Hydraulic reservoir

Thirty some years ago I built a logsplitter using a piece of 3X6 rectangular tube for the combination axle/reservoir. It was never large enough, capacity wise, and I put the return too close to the fill pipe/ breather. Consequently, the oil would foam and burp out of the breather. I bought a 6X6 piece of rec tube soon after the mistake manifested itself, but am just now getting around to fabricating a new axle. Do I need a breather in the system? If so, how far from the return line? I have a suction strainer that I bought years ago also. Should this lay horizontally beneath the oil level or vertically? If vertically, I assume it would have to be totally immersed. Any other suggestions would be welcomed and appreciated. The 8 hp Kohler bolts to a plate on the axle assembly and the beam assembly also fastens to the axle. Thanks...

It will need a breather - unless you want the possibility of a collapsed or split tank.

The strainer must always be covered by a good ''layer of oil - think water going down the bath plug

IME further from the return the better.

It's only a personal thing but I prefer vertical positioning of strainers.

I made several the same way, My breathers were commersial fill caps, like a gas or radiator cap, with a screen below it. Breather should eliminate air from top of oil in tank.
Return line should be as far away from pump inlet as possible, or put a baffle in the tank, to restrict oil from going immediatly from the return -into the inlet, not having a chance to cool. Return line should return to tank, below oil level, to eliminate splashing and foaming.
The suction strainer will have to be totally submersed, horizontly on bottom better, You'll have to make some provision to get it back out , to clean and service.
The last few I built, I used a 6" x 10" x 3/8" wall piece of tube. The tank was the main beam, to which I attached the cylinder & wedge. This made the tank higher, allowing gravity feed into the pump.
Iused to use Ford [PINTO] engines. Everyone crabbed about them being to heavy,But when was the last time you saw someone dragging a log splitter back into the woods by hand. The good part was plenty of power, and a good place to warm your hands, in front of the radiator. DAVE [ACME THREAD]

We built one the same way, using 6" thick-wall pipe. I think you do want to have a breather; all we did was weld a coupler on the top of the pipe, drilled a hole in the pipe inside the coupler, than put a brass plug on it with a small hole drilled in the side under the wrench flats. The hole doesn't need to be very big, so a screen is probably overkill.

I dislike the suction strainers. You never know when to service them. I took apart a hydraulic system I had built several years ago and the reservoir would hardly drain. The strainer had a relief valve but if the valve was opened by the pump, there would be no straining taking place. A good return filter with a gauge would do better.

I like both a return filter and suction strainer ,......... pulled too many foreign objects out of hyd tanks

You really should stop hiding the bodies in there.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh!