i beam twist

[blue924.9]

how does a person go about eliminating i beam twist on a an i beam for a wood splitter without getting in the way of the slide? i think i have a idea or two on how to do it but i wanted to see what others have done to help or fix the problem. the problem i have now is i put a bigger motor on the hydraulic pump and it can now twist the 16 inch i beam for the splitter. the wedge is on the beam and the pusher is mounted to the cylinder. the top of the beam twists to the left when splitting a hard piece of wood.

i was thinking of adding a piece of metal, i was planning on starting with the piece near the wedge towards the top as then the slide will never hit the piece of metal and running it down at an angle towards the bottom flange, i will do this on both sides and was just wondering if you guys think this will work.

 

[dave_dj1]

One thing you could do is add a 1/2" plate to the length of the area where the pusher slides. Another thing is to add some pieces of flat stock in the webbing. If you search on builds here you will get some good ideas. What are you splitting that you are twisting a 16" beam? Or is it a trailer frame beam? That I could understand

 

[blue924.9]

I don't believe it was a trailer beam, was built in the 80s which was long before my time by my grandpa. The front half of the beam is tied into a diamond shaped frame for the wheels. The back half is not and that's where it twists,

Elm and other large chunks get it twisting, most commonly it's elm though

 

[VW Splitter]

I didn't know a lot about hydraulics when I was building my splitter, but a wise old man that did told me that I had enough HP to twist my beam. Here is what I came up with. Mine is a little different, I believe it is a H beam. 2 pieces of 1/4" plate down both sides the length of the beam. Offset from the edge enough to allow for the slide room to hang on. The piece on the far right is just a small piece of plate for the jack leg to mount on.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

even on my 15-T splitter, under heavy loads, I have seen an element of twist to the I-beam. guess the wedge is following the chunk's grain cause it to twist... however, it always returns to normal once thru. what I do on mine, is keep the I-beam, top n sides and metal under the ram well oiled with 30-w engine oil and anti-seize, too. not so much its too drippy, but it does drop some. and... I also will lube up the cut and the wedge... this reduces the load's frictional resistance of the chunk against the wedge... and eases any twisting as a result of ALL THAT force going nowhere... for the moment. I use 80-wgt gear oil. works great. has let me tackle some stuff tuff to split. I keep a tin can and brush of it off to the side when splitting... as soon as i see it loading and slowing... in the split, i stop... brush both... and away we go. for an obvious tuff one, I will brush the face of the chunk at the split line... in addition to the wedge. for me, really works great. sure, I get a bit of oil on the split stix... but minimal issue, imo.

 

[Patrick62]

My experience, thus far...
Having created several splitter out here, and noticed a few things along the way...
Old blue was the first, and it's 8" by 4" ish beam was a little on the flimsy side and it twisted some, and bends down under higher tonnage. a few years ago I added two long 1/4" plates to each side of the web and welded them in with a few gaps along the entire length. Creating a beam with 3 verticals for a web. It bends less (but still bends some around 20 tons) and seemed to eliminate the twist.

Another splitter I made out of two honking thick pieces of angle iron welded together to make a T shaped beam. Worked ok, but twisted like crazy when loaded hard. Evidently the load (log) needs to be very straight on or it will twist a bunch.

Another splitter was redone, and the I beam is larger and heavier than the others. Doesn't seem to twist enough to notice, but it does bend a little when loaded really hard.

a couple thousand cords later I am going to state that it is probably better for a beam to deflect a little rather than break welds loose. How much is too much?? Tough to say, but old blue has 1/2 inch of bending when loaded hard, and I will bet that the twisting force is still there and trying to twist the 3 verticals....

 

[Macman125]

My friend ended up boxing the beam on his with 1/2" plate on both sides. For the push, he used long bolts with nylock nuts on the bottom through a plate on the bottom side of the beam. I think he used gas pipe cut to size to put the bolt through to act as rollers against the beam. It works pretty well, I have never seen it twist since, and we have put some pretty knotty chunks of elm through it.

