Log Splitter Woes!

My experience with Ram Splitter log splitters.

Let me start off the “long winded” review by saying that I feel that I got my log splitter at a Great Price $3295.00 (Oct-2008 price) & that’s including shipment to my door. Compare that to other top manufactures the best of which are “Split-right-” (model SR-225 currently $9700), or “Timberwolf ” (Model TW-5 currently around $6000)- An awesome Machine in my opinion. Considering these models and my own used most of the same primary components, this constitutes a substantial savings in my book! Also Doug @ Ram splitter customer support was very knowledgeable and helped in recommendations for my custom order splitter. I Wanted a High Production splitter that had a low working height (13” beam height”), used all the best components available & was “Built to Last.”

The following is a basic component specification / configuration for my splitter “Ram Splitters” Model # H30-22-2

13 hp Commercial Honda Engine (GX390)
Prince royal plate Tie-rod 5” x 24” Cylinder / 2” push rod
22 GPM Barns / Haldex 2-stage pump- (From Northern tool)
Prince full “auto-cycle” Control Valve
9-Gal Hydraulic tank
Heavy Duty Hydraulic lines
8” high primary wedge w/slip over 4-way wedge
12” tires
Hour Meter
Front wheel stand

I received my splitter approx 45 days after ordering it, which at the time seemed quite long but still acceptable to me. After some minor assembly in the garage I.E. filling the Hydraulic tank, mounting the wheels etc. I was ready to go to work. I had about 2 cord to split in the back yard and I went too it. My initial impression was “Wow! This Splitter Kicks A$$!” The Splitter performed better than I expected. I timed the full 24inch stroke at 7 seconds forward and 6-seconds back this was at 3600rpm. I had at least a full cord of wood split in less than 45 minutes! This was considerably less time than I have ever split a cord of wood; this was all straight-grained lodge pole pine with few knots. I couldn’t wait to use it again! By the next weekend the opportunity presented itself. A good friend of mine had about 2-cords of a mix of cottonwood that was very dry and “knotted” and some very hard/knotted Pinion pine as well as some Heavy Live oak. I thought this would represent a good benchmark for the machine and I offered split it for him. I also wanted to learn a little more about the machine’s performance under more “hash” circumstances. After about an hour of splitting without any trouble we put a round that was very knotted and quite long about 23” on to the beam and I engaged the valve. The beam slide went forward hit the round against the 4-way wedge and bogged down the engine slightly and then returned to the starting position without splitting the round. I repeated this three times with the same results. The next time I held the control valve in place so it would not disengage and CRACK! The round split, but the Wedge welds Broke and it tore the Primary Wedge almost completely off the beam before I could stop it. Also the beam top-plate as well as the “push block” was badly warped– I couldn’t believe it… I didn’t even have 8 hours on the unit! We both looked at each other and knew it was “Game-Over” at least for that afternoon. My Heart Sank. I immediately called up another good friend who is an excellent welder / Engineer. I Knew I could count on him as we both enjoy cutting wood for ourselves as well as provide for our extended families. I brought the splitter over to his place. He Offered a Consolation Beer and we spent about an hour going over the splitter and assessing the Damage and discussing the best course of action for repair and possible design improvement. We came up with quite a few Design improvement ideas and he quoted me a repair bill @ $500. That night I slept on it and weighed my options. I could ship the splitter back to the manufacture @ a minimum of $300 shipping and then if they thought after inspection that defect was due to operator error they could bill me for the repair and then another $300 for return shipping. Feeling like this was the most likely scenario. I decided to take my friend up on his offer. I figured…. Less down time, no shipping costs, and his guarantee of a serious look at the mode of failure and our design improvements to prevent this type of failure in the future. He and I Both felt that even with my “holding” the control valve forward that the welds should not have failed in the way they did, He Cited the fact that the control valve itself had a “built in” pressure relief and if anything that should be the limiting factor in the system & not the welds “Strength”. But we both also felt like the warranty would likely not be honored by the manufacture due to these circumstances of the failure. My Friend was quite confident and said that if it did fail again that he would repair it at no further cost to me. I took him up on his offer and we went to work together on the project. It took three days to resurrect the fallen beast.

