Need help idetifying what type of hydraulic valve this is

[D Chaplin]

Good evening,

I am fairly new to this site but a mildly experienced wood splitter. I am trying to identify what kind of valve the Powersplit log splitters use. I put a link below for reference as to what i am talking about. All of their splitters have a fabricated foot pedal to activate the cylinder (a chain from the pedal pulls down and activates the valve similar to a handle being pulled it seems). When you step on the pedal the cylinder extends and when you let off (at any point) it retracts automatically. Once the cylinder retracts all the way, the return circuit disengages. If you listen to the engine RPM in the video you can here it. It bogs slightly when the cylinder is extended (stepped on pedal), they let off and it retracts, and as soon as the cylinder is fully retracted, the valve kicks into neutral (I assume) and the RPM's go back up to full.

I called a reputable online hydraulic company today and talked to their customer service (even showed them the video) and they weren't sure what kind of valve would operate like this. Any chance we have a few hydraulic experts lurking around this forum?

 

[farmer steve]

Good evening,

I am fairly new to this site but a mildly experienced wood splitter. I am trying to identify what kind of valve the Powersplit log splitters use. I put a link below for reference as to what i am talking about. All of their splitters have a fabricated foot pedal to activate the cylinder (a chain from the pedal pulls down and activates the valve similar to a handle being pulled it seems). When you step on the pedal the cylinder extends and when you let off (at any point) it retracts automatically. Once the cylinder retracts all the way, the return circuit disengages. If you listen to the engine RPM in the video you can here it. It bogs slightly when the cylinder is extended (stepped on pedal), they let off and it retracts, and as soon as the cylinder is fully retracted, the valve kicks into neutral (I assume) and the RPM's go back up to full.

I called a reputable online hydraulic company today and talked to their customer service (even showed them the video) and they weren't sure what kind of valve would operate like this. Any chance we have a few hydraulic experts lurking around this forum?

i talked to my buddy and described the splitter. he's a build anything guy so i figured he would have an answer. he thinks the pedal is spring assisted so that when you take your foot off the pedal a spring pulls the valve handle into the return mode.he doesn't think it is any special type of valve. not sure if this makes any sense but i have never see a valve that has an auto return at the end of the extended stroke. but i have been wrong before. just ask my wife.

 

[mohick]

No magic valve just a spring loaded pedal setup !!

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

What I was thinking too. Decent speed on ithe took. I like!

 

[mohick]

Me too going to have to spend a little time in shop and make mine work like that!!!!!!!!

 

[GVS]

What I was thinking too. Decent speed on ithe took. I like!

I was pretty impressed with it's speed too!

 

[mohick]

I am not worried so much about speed, I split real wood not match sticks so went for power no so much for speed.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Time is money. I'd rather take an hr to put a cord in the truck vs 2, or 3, or 5!

 

[Big_Eddy]

No magic valve just a spring loaded pedal setup !!

3 bits of "magic" here plus a custom handle that extends both sides of the valve.
1) A chain from the back of the valve handle down to the foot pedal. Press the foot pedal, pulls the chain, cylinder extends
2) A spring from the front of the handle that pulls the valve into retract any time the pedal is not pressed.
3) A cam or lever of some kind that the wedge support hits at the top of the stroke to pop the valve into neutral and counteract the spring.

No special valve - just some creative fabrication.

I like the foot pedal idea. Maybe on a processor where the block is out of reach but not here with both hands holding the block in position. I like my fingers where they are.

 

[D Chaplin]

I spent some time watching the video and videos of a Prince auto cycle valve (the two handle type). I bet this is what kind of valve this is, if not i'm confident i can make it work just like this. If the chain is connected in place of both pull handles and engages both of them at the same time when the pedal is stepped on, then the cylinder would extend. If the side of the first handle had a spring that popped the lever back in when you stepped off the pedal (as is mentioned above), the cylinder would retract just as in the video. Once the cylinder retracted all the way, the second lever would disengage automatically just like the auto cycle valve therefore flowing all fluid straight through the valve back to the tank.

I've been scratching my head about this for weeks and i'm confident now that i could make this work for myself. Hopefully it makes sense and i didn't confuse the heck out of anyone reading this.

 

[Big_Eddy]

He's just using a standard splitter valve with a custom rocker handle with a spring on the retract end and the chain on the other. When the cylinder retracts fully a lever counteracts the spring and the valve pops to neutral.

Would be easy enough to replicate.

 

[D Chaplin]

The whole process would be a whole lot easier if there was a close up of the valve haha. I guess if everyone knew how they worked, they wouldn't be in the business of making them right? lol

 

[Big_Eddy]

Go through the picture album for the basic model. Focus on pictures where you can see the right hand side of the tower. There are enough pics to get the idea.

 

[Jakers]

pretty simple. its just as others have described with a spring assisted handle that gets bumped into neutral when the ram reaches the valve handle. it should be a standard valve that is spring centered. any brand would work as long as the handle can be configured the same way. a detent valve would work as well in this aplication, may be what they are using too. it has a large block on the end of the valve which looks like most detent style valves.

click picture for a full size view

 

[Jakers]

another image

 

[NSMaple1]

Either way - that's a pretty neat splitter. In the way the pedal/controls work, it's layout/design - and its speed. I like it.

Anybody know tonnage rating? (For whatever tonnage ratings are worth....). Or other specs?

 

[D Chaplin]

The "buggy" splitter has a 16gpm pump and a 4" cylinder. I don't know what that equates to in tonnage. It also only has a 21" stroke which helps with the cycle speed. They have options of 24" stroke but the one here is 21". They also say these have a 16gpm single stage pump that has a 50lb flywheel between the motor and the pump. I've looked all over the pictures and i don't see evidence of this but who knows. I was ready to buy one of the buggy models until i found out the price. I realized i could buy a new Miller 252 Mig, 625 Plasma, and various other metal working tools, plus all the steel, parts, and hydraulics to build this myself for that price. So that's what I'm doing. I had a slow Cub Cadet for years that split anything but was painfully slow. This will be well worth it and I'll have some top quality welding tools that I've been eyeballing for years anyhow.

 

[D Chaplin]

What thickness do you fine gentleman think that splitting table is on these machines? It looks like maybe 3/8" to me. I think 1/4" would be too thin unless it was braced underneither. What do ya'll think?

 

[Big_Eddy]

There's no flywheel on the basic model. Can see clear as day the pump connected to the engine directly using standard parts
I can't tell the thickness of the table, but on the model with the conveyor, there is an angle brace visible under the table. Right under the cylinder, there will be some kind of solid bracing as well. Go through the overview gallery (about page 9) and you can see some more of the bracing under the table.
I really like the vertical reservoir design. I also like the cylinders that mount at the front end only - although I've never seen them advertised at the usual sources.

While I like the concept and the way it's executed, I don't like the foot pedal - too much risk of mangled fingers for my taste.

I timed a cycle of 5 splits in the video and 5 sec cycle time is pretty close, although it was all easy splitting wood and wasn't fully cycling. With a single stage pump and a 9HP motor, he'll be maxing out at about 9-12 tons at those speeds. For fixed displacement pumps, Speed, HP, cylinder size and tonnage are mathematically tied together. You can run a higher output (GPM) pump on the same engine, but only if you reduce the relief pressure. For a given engine / pump combo, a smaller cylinder = faster times, but lower tonnage. There's no way to get high tonnage and high speed from a low HP motor with a fixed displacement pump.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

For most folks, 12 tons is more than plenty. My processor is about 18 ton and that has a 6 way wedge. Out of several THOUSAND cords I've had maybe a dozen blocks I couldn't split.