Troy Bilt 27 Ton Splitter - Bad Weld Alert

[bsticks]

I attached an image of bad weld I found. If you own the Troy Bilt 27 Ton Log Splitter I would encourage you to look at the welds on the cylinder mounts to the log dislodger.

I was splitting Saturday morning and watch a rainbow of hydraulic fluid shoot out a pinhole near the valve handle. Troy Bilt/MTD was not much help and I sent them the pictures of the bad weld. I ground out the mount weld and the cavity I found was a 1/16th diameter hole. Rewelded the mount and all is good.

Troy Bilt doesn't warranty bad welds in their equipment.

Bsticks

 

[smokinj]

I done about 100 cords with mine just went and took a look and so far so good...Normally that crap happens to me but not yet...knock on wood. How long did it take to fix it?

 

[bsticks]

2.5 hours to fix. Hardest part was keeping the packing cool to rebead a new weld once all the hyraulic was out of the cylinder. Reassembly was a 5 minutes. Even touched up the weld with some black paint!

 

[smokinj]

Thanks for the info, hope I dont need it..lol

 

[bsticks]

Hahaha, me too

Mine only last 15 cords. I hope to reach your 100 milestone!

 

[smokinj]

Hahaha, me too

Mine only last 15 cords. I hope to reach your 100 milestone!

The only thing I have done so far is to change the hydro filter.

 

[bsticks]

i have changed the filter and the inlet filter. I have also gone through about 16 grade bolts on the cradle assemblies. I have to figure out how to take the stress off the cylinder. I was hoping maybe a fabricated support bracket from the tongue frame up to the cylinder.

 

[smokinj]

i have changed the filter and the inlet filter. I have also gone through about 16 grade bolts on the cradle assemblies. I have to figure out how to take the stress off the cylinder. I was hoping maybe a fabricated support bracket from the tongue frame up to the cylinder.

Not sure about that really no issues with mine, and I would say its safe to say 100 cords. 3 of use running it and no one babys it.

 

[loon]

i have the 21 ton MTD, guess i better check the welds also as i imagine they are done by the same guys :-S

 

[bsticks]

Why yes sir they are. I also have removed the aluminum tongue assembly and put a 5 ft long, 1/4" steel tube assembly for trailering. I am all for lightening the load but somethings need to be more rigid.

So far so good, the weld is holding quite nicely....

Have you noticed that the plastic fender brackets bend easily? They look next for replacement.

 

[loon]

i also extended the log holders as the wood would drop right on the engine and will be beefing up the plastic rimmed tires/fenders, just got to find the same size for when i use it in the vertical position.
i knew what i was buying and wasnt worried about the non highway use but like you said, some things just need to be beefed up ;-)

Terry

 

[fidiro]

This has to be a problem as mine blew open yesterday. I'm still trying to wash out the hydraulic fluid out of my eyes as I took a bath in oil. The clothes I was wearing went into the garbage truck today and they felt like they had 2 gallons of oil. The ground is still a pool of oil. What a mess.

I want to do some more research on this problem but my eyes burn too much if I stare at the computer more than 10 minutes.

I smell a recall and it better happen soon before bigger injuries come from the hot oil.

I wrote troy bilt yesterday and still no response. I'm going to wait it off for a response and go from there.

A metal cylinder was not built to withstand 27 tons of pressure but all the rubber hoses and seals are, hmmmmmmmmmmmm. We must have a 200 ton pump and 500 ton rubber hoses/seals with the steel only capable of 10 tons. Troy Bilt better step up to a recall. The weld shows only about 1/16" was welded to cylinder.

 

[Danno77]

wow, that's crazy. It doesn't even look like the weld broke, it looks like it just blew outside the weld. maybe the steel was weakened with the weld?

 

[Skier76]

It looks like the weld weakend the metal and that blew it out. IMHO...

 

[bsticks]

WOW! The ripped right out of the cylinder. Steel looks paper thin. That could have been a terrible, terrible accident.

 

[ROBERT F]

that there is the problem with trunion mount cylinders, nor to mention that that weld looks to have poor penetration. found the weak link, and it was the thin metal of the cylinder.

 

[Flatbedford]

Yikes You guys should buy some Fiskars Super Splitters. Those hydro rigs look dangerous!!

In all seriousness, it seems they have quite a problem with those machines. I hope Troy Built helps you out and I hope your eyes clear out too. Maybe some medical attention is necessary. You don't want to mess with your vision.

 

[ANeat]

I agree, looks like bad cylinders from whoever they get them from. I never did like the mounts welded directly to the cylinder body.

