Not impressed

[CaseyForrest]

That special sweetener is high production.


Sent from a field

 

[sunfish]

I have not heard anyone on the ArboristSite that has bought, or used, a kinetic splitter bash them.

That pretty much says it All. lol

 

[muddstopper]

To me big wood is a PITA no matter type of machine you are using. The guy I took over my firewood business from had a Multitek 2040xp with an 8way wedge on it. It was a fantastic machine until you got into big wood. Once that happened, you would spend half your time hanging out the cab window with a pickaroon grabbing chunks to resplit. My back and arms would feel like Jello after a day doing that.

I dont do resplits until I stack, of course I am not stacking a 100 cords a year either. I just run the large rounds thru the 6way and let them pile up. As I stack, I just throw the big pieces to the side and then resplit them all at once. I think a kinetic spliter would have worked much faster for the resplits then my hydraulic splitter since most of those large pieces only needed one resplit.

I spent a few hours at different times, watching a big producer process his firewood. He had a Cordking processor, several different multi wedges he swapped out according to what size wood he was processing. With a large knuckle boom truck, he sorted his logs before processing. As the wood comes off the cordking wedge and drops on the conveyor, he had two smaller hyd splitters, one on each side of the conveyor and his workers would just pickoff the big pieces, respit them and let them drop back on the conveyor. His conveyor laid almost level as he was just filling bins and moving the bins to his kiln. He was shipping tractor trailer loads of wood out, but I dont know how many cords he produces a year. Would a SS speed up his production? Not sure it would. Things seemed pretty efficient and they where producing a large amount of wood. The guy is in his 70's. He only had himself and his son and I think might have been his grand daughter working at the processor. Dont know how many other employees he might of had, but I never saw more than three people at his wood yard. He also had a Builtright processor that he processed 4ft long rounds on. He sold those splits to a few local customers. I know when he was sorting his logs, he was real particular about what he set aside for the 4ft firewood. Never seen any real big wood being processed in 4ft pieces.

 

[OnTheRoad]

The SSHD with the Honda, work table, and tow hitch is $3,248 plus shipping. I wouldn't order it set up any other way. Add in shipping of $300 and you are $3,550 so I was exaggerating about it being 4k.

Any rate, if the thing needs a sealed bearing that wears out routinely, it should come with such, along with instructions regarding maintenance of said bearing and a pile of extra bearings IMO. That's a lot of money for a piece of equipment that requires end user hacks to serve it's duty.

Really though, I'm still interested in the SS and do appreciate this thread and the information provided.

 

[CaseyForrest]

I do agree that there are better options for the bearing... Not sure why Paul wont handle that on the production end, but its only a couple dollars to upgrade after the fact.

And look at it this way... Even a Ferrari requires "special" maintenance.

 

[mijdirtyjeep]

I do agree that there are better options for the bearing... Not sure why Paul wont handle that on the production end, but its only a couple dollars to upgrade after the fact.

And look at it this way... Even a Ferrari requires "special" maintenance.

Agreed and this is just not a SS only thing as even vehicle manufactures put stuff on there vehicles that should be of better design.

Case in point....
Why did my 2500hd Chevy come from the factory with a hitch only rated for 7500lbs (straight towing)? Reason is most will not exceed that and it is good enough.
Why did they not add airbags to the rear of the truck to handle pulling around 14,000lb dump trailers? Reason is most don't do that.
Why did they not put 100hp over stock EFI Live tunes on the truck from the factory? Cause most don't need or want that extra power.

I paid way more for my Duramax than I did for the SS only to spend way more money in aftermarket parts to make it the way I wanted than I did with the SS. That bearing is good enough for the vast majority of users that only split 5-10cords a year.

Also as far as the HD model goes, unless you have some nasty stringy crotchy wood you plan to split, I see no point in paying the extra for it over the J model. Even on the site, Paul mentions this. Now the Honda vs Subaru will always be a debate, but my little 6hp Subaru has pounded more wood out in the last 8 years of service than the average homeowner will in 40-80yrs! The only thing besides changing the oil once a year I have had to fix on it was the pull rope. I broke that trying to pull start so I could get Casey a pic of the bearing

 

[Sandhill Crane]

And I still say it should come with four wheels, and forklift tubes...

EDIT:
As mijdirtyjeep indicated, stock is...well, stock. It is where you begin...

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I bought my Timber Wolf 3HD with table grate, 4-way complete, for right at $3,500.00 NEW...

