DR Splitter
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Boy, I don't know skeets. I like the idea of a mechanical log splitter, but the first question that came to mind when I researched this is what do you do if the wedge gets stuck in a knarly log? There's no way to back it up. Is there a clutch or shear pin to act as a 'fuse'?
Not trying to throw cold water on it, but these are a couple of questions that I want answered before buying.
Not trying to throw cold water on it, but these are a couple of questions that I want answered before buying.
I know a few people that have them. The one is a good friend and he uses it a lot. He has never got it stuck in any wood but I have always wondered how to get it out if it did get stuck. They work awesome and are very fast. I have read that there are certain ones that were not built that well and needed a lot of maintance. The Amish south of me have one and that thing is built like a tank but for the price of that one I would buy a wood processor
Daren Todd
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
Massey Ferguson 1825E, Kubota Z121S, Box blade, Rotary Cutter
Skeets, if your hydraulics are good on your splitter, I have a brand new 6hp kohler engine that came out of mine when I repowered it with a diesel. Should bolt right in place of your old engine as long as you don't have electric start. All it is, is a matter of unbolting the engine, swapping the spider coupler from the old engine to the new engine. Bolting the new motor in place, and bolting the hydraulic pump up to the motor.
Send me a pm if your interested. I'll give it to you cheap!!!!
My friend and I have put a lot through a 37 ton model kinetic splitter that he bought new. They are great splitters, super fast but the only downside is the little roller Bering under the rack that keeps it sliding freely. It tends to wear out and bind up easily. Aside from that I'd definitely recommend getting one. I'm actually looking at buying one of the Woods kinetic spliters. Basically the same thing as the DR splitter but with a few minor improvements.
Thanks my friend, if things keep going like they are I may not need one for a while. Some times you have to let your mind wander over things to take your mind off stuff, so you dont think about other things, if you understand my meaning
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I bought a Super Split HD early last winter. Here are my findings.....
If high production is what you're after, the kinetic wins hands down. Basically an auto cycle with 3 second cycle time. If consistent sized finished wood with little waste is what you're after, the kinetic wins again. Here is a pic I just took of the wood shed. Bottom lighter colored wood was split a couple weeks ago with the SS. Darker wood was split last year with a hydo and 4 way wedge.
Sure you can get the same consistent sized wood with a hydro, but it will come with a penalty in production. I can keep 3 people as busy as they can handle with the SS as long as I have wood to feed it.
It will run all day, and then some, on a single tank of gas. Its a 5hp honda engine running at 3000 RPM.
Someone asked about what happens if the rack stalls... There is a centrifugal clutch on the engine that drives the flywheels. If the wood doesn't split on the first try, the clutch disengages. The splitter works basically via gear reduction with the flywheels storing some energy. It doesn't solely rely on the stored energy in the flywheels to do the splitting.
HOWEVER.... there are some downsides specific to a kinetic and a couple specific to the SS.
The first and foremost is it likes straight grained wood. It will cut through crotches and knots, but does have a tendency to twist on the wedge and the push block is small enough that it can lose contact with the wood and eventually wedge itself on the side of a split. This requires a tool of sorts to pound the wood off the wedge. The same thing can happen if you find a piece that it really doesn't want to split... But that's been rare. Some crotches and elm are all Ive found that Ive had to toss aside.
Second, you need to be on your toes. With a 3 second cycle time, things happen fast. You HAVE to pay attention to where your hands, AND face/head are. Leaning over the splitting area while something is being split is a huge no no. There is a good possibility you will at the worst lose some teeth, at the least end up with stitches if a piece decides to shoot up....
Now.... Specific to the SS, or any splitter that uses cam followers instead of bearings. The SS uses cam followers, which is basically a bearing that is designed to have a constant flow of oil through it. There is a hole on the inside that allow oil to enter the bearing. Problem with this on a splitter is eventually the oil dries up and there is no good way to replace the lubricant. Which is what folks are referring to when they mention the follower that rides along the beam freezes up. This is what leads to a groove being ground into the beam. Some folks have fixed this issue by replacing the small follower that ride on the beam with 2 sealed bearings. I tried this but I would have to spread the holder open to accommodate the double bearings. I didn't want to do this so I turned to greasing the bearings. I pulled all the followers, which on my splitter there are 7. I loaded the center hole up with grease and with my thumb and fore finger put the center under pressure. Then by spinning the outer race, the grease was pushed into the bearing. I havent had an issue with a frozen bearing since, and I have better lubircant in the bearing that wont dry out or allow crud into the bearing which is what causes it to seize in the first place.
If high production is what you're after, the kinetic wins hands down. Basically an auto cycle with 3 second cycle time. If consistent sized finished wood with little waste is what you're after, the kinetic wins again. Here is a pic I just took of the wood shed. Bottom lighter colored wood was split a couple weeks ago with the SS. Darker wood was split last year with a hydo and 4 way wedge.
Sure you can get the same consistent sized wood with a hydro, but it will come with a penalty in production. I can keep 3 people as busy as they can handle with the SS as long as I have wood to feed it.
It will run all day, and then some, on a single tank of gas. Its a 5hp honda engine running at 3000 RPM.
Someone asked about what happens if the rack stalls... There is a centrifugal clutch on the engine that drives the flywheels. If the wood doesn't split on the first try, the clutch disengages. The splitter works basically via gear reduction with the flywheels storing some energy. It doesn't solely rely on the stored energy in the flywheels to do the splitting.
HOWEVER.... there are some downsides specific to a kinetic and a couple specific to the SS.
