How many SuperSplit owners?

[panolo]

I love my SS and it has been flawless. With that said I will be upgrading in the future. I'm getting older and hate wrestling bigger rounds. I also don't like to noodle or switch my hydraulic to vertical. I'd love to have an eastonmade with the box wedge and 6 way. If the lead time was only a couple months I probably would have ordered one. With that said it has made me realize I'm not in a hurry and can look at other builders. I'd like this purchase to be my last.

 

[Circle B MN]

I love my SS and it has been flawless. With that said I will be upgrading in the future. I'm getting older and hate wrestling bigger rounds. I also don't like to noodle or switch my hydraulic to vertical. I'd love to have an eastonmade with the box wedge and 6 way. If the lead time was only a couple months I probably would have ordered one. With that said it has made me realize I'm not in a hurry and can look at other builders. I'd like this purchase to be my last.

The lead time for near all of em is a real bugger. At the same time the choice of quality vendors is rather limited. Took me this long to get where I am, might as well wait a few more months........119 days actually, but who's counting

 

[rwoods]

Personally, I don't own a SS and my experience is rather limited. Our firewood ministry owns 5, I think. We started with hydraulics and switch over after we got our first SS. We kept two NH 30 ton units for nasty stuff. We now also have a Timber Wolf and a Wolfe Ridge. When I ran our first SS years ago, I wasn't too impressed as it was awkward to move by yourself on rough ground and the split speed was offset by the gnarly ones. At the lot we learned to separate our wood and also moved up to the HD versions. I ran one today for an hour and had a few gnarly pieces thrown in my pile. Unlike before, I was impressed. So much so that I mentioned it at lunch. I was surprised to learn that they intend to sell one and one of the NH30 ton hydraulics to purchase another Timber Wolf or Wolfe Ridge (I forget which).

Ron

 

[CUCV]

I love my SS and it has been flawless. With that said I will be upgrading in the future. I'm getting older and hate wrestling bigger rounds. I also don't like to noodle or switch my hydraulic to vertical. I'd love to have an eastonmade with the box wedge and 6 way. If the lead time was only a couple months I probably would have ordered one. With that said it has made me realize I'm not in a hurry and can look at other builders. I'd like this purchase to be my last.

When I get older, I plan to give up wrestling bigger rounds. There is nothing enjoyable for me in handling large rounds. I deal with them as they are a biproduct of the tree removal work that I do. Getting large halves or 1/4 splits on the far side of the TW5 back to the log lift suck. Large rounds trash the TW5 production table. I've had a horz/vert splitter, large rounds on end are even worse than on their side. I had a skid steer inverted splitter, it was slow and messy. I built a screw splitter for my excavator, it had promise but was slow. My father pasted last year at 79. He has a very nice hydraulic splitter he built but hasn't used it in years. He has been using my electric SS for years and loaded large rounds with his skid steer.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Getting large halves or 1/4 splits on the far side of the TW5 back to the log lift suck. Large rounds trash the TW5 production table.

 

[panolo]

When I get older, I plan to give up wrestling bigger rounds. There is nothing enjoyable for me in handling large rounds. I deal with them as they are a biproduct of the tree removal work that I do. Getting large halves or 1/4 splits on the far side of the TW5 back to the log lift suck. Large rounds trash the TW5 production table. I've had a horz/vert splitter, large rounds on end are even worse than on their side. I had a skid steer inverted splitter, it was slow and messy. I built a screw splitter for my excavator, it had promise but was slow. My father pasted last year at 79. He has a very nice hydraulic splitter he built but hasn't used it in years. He has been using my electric SS for years and loaded large rounds with his skid steer.

Yep I have a skid steer splitter and it works nice to break apart the big rounds but you still have to finish them. I'd like a box wedge machine to run those through. I get a mix bag of wood and it is not uncommon to have 28"-48" rounds. Lots of firewood in those rounds so I don't want to waste them.

 

[pdqdl]

When I get older, I plan to give up wrestling bigger rounds. There is nothing enjoyable for me in handling large rounds. I deal with them as they are a biproduct of the tree removal work that I do. Getting large halves or 1/4 splits on the far side of the TW5 back to the log lift suck. Large rounds trash the TW5 production table. I've had a horz/vert splitter, large rounds on end are even worse than on their side. I had a skid steer inverted splitter, it was slow and messy. I built a screw splitter for my excavator, it had promise but was slow. My father pasted last year at 79. He has a very nice hydraulic splitter he built but hasn't used it in years. He has been using my electric SS for years and loaded large rounds with his skid steer.

Say! Tell me about that excavator with a screw splitter. I've been thinking about building one with my post-hole digger attachment.

I figure if I split a nice fat log lengthwise, then I have saved myself a bunch of heavy lifts onto the splitter. I don't like going to the vertical, either. 4' diameter rounds just suck to move by hand or noodle to size, and the screw splitter ought to be faster than noodling.
BTW: My excavator is a tiny little Kubota. It fits through a 4' wide gate, but has the necessary hydraulic valves to run the device. Volume is probably kinda low.

Kindly tell me more.