The following pictures are before and after pics of the splitter. The “after” pics showing the design changes made. Please forgive the fact that I don’t have photo’s of the splitter wedge being torn off. I just could not bring myself to take the pics.






Although the design changes we made were relatively minor they made all the difference in the end. Shortly after the Repair we put the machine “Too the Test”. Putting more than twenty rounds of very hard to split knotted Pinion Pine that “required” holding down the control Valve to split them. It did so without complaint! This was good enough for me. My buddy who fixed this Damn thing then challenges me too split a log 4-ways “Cross-Grain” like Timberwolf –corp. Warns you not to do “at home” in one of their TW-5 video’s. I Complied the 390GX groaned, the Barns pump geared down, and Prince Cylinder pushed like hell, the improved wedge now literally “cut” through the log 4-ways! I Was Beyond Pleased and Now “know” I have the Log splitter I always Dreamed of. Now three more years have passed since the repair with no problems whatsoever I still want to make further improvements like a bigger Hydraulic tank for cooler running on hot afternoons. But for now I’m satisfied. In my opinion It would be fairly inexpensive to implement these design improvements in the initial fabrication of these splitters. Moreover (IMO)-It would only serve enhance their position and reputation in the marketplace. I’m sure I will get some flack for Comparing my Log splitter to Great manufacture’s like timberwolf / Split-right, but I can say with a high degree of certainty that I could keep pace with the best of them if not beat them, and for a Lot less $$$


I was once told by a wise man… “Both “God” and The “Devil”…. Are in the Details!

All said four Very important lessons learned.

1: You get What you pay for!

2:Always find the strength to pick yourself back up after a failure.

3: Always Over Design for the intended function, don’t "skimp" on the fundamentals.

4: Never underestimate the value of Good Friend!

Written By: Sierrawoodsman (my first post)
Proud owner of a now “Awsome!” Ram Splitter log splitter.
05-27-2011

I sure wouldn't have thought it would bend like that. Something wasn't right.

Looks like your friend did a good job. Let us know how it works.

I would have driven that thing right to the place I bought it from and if I didn't get any warranty satisfaction I would have "rammed" it through their front door!
That is just wrong on so many levels that it won't hold up for 8 hrs, did you at least contact the manufacturer?
I would say it was a manufacturers defect that the relief valve didn't do it's job.
The repair looks good but for 500 bucks it ought to.

splitter woes

I would be on the phone to the manufacturer and send him the bill for the repairs. The pressure relief should have opened and halted the ram before enough force was exerted to break the welds. I am not an accomplished welder, but I do some welding and know the theory. The welds should not have failed before the relief valve opened. If they did, it's a design flaw or a manufacturing defect. If the welds are spec'd properly and were properly done, then the hydraulics design is wrong or the valve failed to operate properly. If you have good pix of the broken welds, I would send them to the manufacturer and ask for reimbursement. If they are reputable, they will do what's correct.

Thoughts on your splitter

Obviously your welder friend made himself proud, looking at your repair/mod of your splitter.

My one thought is that the Prince auto cycle valve, is to my information is factory set at 2000 psi. If this valve was functioning correctly, I don't think the welds would tear if they were done well with good penetration. It is easy to put a "T" and a gauge on the valve side, and you can check your pressure.

If the relief valve is not bypassing at the 2000 to 2500 psi mark, I would fear having a hose rupture.

If that happens, the best case is that you get a bath in hot oil, the worst is that you get an high pressure stream of oil penetrating the skin and getting a very hard to heal infection, Your valve should have "squealed" in the bypass mode before your end wedge was torn.

I will say that as a former weldor, I did like the looks of your latest repair. it looks very well done.

Hope this might be useful,

Dave

I agree with all of the above. I don't care what you try to split, that should have never happened. You were lucky someone wasn't hurt. I would like to know if something like this hasn't happened to their other splitters.

Read all the above posted comments and think about it seriously

Should have contacted the manufacturer first.
#1 They might have covered everything
#2 They need to know of problems in the parts they are supplied with (valve).

I would have definitely contacted the manufacturer.
If anything else, so they can fix the problem and someone doesn't get seriously hurt with this thing.

