Some of my home made items...

[Stubby]

I'm a new guy, here...a homeowner, not an arborist. but, I have been a metal fabricator my whole life, so, I've made all kinds of whacky stuff over the years...since 1974!

Here's a cant hook and a set of tongs that I made...












Rich

 

[64poncho]

Very nice work! Looks like they function well!

 

[Stubby]

Very nice work! Looks like they function well!

Thanks...keeps me out of the barrooms...

Rich

 

[64poncho]

...keeps me out of the barrooms…

Yea, waste of time for me cause I don’t drink.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Are you sure they're strong enough? (sarcasm) Very nice!

 

[Stubby]

Yea, waste of time for me cause I don’t drink.

It's never too late.....

Rich

 

[Stubby]

Here's another project...A few years back, I bought a home made log splitter, built by a machinist that built custom machinery for large companies. This was his personal log splitter.

It only has a 4" diameter piston, but it is very powerful. So much so, that it bent the 1" thick endplate (with 1/2" x 1" runners on the bottom side. So, I decided to replace it...







The new piece...






...to be continued...

 

[Stubby]

...continued...








While I was at it, I drilled and tapped the axle tube, which holds the hydraulic fluid....for easier draining..




In retrospect, I wish that I had made the foot plate shorter, and cut the wedge down some. The plate is 21" long, and the wedge is 12" tall.

That provides a lot of leverage to bend things. I still may do that. I haven't used the splitter since the repair. I only use it for bigger stuff.

For smaller stuff, I use a DR electric, kinetic spiltter. I love that thing!

Rich

 

[buzz sawyer]

Again, nice work, but I question the design - looks like the engine with fuel tank on top is right next to where you put the log to split? Maybe it's just the angle of the picture?

 

[Stubby]

Again, nice work, but I question the design - looks like the engine with fuel tank on top is right next to where you put the log to split? Maybe it's just the angle of the picture?

I see what you're saying. And, I've never really noticed that before, until your comment. It does look close.

But...that splitter has split many, many cords of wood (horz. and vert.), and we've never given it a second thought. So, I guess it's alright.

Now, I'm gonna worry!!...
..

Rich

 

[sean donato]

I made the same mistake with my splitter when I built it. Made the wedge (reverse of how your wedge and push plate are.) Too tall, and didn't have it supported well enough. Ripped it off the beam twice, redesigned the wedge shorter and a bit narrower. Used a 1" thick plate to tie the wedge to the beam web. The beam will flex a bit when I get into a crotch or lots of knots, but the wedge hasn't given any issues since. Running a 5" cylinder @3k psi.

 

[Stubby]

I made the same mistake with my splitter when I built it. Made the wedge (reverse of how your wedge and push plate are.) Too tall, and didn't have it supported well enough. Ripped it off the beam twice, redesigned the wedge shorter and a bit narrower. Used a 1" thick plate to tie the wedge to the beam web. The beam will flex a bit when I get into a crotch or lots of knots, but the wedge hasn't given any issues since. Running a 5" cylinder @3k psi.

Yep...trial and error...the story of my life...

But, as long as we end up figuring the problems out, it's all good in the end..

Rich

 

[Automender]

Beautiful welds! Take it as you may, from a retired license mechanical engineer, if you just rotated the channels on their side you would have decreased the potential to bend by 500% if not more. I guess the benefit of putting the wedge on the endplate and welding it to the H beam is that it stiffens the end up tremendously and positioning the pusher plate to the ram. Of course you can stand it vertically

The moment of inertia is the resistance to bending and on a three inch channel it is 8 times greater if installed on the side. Really one channel on it's side would resist bending more than three the way you put them.

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/american-standard-steel-channels-d_1321.html

 

[Stubby]

Beautiful welds! Take it as you may, from a retired license mechanical engineer, if you just rotated the channels on their side you would have decreased the potential to bend by 500% if not more. I guess the benefit of putting the wedge on the endplate and welding it to the H beam is that it stiffens the end up tremendously and positioning the pusher plate to the ram. Of course you can stand it vertically

The moment of inertia is the resistance to bending and on a three inch channel it is 8 times greater if installed on the side. Really one channel on it's side would resist bending more than three the way you put them.

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/american-standard-steel-channels-d_1321.html

Thank you for that information, but I put the channels the way that I did because when I split vertically, that endplate rests on the ground. I wanted more flat surface hitting the ground that just the side edges of the channels. Without having to add another flat plate on the bottom side.

I also had some dimensions to maintain...If I turned the channels on edge, I would have had to cut another 1.5" off of the H-beam, which would take away from the log length able to be split. Life is a compromise, sometimes...

Plus, I figured that what I did should be adequate, under the circumstances. This is a lot of metal to bend! Only time will tell...fingers crossed!

Rich