Hardlife tree shear

Ruston3w

Member
Location
south suffolk
Hello, I bought a shear as above a couple of years ago for our 7 tonner, it was sold as being good for up to 8" depending on pressure and of course material it was working with. It never really performed as we hoped and I always end up with a man with a saw in attendance as well. I meant to get back to them but then we finished that job and it's mostly been used on smaller stuff since anyway. I also figured the first question would be what pressure are we running at.
So to now, got round to checking pressure and the relief valve is set at 4000psi, this seemed plenty to me but on looking at their website they are talking way over that. Question is, does anybody reckon to run at 4500 or above ? that sounds like hard work and storing up trouble long term on the machine to me?
I see other makes supply more than one cylinder option to make the best of their shear depending on working pressure, I didn't realize different makes of digger ran such different pressure>

Richard.
 

Goweresque

Member
Location
North Wilts
I would say that expecting to cut 8" with a 7 tonner was stretching the capabilities a bit. I have a grab on a 14 tonner and its capacity is about 8" in hardwood, max 10" in soft stuff like willow.

The other thing to remember is that you can cut through a thicker stem easier if there isn't the weight above pushing down on the blade acting as a brake. So if you cut thicker stems in two stages, taking out the top first then cutting at the thicker lower level afterwards you may find the blade goes through easier.
 

Ruston3w

Member
Location
south suffolk
Sorry I wasn't very clear, yes I agree with the 8" bit, but this one doesn't really cope with 6", even if you gnaw it off then try and trim the stump after. The hardlife cuts both sides so we can put a cut on both sides of bigger stuff but still very unimpressive.
 
Sorry I wasn't very clear, yes I agree with the 8" bit, but this one doesn't really cope with 6", even if you gnaw it off then try and trim the stump after. The hardlife cuts both sides so we can put a cut on both sides of bigger stuff but still very unimpressive.
First things first you need to know what pressure you're digger is producing on the aux line. 4000psi is 275bar i think. 275 bar is about the max any 8 ton digger will produce from the hyd pump but most aux lines have their own relief valve factory set much lower, typically not much over 200bar. You probably need local hydraulics place out with gauges to check and adjust. Do not interfere with pump but you can up the aux line pressure.
What digger is it on?
 

Ruston3w

Member
Location
south suffolk
First things first you need to know what pressure you're digger is producing on the aux line. 4000psi is 275bar i think. 275 bar is about the max any 8 ton digger will produce from the hyd pump but most aux lines have their own relief valve factory set much lower, typically not much over 200bar. You probably need local hydraulics place out with gauges to check and adjust. Do not interfere with pump but you can up the aux line pressure.
What digger is it on?
Exactly, we have 4000psi on the aux. line , but hardlife talk about 4600(I think it was) I couldn't imagine anything running that high, hence the question. I wanted to know what others have found before I ring them.
 
Exactly, we have 4000psi on the aux. line , but hardlife talk about 4600(I think it was) I couldn't imagine anything running that high, hence the question. I wanted to know what others have found before I ring them.
No chance an 8 tonner is gonna give that pressure. Might not be what you want to hear but this is why the likes of hardlife are cheaper than tmk etc.
 

Ruston3w

Member
Location
south suffolk
Sure but does any machine run at 4600psi? Seems like there is no chance anything will be set above 4000, but if there is it follows the shear could be run with a cylinder with 10% bigger surface area to give designed max cutting force?
 
Sure but does any machine run at 4600psi? Seems like there is no chance anything will be set above 4000, but if there is it follows the shear could be run with a cylinder with 10% bigger surface area to give designed max cutting force?
End of the day they likely design shear and ram geometry/sizing so that their fabrication work can stand the forces developed. If you fit a bigger ram it will likely tear itself to bits. The extra 600psi allows them to quote a bigger cutting force knowing full well it'll probably never be produced but it gets them sales. As i say they are cheaper for a reason.
 

Goweresque

Member
Location
North Wilts
Does your shear have a 'sweet spot' for cutting on? Mine has a bit of a swept curve on the left (as you sit in the cab) which is where the manufacturer recommends placing the stem for best cutting capacity. I've noticed that if I try to cut stems right out on the point of the blade it struggles to match the capacity of cuts taken on the left of the blade. Mine also has a small mini blade on the left crab claw as well so that it cuts the back of the stem a bit too and aids with getting a clear cut.
 

Ruston3w

Member
Location
south suffolk
Thanks for all the input, yes there is room for a size bigger barrel, will it be too much? well if anyone said they were running over 4000psi then I would feel braver about the cylinder job. I will have a word with hardlife and see what they say but it seems odd to me they would really quote 4600 if there isn't a machine anywhere that can achieve that pressure. We don't need to get to 200mm, that's why I thought this shear would do us(and I like the grab capabilities over a single sided jaw).
 

Fendtbro

Member
A cat 308 track drive pressure is 4600 psi.. can the d/a circuit not be increased to this pressure? The only reason excavators are so powerful is their high working pressures with the fairly small rams. The 13 tonners run at over 5k psi for most functions.
 

KB6930

Member
Location
Borders
My experience of this type of shear tells me they do seem to struggle a lot to get anywhere near claimed cutting capacity.

Your biggest mistake was keeping it . We had a grab type and it was sent back after 2hrs chewing through some small stuff nowhere near the 300mm claimed size . Replaced it with an OMEF claw type and it flys through the timber
 

Ruston3w

Member
Location
south suffolk
So If I have to start again, will a single sided shear pick up and cut to length , as we do with this one or do I need to stay with double sided? It seems the single jaw simply cut better for the weight? A rotator would be very handy as well.....
 

Robert K

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Essex
Speak to Nick @NCD equipment about a TMK
So If I have to start again, will a single sided shear pick up and cut to length , as we do with this one or do I need to stay with double sided? It seems the single jaw simply cut better for the weight? A rotator would be very handy as well.....
 

KB6930

Member
Location
Borders
So If I have to start again, will a single sided shear pick up and cut to length , as we do with this one or do I need to stay with double sided? It seems the single jaw simply cut better for the weight? A rotator would be very handy as well.....
How do you mean pick up and cut to length?

If I cut down a 40ft tall tree that I need to travel a bit to stack it I'll usually drop it to the ground reach over the top as far as I can cut it again pull back cut again so I'm getting 3 or 4 bits grab them all then pile them .

We've got one that you can't take the blade out of but I'm sure the MDE shear had a bolt in blade

Rotor would be the business I'm having a fair hassle just now clearing trees off fence lines with it after last week's storm as I'm starting at the wrong end of the tree
 

Ruston3w

Member
Location
south suffolk
How do you mean pick up and cut to length?

If I cut down a 40ft tall tree that I need to travel a bit to stack it I'll usually drop it to the ground reach over the top as far as I can cut it again pull back cut again so I'm getting 3 or 4 bits grab them all then pile them .

We've got one that you can't take the blade out of but I'm sure the MDE shear had a bolt in blade

Rotor would be the business I'm having a fair hassle just now clearing trees off fence lines with it after last week's storm as I'm starting at the wrong end of the tree
This one tends to twist small stuff rather than cut it once it's on the ground. You stack with yours ok?
 

KB6930

Member
Location
Borders
This one tends to twist small stuff rather than cut it once it's on the ground. You stack with yours ok?
Small stuff you need a few bits of it to grab it again .

I'm talking about making big stacks for the chipper coming in I'm cutting anything from mixed woodland from scrub to as big as the shear will cut it's only for feeding biomass boilers so just cutting what we can ourselves
 

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