MEP-002A engine on a log splitter

[steelypip]

I am considering some kind of a log lift for the splitter; as it is right now, I either have to lift the logs up myself, or sue the tractor and pallet forks. It would be much more efficient with a lift built into the splitter.

You know, a hydraulic swing lift would be a very natural addition to that unit. And it's not like you didn't have the power to run one...

 

[Beerslayer]

My back got a little sore just watching you lift that wet Hemlock.

Here's an alternate idea to the lifter, and perhaps safer to operate:

How about adding a cylinder and some linkage to drop the splitter down to the ground?

Of course you would still be bending over.

 

[sewerzuk]

Sewerzuk,

I am in absolute awe of the electrical/electronic, engineering, welding, fabrication and machining skills you demonstrate on all of your projects. Well done! The 002a engine does not even sound like it is laboring! I split about 4 cords of mixed aged hardwoods myself last fall, the "hard" way (using an axe and a sledge and wedges). Recovering from such opportunities to get exercise now takes longer than it used to when I was younger. If the opportunity presents itself, I would like to build a splitter similar to your unit. Would you happen to have the pump specs for pressure and flow rate and the length and inner diameter of the hydraulic cylinder?

KEF791 has a YouTube channel with excellent videos and is also a machinist and fabricator. He built a splitter with a hydraulic lifter you might want to check out. If you incorporate a lifter into your unit, you are required to update us with a new video!

Stan

Thanks for the :thumbzup:

I still split the majority of my wood by hand...mostly because it is faster! But, when I run into a knot or piece of wood that requires more than 2 or 3 swings (or a wedge) to split then I will run it through the splitter. I suspect that, as I get older, I will be using the splitter more and more! I used to split everything by hand...dreaded those pieces that took a wedge and 20 swings!

The -002's engine just putts away whenever I'm using it...seems to be an excellent application for it. Over 3 days of on-off use (probably 16 hours total) I burned only 3-4 gallons of diesel through it. WAY better economy than even a little honda gas engine.
It is possible to stall it out, although this is extremely rare. If I bind it up with a gnarly enough piece of wood the hydraulic relief will lift and then the engine will slow down over about 2 or 3 seconds until it stalls. This tells me that it may be a little undersized for the pump, but this isn't a finely engineered tool! It's a pile of parts that I got for free (or cheap) that I threw together that happens to work fairly well together

My grandfather put this splitter together in the 60's; although I have replaced various odds and ends (including the engine, obviously), the ram and pump are still originals. The casting number on the pump doesn't return any results on google, so I'm not sure of its flow rate. But it is pretty high based on the cycle time of the ram. It is a single stage pump, somewhere around 28 GPM. I could figure it out with engine RPM and a stopwatch, but I don't have any kind of a tach for the MEP engine so what I have is just a guess.

If I was to build another splitter (or replace the pump on mine), I would probably use a 2 stage hydraulic pump...something like this:
Surplus Center - 22 GPM DYNAMIC 2-STAGE PUMP
A pump like that has internal valving that switches from a high flow under light load (faster ram cycle time) to a low flow (more power) under a high load. It lets you use a bigger pump with a smaller engine. Ideal setup for a splitter...

The ram is 4.5" bore 28" stroke. It will power through just about anything. The larger splitters use a 5" ram...I would always go for the larger one if possible, provided you have enough engine and a pump that flows enough to prevent the ram from creeping along too slowly.

 

[sewerzuk]

My back got a little sore just watching you lift that wet Hemlock.

Here's an alternate idea to the lifter, and perhaps safer to operate:

How about adding a cylinder and some linkage to drop the splitter down to the ground?

Of course you would still be bending over.

That's a good idea! And...it happens to be one that is already incorporated into the splitter! The axles are located with some bars with multiple mounting holes, so they can be dropped down so the bottom of the engine is roughly 18 inches off of the ground. I can drop the tongue clear down to the ground, so the logs only need to be rolled up onto the main beam (about 10" high). I've found that operating the splitter this way is almost harder on my back though...while it is nice for those first 2 or 3 splits, it requires that I stay hunched over for all of the smaller splits as well. I have found that I prefer to leave it at its normal height.

 

[NJ_Toolnut]

Thanks for the :thumbzup:

I still split the majority of my wood by hand...mostly because it is faster! But, when I run into a knot or piece of wood that requires more than 2 or 3 swings (or a wedge) to split then I will run it through the splitter. I suspect that, as I get older, I will be using the splitter more and more! I used to split everything by hand...dreaded those pieces that took a wedge and 20 swings!

The -002's engine just putts away whenever I'm using it...seems to be an excellent application for it. Over 3 days of on-off use (probably 16 hours total) I burned only 3-4 gallons of diesel through it. WAY better economy than even a little honda gas engine.
It is possible to stall it out, although this is extremely rare. If I bind it up with a gnarly enough piece of wood the hydraulic relief will lift and then the engine will slow down over about 2 or 3 seconds until it stalls. This tells me that it may be a little undersized for the pump, but this isn't a finely engineered tool! It's a pile of parts that I got for free (or cheap) that I threw together that happens to work fairly well together

My grandfather put this splitter together in the 60's; although I have replaced various odds and ends (including the engine, obviously), the ram and pump are still originals. The casting number on the pump doesn't return any results on google, so I'm not sure of its flow rate. But it is pretty high based on the cycle time of the ram. It is a single stage pump, somewhere around 28 GPM. I could figure it out with engine RPM and a stopwatch, but I don't have any kind of a tach for the MEP engine so what I have is just a guess.

If I was to build another splitter (or replace the pump on mine), I would probably use a 2 stage hydraulic pump...something like this:
Surplus Center - 22 GPM DYNAMIC 2-STAGE PUMP
A pump like that has internal valving that switches from a high flow under light load (faster ram cycle time) to a low flow (more power) under a high load. It lets you use a bigger pump with a smaller engine. Ideal setup for a splitter...

The ram is 4.5" bore 28" stroke. It will power through just about anything. The larger splitters use a 5" ram...I would always go for the larger one if possible, provided you have enough engine and a pump that flows enough to prevent the ram from creeping along too slowly.

Sewerzuk,

Thanks for your response.

Yup, certainly anyone that has done a lot of splitting knows that splitting by hand with an axe is far faster than any other method. It's really sweet to look at a chunk of wood, figure out the best place to hit it, and get nearly instant feedback and gratification as to the correctness of your guess when it parts after a single axe stroke. Of course, there is an art to splitting with an axe (especially for hitting where you're aiming), but there is also an art to using a sledge and wedges (as I'm sure you're aware). The problem with using a sledge and wedges is that it is sooo slowww. I've never run a hydraulic splitter but it also has to be faster than using a sledge and wedges, especially on those really gnarly pieces.

Thanks as well for "skewling" me on hydraulics (a subject about which I have remained blissfully ignorant to date). The pump you linked to seems like it also might also work well for making an H-frame press (something else I need). Even before it "downshifts" (assuming a first stage at 400 psi) I calculate it would exert about 4 tons of force on the ram through a cylinder with a 5" bore, maybe enough to split most dry straight-grained stove or fireplace length firewood, just as your single stage unit does. The ram on your splitter seems to move quite rapidly so I agree that the pump must have a reasonably high flow rate, considering the displacement of your ram cylinder. Although it may not have been finely engineered from a blank sheet, the ability to consider and then conclude that replacing the existing motor with the 002a motor would work well required some engineering skill in order to be reasonably certain that the modifications required would not be a waste of time and effort. I'm going to keep my eye out for an 002a motor that has been orphaned from its generator as well as a decent size hydraulic cylinder.

Stan