DR Rapid Fire Rack & Pinion
- Thread starter VTWoodChucker
- Start date
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OK...Let me get this straight...Paul and his father before built such a great machine, that your high budget commercial operation is going to do him the "favor" of mass producing his machine under your own name, while taking away from his own business....? That sounds AWESOME...!! Why change what we can copy for free...?
Needless to say, your morals and business ethics greatly differ from my own.
Better you than the Chinese...? :msp_thumbdn:
DR will make a product that will be in the same price range as SS , the Chinese will be much cheaper .
Some basic band saw mill are starting to pop up that are made in China , a lot cheaper than similar designed quality North American made models in which most of these mills look the same .
A 330 conibear trap looks like any other 330 regardless of who or where it was made but they're not all the same so users buy what works for them , there are many other examples of this .
I'm not defending DR and have no affiliation with them or any of their products but it is a free market .
Just sayin .
Some basic band saw mill are starting to pop up that are made in China , a lot cheaper than similar designed quality North American made models in which most of these mills look the same .
A 330 conibear trap looks like any other 330 regardless of who or where it was made but they're not all the same so users buy what works for them , there are many other examples of this .
I'm not defending DR and have no affiliation with them or any of their products but it is a free market .
Just sayin .
I'm all for free market, and understand there are only but so many ways to make a nail, a hanger, spoon, etc. Common items. If DR, or anybody else for that matter, wants to produce a rack style splitter I'm all for. I am not for reverse engineering a product and calling it your own.
While the SS is a great machine, it is flawed. Had DR or another manufacturer taken the time to really study the product, talk to some owners, use it for a year or two, they would have been able to address the issues and build an even better machine. The SS doesn't need a new cam design, and handles aren't going to do much to change the fact the the thing is a pig to move any more than a few yards. Everyone keeps trying to move the machine from the end that the wood comes off of. Turn it around. Let me tow it from the engine end so I can back it right up to my truck or conveyor and get to work without monkeying around with handle, tow bars, jacks, etc. Make some real changes to the machine, and you will have a product worthy of putting your name on.
While the SS is a great machine, it is flawed. Had DR or another manufacturer taken the time to really study the product, talk to some owners, use it for a year or two, they would have been able to address the issues and build an even better machine. The SS doesn't need a new cam design, and handles aren't going to do much to change the fact the the thing is a pig to move any more than a few yards. Everyone keeps trying to move the machine from the end that the wood comes off of. Turn it around. Let me tow it from the engine end so I can back it right up to my truck or conveyor and get to work without monkeying around with handle, tow bars, jacks, etc. Make some real changes to the machine, and you will have a product worthy of putting your name on.
MNGuns , I see your point and agree , it just wasn't as clear in your earlier posts (could have been just me ) .
I think you're ideas on making the machine better are spot on , may be SS or DR are paying attention because innovation is important .
I think you're ideas on making the machine better are spot on , may be SS or DR are paying attention because innovation is important .
sunfish
Fish Head
I also can't stand the "reverse engineering" knock-off stuff we commonly see coming out of China.
Maybe this is a good opportunity for Paul at SS to bring out a 'New Model'. Just sayin...
Maybe this is a good opportunity for Paul at SS to bring out a 'New Model'. Just sayin...
And while we're at it, I think the "New Model" should have a torsion axle with 15" tires, rated for hiway travel and a set of brake lights. While it will make for a longer, wider machine, it will also make it more solid and allow easier travel from woodlot to woodlot. I have a picture in my head were somebody interested to see it...
sunfish
Fish Head
And while we're at it...
This speaks volumes about the quality and design of the Super Split.
I'll also add, the customer service from Paul at SS is stellar!
And the heavy duty model SS has a 6hp motor, same as the new DR. But it's not needed, as mine has 4hp and it's more than enough...
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Not meaning to hijack this thread but did you have a thread on this build ?
Cmccul8146
ArboristSite Member
dancan, at the time that I built my splitter, there was a thread on here entitled " Anyone try to build a Super Splitter" Here's a link to it.
http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/111335-2.htm
Pictures on page 3, I think. I finished it in Jan. 2010, except for flywheel covers,which I still have not put on it. As I am the only one who runs it, I'm in no rush to make them at all. I did upgrade to one of the Greyhound 6.5 hp motors from Harbor Freight, but the old 38 yr old 3 hp I started with was plenty motor for it. Upgraded to get the bigger fuel tank & fuel shut off valve. Old motor had a 1 quart tank & any fuel left in it after splitting was GONE next time I was ready to split. Evaporation ,or leaking into engine I don't know, but that's not an issue anymore. Mine is built based on the SS, but was basically built from memory of one I'd seen at a demo 3 years earlier. Quite a few differences in mine & the SS, but same basic principal.
As far as log splitters go, I would have to say that is a fairly original idea certain not to be copied....:msp_thumbup:
Locust Cutter
Sawing for Sanity
And while we're at it, I think the "New Model" should have a torsion axle with 15" tires, rated for hiway travel and a set of brake lights. While it will make for a longer, wider machine, it will also make it more solid and allow easier travel from woodlot to woodlot. I have a picture in my head were somebody interested to see it...
"Highway capable" shouldn't mean 30mph,... If I'm not splitting at my house, my closest "Large scale cutting area" is about 47 miles away. I shouldn't have to (VERY) carefully load a splitter on a trailer, to transport it out there to the wood. I also don't think I should have to pay TW/Built-rite/Split-right/etc prices, just to get that convenience. The a fore mentioned splitters are wonderful machines, if that's what your looking for. My Speeco has busted the biggest rounds that I've ever dared to put under it. I would like to have a flywheel splitter for less than 100lb pieces, to speed up the process, in order to have more time with my babies. I just don't have $3500 laying around right now for a SS HD model. If the DR model is about as good as an SS for a lesser cost (copy or not) I may end up buying it. I'm all for integrity and ingenuity, but I'm also grounded in the reality of my finances, or lack thereof. If I could find a SS style splitter, built to the same standards/material quality, with the changes that MN and I have referenced for $1800-2500 max, with a sufficient powerplant and slightly heavier flywheels, (mid-western knotty hardwood), I'd buy it in a heartbeat. I do apologize for the run-on sentence.
sunfish
Fish Head
The Super Split J model was right around $2800 to my door. Paul said I didn't need the HD model and he was right. 4.5hp is more than enough for this splitter. The J is $2330, plus $274 for the table. Shipping was right around $200.
