Log splitter fix
Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2026 6:10 pm
My Brave splitter developed a leak in a line off the control valve. It took awhile to track it down but fixed it today. Where the valve is connected to the cylinder a fitting started leaking. Took it off the cylinder doped up the threads and installed. Thought I fixed it but after splitting a couple of logs it was squirting out. So took it off which is back in the woods and brought it to my shop. Where the fitting is threaded into the travel control it wouldn’t budge even using a cheater bar on the wrench. Decided to use my impact gun and snapped it off flush with the valve. Had to step away and think about this for a while. Not wanting to put out the big dollar for an new travel control valve, I decided to drill it out. It came out easy and still had most of the threads still in the valve. But I knew it would never hold up under pressure, if I just screwed in another nipple. I decided to use a coupling with a nipple on one side that screws into the cylinder and cut another nipple in half. Screwed it into the travel control valve and the other side into the coupling. Tightened it up just enough for alignment purposes and TIG welded it to the coupling to the valve. Coupling is steel, valve cast iron, so used nirod that I removed the flux from. I have to admit it’s not the prettiest weld, but it did hold . I didn’t want to repair it like this but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.