Did the weld itself break or the steel around it?

The 7018 rod that was used on the repair is 70,000 per square inch tensile strength. I just did a home made splitter and welded the wedge with 6010 "root / hot pass" then 7018 cover pass. I dont care what you do to this it will not break off. The metal it is welded to may break, but not the weld. The hydraulics, pump or engine should give out first, even if you ran the pusher directly into your wedge. I am curious what the welding method was on this.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

Prior the repair taking place we had to remove (grind) all the previous weld and ripped parent material to get back to solid “base metal” in doing so my friend said he found that at the initial point of crack propegation (where the sharpend point of the wedge meets the top plate) was what he said looked like a Slag inclusion and also and area of incomplete fusion / penetration. :msp_mad:

I have noticed that Ram splitters has changed their design on the “extreme” model wedge / Push-block reference: VIEW OUR OTHER MODELS
It much closer resembles a Timberwolf TW-2 HD now. The push-block has added the extra support braces is the exact same way we did! (compare this to their other models and you guys will see what I mean as I had the under designed configuration), And my oh my how those prices have changed as well!

I can only deduce that other customers had a similar experience, and thus the modifications in design were made. In any case "to me" it's all 3-yrs old "water under the bridge at this point." Just hate for this to happen to someone else. It obviuosly must have.

One more Change I feel I should make is the bigger Hydraulic tank. It took over an hour to get there but it got up to 185°F tank temp with an ambient outside temperature of approx 85°F last summer- (Measured with a infared Thermometer). I’m not quite sure how hot Dexron 3 Hydraulic fluid can get before “bad things” start to happen or what those bad things might be, but it’s got me a little concerned….usually after an hour or so working hard in the summer heat I’m ready for a break as well. Thanks for the feedback guys! and what exactly should happen when a pressure relief valve does work correctly? where does the Hydraulic fluid come out?

The relief valve won't actually spit oil out of the machine, it will just bypass it back to the tank. When it goes to bypass, the ram will stop moving, the motor will bog (and die if it's undersized) and you'll likely hear plenty of hydraullic noise - probably a high pitched squeal.

On the oil, you're getting there, but not hot enough to do damage yet. On the other side of 200 is where I'd be worried. Dex III (ATF) can see temps well over 200 in automatic transmissions, but there too, the higher the temps and the longer they hold that temp, the shorter the life expectancy of the trans.

To get 100° over ambient temp, you are indeed working it real hard, or there is a restriction somewhere in your system causing excess heat.

To be fair to Ramsplitter, I looked over one of their splitters and bought it because of the excellent welding. Mine looked to have four pass welding on the foot, and had filled the bevel between the beam and and the foot. It also looked to be mig welding. Stick welding is where you get slag.

I obviously have never cut open the weld as you have done. I appreciate your forensics

You would only get slag with stick welding.

Maybe useful,

Dave

What Model ram-splitter do you have Dave?, how long have you owned it?

I am a Modest hobby welder myself, and Inspector (x-ray technician) for a living. When I got the splitter I thought the welds looked pretty good (Judging from the outside), but looked a little lacking in multiple passes-(build-up). I think Only the H-30 Extreme model has the design change implemented. If I had only been splitting 2 ways it may have held up fine for a long while. Beware of going four ways as it add considerable Stress. Especially with a 22gpm pump and powerful engine. In retrospect I should have taken that broken wedge and x-rayed it. Then I would have a greater insight to exactly what happened.

Ramsplitter, 10 amp, 240 volt, 3.5 inch cylinder. Three years. It is not a typical splitter, so maybe an explanation might be useful.

I once made my own splitter with a retired Wisconsin engine, hydraulic valve, old 5 inch cylinder and I beam, mounted on an old trailer frame. It was a noisy, clumsy beast that took a tractor or truck to move around. So in a different part of my life (30 years later) I was going to make another splitter, but the components cost as much as a factory splitter. Since I split in one location, moving maybe 100 feet, and often at night with neighbors close by , I looked for big, gas engine equivalent, electric splitter.

A local farm sale had a Ramsplitter on a three point hitch, 3.5 inch cylinder, really beat up and it looked well made with good welds.

