DR Rapid fire Log splitter???

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I watched the DR video and I do not think this a fair comparison at all. First the 34 ton had a 5 inch cylinder with more than likely a 16 gal pump. This would slow the splitter down to about 18 sec. cycles. If this were a 4 inch cylinder with a 16 gal pump, cycles would be almost half the time. Secondly and the biggest reason, is that they were using a splitter incapabable of carrying an easily removable 4 way wedge which more than doubles the efficiency of any hydro splitter. If I saw this video with the DR going up against a splitter with a 4 way, I'd be be better convinced. I now believe the 4 way that is able to be easily lifted off for those knarly pieces is an essential tool in traditional hydro wood splitting. In my mind and if they compared theirs to a horizontal hydro with a 4 way on the wedge, those piles would be more even. One of the biggest advantages the DR has over the hydro is the fuel consumed. That can mean alot if splitting much wood say in a commercial setting or even that guy who is making 20 or 30 cord per year. For the average Joe making 4 to 6 cord, even that becomes inconsequential.

 

[John_Mc]

Happenned upon this site by way of a search for inertia splitters. Just found a much better deal on the flywheel type splitter today. Speeco now manufactures the inertia splitters and they are sold at some of the Tractor Supply stores. Our store just got one in today and I am picking it up on Saturday for the bargain price of $1700.00

I'll be interested to see how that Speeco unit works out for you. It's certainly a lot less expensive than the SuperSplit or DR splitters. Speeco uses a 6 HP Kohler Courage engine, as compared to the Subaru Robin engine on the SuperSplit and DR Power splitters.

I didn't like the work table set up on the Speeco as well as that of the SuperSplit or DR's RapidFire... SS & DR work tables are a continuous, flat surface from the log cradle area to the exit table, making it easy to slide pieces back for re-splitting. Speeco has a separate log cradle to hold the logwhile splitting, then an exit table as a separate piece. Because of the mismatch, logs must be picked up rather than just slid back to get them positioned for re-splitting.

 

[tnttreeman]

The table isn't that much of an issue, though it would be nicer to just slide the log. For the $1000+ price difference to the super split, I'll lift the logs!

The splitter is working out great for me. WAY FASTER!! We did a side by side comparison yesterday with my hydraulic splitter using the four way wedge. We were splitting pin oak and had roughly the same size logs for both machines. Three guys working, we split and stacked a half cord of wood in 28 minutes flat with the hydraulic splitter. The inertia splitter on the same pile of wood took us 17 minutes and 36 seconds. We did a second half cord in almost exactly the same time with the inertia splitter, just to see if we were consistent. Within a few seconds, we were.

There are some down sides to this splitter, but not many and I love it.

 

[LD1]

The table isn't that much of an issue, though it would be nicer to just slide the log. For the $1000+ price difference to the super split, I'll lift the logs!

The splitter is working out great for me. WAY FASTER!! We did a side by side comparison yesterday with my hydraulic splitter using the four way wedge. We were splitting pin oak and had roughly the same size logs for both machines. Three guys working, we split and stacked a half cord of wood in 28 minutes flat with the hydraulic splitter. The inertia splitter on the same pile of wood took us 17 minutes and 36 seconds. We did a second half cord in almost exactly the same time with the inertia splitter, just to see if we were consistent. Within a few seconds, we were.

There are some down sides to this splitter, but not many and I love it.

Thats great to here.:thumbsup: Almost twice as fast as a hydraulic w/4-way:thumbsup: And at $1700, it looks like a lot more bang-fo-buck than the 2700-3000 DR's and SS's:thumbsup:

Do you have any up close pics of the speeco unit? Is it nearly identical to the SS and DR??? My only complaint about them two is the lack of highway axle/tires:confused2:

 

[LD1]

I just watched the video of the speeco on tsc's website.

Still not exactally what I would want in a splitter.

I really like that they used the DOT tires making it legal to tow.

However, that is the only thing I like better than the SS design.

I do NOT like the control. The two handed thing. I also do not like the log-cradle and table. The table needs to come all the way back like the SS design. To be able to just slide the peices back around for a re-split, instead of having to lift them back up and onto the lig cradle.

 

[IslandTractor]

I watched the DR video too. Nice looking unit but the marketing guys did stack the deck against the hyraulic splitter. If they had just used DR's own PTO powered dual action hydraulic splitter they would have had a much closer match and the advantage would be in the 20-30% range not 2.6x. That and the DR PTO splitter at $800 costs one third as much as the inertia model.

