New SpeedPro Kinetic Log Splitter from TSC...

[Dalmatian90]

They do mention Manufacturing in the US, but I find it difficult to believe it amounts to much.

It's significant.

They employee 1,900 folks at Virginia Beach, VA which is their U.S. corporate HQ, manufacturing facility, and distribution center.

That's about 1/6th of Stihl's global employment and second largest presence outside of Germany.

Just announced they're spending $10M expansion for plastic molding there -- 52 jobs averaging $45,000 pay.

Stihl Inc. to expand Va. Beach site, hire 52 new workers | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

In 2007, they built a new facility at Virginia Beach to build 1 million chainsaw bars per year, work that hadn't been done in the U.S. before.

Stihl opens new guide bar plant | Inside Business

That's a great example of how it's automation and not outsourcing causing the great contraction in manufacturing jobs -- $25M plant, 33 employees...1 million chainsaw bars/year. My math says that's one bar for every 45 seconds of employee time. Just don't need that many people to push out a huge volume anymore.

And some video from inside the plant:
http://www.fox43tv.com/dpp/hr_show/wvbt-hrs-made-in-hampton-roads-stihl-20110415

 

[Dozer Man]

Glad I asked !!

Nice to know about Stihl. I would have bought them anyways but still nice to know.
Thanks Dalmation, very nice right up.

 

[nysparkie]

RapidFire No Stalling

I understand and agree with what you are saying. We keep talking about stalling these machines and what we forget to mention enough is that they rarely stall. The last time I split a truckoad, it stalled one time. And actually that was the time it popped out of gear. I'm sure if you talk to the SS and DR guys, they will tell you that unless you are splitting knarly knotted pieces all the time, stalling rarely happens. And thanks for the DR part numbers, I will call them to find out the diameter of there clutch pulleys. Good idea!!

DOZER: You are correct. I have split 30 face cord since I started with the RapidFire. I have hit all types of crap. Never a stall. The engine does
bog down, yet it has never stalled. Even when the ram is jammed(Stuck) in the forward position, the engine still has never stopped/stalled.

 

[Jules083]

Just got back from Tractor Supply with a full refund, I broke some teeth off the ram today. If anyone whats to there is a E-mail from Speeco to Tractor Supply saying that anyone who breaks teeth off should be given a full refund.

Now the Million dollar question: Supersplit or DR rapid fire? DR's are on sale right now, they're about $300 cheaper without shipping.

 

[KiwiBro]

Just got back from Tractor Supply with a full refund, I broke some teeth off the ram today. If anyone whats to there is a E-mail from Speeco to Tractor Supply saying that anyone who breaks teeth off should be given a full refund.

Go on, admit it, Mr sledgehammer paid your rack a visit and you took your get out of jail free card and passed go and collected your money.

:msp_biggrin:

 

[KiwiBro]

DOZER: You are correct. I have split 30 face cord since I started with the RapidFire. I have hit all types of crap. Never a stall. The engine does
bog down, yet it has never stalled. Even when the ram is jammed(Stuck) in the forward position, the engine still has never stopped/stalled.

Have you hit anything that completely and suddenly stopped the forward progress of the rack head/ram, rather than just slowing said progress down? If so, and the engine didn't stall, did the belts slip? If not, perhaps there is something about the DR drive train that needs investigating to learn what they are doing differently from Speeco.

 

[COUNTRY6543]

stall / not stall

Ok.. reference this stall / not stall issue. When my Speed Pro hit something hard and stopped the ram, The flywheels would NOT stop instantly. The belts would slip as the flywheel would slow and then the engine would bog down and the engine clutch would kick in. My belts were not real tight at all. They had some slack and just tight enough to engage the wheels. Now I say the the wheels would slow, but this only took about 1/2 to a full second before they stopped completely. This allowed for a cusion between the ram, belts and engine. That is what happened 90% of the time and that is the way I believe this design was supposed to work. The other 10% of the time is when the unit would jump out of gear and cause the horrible bang. I did loosen the belts to try and give more cusion but that didn't work. The engine never ever stalled out completely.

 

[Dozer Man]

$.02

Just got back from Tractor Supply with a full refund, I broke some teeth off the ram today. If anyone whats to there is a E-mail from Speeco to Tractor Supply saying that anyone who breaks teeth off should be given a full refund.

Now the Million dollar question: Supersplit or DR rapid fire? DR's are on sale right now, they're about $300 cheaper without shipping.

If I was to return mine today, I would definately go with SS. Probly the "J" model. Nothing against DR. But in the long run, when the warranty runs out, from what I've read, Paul takes very good care of his machines and customers. Again, nothing against the rapidfire, I hope it runs forever and I've read many people say that DR takes care of there customers too. But we are/have gone down the "not so tried and true" road. I won't do it again. Just my $.02 worth.