The first and foremost is it likes straight grained wood. It will cut through crotches and knots, but does have a tendency to twist on the wedge and the push block is small enough that it can lose contact with the wood and eventually wedge itself on the side of a split. This requires a tool of sorts to pound the wood off the wedge. The same thing can happen if you find a piece that it really doesn't want to split... But that's been rare. Some crotches and elm are all Ive found that Ive had to toss aside.
Second, you need to be on your toes. With a 3 second cycle time, things happen fast. You HAVE to pay attention to where your hands, AND face/head are. Leaning over the splitting area while something is being split is a huge no no. There is a good possibility you will at the worst lose some teeth, at the least end up with stitches if a piece decides to shoot up....
Now.... Specific to the SS, or any splitter that uses cam followers instead of bearings. The SS uses cam followers, which is basically a bearing that is designed to have a constant flow of oil through it. There is a hole on the inside that allow oil to enter the bearing. Problem with this on a splitter is eventually the oil dries up and there is no good way to replace the lubricant. Which is what folks are referring to when they mention the follower that rides along the beam freezes up. This is what leads to a groove being ground into the beam. Some folks have fixed this issue by replacing the small follower that ride on the beam with 2 sealed bearings. I tried this but I would have to spread the holder open to accommodate the double bearings. I didn't want to do this so I turned to greasing the bearings. I pulled all the followers, which on my splitter there are 7. I loaded the center hole up with grease and with my thumb and fore finger put the center under pressure. Then by spinning the outer race, the grease was pushed into the bearing. I havent had an issue with a frozen bearing since, and I have better lubircant in the bearing that wont dry out or allow crud into the bearing which is what causes it to seize in the first place.
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Don't know the specifics of his splitter but are you sure the motor has the same mounting pattern? I repowered a splitter a few years ago and had to buy a new mounting adapter for the pump. I also had to add a piece of angle iron and move the motor back a few inches to provide clearance. As usual what seemed like a simple swap turned into a much larger project.Skeets, if your hydraulics are good on your splitter, I have a brand new 6hp kohler engine that came out of mine when I repowered it with a diesel. Should bolt right in place of your old engine as long as you don't have electric start. All it is, is a matter of unbolting the engine, swapping the spider coupler from the old engine to the new engine. Bolting the new motor in place, and bolting the hydraulic pump up to the motor.
Send me a pm if your interested. I'll give it to you cheap!!!!
Are you saying that your splitter cycles every 3 seconds automatically? From videos I've seen of kinetic splitters I though they pulled some sort of lever to activate them. Auto cycling just seems like it adds a lot of extra danger.
Daren Todd
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
Massey Ferguson 1825E, Kubota Z121S, Box blade, Rotary Cutter
That's something to consider. But looking on line, you can get the spider coupler pretty reasonably. Same with a new mounting plate for the pump if needed. Still way cheaper then buying a new splitter.
On mine, I had a universal adapter plate to mount the engine. And went from the 6 hp kohler to a 4hp yanmar diesel with electric start. Shafts were the same size. Only thing I had to change were the 4 mounting bolts for the pump. Kohler was standard. Yanmar was metric. So, 4 m8 bolts, and had it hooked up. Had to drill 2 new holes for the mounts in the plate for the engine. And relocate the regulator/ rectifier to the side of the mounting plate to get clearance for the engine to fit.
Had to make a battery box, and get a universal key switch. Conversion cost around $50 for battery and key switch. The engine, I picked up for $20
On mine, I had a universal adapter plate to mount the engine. And went from the 6 hp kohler to a 4hp yanmar diesel with electric start. Shafts were the same size. Only thing I had to change were the 4 mounting bolts for the pump. Kohler was standard. Yanmar was metric. So, 4 m8 bolts, and had it hooked up. Had to drill 2 new holes for the mounts in the plate for the engine. And relocate the regulator/ rectifier to the side of the mounting plate to get clearance for the engine to fit.
Had to make a battery box, and get a universal key switch. Conversion cost around $50 for battery and key switch. The engine, I picked up for $20
Yes, the lever needs to be manually pulled to engage the rack into the pinion. But once it is engaged, its runs to the end of the rack and returns with no operator input needed. It can be manually stopped by slapping the lever down.
Most hydro splitters require constant input from the operator unless it has an auto cycle valve. Which still requires the operator to imitate the cycle.
Sent from a field
Oh yeah, it's definitely cheaper. A hydraulic log splitter is a very simple machine, and as far as I'm concerned as long as the beam doesn't break it's always worth it to replace parts instead of buying a new one. Motor, pump, hoses, and cylinder can probably all be replaced for less than a new one and you'll have basically a brand new splitter. I was just saying be cautious because what seems like unbolting one and bolting in another can turn into a much larger job.That's something to consider. But looking on line, you can get the spider coupler pretty reasonably. Same with a new mounting plate for the pump if needed. Still way cheaper then buying a new splitter.
On mine, I had a universal adapter plate to mount the engine. And went from the 6 hp kohler to a 4hp yanmar diesel with electric start. Shafts were the same size. Only thing I had to change were the 4 mounting bolts for the pump. Kohler was standard. Yanmar was metric. So, 4 m8 bolts, and had it hooked up. Had to drill 2 new holes for the mounts in the plate for the engine. And relocate the regulator/ rectifier to the side of the mounting plate to get clearance for the engine to fit.
Had to make a battery box, and get a universal key switch. Conversion cost around $50 for battery and key switch. The engine, I picked up for $20