Flywheel/Kinetic Log Splitters

[wolfe64]

After 40or so years of hand splitting firewood, I am looking at getting a log splitter. I am intrigued by the flywheel or kinetic log splitters. Does anyone have experience with this kind of log splitter? Issues, recommendations will be very much appreciated. thank you.

 

[mark cline]

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I like this one , It works great but no fun after you loose your fingers...............

 

[ElmBurner]

Generally, it goes like this:

Pros: They are fast and generally pretty light weight. Some run on an electric motor, so you can get one that is quiet too.

Cons: They sometimes get stuck where a hydraulic splitter would not and they tend to be expensive, since they are produced at a relatively low volume (as compared to everyone and their mother making a hydraulic splitter).

You might have better luck getting opinions in the gear forum.

 

[wolfe64]

Generally, it goes like this:

Pros: They are fast and generally pretty light weight. Some run on an electric motor, so you can get one that is quiet too.

Cons: They sometimes get stuck where a hydraulic splitter would not and they tend to be expensive, since they are produced at a relatively low volume (as compared to everyone and their mother making a hydraulic splitter).

You might have better luck getting opinions in the gear forum.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[byQ]

The Supersplit brand is the best - the others are not as well built. Yes price is an issue. You will be paying about 3 times the $$$$ as you would for a hydraullic 22-ton gas splitter that is on sale.

And speed is good but it is also more dangerous. But I would still get a Supersplit if I had the extra $$$.

 

[Lakeside]

Hi ,

I have a Supersplit J model electric four years old . As far spliting goes I have been able to go thru most of it, 28 inch dia. Red Oak 1 hit , CrapApple was a different story 3/4 hits . Pro"s - quite , low maintenance & made in USA. Con"s- price and only available horizontal.

There are many other versions of this spliter now. If you do decide to get one , one way to save is to purchase direct from Supersplit during the Mass Tax free holidays at the end of the summer if you can wait that long.

Good luck on your journey !

 

[dznam]

After 40or so years of hand splitting firewood, I am looking at getting a log splitter. I am intrigued by the flywheel or kinetic log splitters. Does anyone have experience with this kind of log splitter? Issues, recommendations will be very much appreciated. thank you.

I've got the heavy duty model super split (lheavier flywheels, higher HP) and would have bought one years ago if I had only known how fast it gets the job done. It really takes a couple of guys (one moving quickly to feed it) to make it productive. I split 8 cords of white/red oak this past fall in about 8 hours - I had a fast moving young buck switching off with me to feed it. I am told that there are a number of large volume of firewood sellers in Mass. that use this as their primary means of splitting - they do north of 100 cords/machine/year!

On that pile of oak there may have been 4-5 logs that I had to hit twice - really gnarly-grained stuff. I think the non-HD model is plenty, but I like overkill! The service is outstanding and they will try to talk you down to the regular model if you say you want the HD and for all practical purposes, they're right (unless you're splitting locust all the time, I suppose)! I wouldn't buy anything but the original "Supersplit" brand (in the kinetic model category).

Every so often you have to lube the pinion gear and clear the bark, etc that builds up over time. The RAM is quite a bit faster than hydraulic, so I suppose it's a bit more dangerous, but it's not so fast that it "feels" dangerous. I would NOT be tempted to reposition the log as the ram moves down the rail as you might do on a hydraulic machine. No close calls yet, even when working fast.

The machine is lighter than a hydro and with the large floatation tires is very easy to move around.

That said, if you split alone, the extra productivity of this machine would go to waste - you might be better off with a hydraulic unit, at a fraction of the price.

 

[Sprinter]

How much do you have to split in a year, and what species, and how large are the rounds? Seems to me that if you have been splitting by hand for this long, a smallish hydraulic splitter would be just fine depending on the above factors. The favorite around here seems to be the ubiquitous 22-ton models.

In fact, many here including myself find that a 5-ton electric splitter is just the ticket, but YMMV of course.

 

[mike van]

Hi ,

I have a Supersplit J model electric four years old . As far spliting goes I have been able to go thru most of it, 28 inch dia. Red Oak 1 hit , CrapApple was a different story 3/4 hits . Pro"s - quite , low maintenance & made in USA. Con"s- price and only available horizontal.

There are many other versions of this spliter now. If you do decide to get one , one way to save is to purchase direct from Supersplit during the Mass Tax free holidays at the end of the summer if you can wait that long.

Good luck on your journey !

