Flicks Log Splitter Build

[FLICK]

White Knight Rust Guard Metal Primer



Edit: I might make some bolt-on extendable legs out of square tube to keep it upright when it's not on the tractor:

[FLICK]

I welded a piece of 2" x 1/4" on either side of the blade today:







It's made a big difference, the wood doesn't fly apart like it did before

[FLICK]

The videos are done with a little cheap digital video camera I purchased from eBay for recording from my motorbike helmet cam.... It records AVI's at 800x600 onto an SD card.
www.digilifeglobal.com/ddv-1000.htm

A couple of short videos with the tractor running at 1500rpm:





Noticed in the vids my left mud-guard is vibrating a bit, might have to have a look at that later

[FLICK]

This vid goes for about a minute, and is 3meg...so it'll take a while if your on dial-up

[FLICK]

Legs are 1/2 done, still need to drill the holes for the height adjuster pins, and make some feet


The welds are terrible, I ran out of dry rods and was too lazy to put some more in the oven

The legs are 1" OD RHS square tube, the outer tube is 1"ID (30mm OD) RHS... (I purchased the RHS a few years ago to make a cattle cage on the back of my truck, but ended up selling the cattle before I made the cage)

[FLICK]

Finished off the legs... They're a bit rough, but will do the job:

[FLICK]

It's basically finished for now

I'll use it for a while before I build a bench and guard for it...

I used some aerosol cans to paint the legs black and the blade red (for danger)...

I waxed the spine and back of the carriage with furniture wax/polish so it will slide easier and maybe stop the paint from scraping off.... It may not help but there's only 1 way to find out...

[FLICK]

Here's another video (8.8meg, 2:39long)....

Considering I wont need my old chopping block anymore I decided it was time to split it up

[FLICK]

The log splitter's going to be stored outside, I'm going to cut the top out of a 44gallon drum to sit over the splitter to protect it from the weather a bit.....

So to save the hoses getting damaged, and so I can use the hoses for other applications, I installed a couple of $12 sets of quick connects on the hoses




Now the hoses stick out further so I might turn the cylinder around so the QC's and hoses are on the opposite side to where I stand

A couple of blade pics, now it's done a decent amount of work:

[FLICK]

Threw together a quick temporary rear-remote valve extension lever.... So I can operate the splitter with my hand resting on the mud guard, and not have to reach in next to the seat



I'll do a more permanent (easy to remove) set-up at a later date, when I work out what works best

My Rear-Remote valves, 1 is a detente valve, the other is momentary (or whatever it's called, it springs back to neutral when released) .... I've decided to use the momentary valve so if I get caught up in the splitter the rams going to stop moving as soon as I let go of the lever.... (where-as if I use the valve with detente, the rams going to continue moving and potentially do some damage)

[FLICK]

Ended up making a knob out of an old drawer knob and a brass polyflo fitting




Matthew

[GuglioLS]

Matthew,

That's a pretty amazing log splitter you made from stuff just laying around. Just as impressive is that you made your own welder from scratch 20 years ago. I've never seen anyone build a transformer, so that was cool to see the insides of that. This is a bit off topic but I'm interested in how the current regulator works? Is it that metal piece that slides in and out between the primary and secondary windings? I suppose it reduces the magnetic coupling between the primary and secondary? Do I have that right?

Oh and what ever happened about that other cylinder you got later on? did you get to keep both of them for the price of one?

I suppose you're soon going to start cutting and splitting firewood again for your up coming winter (our summer).

How did your wood hold out last season, did you cut enough?
Some day when you have time, I'd like to check out your wood burner. Is that your only source of heat?

Thanks for posting another fine home made project. Very cool


Larry

[FLICK]

Larry:
I've never seen anyone build a transformer, so that was cool to see the insides of that.
lol, and I hope I never have to do it again.... it took ages to cut all the laminations on a guillotine, each layer of the laminated magnetic core is made up of 5 pieces which all had to be stacked in an alternating pattern so it's all tied together.... (In a commercially made transformer they punch out the laminations in 2 pieces to form a E and l that are stacked together to make the magnetic core)

This is a bit off topic but I'm interested in how the current regulator works? Is it that metal piece that slides in and out between the primary and secondary windings?
Yes, from memory it's called a shunt but I could be wrong, it's been 20+ years since I had to learn all that stuff.... The shunt is just a pile of transformer laminations glued together and encased in epoxy...

I suppose it reduces the magnetic coupling between the primary and secondary? Do I have that right?
Yes, from memory it just disrupts the way the magnetic field flows around the transformer laminations, the further the shunt is inserted into the transformer the lower the current flow....

Oh and what ever happened about that other cylinder you got later on? did you get to keep both of them for the price of one?
Yes, I kept both cylinders, the second one ended up about 1/2 price and I didn't have to pay for shipping... The spare one will end up on a dump trailer (I've got everything I need to build it, just a matter of finding time)

I suppose you're soon going to start cutting and splitting firewood again for your up coming winter (our summer).
I've been planning to get into the firewood cutting early this year but it hasn't happened yet, all I've done so far is drive around and decide what wood I'll cut up this year.... I'll probably make a start in the next couple of weeks

How did your wood hold out last season, did you cut enough?
lol, no where near enough.... I cut and stacked a fair amount in April but ran low in August.... I had a fair stack of 2' diameter disks I cut from trees that had to be removed when the HV power lines were put onto my sisters block next door 12 months earlier, that was dry enough to burn so I just had to split and stack it, it had a real twisted and knotty grain, I would never have been able to split it by hand, the log splitter made it easy work

Some day when you have time, I'd like to check out your wood burner. Is that your only source of heat?
yes, it's my only heat source, I generally have it burning 24/7 from late April to early November, I like to keep my place at about 20C+ (70F).... I'll take some pics in the near future ...

Thanks for your comments Larry

Matthew.