Forklift Hydraulic Pump Motor

[hwy8]

Is that motor used on any other ET equipment? Any guesses on horse-power or rpm? I was surprised how quiet the forklift motor is especially when compared to the one on the loader. I'm thinking of playing with some hydraulic lift, steering, or even log-splitter ideas.
Burt

[FarmallMan]

Hi Burt,

For a while, I considered building a loader and consequently, I've done a bit of research into the loader's hydraulic system. What I calculated is that the pump needs to provide around 5 GPM based. This is based on the cylinder diameter and travel (which I was able to measure from an actual loader) and the full extension time quoted in the promotional material Geo has on his website (which if memory serves is 5 or 6 seconds).

I have only seen/observed a forklift once and that was at last summer's ET gathering at Steve's. It seemed like the cylinder was about the same size or smaller in diameter than the loader's cylinders. That coupled with the fact that there's only one of them makes me think that it probably has a smaller displacement (quieter?) pump. It could be that the pressure relief is set lower for the forklift (this is a guess on my part). Either or both of these assumptions would lead to a smaller HP demand, which seems consistent with the smaller motor. It looked a lot like a deck motor to me, actually. If it is a deck motor, it would be somewhere around 0.5 HP and what, 3600 RPM? Also, the pump is enclosed in the housing, which I'm guessing helps with the sound.

I think you could easily power a steering unit and/or hydraulic lift with a deck motor and a small displacement pump (maybe somewhere around 0.1 CU). Surplus Center has some hydraulic calculators on a page that I have bookmarked. I'll try to find a link for you. If you're going to build a splitter, I would think the thing to have would be a snow blower or E12 drive motor coupled to a dual stage pump. The dual stage is desirable so that it doesn't take forever for the ram to extend and retract like it would with a single stage small displacement pump.

Nick

[hwy8]

Thanks Nick!

I think you are right about the reasons the forklift is quieter. A smaller motor for a smaller job.

I've got a 30ton splitter with a 160cc Honda engine. I figure that's about 6-6.5 horse power: Does that sound right? I do know that with an electric motor replacement, it would look great being pulled by my Electrak! I wonder if I could "bolt" the snowblower motor up to the pump--would the rpms be good?

Burt

[FarmallMan]

I have read somewhere (I can't remember where at the moment) that when you do the HP calculations, that if you're planning on using a IC engine then you need to double your calculated HP number. Just a little browsing of various ads would make me think that a 160cc engine would be in the 5-6 HP range. So, if you divide by 2, you would be in the range of 2.5-3 HP.

Somewhere there are performance graphs that show the E25, E15, and snowblower motors. Going on memory, I think the blower motor is in or around the 2 HP class. Certainly, the E20 drive motor would be. I would think that, since you will take time to load wood on the splitter that the load is far from continuous, so it shouldn't be terribly taxing on the motor. My best guess (shooting from the hip) is that the blower motor would work out fine.

Pressure will dictate how much force the splitter ram will make. This is independant of the flow rate, which for a fixed displacement gear pump, is determined by the driven RPM. IC engines are generally run in the 3600-3200 RPM range. If your electric replacement ran slower, the ram would move slower, that's all.

Nick

[Blueberry]

I have a Super-Split wood splitter that is electric. It runs a 1.5 horse 240V motor. Works awesome! I was thinking about running an elec-trak motor (likely a rototiller motor) for portable splitting. I think the gas motor spec'd is in the 6hp range. www.supersplit.com. Way better than hydraulic, in my opinion. YMMV.

[m_c_0101]

According to the hydraulic motor section of the Northern Tool catalogue, as a rule of thumb
1 HP hydraulic motor = 1 2/3 HP gasoline engine
1 HP hydraulic motor = 2/3 HP electric motor

If my math is right, then a 1 HP electric motor = 2.5 HP gasoline engine.