I once worked in a fab/machine shop and felt that the aviation/industrial world has taught us that long life and reliability of machinery comes from de-rating, not pushing components so I ordered a 1750 rpm electric because of it's higher torque, quieter pump whine, less pump wear, 3500 psi hoses, all on the same frame as a larger splitter.

A 3500 rpm motor and pump seemed too fast. The oil seems to get hot from internal friction and cavitation at the pump. The slower pump speed is OK with a smaller cylinder. The shorter cylinder helps. My stoves (3) only take 18 inch wood, so I did not need a longer ram.

Over time, I rerouted hoses, put large, foam filled wheel barrow tires on it (since the originals kept going flat) , added a pressure gauge at the ram (just to see what was going on) , a heavier switch for the motor, a fifty foot ten gauge electrical cord and rewired it from 110 to 240 for cold winter starts. Wired 110 it kept tripping 20 amp breakers at start up when it was cold. Mechanically, it is stock.

It travels in the back of my 1/4 ton pickup, moves around easily by hand, is borrowed by my neighbors, (plugs into drier outlets) and was the splitter used by a family that sold firewood after a job loss, but heavy snow forced them to work in a shed. It ran for hours every day for months.

It needs a coat of axle grease on the bare metal surfaces at the end of the day (wedge, plate welded to box beam, to prevent rust and metal to metal wear) and a paint touch up with a spray can every year. Every two years I change the hydraulic oil because it does not have a filter: four gallons, forty bucks of generic ATF fluid. Because the oil does not get warm, I am unsure about moisture accumulation in the oil tank.

The running costs is insignificant, I figured about 25 cents an hour for electricity, 10 cents a kw.

The splitter is not for everyone, but works for me. When I need it in the woods, I put my generator in the truck and keep the noise fifty feet away.

Sorry for the length of the reply, I wasn't sure what info you might be needing. Hope this helps,

Dave

Thanks for sharing your design changes. A couple of questions, if I may...

1. I see that in the before picture, the 4-way wedge seems to be a 'slip on' affair.
1a. Does the original design allow for the wedge to 'float' somewhat?
1b. Looking at your after photo, the wedge is welded on. Do you think that will affect the ability of the splitter to 'pass' the splits through? Meaning, will the splits tend to 'jamb' in between the wedge and the beam plate?

2. If you did all of this re-fabbing with such a nice paint job, why on EARTH would you put the manufacturer's stickers back on?
You've essentially given them free advertising on a product that bears very little resemblance to it's original design.
I know it's picky but I wouldn't give them the free advertising.

The four-way is not welded to the beam. It is the same "Slip-over" wedge as is was before, but now fits like a Glove. It was a very sloppy fit before. It also will still float as nessessary. The beam length & cylinder stroke was designed with the 4 way in place. The stroke just shy (about 1/4 inch) of the sharpened edge of it at full extension. In this way I never have to worry about the push block accidentally hitting the edge of the wedge when auto cycle is used. Good Point on Free advertising! What the hell was I Thinking? Now, Where did I put that can of Green Paint? :msp_rolleyes:

Reply

Iska3 said:

I agree with all of the above. I don't care what you try to split, that should have never happened. You were lucky someone wasn't hurt. I would like to know if something like this hasn't happened to their other splitters.

Read all the above posted comments and think about it seriously

Click to expand...

I got a 20 ton Ramsplitter 3 pt splitter was splitting some hard knots. It split it but I realize it was raining but not water it was raining hydo. fluid it blew a fitting. I replace the fitting call Doug his partner answered the phone told me how to reset the value and it works fine.later

Ram splitter

I have a 20 ton Ramsplitter I never split with my 4 way when splitting knotty wood. Splitter wedges are not built for side motion soon or later your wedge will give if your splitter is strong enough third to half are.

Work wild a welder you trust if you don't weld

SierraWoodsman I read your post and agree with your decision to have your friend beef up the splitter. Great Job. I do not weld but know a welder that allows me to help and does not charge a lot his work is good and he will weld up my designs. If he has a better idea I would follow his suggestion.

You do not know what would have happened sending the splitter back to ramsplit, you had great results with your welder friend. David