project 2 from bob wills, dec 3 contest, log splitter for loader

Well ive got around to post the start of a log splitter me and my cousin have been building. This is for one of our skid loaders. The first step was to start finding the metal for it. We had that cylinder. It came out of a missal silo. Its got a 4 ft stroke and 5 in diameter. Its a bit of an overkill but got it for free. The hardest part was the I-beam. One I-beam wouldnt be enough unless getting a real big one. we were afraid it would start to twist on us. Thought about boxing one in on each side but decided better yet just weld 2 together side by side. We were looking for a 8" tall by 4" wide for it because it would be plenty strong but couldnt find anything quick enough. We ended up using one we had out back. It was a little too big for two side by side but too small for just one. So far we have got them welded together, made a push block, made the big main wedge and welded it on some, and modified the beam some to hold the cylinder. Ive got several hours of welding and cutting in it so far. Still got a lot too go. Its got a good start on it. Ive been doing all the welding with the everlast powerarc 200 except the push block which i was trying to use our miller 251 mig but i got tired of messing with it and it messing up. The push plate may of been a bit of overkill because its 1 5/8" metal but we wanted something that wouldnt ever bend. Heres some pics of whats done so far.

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Update. Long over due. But heres what have got so far. Still not done though. But have a lot more done and a lot to do. We got the push plate done and mounted and cylinder mounted and got the main wedge done welding on i think. Its got like 7 passees on it just for good measures and still not sure, First is 6010 pass, then 3 7018 passes then 3 or 4 mig passes. The push plate is done though. I had to make some sort of way to be able to attach and take off if ever needed the cyclinder from the pushplate or take the pushplate off. Its just taked on care want to make sure wont get in bind before welding totaly but should be fine. Heres some pics.
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Heres a pic of a problem I had earlyier when welding the beams together. They had a bit of bend and didnt quite match up. A loaders weight wasnt even enough but who knew little pipe clamps did the most.
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my step dad was a steel worker he even helped build the john deere plant in Waterloo Iowa , they worked with I Beam they had a neat trick to make them straight they would lay a big real hot bead with welding rod on the side they wanted to bow toward them after the weld they would pulled in ward he called it stressing and un stressing the beams since the weld would shrink when cooling and pull them straight . that's why you see sometimes long weld marks on buildings i Beams . I welded a 2 1/2 solid bar once and forgot about just welding on one side darn bar after welding curved over a 1/2 inch had to weld other side to get straight. we had a big pto drive saw on the farm we ran off are tractors what do you use to cut wood

Thats cool. This was just to shrink the gap a little for easyier welding. We just use chain saws here to cut the wood. Nothing fancy. Our talk right now is trading in one of the loaders and backhoe and get a mini excavator and if we do im gonna build the attachment so it goes on our excavator and not a loader. Be way easyier to pick logs up with it and a lot faster.

we used a lot of wood and coal on the farm since that what we cooked with and used for heat . we was old school had a hand pump in the kitchen and had to heat the water on a big coal stove and oven. in the winter had to go to the well pump outside since the pipes froze I really loved living on the farm best time of my life

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Originally Posted by bobwills

Update. Long over due. But heres what have got so far. Still not done though. But have a lot more done and a lot to do. We got the push plate done and mounted and cylinder mounted and got the main wedge done welding on i think. Its got like 7 passees on it just for good measures and still not sure, First is 6010 pass, then 3 7018 passes then 3 or 4 mig passes. The push plate is done though. I had to make some sort of way to be able to attach and take off if ever needed the cyclinder from the pushplate or take the pushplate off. Its just taked on care want to make sure wont get in bind before welding totaly but should be fine. Heres some pics.
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Looks great, Gabe. Dad built one a while back. He used an I beam...

Here is a bad picture of the whole thing so far. Just so much junk thrown around it.
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lol your garage looks like mine tools every were lol , people wonder how i find stuff in my shop funny when i know rite were something is trips them out . hey heres a cool place for stuff you mite need https://www.surpluscenter.com/home.asp

Thats actually the company shop. Its always a mess cause you have so many people just throwing stuff in there. Thats on the wood side/ junk collection part. This one its about imposible to find anything in.