Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[MossRoad]

That is, I think, the key. The DR 22 ton "equivalent" has a single 55 pound flywheel. The 34 ton "equivalent" has twin 75s. 50% more (claimed) splitting power with 3 times the mass. But the 22 ton is the biggest they make with an electric motor.

I don't know about other flywheel splitters but the DR has 2 handles that have to be moved and held to let the ram fly. Yes, I suppose if you were working with others they might put their hands where they shouldn't but working alone it isn't possible unless you chose to tie up the one handle. And no way I would try to hold a piece of wood in position with the flywheel splitter like I do with the slow 10 ton hydraulic.

I've not seen the super split but I don't think the DR 22 ton RF is as well made as the dual action 10 ton. The frame is quite sturdy but they have it on little tiny wheels and the instructions say not to tow it any faster than 3 MPH and it isn't road rated (the larger ones are at 35 MPH). OK, for my uses I wouldn't move it any faster anyway. But I had to buy the tow arm separate, still paid for the standard leg since that is how they are sold, and moving it without the garden tractor wasn't so easy. The dual action has a support wheel up front with a screw jack to raise and lower. Much easier to maneuver in and out of storage. And the RF (all if them I think) have big plastic shielding around the working parts that require a fair bit of time to remove the bolts and nuts (minimally 6, 10 to get both off using two 9/16 wrenches) that hold the 2 sides together to get inside for greasing which they expect every 5 hours of use. Then of course a similar amount of time to reassemble. I think that is a poor design, they could have held those pieces together with turn buttons.

Boy, that's a poor design if you have to access it every 5 hours.

 

[bruceha2000]

There are a couple of grease fittings inside. Don't know how often one would REALLY have to grease them. The rack can be pulled out to grease. Didn't like the fact that the instructions show the 2 zerks but one is totally inaccessible until you pull the rack forward. They didn't mention that, I happened to get lucky to figure it out. Not that I used/kept the machine long enough to HAVE to grease them. But I did do the accessible one before I started to use it. Figured it was best to do so.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

A SS is quite a bit cheaper than a TW5, but my TW3HD will split faster than a TW5 and cost close to the same $$ as the SS I looked at.

But, the TW3HD goes on the back of a tractor.

SR

 

[4570Man]

Does the TW3HD come with with all the stuff required to PTO power it?

 

[John_Mc]

That is, I think, the key. The DR 22 ton "equivalent" has a single 55 pound flywheel. The 34 ton "equivalent" has twin 75s. 50% more (claimed) splitting power with 3 times the mass. But the 22 ton is the biggest they make with an electric motor.

Both the SuperSplit J model (twin 75# flywheels) and the SuperSplit HD model (twin 90# flywheels - it was bumped up from 75# in 2012) are available in electric models.

I don't know about other flywheel splitters but the DR has 2 handles that have to be moved and held to let the ram fly. Yes, I suppose if you were working with others they might put their hands where they shouldn't but working alone it isn't possible unless you chose to tie up the one handle. And no way I would try to hold a piece of wood in position with the flywheel splitter like I do with the slow 10 ton hydraulic.

Every SuperSplit I've seen operates via a lever operated by one hand. Most of what I've seen are more than 5 years old. I suppose it's possible the safety police have gotten on them since then, but the videos on their web site show one-handed operation.

 

[John_Mc]

A SS is quite a bit cheaper than a TW5, but my TW3HD will split faster than a TW5 and cost close to the same $$ as the SS I looked at.

But, the TW3HD goes on the back of a tractor.

SR

Yeah, Timber Wolf is the gold standard of splitters. They used to be located just down the road from me in Rutland, VT. They were sold not too long ago, and are now in Marathon, NY (south of Syracuse). Here's hoping the new owners keep up the great designs.

 

[John_Mc]

I finally got a chance to use the new-to-me toy (er... I mean "tool") a few weeks ago. I bought this Metavic M95 forwarding trailer from a guy who was selling it a couple of hours from me here in VT. This was a staged demonstration at a conserved, working forest I own jointly with 15 other families in the area. One of the landowners is a professor at UVM. She brought her class down to volunteer splitting wood for our local firewood donation program, and to hear from the owners about the unique ownership structure of the land, and what our goals were. I brought my forwarding trailer over for a demonstration, which touched off a discussion of the advantages of forwarding over skidding.



This was the first log I had ever lifted with this trailer. With the cold snap we're currently experiencing, I'm hoping the ground will freeze up enough to get it out in my woods (and hopefully get a lot better at operating it than I was here).

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

I wonder about the long term durability of even the heavy duty kenitic splitters. Can anybody shed some light on that?

 

[Oldpath05]

I finally got a chance to use the new-to-me toy (er... I mean "tool") a few weeks ago. I bought this Metavic M95 forwarding trailer from a guy who was selling it a couple of hours from me here in VT. This was a staged demonstration at a conserved, working forest I own jointly with 15 other families in the area. One of the landowners is a professor at UVM. She brought her class down to volunteer splitting wood for our local firewood donation program, and to hear from the owners about the unique ownership structure of the land, and what our goals were. I brought my forwarding trailer over for a demonstration, which touched off a discussion of the advantages of forwarding over skidding.

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This was the first log I had ever lifted with this trailer. With the cold snap we're currently experiencing, I'm hoping the ground will freeze up enough to get it out in my woods (and hopefully get a lot better at operating it than I was here).

Sweat, trailer logging is the best, gotta say I'd love to have that one looks just the right size for my tractor. Wonder what something like that cost? You probably got a good deal when factoring in the good neighbor discount, now show it hooked up to the tractor, after it warms up.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Those forwarding trailers are really nice, but too pricy for me, I have to buy these $100.00 versions,

Throw some bunks on one and you can haul one he!! of a load of logs!

SR