I've never stopped it, no matter how big a stringy crotch I roll onto the beam, everything goes right through the 4-way... Most rounds just need one time through, and I have four chunks of firewood.

It's been totally reliable and needs very little maintenance... We love the thing!

SR

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Sawyer Rob:
What is nice about the three point hook-up is you can raise it up to a comfortable working height. You might like it even more with an adjustable four-way.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I do raise the splitter up and down some, depending on where I want the beam to be. Or if I want the table grate a bit higher to drop the splits into a container ect. I can raise it up.. Best part is it's self propelled, I can drive it where I want it, even in soft ground, and I also use it to move wagons ect...

The 4-way has two adjustments for height now, but I leave it where you see it. That gives me the best size of splits, as my wife runs the wood stove quite a bit and she informed me "that's" the size splits "she" prefers... lol The folks I split for tell me the same thing.

We get a lot of bigger wood, so it's nice to be able to run the big chunks through the splitter a couple times and be done with it!

so the 4-way just stays in one place...

SR

 

[c5rulz]

I do raise the splitter up and down some, depending on where I want the beam to be. Or if I want the table grate a bit higher to drop the splits into a container ect. I can raise it up.. Best part is it's self propelled, I can drive it where I want it, even in soft ground, and I also use it to move wagons ect...

The 4-way has two adjustments for height now, but I leave it where you see it. That gives me the best size of splits, as my wife runs the wood stove quite a bit and she informed me "that's" the size splits "she" prefers... lol The folks I split for tell me the same thing.

We get a lot of bigger wood, so it's nice to be able to run the big chunks through the splitter a couple times and be done with it!

so the 4-way just stays in one place...

SR

Very nice,

I'd like to see a Super Split munch on a crotch like that.

 

[CaseyForrest]

I'd like the see the investment beyond the splitter to run a PTO driven splitter including the equipment needed to load that crotch onto the beam.

There is no direct comparison between the cost of just a 3 point timber wolf and a SS. Because the 3 point splitter isn't splitting anything without something to run it.

Never mind this thread isn't about comparing splitters.


Sent from a field

 

[Sawyer Rob]

The tractor running that splitter, I paid $3500 for it and it had a Howard rototiller on the 3 point. Over the years, I've made thousands of dollars doing custom tillage with that combo... Today a tractor like that will still sell for $3500 and the tiller is still worth a thousand dollars... Today the splitter/tractor is still making me money...

I cut all of my firewood logs over an wagon and roll the rounds right off the wagon onto the splitters beam... I "could" lower the splitter to the ground with the 3 point and roll the rounds onto the beam, but I prefer to do it the more efficient way of using the wagon.

SR

 

[Wowzer]

And I still say it should come with four wheels, and forklift tubes...
View attachment 562835
EDIT:
As mijdirtyjeep indicated, stock is...well, stock. It is where you begin...

that is a really nice setup. i though about making something like this but i need it to go down the hwy as well. but i could see this being really handy cutting and splitting in the bush.

 

[CaseyForrest]

The tractor running that splitter, I paid $3500 for it and it had a Howard rototiller on the 3 point. Over the years, I've made thousands of dollars doing custom tillage with that combo... Today a tractor like that will still sell for $3500 and the tiller is still worth a thousand dollars... Today the splitter/tractor is still making me money...

I cut all of my firewood logs over an wagon and roll the rounds right off the wagon onto the splitters beam... I "could" lower the splitter to the ground with the 3 point and roll the rounds onto the beam, but I prefer to do it the more efficient way of using the wagon.

SR

So your splitter actually cost you $7000. Because without the $3500 tractor, your splitter isn't splitting anything.

Just like if I bought a pro driven splitter and used my current tractor, my splitter investment would be what the splitter cost plus $24,000.

Plus your cost for your second tractor to hold wood over your wagon. Plus the wagon. And you didn't "roll" that crotch onto your splitter beam. So the second tractors cost needs to be factored into your splitter price.

We've been over this on another thread. You're making an apples to oranges comparison between the investment in your setup versus a super split in an attempt to posit the notion that the super split isn't worth the money. It's an entirely different animal designed to do something entirely different.

And again, never mind the fact this isn't a "help me pick a splitter" thread. If you have an idea that hasn't yet been mentioned on improving the bearing that rides on the beam under the rack on a super split, I'd love to hear it. Otherwise all you've done is take yet another opportunity to put forth the notion that your $3500 splitter only price that needs a tractor to actually make it split wood, while leaving out the cost of the tractor, is superior to a super split.


