Question about whether this log splitter is working right

[clydesdale6]

I am going to buy a used log splitter. It splits would fine and the piston returns to the starting point on its own. The problem is that if I try to move the stick toward the rear and have the piston attempt to retract even further than the starting position, the splitter simply stalls. Otherwise it works fine. I don't remember any of the rental units I have used doing this. Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[blades]

valve by pass section has a problem- simple fix replace valve- or rebuild it if you can find a mfg name and # on it for parts ID.

 

[mohick]

It splits would great but how does it do on WOOD??????

 

[blades]

Celll phone app strikes again

 

[clydesdale6]

Oops, didn't even notice the spelling error. Thanks blades, I will proceed with the purchase and worst comes to worst, I will replace the valve.

 

[blades]

If its been sitting awhile the valve might be varnished up inside or even rusted causing a problem. Very tight fits inside there.
The current crop of Car engines experience similar problems if you do not change oil at specified intervals. They are very persnickety that way.

 

[muddstopper]

Maybe I am reading this all wrong. OP says that the cyl retracts to the starting position fine and that the engine stalls if he trys to move it back farther than the starting position. That doesnt even make sense. Valves with auto retract and detent, will retract the cyl all the way back until the pressure is reached that activates the detent. Usually, this is the fully retracted position of the cyl. Of course if you try to retract the cyl further than fully retracted, its going to build pressure and stall the engine. With the cyl already bottomed out, what would you expect. Now I have seen splitters that didnt retract the cyl all the way, and would stop with the cyl stuck out a little, but that is usually because the detent pressure on the CV is set a little low and the dirt, bark, or something else causes the retract pressure to build enough to cause the cyl to stop. A little turn of the relief on the detent usually takes care of that problem. If the cyl is all the way retracted, moving the CV Lever to retract further, is useless because the cyl cant retract further than full retract.

 

[TimberWolf530]

I am going to buy a used log splitter. It splits would fine and the piston returns to the starting point on its own. The problem is that if I try to move the stick toward the rear and have the piston attempt to retract even further than the starting position, the splitter simply stalls. Otherwise it works fine. I don't remember any of the rental units I have used doing this. Thoughts? Thanks.

Is this your sign that I'm using for my Avatar?

 

[blades]

Mudd what you say is true to a point , But the valve should go to by pass and not stall the eng. Oh it will protest- make a different sound but it should not load the system to a stall point of the eng. hence the purpose of the bypass- same as the splitting stroke- if it meets too much resistance. I would highly doubt this is a auto return , but does have an auto kick off to neutral at the end of the return stroke which is the common set up. Matter of the semantics of the op's description. Other than some pretty pricey MFG units never seen a box store or similar unit with a $ 349+ auto return valve as oem.

 

[muddstopper]

I never said anything about a auto cycle valve. You are right about most box store splitters dont use them. When I mentioned auto retract might have been a poor choice of words, but I was referring to the normal everyday splitter valve where you push the lever to retract and then turn it loose and the cyl will continue to retract until the detent pressure is made and the valve kicks back to center. Assuming this is the type of valve he has on his machine, if the cyl is fully retracting and hes trying to move it past full retract and hes bogging his engine, the first thing I would do is extend the cyl all the way and hold the lever and see if it still boggs his engine down. If it does, then his main relief is set to high for the hp he has to pull the pump.

 

[NSMaple1]

I think, but am not sure, that my splitter acts the same if you try to retract it past the fully retracted point, as it does when it extends all the way & you try to extend it further. The relief kicks in. Motor doesn't exactly bogg, but it definitely changes tune. If it seems to act right on the extended side, but not the retracted side - well, not sure what to say.

Guess that doesn't help much....

 

[blades]

It will load down the motor, ram either end but should not stall it out. which as mentioned leads to the by pass section of valve or possible readjustment of the by pass pressure.

 

[muddstopper]

NS, sounds like your splitter is working exactly right. The problem with diagnosing a problem on something you cant physically see or hear, its hard to know what the OP is actually hearing or doing or if they are describing the problem correctly. Is the engine just bogging down as you describe your machine, or is it really stalling. Stalling the engine to me means the engine stops running. Could be anything from engine needs a new spark plug to a stuck relief in the control valve. One point to consider, the machine is used, we dont know what kind of shape its in nor is the OP's description enough to fully diagnose the problem. He claims it stalls if he tries to retract it farther than the starting point. The starting point should be fully retracted, trying to go pass that point should load the motor and cause the engine to bogg or stall. I suggested fully extending and holding the lever in the extend position to see if it stalls in that directions also. It should act the same whether fully extending or fully retracting. If it does stall holding pass fully extend, the problem is most likely the relief valve is set to high. It is a used machine, who know what the former owner did to it. He needs to install a pressure gauge to really diagnose the machine and find the problem. Could be that a backing off the relief is all that needed, but if the machine isnt building the pressure it should, then the problem could be a engine that cant product the hp to build full pressure, but you need a pressure gauge to be sure. I am going to assume the pump is building pressure, otherwise it shouldnt stall the engine. Now, is the engine to small or does it simply need a tuneup. I dont know and cant tell from here. What I do know is that I have had a rash of bad sparkplugs in old motors lately. Engine would crank and run fine, until placed under a load. Replaced spark plug and now everything is fine. I cant explain how a spark plug can go bad in a motor just setting being unused, but it happens. The OP hasnt returned since I posted my first reply. Maybe he took my reply wrong and decided he doesnt want to be here. Might be he didnt even buy the splitter so no longer needs any help. Might have figured out the problem himself. Who knows?