I just have to ask, how does one get a 28" oak round up onto a Supersplit?

 

[sportbikerider78]

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I like this one , It works great but no fun after you loose your fingers...............

That is terrifying.
When you work around heavy equipment your entire life you either learn to respect it or you get complacent. This guy is the latter.

 

[Lakeside]

I just have to ask, how does one get a 28" oak round up onto a Supersplit?

My staging area allows me to have my supersplit equal to ground level. The ground slopes down to the lake and I have a raised pad with those large concert blocks. Just roll the big boys over and wack-em. This was a real back saver with the very large honey locust from a few years back.

 

[woodhog73]

I just have to ask, how does one get a 28" oak round up onto a Supersplit?

I was about to ask the same question. I don't bother lifting that big stuff anymore I just noodle it in half. Or in 1/3 rd pieces if they are approaching 30 inches . Not that I could ever lift a piece of oak that large anyways.

 

[Newburnerwisconsin]

After 40or so years of hand splitting firewood, I am looking at getting a log splitter. I am intrigued by the flywheel or kinetic log splitters. Does anyone have experience with this kind of log splitter? Issues, recommendations will be very much appreciated. thank you.

Stay away from the DR flywheel splitters. I rented one one weekend last march....the quality was really poor. The belts kept coming off the flywheel. The machine is built in Vietnam. The best part about it is the Subaru engine. Even the DR dealer told me they were having a lot of repairs on those splitters. I also considered the Supersplit....however after looking at price and shipping costs, I bought a 27 ton hydraulic ariens instead. I split about 8 to 10 cords a year with that splitter and I am very happy with it. It comes with a Subaru engine and a full three year warranty and local dealer support. I can toe it behind the pick-up and split with it vertically or horizontally. No need to break your back lifting large rounds on to the Supersplit. The ariens is not as fast as the supersplit, however by the time I grab another log from the pile the wedge is contracted and ready to go again. I bought mine at a local Ariens dealer and they set it up and put the oils in at no extra charge. I know I made the right choice. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Knots]

That is terrifying.
When you work around heavy equipment your entire life you either learn to respect it or you get complacent. This guy is the latter.

I can not understand how that guy got to be that old and still have all his fingers doing that. I cringed when he swept his hand through to get the chips out of the way.

 

[webby3650]

I have a speeco kinetic splitter and I love it! I bought off of craigslist for $700 and it had some custom work done to it. I used to think these splitters weren't worth it. I had trouble keeping up with a hydro splitter! The difference is that you aren't waiting on the slow travel from 24" down to 18" splits. There is a lot of wasted time with hydro splitters. I do agree with the statement above that if you don't have help then the kinetic splitter won't be a big time saver. It's still a time saver, just probably not worth the extra money for a new one. I was lucky to find a used one.

 

[jrod770]

I HAD a supersplit and my back does not miss it at all. You either have to break your back to load onto the table or you end up wasting all of your supposed time savings noodling splits down to a reasonable size to lift. As far as speed goes, it is not that much faster than my new hydro, especially on the nasty splits that you have to end up hitting twice with the supersplit. When you factor that in, there is no time savings.

 

[kennyp2339]

If I was guaranteed to have logs under 16" all the time I would look into this type of splitter, but since I don't get many loads under 16" I stay with my regular hydro horizontal / vertical splitter.

 

[Bad LP]

I love my SuperSplit and use it on all the hardwood species northern Maine has to offer with some of it being rather ugly. Once in a while you can jamb a log but that happens on hydro units as well unless you get some monster unit that is not needed for 99.5% of the wood I get. My wood guy wants to keep selling me wood so he brings me nothing larger that 18" rounds like I order. If I was a free wood hunter I might think otherwise on the machine choice.
I converted it to 220 electric from the Honda power I ordered it with. Hydros are too slow for me and the work table was an option that I'm very happy with. I can move the machine around by myself with not a lot of effort and that's helpful because I refuse to keep equipment outside in the weather. I love the quietness of it and have resplit wood in my basement in a tee shirt.
The other nice thing about it is leaving a windrow of split logs directly in front of the shed. I just let the wood fall off the table into a pile. When the pile gets large and tall enough the splitter pushes the splits against the pile that will no long move so it pushes the splitter along leaving a long row behind it. I will make a slip on steel pad with more of a curl for it to slid more easily along the ground.

FWIW the only other splitter I considered was a Timberwolf.

I'm very happy with my choice and have not once wished I went with a hydro.