DR Rapid Fire Rack & Pinion

[InTheFlow]

DR RapidFire Log Splitter PRO-XL: Muffler Failure

I did this 2nd video to record what I had hoped would be a better day with the splitter. Instead, the muffler failed within 30 minutes!

The nasty log in this video is dried Cottonwood.

DR RapidFire Log Splitter PRO-XL: Muffler Failure - YouTube

The highlights:

03:18 - Splitting starts!
04:29 - Ram gets stuck.
04:48 - Notice the loud rattle?
07:12 - Ram is stuck twice in a row.
16:06 - Two major handle kickbacks in a row!
18:44 - Stuck and Rattle.
24:22 - Final stroke on that log.
24:42 - This is when I realized that the muffler had failed.
26:10 - I demonstrate why a standard hitch is needed.
29:15 - I took the shroud off to see if anything stood out as a problem.

I hope no one else runs into these issues but mine is going back to DR. Poor performance with this many problems is completely unacceptable. This time, DR's marketing hype isn't backed up by a quality product.

 

[sunfish]

Man, I could not live with that! At All!!! Very sorry for you guys!

My SS J model is smooth, quiet and splits Much Better!

 

[InTheFlow]

Man, I could not live with that! At All!!! Very sorry for you guys!

My SS J model is smooth, quiet and splits Much Better!

Thanks for the feedback sunfish. Have you split cottonwood with yours?

 

[sunfish]

Thanks for the feedback sunfish. Have you split cottonwood with yours?

No Cottonwood. Mostly oak, but a fair bit of red elem and some sycamore, both pretty tough and stringy. I rarely need to hit a piece twice and never three times.

I'm tellin ya, my SS is night and day difference from what I'm seeing in your videos. Much faster, quieter and smoother!!!

 

[D&B Mack]

The rattle sounds like the rack on the interior frame. Occasionally, mine does this. Mine will also kick back like you displayed, usually when a piece goes sideways and the machine is trying to split cross-cut.

However, yours does not seem to be near as fast. That chattering was a signal that I had some bent parts. Didn't think much of it at first, but got worse with time. With the linkage system, the slightest bend can allow the rack to jump off the pinion.

 

[InTheFlow]

The rattle sounds like the rack on the interior frame. Occasionally, mine does this. Mine will also kick back like you displayed, usually when a piece goes sideways and the machine is trying to split cross-cut.

However, yours does not seem to be near as fast. That chattering was a signal that I had some bent parts. Didn't think much of it at first, but got worse with time. With the linkage system, the slightest bend can allow the rack to jump off the pinion.

Thanks Mack. Do you have the same model as I do? Does yours split similarly to mine?

 

[D&B Mack]

Thanks Mack. Do you have the same model as I do? Does yours split similarly to mine?

I have the original. There was no regular and XL models, or whatever they call them now. Mine appears to be faster, but this tough to tell from a computer screen. I will say, I only split straight grained now. The knotty pieces are all left to hydraulic. It was beating the machine up too much.

Also, you have to keep close watch on the ram plate/guides. The ram sticks more when there is too much room of play. The tighter you keep it, the better it will slide. To the extent which the tolerance is too tight and causes friction of course. I quit using a piece of paper when tightening down. There was enough play left without it.

 

[InTheFlow]

I have the original. There was no regular and XL models, or whatever they call them now. Mine appears to be faster, but this tough to tell from a computer screen. I will say, I only split straight grained now. The knotty pieces are all left to hydraulic. It was beating the machine up too much.

Also, you have to keep close watch on the ram plate/guides. The ram sticks more when there is too much room of play. The tighter you keep it, the better it will slide. To the extent which the tolerance is too tight and causes friction of course. I quit using a piece of paper when tightening down. There was enough play left without it.

Wow, thanks for the feedback Mack. I appreciate you taking the time to watch some of the videos. I thought that since the muffler failed, that could have been the source of the rattling. But, what you say makes sense too.