 

[clydesdale6]

I have a little more info now. I bought the splitter and the problem happens on both ends of the stroke. If I split a piece of wood and try to take the ram and push it all the way up the the wedge, it will stall. If I try to retract the cylinder past the normal resting spot, it will stall. If I split a piece of wood and stop shy of the wedge and send it back to its starting position and take my hand of the handle, it will automatically stop at the resting position and the handle will kick forward. So, is this something that could be out of adjustment?
The engine is a 9 HP Honda and it starts right up and runs pretty well, aside from a mild oscillation in the rpm, which can be completely resolved with a little choke. I need to get a new air filter, as the foam pre filter just crumbled in my hand. That should be no big deal.
The thing has been outside for many years under a ripped up tarp. The motor seems fine to me.

 

[NSMaple1]

You mean the engine actually quits running?

Sounds like a relief problem to me - but if you want to know for sure, you should install a pressure guage as previously mentioned. Not a bad idea to have one on it anyway, long as it's out of harms way - wish I had one on mine at times.

I would think that if it was an engine problem, the engine would also quit when it encounters an ordinary splitting load, like a hard to split piece. I have had my engine (carb) pick up dirt specs a couple times, and that's what it would do - quit when the ram hit the wood. Or hit a knotty or tough spot. Usually would quit way before it should have shifted into low gear. You could take the bowl off the carb & the jets out to see if there's any dirt in there though - although if it will sit there idling & not quit or seriously bog when you jamb the throttle wide open repeatedly, that's usually a sign the carb is good.

 

[moondoggie]

So my splitter I bought uses 4.5 years ago always kills the engine if I go to the very end of the stroke (fully extended)

So I have a problem?? I thought it was just designed that way. I have split close to 500 cords with it in that time. I do know the man I bought it from replaced the valve at some point in the splitters life. I believe the machine is an 84 I put a new 305cc Briggs on it about 3.5 years ago. I just don't push the cylinder til the engine dies. I stop at the end of the stroke. I will fix it if there is something i should/could do.

 

[muddstopper]

Just about 3 weeks ago, I had to get a 11hp honda engine running. The engine had sat unused for 4 or 5 years. It would crank, but wouldnt run under load. Like you I had to use the choke to keep it running. I removed the bowl off the carb and it was full of varnish. Cleaned it up, remove the float and needle, needle was actually stuck. Cleaned it up, put it back together and engine still wouldnt run right. took carb back apart and tried to remove the jet as it was completely clogged. After fiddling with the jet, I was afraid it wasnt going to come out so I took my torch tip cleaner and started running the smallest cleaning drill thru the jet and stepping up in size of drill until I reached the size that would just barely go thru the jet. You dont want to force the cleaning drill thru the jet as this would open up the size of the jet and make the engine run rich all the time. Put carb back together and engine ran fine, but would still bogg under load. Changed sparkplug and then I used it for 3 or 4 days without any problems. Since your engine has been setting for long time, and you are having to fiddle with the choke to keep it running, I think my first step would be to get the engine running right. Clean the carb good and maybe change out the sparkplug. Running with the choke partly closed can foul the plug.

Once you have the engine running right, I would then try diagnosing the hyd's. As NS Maple said, sounds like the relief pressure might be set just a tad high. The relief adjustment should be located on the control valve. Since your valve will retract after pushing the lever and turning it loose, and stop at the start position, the detent pressure should be set pretty close and should not need to be messed with. Since you dont have a pressure gauge on your machine, you can set the relief by ear. You already know that the pressure is set high enough to stall your engine so it should just be a matter of backing out the hex screw under the cap until the engine just boggs, but doesnt stall your engine. You wont know what the pressure is, but it will be at the max that your 9hp honda and pump can produce without stalling.

 

[clydesdale6]

Yes, when you attempt to push the ram beyond the max in either direction, the motor will get choked right out and stops.

 

[muddstopper]

So my splitter I bought uses 4.5 years ago always kills the engine if I go to the very end of the stroke (fully extended)

So I have a problem?? I thought it was just designed that way. I have split close to 500 cords with it in that time. I do know the man I bought it from replaced the valve at some point in the splitters life. I believe the machine is an 84 I put a new 305cc Briggs on it about 3.5 years ago. I just don't push the cylinder til the engine dies. I stop at the end of the stroke. I will fix it if there is something i should/could do.

Sounds like your relief might be sat a tad high as well. I think what happens is the owners run into a stick of wood their splitters wont split and they start turning up the pressure trying to get more power. The engine pump combos can only produce so much power before the engine stalls. Bumping up the relief might give you a little more power at the ram, but sooner or later, if you keep bumping up the pressure, you reach the maximum power the engine can produce so the engine stalls. One needs to understand that its not just stalling the engine, its also overloading the coupling between the engine and the pump. Those couplings are designed to take just so much torque and if abused, its just a mater of time before you tear up the rubber insert, or strip the keyway out of the coupling. It might be years and cords of wood before this happens, and its hard to tell if the coupling failed because of just normal wear and tear or if it failed because it was being used beyond its designed parameters. At any rate, a splitter engine shouldnt stall at the end of the cyl's stroke or because the cyl stalls in a knotty piece of wood.

 

[blades]

Clydes- as Muud said due the tune up if you are capable on the carb and Eng over all, wouldn' hurt to replace plug and change the oil also. Log splitters are open to atmosphere systems so sitting outside for a number of years the hydro fluid, which likes to adsorb moisture, should be changed as well including the filter on the return line if it has one.- I generally use AW32- after that its back to everything mentioned previously.