3pt lLog Splitters

[TheOldHokie]

I get a lot of calls about a hydraulic kits and conversions and it seems the topic of 3pt log splitters generally comes up. The usual knock on three point splitters is slow cycle time. It takes a substantial hydraulic flow to run a splitter at a decent speed and we all know that is not a strong point of Ford tractors. In fact its even a challenge for most modern compact and small utility tractors.

Now I have been running a 3pt splitter on my venerable old Kubota B7200 which has a puny 4 GPM pump. Very slow but at 70 years old its better than swinging a maul. I recently added a new L3901 to my tractor lineup and it has a 6+ GPM flow and teh improvement was noticeable but still slow. As chance would have it the valve on the splutter had developed a bad leak so I decide to replace it with one of the new "high speed" valves. These valves have a regen circuit on the extend port and a 4th position on teh spool that actuates it. When you pull the lever all of teh way forward the regen circuit speeds up extension at the cost of splitting power. As soon as the wedge stalls in the round you let the lever slip back into the third position where you get tthe full splitting force. Its the same idea as a two stage pump on a small engine spltter but its manually controlled and only works in one direction. I had my doubts but the valve was only $30 more and Iso I popped for it. I was pleasantly surprised at the speed up it creates. Here is a short video showing extend vs retract. Keep in mind extend is always slower than retract to begin with so the difference is quite startling.

TOH

YouTube 3pt Log Splitter Video (30 seconds)

This post was edited by TheOldHokie on 10/20/2021 at 03:47 pm.

 

[Eman85]

I've got a Tractor supply 3pt. log splitter that I use with my 2600 diesel. I heard all of the it will be slow talk beforehand so I rigged the tractor to a friends gas engine powered splitter and saw no difference. I don't see how much faster anyone needs a splitter to be. I've split a lot of wood in the past few years with it.

 

[Den N Ms]

TheOldHokie.I've got my splitter set up so it extends normal speed but retracts faster for the loading of the next log.

 

[TheOldHokie]

(quoted from post at 07:14:48 10/21/21) TheOldHokie.I've got my splitter set up so it extends normal speed but retracts faster for the loading of the next log.

That's interesting Den. What kind of valve do you have on the splitter? Most purpose built log splitter valves including this new one have auto cancel on the retract port so you can't use it for splitting.

In my case the rounds I split are on the short side - 18"-20". Slow retract actually works to my advantage because in most cases I can have the next round or piece loaded and ready to go before the cylinder is fully retracted. That effectively reduces the stroke and cycle time of the splitter. My neighbors gas powered splitter is so fast both ways it really doesn't matter. Cycle time on is is probably 7-8 seconds. With this new valve mine is down to about 15-16 seconds so shaving 4-5 seconds off the retract part of the cycle by stopping it mid stroke is a plus.

TOH

 

[Ultradog MN]

That's nice and all but...
I will stick to spending about $800 a year
on natural gas and sit warm and cozy while
you wood chuckers are busting butt putting
up your annual heating supply.

 

[TheOldHokie]

(quoted from post at 21:30:25 10/20/21) I've got a Tractor supply 3pt. log splitter that I use with my 2600 diesel. I heard all of the it will be slow talk beforehand so I rigged the tractor to a friends gas engine powered splitter and saw no difference. I don't see how much faster anyone needs a splitter to be. I've split a lot of wood in the past few years with it.

The Ford 2600 has a rated hydraulic flow of 8.5 GPM. If my arithmetic is right that will get you roughly 17 second cycle time on a 4" x 24" splitter with 2" rod.

My B7200 is more like 3-4 GPM. You would not have liked that cycle time - in the neighborhood of 45 seconds.

The L3901 has a rated flow of 6.8 GPM and it was noticeably better @ about 22 seconds but I still spent significant time waiting. With the new valve cycle time is down to about 15 seconds and wait time is almost nonexistant.

TOH

 

[wallytoo]

(quoted from post at 05:39:39 10/21/21) That's nice and all but...
I will stick to spending about $800 a year
on natural gas and sit warm and cozy while
you wood chuckers are busting butt putting
up your annual heating supply.

i know, right? except that i can look out at my yard, and see 3 years worth of cordwood sitting there, waiting to be burned. one year's worth is about to move to the woodshed, and 2 years worth are split (ha ha) between already stacked and log-length. i like to be about 1-1/2 to 2 years ahead.

