Recent content by Maticuno

Got it all put together. I ended up buying a 3 gallon tank from Northern Tool. The whole thing works way faster than the old electric power system. Thanks for all of the input, folks!

I purchased one of the cheap HF steel tool carts, welded it all together instead of using the bolts, then put a piece of 3/16th steel on the top to use as the welding surface. I've since built a much larger stationary welding table out of channel iron, but I still use the cart for tool and...

Now that is an excellent site! Thank you!

When looking at other log splitter designs, I found one that had the valve mounted directly to the cylinder via the working ports. The reverse port was connected to the front of the ram by a 1/2" fitting of some type, probably 3 - 6" tall. See my horrible sketch for reference, the red piece...

Kicked off the build by fabbing up engine mounts and getting the HF Predator engine mounted. I'll pick up the pump and valve from the post office tomorrow. Looking through my spare parts loft, I found a 3 gallon air tank with a broken tank fitting that I think I'll turn into my reservoir.

Don't judge me on my inability to draw, but this is what I'm getting at.

If you were worried about them bending under the weight, I'd have the flanges bent toward the outside so that gussets could be added without taking up the interior space of the cage.

I read the entire book and got some good information from it. Thank you for that resource! From one of the tech articles I was reading, the baffle is to separate the incoming return fluid from the suction line so that it has a longer chance to cool and increases internal surface area to help...

Just found this tech article on reservoir design. http://hydraulicspneumatics.com/200/TechZone/ReservoirsAcces/Article/False/6448/TechZone-ReservoirsAcces

I had considered this option, but I've read that baffle plates in the tank are necessary.

Another, hopefully not too stupid, question. Does the breather cap have to be located above all other hydraulic components or does it matter? I've seen some splitters that have the cap/fill port below the pump and ram, and others I've seen a long extension on the reservoir to keep it above the...

$90 for a 5 gallon tank seems a bit expensive to me, or maybe I'm just out of touch with what this stuff costs.

It's an 11gpm dual stage pump that will be driven by a 6.5hp engine. The ram is actually fairly short, I'd say a 24" stroke, maybe 5" or 6" diameter. I'd go out and measure it right now but El Nino finally decided to hit us and it's been pouring since 5AM.

So cooling is the main benefit of a larger reservoir? I was hoping to reuse the one from the electric unit, but it is pretty small.

I'm in the process of converting a home built electric log splitter to gas. The pump and electric motor failed and my wood yard is too far away from an outlet to warrant replacing with electric parts again. My question is about the sizing of the hydraulic reservoir. The tank on the electric...