The inertia machines might make sense for commercial operations but for anyone doing less than commercial quanties of wood splitting a year it seems a dual action hydraulic splitter would be fine.

 

[tnttreeman]

LD1, I thought that I wasn't going to like the two handed control either, but figured I'd just modify it to one handed if it was a pain, but it isn't. In fact, it doesn't make any difference time wise and it actually forces you to stand in a safer place when splitting. What they don't show you on any of the videos is what can happen sometimes when you split knotty pieces. The majority of the time it will bust the wood like it's nothing, but there are times when it actually flips the log vertically and makes it spin right back into the cradle area. This happens faster than you can get out of the way of. With the positioning of the controls, you are out of the way and aren't getting hit with that flying piece.
As for the table, what ends up happening for me is that when I quarter the log, the bigger chunks are just in the way. The idea of sliding the piece back to you is great, but with the speed that the logs are going through, you don't want anything that is going to get in the way. When they are sitting on the table, half the time they get knocked off the end by the smaller pieces that are being split out of the quarters. Then you're picking them up off the ground at the end of the machine. Or, in our case, we have a hay elevator that the split pieces go onto and the quarters wind up on there and into the truck or on top of the pile they go. I normally have something sitting behind me and to my left that I can put the quarters on and easily bring them back to the machine when ready for them.
IslandTractor, you are right about the inertia splitter not being much of an advantage unless you are splitting commercial quantities of wood. But with the introduction of the Speeco splitter, it is the same or less money than some of the hydraulic splitters. My 35 ton Huskee splitter runs $1700 - 1800 new and can't keep up with my mecahanical one. The only advantage to it now is that it splits vertically and we can break up the big round pieces that we can't pick up to put on the inertia splitter.

 

[LD1]

LD1, I thought that I wasn't going to like the two handed control either, but figured I'd just modify it to one handed if it was a pain, but it isn't. In fact, it doesn't make any difference time wise and it actually forces you to stand in a safer place when splitting. What they don't show you on any of the videos is what can happen sometimes when you split knotty pieces. The majority of the time it will bust the wood like it's nothing, but there are times when it actually flips the log vertically and makes it spin right back into the cradle area. This happens faster than you can get out of the way of. With the positioning of the controls, you are out of the way and aren't getting hit with that flying piece.
As for the table, what ends up happening for me is that when I quarter the log, the bigger chunks are just in the way. The idea of sliding the piece back to you is great, but with the speed that the logs are going through, you don't want anything that is going to get in the way. When they are sitting on the table, half the time they get knocked off the end by the smaller pieces that are being split out of the quarters. Then you're picking them up off the ground at the end of the machine. Or, in our case, we have a hay elevator that the split pieces go onto and the quarters wind up on there and into the truck or on top of the pile they go. I normally have something sitting behind me and to my left that I can put the quarters on and easily bring them back to the machine when ready for them.
IslandTractor, you are right about the inertia splitter not being much of an advantage unless you are splitting commercial quantities of wood. But with the introduction of the Speeco splitter, it is the same or less money than some of the hydraulic splitters. My 35 ton Huskee splitter runs $1700 - 1800 new and can't keep up with my mecahanical one. The only advantage to it now is that it splits vertically and we can break up the big round pieces that we can't pick up to put on the inertia splitter.

Thanks for the feedback.

Is there any chance you can take the covers off and get a few up-close pics of the flywheels, rack and pinion, and the control???

 

[DAY]

My "Beer Powered" splitter is getting tired And I have been looking at videos of both the inertia machines and the hydraulics. The latter seem so slow I could take a nap between splits. On the flywheel machines, is there some sort of over-ride or slip clutch if that "unstoppable force" meets an "immovable object"? Replacing the rack and/or pinion looks expensive.

 

[LD1]

My "Beer Powered" splitter is getting tired And I have been looking at videos of both the inertia machines and the hydraulics. The latter seem so slow I could take a nap between splits. On the flywheel machines, is there some sort of over-ride or slip clutch if that "unstoppable force" meets an "immovable object"? Replacing the rack and/or pinion looks expensive.

Not sure on the DR and Speeco, but I assume they are the same as the Supersplit which uses a centrifigual clutch to drive the flywheels.

So if you ram stops, that means it has used up all the stored energy in the flywheels and they stop too. And the flywheels are belt driven off the centrifigual clutch. So the motor will not stall.

I have see other videos where some knotty peices take a couple of whacks with the ram. The ram stalls, and the operator simply lifts the handle up, the ram retracts, and it takes like 2 seconds for the flywheels to spool back up, and then whack it again:thumbsup: