harbor freight log splitter

[row.man]

It looks too me like HF took a design meant to be mounted on a tractor or skid steer and added a cheap trailer and motor to make a splitter.
While the splitter doesn't go vertical, I just use one of my trailer ramps to roll any huge rounds up onto the work table. My ramps are a 2x8 with a ramparts casting at the top. The casting locks into the grill work of the table.
I also got rid of the cotter pins that retain the work tables, I replaced them with spring pins, so I can pull the table off to get the ramp casting in and out of the deck.

 

[zogger]

It looks too me like HF took a design meant to be mounted on a tractor or skid steer and added a cheap trailer and motor to make a splitter.
While the splitter doesn't go vertical, I just use one of my trailer ramps to roll any huge rounds up onto the work table. My ramps are a 2x8 with a ramparts casting at the top. The casting locks into the grill work of the table.
I also got rid of the cotter pins that retain the work tables, I replaced them with spring pins, so I can pull the table off to get the ramp casting in and out of the deck.View attachment 445586

That looks like it works just fine!

 

[row.man]

The cycle time is fast even with the throttle pulled back, I found it easier to park my trailer along side the splitter and toss the splits in as fast as they fall on the work table. Each trailer load comes near a third of a cord. A serious overload on the roadroad, but no issue for 30 feet to the stack.
I shut the engine off with the on/off switch while stacking and find one pull restarts it.
Unlike one poster said, my splitter has roller bearings in the wheels, so towing is possible, however the tires are not DOT so not legal?
I tried to store the splitter in the basement, but the wheel hub caps make it just too wide to fit in a 40" doorway.
I do find I have to put a board under the front leg or it digs into the ground over the hours of splitting.

 

[chuckwood]

I just bought one of these splitters and fired it up friday evening. so far I've split over 2.5 cords of wood with it, I have to say it has beaten every expectation I had for it.
Right now if you get the flyer in the mail, there is a coupon to get the splitter for $650, call ahead though, the sales guys told me the splitters are flying out the door, they had one in stock when I got there. Of course I bought the two year warranty for it, another $179, this is Harbor freight after all, and I also had to buy 3 gallons of hydraulic fluid, and a quart of oil, almost another $50. So I really spent $877.89 total.
Assembly was straight forward, though I would warn anybody buying one to have a strong helper to get the ram assembly onto the trailer section, I did it myself, and it took three tries.

I purchased one last winter, and used it hard with no problems so far. However, when I bought mine, they weren't available in the stores. I had to go to the Conway freight terminal in Knoxville to pick mine up, and they loaded the crate onto my trailer using a forklift. Seems to me it would take around four guys to pick that crate up and put it in a pickup truck if there's no forklift. I bought a 5 gallon bucket of AW32 hydraulic fluid for it for around 50 dollars including tax - Advance Auto. It's cheaper per gallon that way, leaving you with two extra gallons of fluid to use for the next fluid change. With the temps cooling down into the low 80's soon, I'm about to take mine out from under the tarp and start splitting again.

 

[row.man]

It took three salespeople and me to get it onto my trailer. With my ramps two could have gotten the furniture dolly in the trailer. I just opened the crate and built the splitter as parts came off the trailer.

 

[DrewUth]

Was this you Zog?

View attachment 355523

Philbert

Ha! I have one of those books- "how to keep you VW ALIVE"

Great illustrations just like that throughout the entire thing.

 

[row.man]

The splitters are on sale again, just got a coupon for 679.99 in the latest flyer. I've split over 6 cords with no issues yet

 

[lknchoppers]

Seems like your mind is made up. I would not buy any of that stuff, it looks like junk. I would buy a used homemade splitter over most of the box store type anyway.

 

[chuckwood]

Seems like your mind is made up. I would not buy any of that stuff, it looks like junk. I would buy a used homemade splitter over most of the box store type anyway.

I've had my HF splitter for 2 years now, keep it outside wrapped up under a tarp, and I've used it very hard. The engine still starts on the first pull, no hydraulic leaks anywhere, and I'm happy with it so far. The extended warranty is about to expire and I plan on modifying it by welding some additional steel plate on it to make it more heavy duty. I'm going to install a curved metal shroud on it to protect the motor from split pieces of wood falling on it and causing engine damage - I've had a few close calls with that. I'll be making the engine guard from a piece of steel cut out of the side of a junk water heater tank. About the only way I could loose on this purchase is the hydraulic pump going bad. I've not checked to see if the small 2 stage pump is replaceable or repairable. Everything else I can fix if it breaks.

 

[blades]

5t Electric splitter not apples to apples vs your gas unit.

 

[row.man]

This is my predator 20 ton and some big oak I just split on Monday.
The ramp is what I use instead of a log lift

 

[blades]

chuckwood- i have a HF 30ton that is almost 14 years old- pump ( I don't whose) motor ( Briggs) Ram ( No Idea) are OEM. Beam, valve, wedge, pusher plate, hoses replaced. Plus I added a small auxiliary tank that keeps the main tank completely full as the return line is too high on the main tank and would cause air entranment in the oil. Also Have a little 4 ton? rated electric HF unit as well - looks just like all the rest out there right now except it has only a 14" throw, about 16 years old. Still works, use it for short chunks that I can't run through the bandsaw. ( it is slow -single acting cylinder - it uses springs to retract the ram,+ ya got hold the pushbutton down and activate the valve with the other hand.)