I thought that these types of splitters were heavy duty enough to split the kind of wood I was giving it. To pay 3K for a splitter that only splits straight grain wood doesn't make any sense to me.

Are there any Super Split owners who are able to split tough wood? If so, does it perform the same way as my DR? I'm just wondering if this is a limitation of the technology or possibly something else. I've just never seen a video of a supersplit going through actual gnarly wood.

 

[Locust Cutter]

I did this 2nd video to record what I had hoped would be a better day with the splitter. Instead, the muffler failed within 30 minutes!

The nasty log in this video is dried Cottonwood.

DR RapidFire Log Splitter PRO-XL: Muffler Failure - YouTube

The highlights:

03:18 - Splitting starts!
04:29 - Ram gets stuck.
04:48 - Notice the loud rattle?
07:12 - Ram is stuck twice in a row.
16:06 - Two major handle kickbacks in a row!
18:44 - Stuck and Rattle.
24:22 - Final stroke on that log.
24:42 - This is when I realized that the muffler had failed.
26:10 - I demonstrate why a standard hitch is needed.
29:15 - I took the shroud off to see if anything stood out as a problem.

I hope no one else runs into these issues but mine is going back to DR. Poor performance with this many problems is completely unacceptable. This time, DR's marketing hype isn't backed up by a quality product.

Wow. :msp_thumbdn: Sunfish's S.S. is nothing like that. I watched him split some decently nasty Hedge or Osage Orange and piss elm and there were only a few pieces that required more than one hit and his is the standard J-Model. I still intend to buy the Heavy duty model simply so that one hit splits are all but guaranteed. I hate to say it, but my 35 ton Speeco is about 3 times faster than that DR...

 

[InTheFlow]

Wow. :msp_thumbdn: Sunfish's S.S. is nothing like that. I watched him split some decently nasty Hedge or Osage Orange and piss elm and there were only a few pieces that required more than one hit and his is the standard J-Model. I still intend to buy the Heavy duty model simply so that one hit splits are all but guaranteed. I hate to say it, but my 35 ton Speeco is about 3 times faster than that DR...

Thanks for the info, L.C. Mine went back to DR for a full refund. I did see a video of the original rapidfire model going through some fairly tough wood and seemed to preform well. Perhaps I just got a lemon.

I found out from Paul at SS that the muffler falling off is actually a Subaru bracket problem. For a while they put on crappy brackets to save money. By the time they realized the issue, they decided to simply replace them as the failures happened. I guess it was too expensive to do a recall.

 

[Como]

I have split wood that size with one pass, wonder if the engine was just idling?

The stuff that I find a pain is where the grain spirals once or twice along the length.

I am also at 10,000 ft so am down a lot on power.

A tank will last nearly a day.

 

[InTheFlow]

I have split wood that size with one pass, wonder if the engine was just idling?

The stuff that I find a pain is where the grain spirals once or twice along the length.

I am also at 10,000 ft so am down a lot on power.

A tank will last nearly a day.

If you get the high altitude jet installed, it will help a lot with power. The videos were shot after mine had the high altitude adjustment completed and the performance improvement was noticeable. Yes, it was worse before the adjustments were made. I asked the shop how much they would charge to put the jet in if DR wasn't paying for it and it was only going to run about $50. To keep the engine in warranty, you can't do it yourself.

I'm glad yours works well, mine must have been a lemon. The machine was definitely not idling, it was running full blast the whole time. I don't recall exactly but I think the beginning of the first video lets you hear idle vs full blast.

Thanks for your feedback, Como.

 

[Como]

It is on my list!

Seems very expensive for what is a very cheap item.

I finished splitting everything I had last year, well apart from maybe 10 40ft ers. So probably be some time before I need to get this sorted, plus my chainsaw oil pump seems to be playing up.

 

[Kaflan]

KICKBACKS n

I did this 2nd video to record what I had hoped would be a better day with the splitter. Instead, the muffler failed within 30 minutes!

The nasty log in this video is dried Cottonwood.

