Woods Kinetic log splitter

[Pennstater]

Has any one else seen one of these yet? My neighbor showed me his, he just bought for his firewood sales operation. Seems really well built and designed. The cycle time was really impressive on some large oak rounds it handled easily. Seems as Oregon sells the same product possible rebranding.

 

[Hasufel]

Those are sweet! Thanks a lot, now I want one.

Of course the good one is more than $3000. HD has a cheapy Generac for $1299, and I see others in the $2000 range. Any idea about how well the cheaper ones perform (and hold up over time)?

 

[Pennstater]

I am 99% sure the Generac at Home Depot is a rebranded DR RF30. I am sure someone on here has the DR version and could give some feedback. I don't know myself anyone that has one.

 

[Jon1270]

Those are sweet! Thanks a lot, now I want one.

Of course the good one is more than $3000. HD has a cheapy Generac for $1299, and I see others in the $2000 range. Any idea about how well the cheaper ones perform (and hold up over time)?

The good one is the Super Split, and I saw a nice one on Craigslist over the summer for $1000. I don't have the space for a full-size splitter or I would've nabbed it.

A lot of the import versions have had problems with the rack and pinion parts failing prematurely. I've read a number of reviews of imported kinetic splitters that said things like, 'it broke after three hours. I called the manufacturer and they acknowledged they'd had a problem with some of their units, and sent me a replacement. The second one is okay so far!'

Unlike hydraulics, you can't substitute common, standard components or easily fabricate your own, so over time you're much more dependent on long-term parts availability through the manufacturer. If it's not from an established company that you expect will still be around in five or ten years, then you'd better regard your imported kinetic splitter as disposable.

 

[Bad LP]

Those look identical to DR's and yes the Chinese unit had failures with the rack teeth I read and have since been pulled off the market. Of course this information is 3 or so years old from when I was doing my research.

I bought a Super Split because the product was the first of it's kind (friend had one over 30 years ago), made in America and still being made here. I suspect parts will be around for a very long time and frankly there is very little on the machine that is not available off the shelf or from a good hardware store. I bought mine new with the Honda power option and quickly converted it to 220 electric.

I've been very happy with it and don't regret the money I spent one bit.

 

[jetsam]

How do those things do with big, knotty, tough wood? All the videos show them splitting small smooth-grained stuff.

 

[Bad LP]

If you are dealing with big nasty crap then stick with hydro. For me I burn mostly maple, ash and yellow birch. Sometimes I get into a knot or two and a twisted crotch that gives me some issues but it will go thru. I normally toss these pieces into my outdoor fire pit pile because they suck to stack. The woods guys around me normally don't deal with that kind of wood that I've seen. From what I've seen they leave that stuff in the woods.

As for the large diameter stuff my wood guy dropped off some 18-20 inch long pieces that I had all I could do to pick up. Once in a while I'd have to hit them twice to get started but then it was off to the races.

What I like most is the height and the speed. The machine has a great working height. I've run hydros in the past all hunched over and when I look at them now my back hurts. I like the speed because I've got other things more fun to do that split and stack firewood. I set up in front of my shed and start to split. I do not toss my work, I just let it push itself off the end of the table where it makes a pile. When the pile gets large enough the splits coming off the end of the table push themselves into the pile that results in the spliter moving forward. This creates a windrow of split wood in front of the shed.

 

[velvetfoot]

push themselves into the pile

Perhaps they could push themselves into a cart?

 

[Bad LP]

The windrow is better than into a cart. It makes a huge windrow. Besides, a cart is too small and the wood has to go into the shed to dry before it goes into the seasoned storage area in the basement. No way am I going to try drying wood indoors as it just leads to problems.

Now if it was coming off the table and stacking itself in the shed I'd be happy as a pig in the mud.

 

[velvetfoot]

For me, instead of bending over to pick up all the widrowed wood, I would let it drop into the cart behind my lawn tractor and drive it over to the stacking area and stack it right from the cart.

 

[Bad LP]

There is now a John Deere with a 400cx loader at the wood burning location. It's only been there for a month and my priority has been on the inverted snowblower on the rear as well as arranging stuff in the garages. I refuse to leave my stuff out in the weather.
I have yet to develop my new methods but it will involve some sort of large capacity bin. I'm thinking along the lines of those wire bins that also have the metal pallet as a base.

 

[Hogwildz]

Yep, the original is the Super Split. Best splitter ever made, and expensive. I used to work for a guy that was a dealer, used one of the originals. Great machine, although I can't speak of these new imitations. Knotty wood was handled same way as with a hydraulic, nip away and find the grain direction as best as one can, and take off in chunks.