 

[blades]

30 ton splitter- beam is made of 2- 4"x6"x.25"wall tubes welded together all the way around, then a 3/8" x 8" top plate welded to that , again welded all the way around + spot welds down to tubes from the top side, it flexs a bit over the length once in awhile no twisting that I have noticed although I did crack the wedge loose twice. But the wedge is now sunk down to and welded to the tubes through the 3/8" plate and then back filled with weld - don't think it's going anywhere again as I can shear through a six dia. piece of Honey Locust - thin long wedge on beam end spreader behind the wedge.

 

[robson1015]

Box the beam ends and some 1/2" plate ties on the sides of the beam.

 

[Franny K]

Do you mean twist or deflect or bend?

It is the hydraulic pressure and cylinder bore that should be doing the distorting. I run mine off a 50 horse power tractor hydraulics. I think it is possible to get 12 or so hp out of the hydraulic pump though. Approx 2800 psi If I got a pto pump that could produce a lot more flow at similar pressure it would just go faster. Your relief valve should be so that the structure can take it. If you put a picture I might be able to better suggest a remedy.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

My friend ended up boxing the beam on his with 1/2" plate on both sides. For the push, he used long bolts with nylock nuts on the bottom through a plate on the bottom side of the beam. I think he used gas pipe cut to size to put the bolt through to act as rollers against the beam. It works pretty well, I have never seen it twist since, and we have put some pretty knotty chunks of elm through it.

boxed with 1/2" plate... I bet that splitter has yet to meet its match!! sounds very strong!!

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Box the beam ends and some 1/2" plate ties on the sides of the beam.View attachment 480504 View attachment 480505 View attachment 480506

nice fab job! clean, I like it... looks good!

 

[Macman125]

boxed with 1/2" plate... I bet that splitter has yet to meet its match!! sounds very strong!!

It has stalled the 16hp engine several times and has never flexed. I have watched those lines swell up a few times though lol.

 

[muddstopper]

boxed with 1/2" plate... I bet that splitter has yet to meet its match!! sounds very strong!!

mine is top plated with 1/2in plate and the sides plated, (both sides) with 3/4 plate and I can twist it.

 

[Macman125]

mine is top plated with 1/2in plate and the sides plated, (both sides) with 3/4 plate and I can twist it.

Must be some sort of crazy strong wood.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

just coat your wedge and the cut area of the wood with gear oil! 80-wgt... will totally change the splitting environment on those tuff gnarly pieces. I never set up and begin to split without a tin can half full and a brush. sometimes I brush the wedge and chunk as they get half way thru the split if things are going slow.... works every time!

 

[robson1015]

nice fab job! clean, I like it... looks good!

Thanx Backyard Lumberjack

 

[muddstopper]

Must be some sort of crazy strong wood.

White oak, red oak, red maple and of course jun wood like popular. Usually 30-40 in dia and 6way splits.

 

[blue924.9]

Do you mean twist or deflect or bend?

It is the hydraulic pressure and cylinder bore that should be doing the distorting. I run mine off a 50 horse power tractor hydraulics. I think it is possible to get 12 or so hp out of the hydraulic pump though. Approx 2800 psi If I got a pto pump that could produce a lot more flow at similar pressure it would just go faster. Your relief valve should be so that the structure can take it. If you put a picture I might be able to better suggest a remedy.

Twist, I will try to get a picture, it's in a shed at the farm not at my house. Looking down the beam from the front the top twists left. The motor is an 8 hp Briggs, running an auger mate (Google it they are made by buckeye hydraulics ) 2500 psi, 7 gpm

just coat your wedge and the cut area of the wood with gear oil! 80-wgt... will totally change the splitting environment on those tuff gnarly pieces. I never set up and begin to split without a tin can half full and a brush. sometimes I brush the wedge and chunk as they get half way thru the split if things are going slow.... works every time!

How about hy-trans from a leaking hydraulic coupler? To say it's a well oiled machine is an understatement

 

[Macman125]

White oak, red oak, red maple and of course jun wood like popular. Usually 30-40 in dia and 6way splits.

The six way explains it, we just have split some massive rounds. The splitter only has a single upright wedge though.