Eco mod my log splitter
 

I got a 27ton log splitter from Lowe's so I don't break my back splitting wood.
I read a ton of reviews.
Found 4 reoccurring things, on machines put together by Lowe's employees.
1 Not put together very well.
Cause, Labor problem, people don't care or aren't smart enough to do it right.
Remedy, check nuts, bots, hydraulic connectors.
2 gas tank, crank case has water in there.
Cause, they're stored outside, caps get stolen by people or left loose.

Remedy, check for signs of water in fuel tank and crank case.
3 the wheel bearings fail.
Cause, it has wheelbarrow wheels on it.
Remedy, don't pull the thing at high speeds, put it on a trailer when transporting if speeds will hit 45mph or be at 35mph for more than a few minutes.
Final solution, put a 1.062 inch trailer axle on there, with little trailer tires.
4 people take it home and it don't start for whatever reason.
Cause, don't know, don't care, potentially a lot of things.
Remedy, make sure it stars before leaving with it.
The funniest problem.
5 a guy went to put his in vertical mode and the lines weren't long enough for the thing to stand up.
Cause, lol.
Remedy, do a full ops ckeck.

Ecomods:
Make sure that the carb has the right jet in there.
Put a bigger hydraulic pump on there, a 16gpm.
Put the original 11gpm hydraulic pump on an electronic motor, add plumbing so both can work together or independently.
Steam punk it, put a few gauges on it, a high pressure gauge and return low pressure gauge, some where they won't get smashed.

You might be thinking "it won't have enough power to run a 16gpm pump". Correct, normally it wouldn't.
A 27t log splitter, with a 4.5 inch cylinder and 11gpm pump should run a 2gpm high pressure pump at about 3,500psi and a 9gpm low pressure pump, probably set around 500psi.
Normally a 16gpm pump is a 3gpm high pressure pump and a 13gpm low pump.
I found an odd ball 16gpm pump that does 1.7gpm on the high side and 14.1gpm on the low side.

Worst case scenario the 16gpm pump is too big and a I have to put bigger engine on there. Boohoo.
I'll probably run the 11gpm pump on an electric motor, an 1,800rpm turning it into a 5.5gpm pump. Running it at full speed is probably a bit too much for a single phase motor.

Well I was wrong about it having cheap wheelbarrow wheels.
It has really nice wheelbarrow wheels.
It has cheap all in one tire, rim hub wheels that appear to have real wheel bearings.
I got one with a dust cap missing on one wheel, so that bearing full of dirt. I guess I can see if they used actual grease or corrosion preventive goop.
For $1,406 out the door.
Normal price with sales tax should be over $1,700.
I ain't getting this thing on the trailer by my self or even with 2 people so it needs to be towable.

i don't use one often enough to justify the up front and maintenance costs. A local rental outfit has the smaller ones but I usually do enough volume and size to justify spending a little more. this costs me $135 per 8 hour day.

Mighty Ox Wood Splitter, model LS-30, high production log splitting

http://www.mighty-ox.com/img/m-LS30-2.jpg

Definitely has the wrong jet in the carb, it stinks from like 50 feet away and sputters when I go to wide open throttle.
I removed the WAI to try and give it CAI, didn't help much.
It was 45 degrees f out, in degrees C that's kind of chilly. The hydraulics got quite warm, hot enough so I didn't want to leave my hand on the cylinder, so it will probably need a cooler.
I actually did read the manual.
It has a 14gpm pump, 4.375 bore runs a max of 3,750psi.
A remote throttle would be nice.

Oil coolers are normally aluminum, thin walled, have delicate fins. Not a great match for something as destructive and chaotic as a log splitter. For a normal oil cooler to last it would need some sort of protective enclosure.
Ain't nobody got time for that.
Probably stick 2 of these under there.
https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1670736407

Maybe you can get a chrome perf metal heat shield off some motorcycle exhaust system.

Need maximum air flow. Plus the cooler fins apear to taper to about 1mm and the main tube looks to be about 3mm thick. As long as I don't intentionally throw wood at it will be fine.
https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1670781267

When we built my dad's splitter 15 years ago, instead of any kind of cooler, we just oversized the reservoir. It's a structural component acting as the primary part of the frame, 6x12 steel tubing and about 4 or 5 feet long, probably holds 8 or 10 gallons.

This one holds and is supposed to have 6.5 gallons of hydraulic oil. I bet it has at least 5 gallons.
Might be low, it only had about 8 out of 21 ounces of oil in the crank case.
I cleaned and packed the wheel bearings. Each bearing had a few CCs of corrosion preventing goop on them definitely going to fail going down the road. Put at least an ounce of grease in each hub.
If the spindles are the same I could definitely put some real trailer tires on there.

First mod will likely be temperature and pressure gauges on the hydraulic return. The return is easy access to the hottest fluid that's at low pressure. And I'll add a pressure gauge that way when the pressure doesn't change or doesn't change very much as the fluid warms I'll know the filter is clogged and needs to be changed.
https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1670871810