 

[fidiro]

Yikes You guys should buy some Fiskars Super Splitters. Those hydro rigs look dangerous!!

In all seriousness, it seems they have quite a problem with those machines. I hope Troy Built helps you out and I hope your eyes clear out too. Maybe some medical attention is necessary. You don't want to mess with your vision.

I really hope they do something for me and others as well. I really should go get my eyes checked but when there is no medical insurance I hesitate everytime doctors names get mentioned. I have 2 young kids to feed and don't need big doctor bills right now so I'll wait a few more days.

The wall of the cylinder is about 1/4" thick so that is not the problem. The problem is that the weld did not penetrate the full 1/4. The pics don't lie I can't photo shop that and still have the cylinder off and it is just as it shows in the pics.

Here's the rest of the splitter to show exactly what model this was. It is being under powered by a 5.5 honda but it still managed to break metal and not hoses/seals. Motor works great though otherwise but 1 more horse would have been a big difference for a PROPERLY built 27 ton cylinder.

The second pic shows the mess on the ground after I threw many shovelfulls of chips and wood sawdust mix I have on hand to soak some oil back up from the ground as I left quickly yesterday after the incident and only went back today to try to clean some up. The landlord is going to have my a$$ if he sees that. Tomorrow I'm going to dig it up and throw it into the fire barrel.

 

[lazeedan]

Wow. You would think Troy Built would want to fix this problem before someone gets seriously hurt! Not to mention there reputation!

 

[fidiro]

I attached an image of bad weld I found. If you own the Troy Bilt 27 Ton Log Splitter I would encourage you to look at the welds on the cylinder mounts to the log dislodger.

I was splitting Saturday morning and watch a rainbow of hydraulic fluid shoot out a pinhole near the valve handle. Troy Bilt/MTD was not much help and I sent them the pictures of the bad weld. I ground out the mount weld and the cavity I found was a 1/16th diameter hole. Rewelded the mount and all is good.

Troy Bilt doesn't warranty bad welds in their equipment.

Bsticks

Hope all is well with your cylinder now. Hope nothing happens like it did to mine or worse and then Troy Bilt says it was because the new weld that cause it. This is a problem they have to conquer and recall. Hot oil can do some damage and used oil causes cancer, so I'm going into a hot bath again to get some more of the hydraulic smell off my skin. Filter is new but hydro oil was changed last summer, next summer would have been the next hydro oil change. I think I'll use palmolive dish washing detergent as my bubbles today. LOL

All I heard was a pop and a spraying gush of oil. Because everything happened so quickly, without thinking I reversed only to get more of an oil bath. I then quickly shut down engine and just stood still and stared at my bad investment for at least 30 minutes, no joke it was depressing seeing the damage I couldn't believe what had happened, I was oil soaked and just stood there. Finally broke out from that spell and took the cylinder off to assess the complete problem. I'll be surprised if I have half of the hydro in the tank.

I thought I would have this thing running until I retired with just a few hoses and regular maintanance such as oil/filter changes. Never thought the major components would fail this way due to manufacturing defects. I only split about 8 cords of wood a year.

BTW, I would never look for this thread if this problem never happened to me so there are many out there blind not knowing what could happen. Even by looking at the prone area it cannot be detected unless it's leaking or worse it just pops. I think that the 27 ton troy bilt log splitter is becoming a problem child and these problems need attention. The sad part is that troy bilt website says they are built to last. Last less than 6 years is the part they forgot.

 

['bert]

Could one of the mods do some sort of search for people that have the Troy Built splitters listed as part of their sig line and alert them to check this thread :-S Are there other splitters that use this same cylinder?

 

[fidiro]

Could one of the mods do some sort of search for people that have the Troy Built splitters listed as part of their sig line and alert them to check this thread :-S Are there other splitters that use this same cylinder?

I believe troy bilt, yardman, MTD, Craftsman, cub cadet are just to name a few but I'm not 100% sure. Anyone know different please correct me and add any missing.

It's been almost 48 hrs since I wrote Troy Bilt customer service and no response. Service sure is alot quicker taking the money to make the purchase.

 

[triptester]

If rewelding does not solve the problem another solution would be to replace the OEM cylinder ( $450.00 ) with almost any standard cylinder . Welded rear mount cylinders can be converted to front mount with 4 long rods and 2 plates. Tie-rod cylinders only require 4 new rods and 1 front plate.
Attached is a pic of a Cat cylinder that was shortened and changed for front mount.

 

[ANeat]

This one looks pretty close

https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?item=9-7849&catname;=