 

[CUCV]

I took high torque hydraulic wheel motor and mounted the "Stickler" screw splitter on it. It takes times on my 7000lbs excavator but does split relatively straight large diameter logs well. I was hoping it would split knotty wood better than it does but it stalls out the hydraulic motor. I can also screw in to the log just a bit and pick it up and move it around to stack quartered pieces. I either need to get a higher torque motor or a screw that isn't as wide as the "stickler". There are lots of screw splitter parts on Ebay "screw log splitter" I may buy the screw shown below and see if I have better luck. Complete units and can be purchased for $6500 plus.

I just finished building a grapple for my mini skid steer. I was going to build the whole thing but ended up buying half the pieces from BMG "Branch Manager Grapple" to speed up the project. The whole grapple can be purchased for $3000. This thing is definitely a game changer for large rounds and I would imagine it would be amazing on a excavator as well.

 

[Natster]

. I also have an electric J model that I may sell soon

I may be interested.
Nate

 

[burnses]

friend of mine couple years ago moved out of town and parked his electric ss junior next to my sugar house "this will be great for sugar wood".. I use a a2x6 evaporator so I split the wood small...By had for years....The ss does a great job...not sure how long he had it or used it. I had to go through it a tighten and lock tight a few things but its a great machine. I like that it is electric. I still split most stove wood by hand and use the ss on some of the harder stuff or like stringy wood that I would rather not split....The electric model is pretty quiet too as long as the return rubber bumpers are still intact...

the can

 

[fiasco]

I may be interested.
Nate

I'm way closer...interested in a trade for a 97 Volvo 850 GLT?

 

[Natster]

It's sold now... Learned by private msg.
N

 

[sirbuildalot]

When these go up for sale used they always sell very quickly. You have to have cash and trailer ready to go and be willing to leave and go there at that moment. Otherwise by the next morning 20 other guys will try to outbid you and convince the seller to hold it for them! If you’re one of those guys that likes to dicker on the price or ask a million questions, forget about finding a used Super Split.

 

[CUCV]

The buyer was super excited about the purchase, showed up on time, didn't flinch at the price or even try to dicker on the price.

I am so all set with the insulting dickering these day. I've sold 5 saws recently, 4 of which to one buyer. On his first trip out he negotiated a deal (less than asking) over the phone for 2 saws. I hate negotiating over the phone for items that will be picked up in person. We set up a time and told them I needed to leave for a family thing a half hour after the time and not to be late. Guy starts txting me when I needed to leave, I'm almost there. He shows up an hour late and offers me half of the negotiated price. I was very polite but not impressed and reminded him of the price. He was interested in other saws too but I hadn't researched values yet and he was offering parts saw values. So he left with the 2 saws. He kept txting about 2 other saws so I sent him the price of each saw after some research and he wanted one of them. He drove down again and offered me $50 less on the saw. I reminded him of the price. He then tried to get a package price on the 2 saws, no go and he went home with 1 saw. The next day he wanted the other saw and wanted me to meet him half way as it was a long drive. I was happy to tell him that I had already sold it. He has since come down to purchase a 4th saw and keeps txting me about a 5th.

 

[sevensandeights]

I saw a mint J model for sale in the Pittsburgh area on FB Marketplace yesterday. Seemed like a reasonable price.

Also watched an online auction north of Pittsburgh last Saturday. Had an older Super Split but not sure what version. It did have the standard work table and a Honda engine. Was modified with weird pieces welded on - seemed like they were there so it could be lifted with a sling. Plastic shroud was duct taped together and the unit looked well used overall. It brought $1000 plus a 12% buyer's premium. I was shocked.

 

[Natster]

One thing that's obvious about ss units. They hold their value.
Indication that they are well built.
N

 

[Hinerman]

How many SuperSplit owner do we have on the ArboristSite?
How long have you owned one?
Do you have a hydraulic unit also?

I have had my SS HD about 2 years (purchased 11/18). Wished I had bought it sooner.

I do have a hydraulic unit also, for 5+ years. It might be the first one Alex built with log lift and 4-way. I split big ones with the hydro and finish with the SS. Also use the hydro for elm, sweet gum, etc., which I seldom cut or take anymore.

If all you cut and split is small stuff (18" and under), the SS is the way to go. The smaller J-model is more than adequate.

 

[mr.finn]

Super split J model, Subaru engine(which I love) owner here. I bought it 5 or so years ago, I had the chance to go down and meet with Paul in person. I inherited an old hydraulic unit my dad bought years ago that split a lot of wood, I didn't think there was other options, until I found SS. This is the case of I wish I bought one of these years ago. When you get the right wood you save a lot of time(time you will need to now stack all that wood) I save anything crooked or ugly and put it on the Hydro.

 

[Natster]

I save anything crooked or ugly and put it on the Hydro

It seems to me that a good hydraulic splitter, and a supersplit work well together.
Use the hydraulic on knots, big ones, and finish with SS.
N

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Use the hydraulic on knots, big ones, and finish with SS.

I thought the same thing.
The reality for me was that became to much handling, and once on the hydraulic it was quicker to finish it there.
Sold the big hydraulic because I had over 10k in it, and tried to buy back my old splitter for twice the money.
It got the new owner of my old splitters attention, but he liked it and wouldn't let it go.
I just noodle if I need to, and the SSHD gobbles it up from there.