or H beam (not sure which is which), is 8" X 4", and when I get into a knotty piece of Ash, or Maple, and the odd piece of Elm, that is where I run into the twisting. I tried running braces from the top of the tower, to the bar, for mounting to the lift arms of the three point hitch, but that helped a little.
Now I went out behind the barn earlier, where I have a frame from the bottom of a gravity wagon, that IO ave scrapped and it was built out of I, or H beam. The I, or H beam, is 2 1/2" wide X 4" high.
What I'm now planning on doing is placing a couple of pieces of this beam together, side by side, and with pieces of beam going across the back of them, and welding them together.
I'll even stitch weld along the face of the beam, and grind it down smooth, that way the will not interfere with the movement of the wedge.
With any luck, that should eliminate the twisting. Thanks for all the help everyone. Bruce.