iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

question about selecting a log splitter motor

Started by snaponman1526, February 04, 2012, 07:25:22 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

snaponman1526

hey guys just a quick question. how come almost every logsplitter i see forsale has a motor with a horizontal shaft. how come very few run with the vertical shaft motors? is there a special hydraulic pump to use on a vertical shaft motor? thanks benn

mjeselskis

Quote from: snaponman1526 on February 04, 2012, 07:25:22 PM
hey guys just a quick question. how come almost every logsplitter i see forsale has a motor with a horizontal shaft. how come very few run with the vertical shaft motors? is there a special hydraulic pump to use on a vertical shaft motor? thanks benn

I've often wondered the same thing. I have seen some cheap ones at the big box stores that have a vertical shaft.  I have considered using a vertical shaft when I build one, because you can get them cheap used out of riding mowers that have broken mowing decks.   I don't know if there is a special pump or not.

The only disadvantage is that you have a pump hanging down ready to get snagged unless it is well protected.
2006 WM LT28  1993 John Deere 5300
Husqvarna 562XP & 365 X-Torq

snaponman1526

i am in the process of building one and it is time for motor selection. i have a 14 horse kawasaki motor off of a walkbehind mower that i would love to use. now my biggest complaints about logsplitters i see forsale at homedepot and lowes are the cheesy tires that roll on. so i am going to use fullsize ST tires which will provide me with plenty of groundclearance and a working height of around 32". i also think that with proper hydraulic fittings you could keep the hoses close to the frame.

bandmiller2

Snapon,most hyd. pumps don't care what position their in.You could make a resivour,mount the verticle shaft engine on top and have the pump in the tank. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

Al_Smith

FWIW the large Huskeys sold at TSC with a 5 inch cylinder at one time and maybe still do use a vert shaft engine .

Now those chincy little tires .If they have bearings you can pull them just fine .They're about the same as small boat trailer or snow mobile trailer tires .The ones with bushings like a wheel barrow aren't made for road travel .

On my homebuilt with a 5 inch cylinder I used rear hubs and wheels salvaged from a Ford Escort .Freebies hard to beat the price .

sawguy21

The low end splitters use a lawn mower engine equipped with a cast iron flywheel coupled to a cheap vane type pump. The better ones use a horizontal shaft engine coupled to a piston type pump properly mounted on the base, they are not designed to have the weight supported by the mounting flange. Snaponman, I doubt you will find a vertical mount pump that will need 14 hp to drive it.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

snaponman1526

well the 14 horse motor is all that is salvageable from my one walkbehind. id rather run the splitter at 1/4 throttle instead of 3/4 to full . i also have a 8horsepower that could work too. would any of you guys know where to get a piston driven hydraulic pump? would anyone have good pictures of the vertical shaft motor setup? thanks

John Mc

The 8 HP would be a better match for a typical logsplitter. You could probably drive as big as a 16 GPM two-stage hydraulic pump with it, if it's still running well. Try searching for Barnes or Haldex hydraulic pump.

If the 8 HP engine is a little tired, they do make 11 GPM (recommended 5 HP minimum) or 13.6 GPM units (6 HP minimum).

a lot of splitters in the 20-ton range have 11 GPM pumps and 5 HP engines (and may 4" cylinders). Some larger splitters still have the 11 GPM pumps, but their larger cylinders mean a slower cycle time. Since you've got the HP available I'd be looking at the 13.6 or 16 GPM units. With your 8 HP motor, and a 16 GPM pump, you should be able to drive a 5" x 24" cylinder to around a 13 second cycle time (that's pulled of some splitter specs I saw, not a calculated number)
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

pineywoods

snaponman, I'd forget about a piston type pump. Use a simple gear type pump, just 2 straight cut gears in an enclosure shaped like a figure 8. For a log splitter, there are special purpose pumps made for log splitters. Need 5+ hp and put out 10-12 gpm at a fairly low pressure and then switch to a low volume hi-pressure mode when the load builds up. Mount vertical or horizontal, don't matter. Try surpluscenter.com.
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

John Mc

A quick search on eBay:

Haldex 13.6 GPM 2-stage Pump  $119

Haldex 16 GPM 2-stage Pump $139

Both of these should be OK with your 8 HP engine, if it's in decent shape. I'd consider pairing the 13.6 gal with a 4.5" cylinder. The 16 GPM with a 5". You could step up the cylinder sizes to give you more splitting force, at the expense of losing some of your speed.

These are new. I did not make much of an attempt to find the cheapest. There are also used ones on there (pumps can wear out, so you'd want to be sure you went with a reputable seller).

You can also find various brackets made just for mounting the pumps on an engine.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

snowstorm

Quote from: sawguy21 on February 04, 2012, 10:15:34 PM
The low end splitters use a lawn mower engine equipped with a cast iron flywheel coupled to a cheap vane type pump. The better ones use a horizontal shaft engine coupled to a piston type pump properly mounted on the base, they are not designed to have the weight supported by the mounting flange. Snaponman, I doubt you will find a vertical mount pump that will need 14 hp to drive it.
never heard of a piston pump on a wood splitter. piston are very pricy it would have lots of power and be fast. so who makes one with a piston pump?

snaponman1526

does anyone have detailed pictures showing a verticalshaft motor mounted on a log splitter. or pictures showing how the hydraulic pump engages to the motor? thanks in advance

John Mc

Here's a link to TSC's 22 ton Huskee splitter It has a vertical shaft engine.

You can't really see the mount much (zooming in helps a little), but you can get an idea of what they did: they mounted the engine on a flat sheet of steel (that basically takes the place of the mower deck) on the underside, they bolted the mounting bracket, and bolted the pump to the other end of the bracket. There's a coupling of some sort that goes inside the bracket.

You can find lots of different brackets on ebay. Just search for "hydraulic pump bracket" or "hydraulic pump mount*"  Which one you need depends on your engine and the pump you end up with.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

Thank You Sponsors!