 

[Dozer Man]

Stalling the Ram not engine

Ok.. reference this stall / not stall issue. When my Speed Pro hit something hard and stopped the ram, The flywheels would NOT stop instantly. The belts would slip as the flywheel would slow and then the engine would bog down and the engine clutch would kick in. My belts were not real tight at all. They had some slack and just tight enough to engage the wheels. Now I say the the wheels would slow, but this only took about 1/2 to a full second before they stopped completely. This allowed for a cusion between the ram, belts and engine. That is what happened 90% of the time and that is the way I believe this design was supposed to work. The other 10% of the time is when the unit would jump out of gear and cause the horrible bang. I did loosen the belts to try and give more cusion but that didn't work. The engine never ever stalled out completely.

Yes, we are talking about "stalling" the ram and flywheels, not the engine. Mine has never stalled the engine. It bogs down when the ram stalls but that is all. The clutch lets it keep running.

 

[Jules083]

Go on, admit it, Mr sledgehammer paid your rack a visit and you took your get out of jail free card and passed go and collected your money.

:msp_biggrin:

I can't honestly say I didn't think about breaking it on purpose, but I didn't. It actually finished splitting the load with one tooth missing and two teeth cracked, I was suprised. The broken tooth is sitting in front of me right now, I'm going to keep it for something.

I still haven't decided between a rapid fire or Supersplit, but I want one or the other for sure. I got spoiled by the cycle time.

 

[indiansprings]

I think I would be inclined go with the Super Split. I just don't like the fact that DR lures a lot of customers into their easy financing then after six months the poor turds realize they get hit with 24.99% interest on the unpaid balance, do a little math on what that splitter is going to cost you at 25% interest lol. Would be real easy to wind up with a 6-7k splitter.
Paul's work is the standard by which others are being judged.

The fact remains though that the inertia type splitter is going to transition the majority of the splitter market from hydraulic to inertia within the next couple of years. Someone will go to China or India and get one of these mfg, that will sell in the 1400-1600.00 range and work well, that day is coming, the reason is elementary, the design is simple, casting the flywheels in either India or China is cheap and easy to get done, the heat treatment of the rack and pinion is the critical part, I'd almost be willing to bet you'll see these in the 1200.00 price range in a couple of years with them using the HF type engine.
Lots of profit in these machines as they are being sold today. I'll bet DR has at least 15% built in for marketing and advertising into each unit.

One of you young capitalist needs to come up with a built it yourself kit form version, minus the engine and market it for 999.97, let the end user supply his own engine.

 

[Jules083]

I think I would be inclined go with the Super Split. I just don't like the fact that DR lures a lot of customers into their easy financing then after six months the poor turds realize they get hit with 24.99% interest on the unpaid balance, do a little math on what that splitter is going to cost you at 25% interest lol. Would be real easy to wind up with a 6-7k splitter.
Paul's work is the standard by which others are being judged.

The fact remains though that the inertia type splitter is going to transition the majority of the splitter market from hydraulic to inertia within the next couple of years. Someone will go to China or India and get one of these mfg, that will sell in the 1400-1600.00 range and work well, that day is coming, the reason is elementary, the design is simple, casting the flywheels in either India or China is cheap and easy to get done, the heat treatment of the rack and pinion is the critical part, I'd almost be willing to bet you'll see these in the 1200.00 price range in a couple of years with them using the HF type engine.
Lots of profit in these machines as they are being sold today. I'll bet DR has at least 15% built in for marketing and advertising into each unit.

One of you young capitalist needs to come up with a built it yourself kit form version, minus the engine and market it for 999.97, let the end user supply his own engine.

Just sent the online order form in for a SS, it said they'll contact me soon for payment. I took a chance on one SS copy already, might as well spend the money and do it right this time.

 

[KiwiBro]

Supersplit or DR rapid fire?

I hate Husqvarna's, Stihl's all the way and a Dolly or two for good measure.
opcorn:

 

[Wood Doctor]

Not enough splitter there, 3" will not give the tonnage that you need, been down that road already, 13 gpm really not fast enough, 6.5 hp would be the absolute minimum, I've been down the splitter road more than once in the last few years. If I wanted to build one from scratch, it would have a 4.5" dia cylinder, 2" ram, 24" stroke 22 gpm pump 16 hp engine and where the coupler joined the engine I would have a device like a harmonic balancer weighing at least 20 lbs, balanced for extra mass to help keep the engine momentum up, I've seen it described as a hydraulic multiplier on Aussie sites and at least a 20 gallon hydro tank. I've tried different size cylinders on splitters in the past, you really seem to lose a lot of splitting power going from a 4.5 to a 3". If your ram size gets down to 1.5" I think you have the serious possibility of bending the ram.