DR RapidFire Log Splitter PRO-XL: Muffler Failure - YouTube

The highlights:

03:18 - Splitting starts!
04:29 - Ram gets stuck.
04:48 - Notice the loud rattle?
07:12 - Ram is stuck twice in a row.
16:06 - Two major handle kickbacks in a row!
18:44 - Stuck and Rattle.
24:22 - Final stroke on that log.
24:42 - This is when I realized that the muffler had failed.
26:10 - I demonstrate why a standard hitch is needed.
29:15 - I took the shroud off to see if anything stood out as a problem.

I hope no one else runs into these issues but mine is going back to DR. Poor performance with this many problems is completely unacceptable. This time, DR's marketing hype isn't backed up by a quality product.

About the kickbacks, we realized that they apear when you hit hard stuff when the ram is at the end, near the wedge. If you hit really hard stuff and the ram is going with all the kinetic force. When you only hit a small piece, but at the end or at the end but no energy have been consumed due very soft wood but at the end near the wedge a hard knot. Look how the ram bends and that makes jump ram from the pinion.

Sorry for my english, even I can not understand what I´ve written. If I explained well, just check this happens as told. Will this help you?


We own one Dr and we would like to compare how the new wedge works, could be posible to show us the dimensions?

 

[D&B Mack]

About the kickbacks, we realized that they apear when you hit hard stuff when the ram is at the end, near the wedge. If you hit really hard stuff and the ram is going with all the kinetic force. When you only hit a small piece, but at the end or at the end but no energy have been consumed due very soft wood but at the end near the wedge a hard knot. Look how the ram bends and that makes jump ram from the pinion.

Sorry for my english, even I can not understand what I´ve written. If I explained well, just check this happens as told. Will this help you?


We own one Dr and we would like to compare how the new wedge works, could be posible to show us the dimensions?

Yep, confusing as hell.

My conclusion is this...if you hold with a lot of forward force, you can avoid the violent kick backs. Why? Because you hold on tight enough to allow the clutch to slip. I think the lever arm below the pivot point is too short. If it was longer, you would be able to hold through the force with less pressure. Or, the clutch needs revised so that it can slip faster...but that is out of my realm.

 

[Dozer Man]

Yep, confusing as hell.

My conclusion is this...if you hold with a lot of forward force, you can avoid the violent kick backs. Why? Because you hold on tight enough to allow the clutch to slip. I think the lever arm below the pivot point is too short. If it was longer, you would be able to hold through the force with less pressure. Or, the clutch needs revised so that it can slip faster...but that is out of my realm.

Try a little WD-40 on the clutch once in a while. I leave the little straw on and squirt a few seconds worth to the inside of the clutch once in a great while. I do this while the motor is at idle. It helps keep it things free'd up.

 

[D&B Mack]

Maybe DR Power can jump back into the discussion here.

I posted on your facebook wall as well.

Can we get a diagram of the internals of the new Rapid Fire? What internal changes were made?

If we are still under warranty, can we do a trade-in?

I am assuming the redesign addressed some of the design issues with the first series?

 

[Kaflan]

Call to customer service Dr.

Maybe DR Power can jump back into the discussion here.

I posted on your facebook wall as well.

Can we get a diagram of the internals of the new Rapid Fire? What internal changes were made?

If we are still under warranty, can we do a trade-in?

I am assuming the redesign addressed some of the design issues with the first series?

I´ve just called to Dr power customer service, asking for an updated manual, so we can see internal changes, but it´s not available by now.

Can anybody explain why this new model has no clutch, only pulley system?

 

[D&B Mack]

I´ve just called to Dr power customer service, asking for an updated manual, so we can see internal changes, but it´s not available by now.

Can anybody explain why this new model has no clutch, only pulley system?

How do you know it has no clutch?

 

[D&B Mack]

I just noticed in the one video, it is now a two hand operation with a safety lever...definitely don't want one now.

Some people must have cut their hands off with the first model.