16 GPM Pump with 1.8 GPM On High Pressure Side

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That thing has a mess of 90's in it. Ditch the 90's and a 1/2" hose will work fine. The cylinder has 1/2 NPT ports on it. Go to surpluscenter.com and order some hoses. if angles are needed, 45's are not terrible for flow.
Man... Didn't even catch the 1/2 NPT on the cylinder (as you and key #4 point out). I guess that's what I get for trying to post while at work while looking over my shoulder so I don't get caught (its easier than trying to keep doing this stuff on my phone at home).
 
if your going to go with a 16 gpm pump, everything except for the cylinder and spool should be replaced
that little suction hose and small tank will turn that new pump into an expensive paper weight in a hurry
also for all the elbows in your system, when you replace the hoses you can get 45 and 90 deg. hose elbows, much cleaner then having straight fittings out of the cylinder/valve
and they flow a hell of alot better then the machined 45/90 deg. fittings...
 
I finally was able to get the fittings to mount the pressure gauge. Most of the wood I was splitting tonight was only taking 250-400 psi to split... With an occasional flirt with 500 psi. The largest piece of wood (Ash) was 18" that I put through the 4 way and that only took about 500 psi. I put in a knotty piece of an unknown species and tried to split it with the 4 way - didn't happen. My peak system pressure was 1,900 psi. I tapped off the 4 way (still stuck in wood) and continued splitting with the factory wedge (less than 500 psi to split) until the 4 way fell out. It seemed like the high pressure stage came in around the 500 psi. Overall I was surprised with how little force was needed to split the wood.

So if I'm only hitting 1900 psi on my 4" cylinder (remeasured)... Then I'm only getting to 11.93 ton or so. Guess you really don't need a lot of tonnage (normally) do you?

I picked up a 1/2" line to go from my valve to ram, but it would loop right over the handle on the valve. I was thinking that after I get a 36" length of 1/2" line for the back end of the cylinder that I would rotate the body of my cylinder so that the fittings are about 45 degrees away from me to move the lines out of the way of the valve. I figure that way I could remove the sharp 90 degree bends. Will essentially rotating the piston in the cylinder hurt anything? Didn't know if they were seated in a certain position and if I rotated it that it would create any leakage / blowby.

Pressure_Gauge.jpg
 
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You can get Hi flow fittings, makes a big difference in heat build up , not going to change speed really.
If you are leaving unit outside or in un-heated storage you need to close the breather when done or you get condensation in the oil.
Larger tank allows for cooling of oil and less chance of starving the pump or causing air entrainment in oil which will also cause pump cavitation.
Box store units are built for max profit and minimum specs, that said they get the job done.
 
Well... I just went through an exercise in taking off and putting back on hydraulic lines. I took off the 3/8" ID hard line and went to put on the 1/2" NPT lines. Only come to find out that the new lines are also 3/8" ID! I guess I was wrong in thinking that they were 1/2" ID. So now I have some hoses that will hang out in the garage until who knows when.
 
Well... I just went through an exercise in taking off and putting back on hydraulic lines. I took off the 3/8" ID hard line and went to put on the 1/2" NPT lines. Only come to find out that the new lines are also 3/8" ID! I guess I was wrong in thinking that they were 1/2" ID. So now I have some hoses that will hang out in the garage until who knows when.

hard lines are usually measured in OD, and pipe/hoses are measured in ID, but ID is usually @ sch 40, anything heavier then the ID shrinks... hose is always measured in ID which is usually true to the size stated, only the fittings are where the id shrinks...
 
hard lines are usually measured in OD, and pipe/hoses are measured in ID, but ID is usually @ sch 40, anything heavier then the ID shrinks... hose is always measured in ID which is usually true to the size stated, only the fittings are where the id shrinks...

Yeah, I figured it was just the fittings that were 3/8" on the hose. Do the fittings generally have enough meat on them to be drilled out to the 1/2"? Or does it not stretch the ID of the hose to larger than 1/2" at the fitting? I wouldn't think there would be any stretching though.

Maybe 3/4" hoses with adapters to the 1/2" would have been the way to go?

I wish I could just afford a TW-5 and be done with it...
 
Yeah, I figured it was just the fittings that were 3/8" on the hose. Do the fittings generally have enough meat on them to be drilled out to the 1/2"? Or does it not stretch the ID of the hose to larger than 1/2" at the fitting? I wouldn't think there would be any stretching though.

Maybe 3/4" hoses with adapters to the 1/2" would have been the way to go?

I wish I could just afford a TW-5 and be done with it...

NO DO NOT drill them out, theyre engineered for the pressure, drilling them out would weaken them!
the hoses does stretch but only a tiny bit, the hose gets pushed onto the barb/fitting by hand, then its crimped in a press,
even if you went with 3/4" hoses, it wouldnt flow anymore then the 1/2" hose, you would still have the 3/8"id through the reducer!
you would have to get a spool with 3/4" work ports, to get more flow.
i really wouldnt worry about the 3/8 id, most Prince spools used on log splitters use 1/2" work ports and flow around 25 gpm, you should be fine with the 1/2" hose as long as the spool is rated for the atleast the 16 gpm pump that you want to install...
 
Sounds like may just have to let it be and run the snot out of it... 15+ cord sent through it in the 7 months or so that I've owned it. Hasn't let me down yet...
 
I finally purchased / installed the 16 gpm MTE pump. The original L-head 5hp B&S was on and off with being able to handle it... then there ended up being what I assume an oiling mishap:msp_rolleyes: and the rod decided to take a ride out of the block.

A buddy of mine gave me a pump/engine (5.5 OHV B&S) to use. I bolted it up and it runs perfect... seems to have plenty of power with no problems switching between high and lo or popping the system relief valve.

Here is the new engine:

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First pile from splitting some ash...

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Second pile from splitting cherry and ash (my youngest likes to where his sisters Hello Kitty boots and yes, the splitter is off).

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I replaced the 1 gallon tank with a 2.5 gallon as well. It's temporarily secured with a ratchet strap until I get a better mount/plate set up.
 

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