Then you will put everyone to sleep while you try to split with a big cylinder, single-stage pump, lots of horsepower, and give the super fast splitters more ammunition.

I have about a 5-to 6-second cycle time (down + up added together) and can split about everything. That's good enough for me, and my machine has worked for over five years. Best thing is that I can operate the 6.5 Hp engine at half speed and still run plenty fast enough. Please read the numbers:

Note also that the shape of the splitting wedge has a lot to do with what you can split. I suggest that you go down the road again with a new wedge and a 2-stage pump.

 

[sunfish]

Just sent the online order form in for a SS, it said they'll contact me soon for payment. I took a chance on one SS copy already, might as well spend the money and do it right this time.

Good move! The SS track record is very long and top notch.

 

[indiansprings]

Then you will put everyone to sleep while you try to split with a big cylinder, single-stage pump, lots of horsepower, and give the super fast splitters more ammunition.

I have about a 5-to 6-second cycle time (down + up added together) and can split about everything. That's good enough for me, and my machine has worked for over five years. Best thing is that I can operate the 6.5 Hp engine at half speed and still run plenty fast enough. Please read the numbers:

Note also that the shape of the splitting wedge has a lot to do with what you can split. I suggest that you go down the road again with a new wedge and a 2-stage pump.

No where did I reference a single stage pump, to make it clearer for you a 22 gpm two stage. You try the little 3" cylinder on hedge, elm, seasoned knarly black jack crotches and you'll find your wasting your time, maybe it works when your just doing enough for yourself, but when your trying to push out a minimum of 8-10 cords a day, I don't have the time to play around. We've tried many different combos over the years, 3' cylinders don't work in the wood in this country unless it is straight grained.
In reality I need a Super Split, if I were younger, and knew I would continue the business for another couple of years I'd have one ordered tomorrow. Sunfish cuts my kind of wood, I'll take his testimony on the performance of the super split any day. His word on how they perform and benefit him are as good as gold with me. I have to fight the urge to go up and try his out, as I know what the outcome would be, one would be sitting in the woodlot.

 

[Wood Doctor]

No where did I reference a single stage pump, to make it clearer for you a 22 gpm two stage. You try the little 3" cylinder on hedge, elm, seasoned knarly black jack crotches and you'll find your wasting your time, maybe it works when your just doing enough for yourself, but when your trying to push out a minimum of 8-10 cords a day, I don't have the time to play around. We've tried many different combos over the years, 3' cylinders don't work in the wood in this country unless it is straight grained.

In reality I need a Super Split, if I were younger, and knew I would continue the business for another couple of years I'd have one ordered tomorrow. Sunfish cuts my kind of wood, I'll take his testimony on the performance of the super split any day. His word on how they perform and benefit him are as good as gold with me. I have to fight the urge to go up and try his out, as I know what the outcome would be, one would be sitting in the woodlot.

Well, I'm afraid that one of my favorite firewood species is elm, and I split it all the time with a 3" cylinder, hydraulic spltter. Just let green American or Red elm sit for a month or so in the round. I wager that my splitter will split anything that a Super Split can split.

Pushing out 8-10 cords a day is senseless when you cannot sell that much, burn that much, nor even give it away. Who's cutting and splitting 8-to-10 cords a day for firewood? Maybe CurlyCherry's brother.

Heck, pay through the nose. Buy a Super Split.

 

[Dozer Man]

calm down men

Don't forget... Opinions are like xxxholes... Everybody has one!!!

 

[sunfish]

Indian, you are more than welcome to come over and try it out.
But I'll understand if you don't. :msp_wink:


After using a flywheel splitter for a year and a half now.

A person could not run fast enough to Give me a hydro splitter. Just saying...

And yes, just my opinion...

 

[cheeves]

No where did I reference a single stage pump, to make it clearer for you a 22 gpm two stage. You try the little 3" cylinder on hedge, elm, seasoned knarly black jack crotches and you'll find your wasting your time, maybe it works when your just doing enough for yourself, but when your trying to push out a minimum of 8-10 cords a day, I don't have the time to play around. We've tried many different combos over the years, 3' cylinders don't work in the wood in this country unless it is straight grained.
In reality I need a Super Split, if I were younger, and knew I would continue the business for another couple of years I'd have one ordered tomorrow. Sunfish cuts my kind of wood, I'll take his testimony on the performance of the super split any day. His word on how they perform and benefit him are as good as gold with me. I have to fight the urge to go up and try his out, as I know what the outcome would be, one would be sitting in the woodlot.

I used one for 5 years. Absolutely outstanding. And this was one of the originals. I can't imagine anything better. The only ? in my case is $ and lifting large pieces with my back up to the machine to be split. But for a commercial enterprise ideal.