 

[TheOldHokie]

(quoted from post at 19:01:36 10/22/21)

(quoted from post at 05:39:39 10/21/21) That's nice and all but...
I will stick to spending about $800 a year
on natural gas and sit warm and cozy while
you wood chuckers are busting butt putting
up your annual heating supply.

i know, right? except that i can look out at my yard, and see 3 years worth of cordwood sitting there, waiting to be burned. one year's worth is about to move to the woodshed, and 2 years worth are split (ha ha) between already stacked and log-length. i like to be about 1-1/2 to 2 years ahead.

I dont heat with wood - forced air gas heat which for 3000 SF runs a bit more than $800 per year. But the family room fireplace burns 24 x 7 and is a very popular spot with both man and beast.

TOH

This post was edited by TheOldHokie on 10/22/2021 at 05:06 pm.

 

[Eman85]

(quoted from post at 05:56:47 10/21/21)

(quoted from post at 21:30:25 10/20/21) I've got a Tractor supply 3pt. log splitter that I use with my 2600 diesel. I heard all of the it will be slow talk beforehand so I rigged the tractor to a friends gas engine powered splitter and saw no difference. I don't see how much faster anyone needs a splitter to be. I've split a lot of wood in the past few years with it.

The Ford 2600 has a rated hydraulic flow of 8.5 GPM. If my arithmetic is right that will get you roughly 17 second cycle time on a 4" x 24" splitter with 2" rod.

My B7200 is more like 3-4 GPM. You would not have liked that cycle time - in the neighborhood of 45 seconds.

The L3901 has a rated flow of 6.8 GPM and it was noticeably better @ about 22 seconds but I still spent significant time waiting. With the new valve cycle time is down to about 15 seconds and wait time is almost nonexistant.

TOH

I can see where that would be slow but as Jerry Clower said and how I look at it what's time to a hog? It's faster than a go devil.
I have split very large rounds with my splitter as it can turn vertical. Large oak in the front yard measured 4' across at the stump. 1 round was all the 2600 wanted in the loader.
I have natural gas heat, a fireplace with a natural gas log set and a wood stove. Also have gas heat in my shop. I have 22 pallets stacked 4' high with seasoned oak and hickory and plenty down waiting to be cut and split. I have a lot of woods and we logged off a section a couple of years ago. I was giving away truckloads if they wanted to come and cut.
I know gas is going up as we got notice last year that the pipeline company was raising their fees to our gas provider so I'm prepared.

 

[TheOldHokie]

(quoted from post at 21:03:27 10/22/21)

I can see where that would be slow but as Jerry Clower said and how I look at it what's time to a hog? It's faster than a go devil.

I split a lot of wood with the little B7200 and it was indeed faster than a maul and a lot easier on my old back. But it was not as fast as the new tractor and that was not as fast as the new tractor and valve combo. I don't know about Mr Clower's hog but I can make better use of my time now that the splitter is running faster. The $100 valve will literally pay for itself before the year is over. New tractor not so much 🙄

TOH

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 18:25:35 10/20/21) I get a lot of calls about a hydraulic kits and conversions and it seems the topic of 3pt log splitters generally comes up. The usual knock on three point splitters is slow cycle time. It takes a substantial hydraulic flow to run a splitter at a decent speed and we all know that is not a strong point of Ford tractors. In fact its even a challenge for most modern compact and small utility tractors.

Now I have been running a 3pt splitter on my venerable old Kubota B7200 which has a puny 4 GPM pump. Very slow but at 70 years old its better than swinging a maul. I recently added a new L3901 to my tractor lineup and it has a 6+ GPM flow and teh improvement was noticeable but still slow. As chance would have it the valve on the splutter had developed a bad leak so I decide to replace it with one of the new "high speed" valves. These valves have a regen circuit on the extend port and a 4th position on teh spool that actuates it. When you pull the lever all of teh way forward the regen circuit speeds up extension at the cost of splitting power. As soon as the wedge stalls in the round you let the lever slip back into the third position where you get tthe full splitting force. Its the same idea as a two stage pump on a small engine spltter but its manually controlled and only works in one direction. I had my doubts but the valve was only $30 more and Iso I popped for it. I was pleasantly surprised at the speed up it creates. Here is a short video showing extend vs retract. Keep in mind extend is always slower than retract to begin with so the difference is quite startling.

