Didier (sp?) splitter fluid questions??

[wigglesworth]

Ive got this little Didier (sp?)here.

It is marketed by montgomery wards. Tough little thing. I havent stalled it out in wood yet. Split everything Ive put on it. Well im wanting to mod it a little with a lift and a bigger fluid resivoir. I dont know what kind of fluid to put in it. I have read several different things from motor oil, tranny fluid to hydo. Does anybody know for sure what these little things take??

 

[qweesdraw]

I use good ol' hydraulic fluid in all my splitters.
Usually reasonable at the (farm store) Big R,Murdock's,Country General.
About $40 per 5 gallons
Mark

 

[Haywire Haywood]

I bought the Walmart supertech R&O 32 weight stuff for mine. R&O stands for rust and oxidation inhibiting. I think it cost about $32 for 5 gallons.

Ian

 

[boostnut]

Been using ATF in my "Didier" for a few years now with no problems at all. You're on the right track, get that thing up to a comfortable work height and add a larger tank. Mine has about 5 gallons of capacity and never gets hot during cool weather. Splitting in the hot weather isn't for me, no idea if it would get hot on a 90 degree day, not gonna find out. Here's a pic of mine, the motor has since been replaced with a honda.

 

[wigglesworth]

Been using ATF in my "Didier" for a few years now with no problems at all. You're on the right track, get that thing up to a comfortable work height and add a larger tank. Mine has about 5 gallons of capacity and never gets hot during cool weather. Splitting in the hot weather isn't for me, no idea if it would get hot on a 90 degree day, not gonna find out. Here's a pic of mine, the motor has since been replaced with a honda.

I like what you have done there. How does it split now since you have switched the wedge and foot around?

 

[boostnut]

Still works well. The only reason I made the switch is for vertical use (see pic).

 

[Ed*L]

Holy crap! I've got the same splitter, only rebadged as a John Deere.
Mine has also seen quite a bit of rework. New motor, new pump and a lift kit. I would also weld a block of steel to the pusher, dumb design to have it stop 2" from the wedge, makes splitting stringy wood a pita.

I use good ol' Dexeron atf in it.

Ed

 

[Wife'nHubby]

The Didier owner's manual says either 10W-30-40W motor oil or hydraulic oil.

These little splitters seem hard to kill. We even had our cylinder repaired last fall and with new hyd. hoses and reassembly help from the great(!) members on AS, our little 1970's Didier just hums right along. Surprizingly there are a handful of Didier users on AS.

If I had the skill and means, I would raise ours a bit and add log holders to it (someone on AS modded theirs like that) but all in all it is just fine for our use.

Shari

 

[kevin j]

someone posted here about using the cheap rollup up car ramps, for oil changes, to raise the height. try that. Then we'll work on your next skill set. Your earliest posts on the site wre very detailed and specific and thoughtfull, will have you drilling and welding in no time.....

 

[Rookie1]

Holy crap! I've got the same splitter, only rebadged as a John Deere.
Mine has also seen quite a bit of rework. New motor, new pump and a lift kit. I would also weld a block of steel to the pusher, dumb design to have it stop 2" from the wedge, makes splitting stringy wood a pita.

I use good ol' Dexeron atf in it.

Ed

My BIL has a splitter that the pusher was far from the wedge. He was a bit more extreme and cut the wedge off and rewelded it 2 inches closer. I think your way would be alot easier.

 

[Ed*L]

someone posted here about using the cheap rollup up car ramps, for oil changes, to raise the height. try that. Then we'll work on your next skill set. Your earliest posts on the site wre very detailed and specific and thoughtfull, will have you drilling and welding in no time.....

We used to do the car ramp thing....made the height good, but you needed a block of wood to hold the front up and moving the splitter closer to the woodpile was a pain.

Ed

 

[rusty shackel]

i have that splitter also from agway bought in 1977 for 995.00 new, split countless cords of wood only thing we did was add a extra wedge on top of the old one ,
as for fluid it takes motor oil 10w-30 or 10w -40
treat it right and it will last a life time .


rusty

 

[Wife'nHubby]

Could be a Didier for sale here: http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/grd/1353913233.html

(Not mine!)

Shari

 

[rdan123]

i have that splitter also from agway bought in 1977 for 995.00 new, split countless cords of wood only thing we did was add a extra wedge on top of the old one ,
as for fluid it takes motor oil 10w-30 or 10w -40
treat it right and it will last a life time .


rusty

Hello Rusty,
if you still have the owners manual, would it be possible to get a copy of it?
my Didier splitter is also an Agway and runs great, I do want to change the hydraulic oil, I’ll use 10w-30 oil like you mentioned.
Thank you,
Bob, my email address is. [email protected]

 

[Abbeville TSI]

Realizing this is an old thread, does anyone know what fluid filter is used? My SIL has an old Didier splitter, it works fine.