 

[row.man]

after a few years and many cords of wood, and being left out all winter last season, I let a friend borrow my splitter, and it came back stuck in the high pressure low flow side of the pump.
It still splits, just takes forever.
I went digging and found the pump manufacturer, and even a schematic, which was what I wanted to get into the pump and verify that I don't have a broken spring or garbage under the pressure valve.
this is a link to the manufactureres page.
http://pdf.directindustry.com/pdf/w...eli-product-catalog-2012/85493-422495-_9.html
the pump is a Cali Hyd CBK1-C6/F2.1CD
My hydraulic oil was looking nasty, so I will replace it at the same time.

 

[chuckwood]

after a few years and many cords of wood, and being left out all winter last season, I let a friend borrow my splitter, and it came back stuck in the high pressure low flow side of the pump.
It still splits, just takes forever.
I went digging and found the pump manufacturer, and even a schematic, which was what I wanted to get into the pump and verify that I don't have a broken spring or garbage under the pressure valve.
this is a link to the manufactureres page.
http://pdf.directindustry.com/pdf/w...eli-product-catalog-2012/85493-422495-_9.html
the pump is a Cali Hyd CBK1-C6/F2.1CD
My hydraulic oil was looking nasty, so I will replace it at the same time.

This is great, now I know where to get a replacement pump if I ever need one. Right now, my relatively new HF splitter is still broken down. I wasn't exactly surprised when this happened, I paid around $700 for it, used it hard for 2 years and it's paid for itself. HF quality is questionable, but I'm a cheapskate and enjoy the challenges of modifying HF machines to make them work much better or more reliably. It seems the issue with my machine is failed seals in the big hydraulic cylinder. My next project is to remove the cylinder and see if it can be serviced by replacing all the seals in it. It's hard to believe any company, even a chinese one, would build an expensive hydraulic cylinder that cannot be rebuilt - who would want something like that? I wouldn't. But the problem is finding the manufacturer of the cylinder, getting info on how to take it apart, and finding a rebuild kit. Finding and obtaining HF parts isn't easy. I'm impressed that you found the maker of the pump. If I can find out who made the cylinder and where the parts are I'd be more enthusiastic I reckon about taking the splitter apart. The other option would be to take the unit to a hydraulic shop and see if they can rebuild it. If it's all a no go, I reckon I'd sell it cheap for parts and look for a similar machine built in the USA. I like the dual split feature, you can work faster with it. I just looked at a 20 ton dual split model made by Brave, and it probably costs around 1400 dollars or so. But the design is much better, the hydraulic cylinder is enclosed inside a heavy piece of steel square channel that slides back and forth inside another piece of square channel. With the HF dual split, what moves out instead when you split is the cylinder itself. Probably puts a lot more sideways stresses on the piston. Here's a pic of the Brave dual split in action.

[/QUOTE]

 

[Philbert]

Chuckwood, can you replace the ' ]' mark at the end of row.man's quote, so that it is easier to read your post?

Thanks

Philbert

 

[Jim Timber]

Hydraulic cylinders are cheap; even the big ones.

Surplus Center's website should make you happy if you need one.

 

[sb47]

If you are going to depend on it and it's something that will get a lot of use. Buy the best you can afford. I've never been as disappointed spending more for better quality, then I have going cheap and regretting it.

 

[chuckwood]

Hydraulic cylinders are cheap; even the big ones.

Surplus Center's website should make you happy if you need one.

I just checked it out, looks like a good place to get cylinders. Problem is, I don't know exactly what my cylinder is called. It's different from nearly all the rest in that the hydraulic hoses are attached to the rod instead of to the outside of the cylinder. Fluid under high pressure goes into the setup through the inside of the rod. Rod remains stationary at all times and the cylinder moves instead. If I knew what this type of hydraulic cylinder is called, it would be easier to find one in a catalogue.

 

[Philbert]

. . . I don't know exactly what my cylinder is called. It's different from nearly all the rest . . .

Take a couple of photos. Take a couple of measurements. Send those to the company and start a conversation.

Philbert

 

[kevin j]

I don’t know if there is a special name, but you are describing it correctly. One port is drilled all the way through to the closed end side of the piston. The other port is drilled almost to the piston, then cross drilled out into the rod side space.
It is more expensive and takes deep drilling tools, so it is usually only done on very special reasons, like telescopic cylinders. There must be some odd reason they went this way. Maybe there is not enough space around the body of the cylinder to fit ports or even welded tubing connections?

Force and area wise, no difference as long as you compare bore and rod sizes the same, and of course are extending in the right direction for push on the closed side area.

Look around the cylinder space inside the structure to see if a ‘normal’ off the shelf one would work. You might have to attach the 90 degree port adaptors and tube or hoses, then slide the cylinder inside the beam.

Or, you might get a cylinder with welded tube connections. One style is welded to the barrel with the tube at 90 degrees, then the tube is bent to be parallel to the barrel. This takes a couple inches of space to make that bend.
The tightest fit has a round spud welded to the barrel, with the hydraulic tube welded to that 90 degrees out the side. That can be as close as an inch of space.

See if you have the space, then look at off the shelf cylinders with same bore, rod and stroke.

Having one made custom is very easy, just not cheap. Most shops do very little ‘catalogue’ work and most of their work is custom for OEM customers. However, a quantity of one, for design and fabrication, is expensive. Also, the custom stuff is usually for much heavier duty than the ag or consumer market, so uses heavier materials, better seals, kpiston wear bands, etc. thus more cost yet. A Surplus Center cylinder at $200 catalogue could likely be 400-500 with some custom build.

yes, pics would help.