Sent from a field

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Well, I guess I could put the splitter on the tractor I paid $500 for, of maybe the one dad GAVE me?? Then what??

The wagon and other tractor have nothing to do with the splitter cost, as I could have backed right up to the round laying on the ground where I cut it out of the tree and rolled it on.

Do you include the price of everything you use to get your wood to your splitter in the cost of your splitter???

BTW, I didn't "imply" anything, I just told the cost of my splitter and have shown what it will do...

SR

 

[CaseyForrest]

Well, I guess I could put the splitter on the tractor I paid $500 for, of maybe the one dad GAVE me?? Then what??

But you aren't. You're using the one you paid $3500 for.

I'm not trying to get into a pissing war... I simply feel you are drawing an invalid comparison by attempting to suggest your splitter only cost you $3500. While technically it did, again, without a power unit its just going to sit there looking pretty. SO any direct cost comparison needs to include the cost of the power unit. When I state what my SS cost, I don't leave out the upcharge I paid for the Honda, or leave out the cost of the engine altogether.

The wagon and other tractor have nothing to do with the splitter cost,

Yes, they do. If they are a part of your splitting procedure, they most certainly do. Hence...

as I could have backed right up to the round laying on the ground where I cut it out of the tree and rolled it on.

That is the nice thing about having a mobile splitter. But again, you aren't doing that. You're using a second tractor to hold logs and pull a wagon. And again, you aren't "rolling" that crotch anywhere by hand. Let alone picking it up by hand. That crotch got onto the beam using a piece of equipment. If you are going to tout the abilities of a piece of equipment in a direct cost comparison by posting a picture of it splitting something you can't pick up by hand, then you need to include the cost of the machine you had to use to get the wood onto the beam of the splitter. Anything less is disingenuous.

Do you include the price of everything you use to get your wood to your splitter in the cost of your splitter???

No, because the cost of my splitter doesn't require anything else for it to run. $3400 gets me a machine I can start and put wood on. $3500 got you a splitter you needed to add a tractor to in order to start splitting. And that's my only point.... You MUST include that cost if you are going to have an accurate comparison. If you were using the tractor you got for free, it would be a moot point. But you aren't, so don't play hypothetical. HOWEVER, it still would not remove the fact something of value needs to power your splitter or its not splitting anything.

A more accurate comparison would be the smaller TW splitter, the TW P1 or P2. And I know for a fact the SS will out split the P1 using a 4 way slip on.

Saws, safety gear and misc tools are a given and standard across all manners of firewood producers whether they be dabblers or commercial.

BTW, I didn't "imply" anything, I just told the cost of my splitter and have shown what it will do...

SR

You've made the implication in the past. And since this thread has absolutely nothing to do with "find me a new splitter" there was 0 point in you posting a picture of your splitter, stating the price, and showing that your splitter will split something that you needed another machine to pick it up and place it on the beam.

I can't fit your splitter under the rack on my SS and use it as a bearing. Thats what this thread is about... The bearing under the rack that rides on the beam.

I stated this the last time you attempted this comparison... I wish I had the resources to run your operation... You have it down and it works. I'm envious of not only the amount of time you have to devote to it, but your abilities. My tractor will only pick up about a 1/4 cord of wet wood.... And palletizing didn't work out for me as Id hoped...

But lets keep the comparisons, at least, in the same ball park.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Ooooh yawn... I guess I'll get my FREE tractor out of the barn, put the splitter on it, lower the 3 point and roll a round on the beam and split it "just for you!"... ha ha ha

Maybe I'll get a beaver to drop the tree and a woodpecker to hammer out the rounds, so you don't try to include my chainsaw in the price too!! I better go barefoot too, as my boots weren't FREE either!! ha ha ha

SR

 

[mijdirtyjeep]

Update and back on topic. Ran cords 19,20 & 21 through the splitter and the bearing is still rolling just as good as the day I put it on there.

Might get the new wood flooring in the house wrapped up today so I can get away to the woodyard and get another cord or two split this weekend! That's if the wife does not expect me to get the subway tile backsplash installed this weekend. Ugh, I have a new found respect for flooring installers!

 

[Guswhit]

I know what you mean about flooring. When I got this laid, I still had to sand it and then finish it. Darn slave driving women anyway.