Help needed with Log splitter hydraulics

[haforbes]

I'm having some troubles connecting a control lever to my log splitter. As you can see it's one I made. It works fine, the only downside is that you have to have 2 people to do the job, one to load the logs and one to operate the spool valves from in the tractor, which isn't the safest thing. So I thought i'd buy a lever and mount it to the splitter. But it hasn't been that simple, I connected the hoses how I thought they should go and when I tested it, it cracked some of the lever casing and oil went everywhere, so I tried welding it back together and changed the hoses round and it cracked it again. How am I supposed to connect the hoses?? I've never had to use any machinery that has hydraulic controls outside of the cab:confused1:.

 

This is the lever I bought; eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

[slack ma girdle]

This is the lever I bought; eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

 

I would ask the seller, it says on the page 'feel free to ask any question'

I would do that, particularly as you are going to need a new one

[treequip]

It’s probably safe to say that the valve you have is probably now scrap.

 

There is no saying it was suitable for the job in the first place. You need an open centre double acting valve with pressure relief to tank.

 

The valve ports should be marked P and T. P is “pressure” connect this to the feed from the tractor. T is “tank” connect this to the return to the tractor.

 

The two other ports will be the operation and will go to the ram. Which direction will depend on the valve and it’s orientation.

 

Since you are only using one valve and from the looks of it no interlock, take a tip and pipe it so that you push the lever up to send the ram down, that way if anyone falls on the machine and hits the valve the ram won’t go down and amputate whatever it hits.

[Justme]

What pressure is your tractor hydraulics?

 

Have you got all the pipes in the right place?

 

Is the return going back to an open port?

 

For a start I would remove the return & put it into a container. Then try it. I had an attachment once that would not work. Turned out that the quick fit I was using for the return was under pressure as I had it set to two way action not single & I had chosen the wrong quick fit to pair it up to. Once I worked out which fitting went with each other it was ok.

[haforbes]

Tractor hydraulics are around 2900psi.

 

The top hose in the picture is the "P" which is connected to one spool. The bottom is the "T" and is connected to the other spool, which for some reason I set to single acting thinking it would flow back to the tank(but it didn't, it sprayed oil everywhere..again), there is also a brass nut next to this. The two off the side are feeds to ram.

 

I seem to remember seeing something that uses a similar hydraulic setup to a splitter that ran the "T" pipe directly back into the back axle, just above the filler cap. Is this what I need to do??

 

 

Since you are only using one valve and from the looks of it no interlock, take a tip and pipe it so that you push the lever up to send the ram down, that way if anyone falls on the machine and hits the valve the ram won’t go down and amputate whatever it hits.

 

And thanks for that, hadn't thought about that.

[treequip]

The T port needs to go back to the tractor unrestricted. It sounds like you have popped the valve by having the T port going to a closed end.

 

It’s a bit of a worry that a (relatively) low pressure system cracked the valve. Where did you get it from?