TOH

YouTube 3pt Log Splitter Video (30 seconds)

This post was edited by TheOldHokie on 10/20/2021 at 03:47 pm.

hat does regen do, take some flow from 'shrinking' side of cyl and apply it to 'expanding' side?

 

[TheOldHokie]

(quoted from post at 10:53:49 10/23/21)

(quoted from post at 18:25:35 10/20/21) I get a lot of calls about a hydraulic kits and conversions and it seems the topic of 3pt log splitters generally comes up. The usual knock on three point splitters is slow cycle time. It takes a substantial hydraulic flow to run a splitter at a decent speed and we all know that is not a strong point of Ford tractors. In fact its even a challenge for most modern compact and small utility tractors.

Now I have been running a 3pt splitter on my venerable old Kubota B7200 which has a puny 4 GPM pump. Very slow but at 70 years old its better than swinging a maul. I recently added a new L3901 to my tractor lineup and it has a 6+ GPM flow and teh improvement was noticeable but still slow. As chance would have it the valve on the splutter had developed a bad leak so I decide to replace it with one of the new "high speed" valves. These valves have a regen circuit on the extend port and a 4th position on teh spool that actuates it. When you pull the lever all of teh way forward the regen circuit speeds up extension at the cost of splitting power. As soon as the wedge stalls in the round you let the lever slip back into the third position where you get tthe full splitting force. Its the same idea as a two stage pump on a small engine spltter but its manually controlled and only works in one direction. I had my doubts but the valve was only $30 more and Iso I popped for it. I was pleasantly surprised at the speed up it creates. Here is a short video showing extend vs retract. Keep in mind extend is always slower than retract to begin with so the difference is quite startling.

TOH

YouTube 3pt Log Splitter Video (30 seconds)

This post was edited by TheOldHokie on 10/20/2021 at 03:47 pm.

hat does regen do, take some flow from 'shrinking' side of cyl and apply it to 'expanding' side?

Not just some - all of the exhaust oil is combined with thecoming flow from the pump.

This is a feature you also will find in most modern tractor FEL valves. Oil from the rod end of the bucket cylinders is redirected to the base end of the cylinder. This results in a major reduction of actuator force but you don't have much use/need for that force on the bucket and its deemed more advantageous to sacrifice it to get the dump time close to parity with curl time.

TOH

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 13:30:10 10/23/21)

(quoted from post at 10:53:49 10/23/21)

(quoted from post at 18:25:35 10/20/21) I get a lot of calls about a hydraulic kits and conversions and it seems the topic of 3pt log splitters generally comes up. The usual knock on three point splitters is slow cycle time. It takes a substantial hydraulic flow to run a splitter at a decent speed and we all know that is not a strong point of Ford tractors. In fact its even a challenge for most modern compact and small utility tractors.

Now I have been running a 3pt splitter on my venerable old Kubota B7200 which has a puny 4 GPM pump. Very slow but at 70 years old its better than swinging a maul. I recently added a new L3901 to my tractor lineup and it has a 6+ GPM flow and teh improvement was noticeable but still slow. As chance would have it the valve on the splutter had developed a bad leak so I decide to replace it with one of the new "high speed" valves. These valves have a regen circuit on the extend port and a 4th position on teh spool that actuates it. When you pull the lever all of teh way forward the regen circuit speeds up extension at the cost of splitting power. As soon as the wedge stalls in the round you let the lever slip back into the third position where you get tthe full splitting force. Its the same idea as a two stage pump on a small engine spltter but its manually controlled and only works in one direction. I had my doubts but the valve was only $30 more and Iso I popped for it. I was pleasantly surprised at the speed up it creates. Here is a short video showing extend vs retract. Keep in mind extend is always slower than retract to begin with so the difference is quite startling.

TOH

YouTube 3pt Log Splitter Video (30 seconds)

This post was edited by TheOldHokie on 10/20/2021 at 03:47 pm.

hat does regen do, take some flow from 'shrinking' side of cyl and apply it to 'expanding' side?

Not just some - all of the exhaust oil is combined with thecoming flow from the pump.

This is a feature you also will find in most modern tractor FEL valves. Oil from the rod end of the bucket cylinders is redirected to the base end of the cylinder. This results in a major reduction of actuator force but you don't have much use/need for that force on the bucket and its deemed more advantageous to sacrifice it to get the dump time close to parity with curl time.

TOH

ot it! Thanks.