what about electric splitters????
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johnha
ArboristSite Guru
My neighbor has an electric unit rated at 5 tons.
He is always borrowing my 26 Ton Brave.
He is always borrowing my 26 Ton Brave.
mga
wandering
real men use hydraulics.
Blazin
Addicted to ArboristSite
Can't split wood in an power outage!
mimilkman1
ArboristSite Guru
My father in law has a DR splitter rated for I think 6 tons. Lets just say I've gotten quite a bit of hard maple from him this year to burn in my OWB. It splits ok with straight pieces, but if the wood gets knotty or stringy it's useless.
cabinman
ArboristSite Guru
Electric?
Are you talkin electric mechinical? Or electric hydraulic? Are you buying or building? There are advantages to both,. Its hard to compair with either given some circumstances, such as cost and availibilty. If its gota be portable its a no brainer, But If not, Electric is great, providing you have a circut big enough to run a large elec motor,20 amp 220 volt would be good.. Eric
Are you talkin electric mechinical? Or electric hydraulic? Are you buying or building? There are advantages to both,. Its hard to compair with either given some circumstances, such as cost and availibilty. If its gota be portable its a no brainer, But If not, Electric is great, providing you have a circut big enough to run a large elec motor,20 amp 220 volt would be good.. Eric
logbutcher
Addicted to ArboristSite
Since 2000, the 20 Ton loud, smelly, heavy, fast beast had been quietly replaced by a tiny tiny 4 ton DR Electric Hyraulic splitter. It is 110 v, weighs about 100 lbs. The DR has done 95% of our splitting of 5-6 cords/year hardwood and about another 2 cords soft/year.
Yes, it is slow, about 1/2 the speed of the gas beast, so ? It is quiet, I can listen to music, talk, sing. Plug it in and run it anytime; no hard starts, no filling, no oil changes. Got a few minutes, split. It does up to 18" dia butts, 18" long --it is coincidence BTW. I can split anytime with no startup dance.
It is horizontal, so goodbody has to pick up the butts.
So far, so good. I see now that there are elec/hydraulic 110v 6 ton DR splitters. Good company.
Yes, it is slow, about 1/2 the speed of the gas beast, so ? It is quiet, I can listen to music, talk, sing. Plug it in and run it anytime; no hard starts, no filling, no oil changes. Got a few minutes, split. It does up to 18" dia butts, 18" long --it is coincidence BTW. I can split anytime with no startup dance.
It is horizontal, so goodbody has to pick up the butts.
So far, so good. I see now that there are elec/hydraulic 110v 6 ton DR splitters. Good company.
I have thought about building one but have not looked into what would work for me. My first thought is a 7.5 hp single phase 220 motor. Not sure but I thinks that works out to about a 14 hp gas engine and most of us know how much splitter a 14 hp engine will run. The rpm that the pump needs to get the most out of it might be to high for the electric motor unless you can get a 3400 rpm 7.5 and if you can it aint going to be cheap. May be belt drive or gear drive a 1340 rpm electric motor, but not sure about that deal either. It would be great not haveing to listen to a gas engine while splitting.
NC Firewood
ArboristSite Member
nice for occasional use, i must admit i do the startup dance quite often with my homemade units, but they have electric starters trying to spin 4 bangers. but you have to take and give i reckon.
cabinman
ArboristSite Guru
gas verses elec
Eric a 3hp elec is equal to a 9 hp gas, a 5hp elec =15 hp gas,basicaly its 3 to 1,.. Not exact but close,..3750 rpm is a standard rpm for elec moters, Just dont be fooled with claims on your shop vacume cleaner posting a 5 hp motor,..LOLOL Eric
Eric a 3hp elec is equal to a 9 hp gas, a 5hp elec =15 hp gas,basicaly its 3 to 1,.. Not exact but close,..3750 rpm is a standard rpm for elec moters, Just dont be fooled with claims on your shop vacume cleaner posting a 5 hp motor,..LOLOL Eric
Nice to know, but a 3750 5hp wont be cheap. The motor on my shop vac was close to $600, and will suck anything up to 3''.
I have a vertical type, 220V, single phase 2,2 kW electro-hydraulic splitter with 6 T capacity, for two years now, and am very satisfied with it.
It's less powerfull of course than a motor driven unit, but it's a silent worker and powerfull enough to split all short woodblocks. The blocks that are too stubborn, I precut with a chainsaw, very simple solution.
If you split wood only a few times per year for firewood purposes, electric can be a perfect solution :virtually no maintenance, no old gas problems, no hearing protection needed, reduced weight, etc. The only sacrifice is power...but 6 T is not neglectable.
having a bad back, the vertical type is a huge advantage and makes splitting very comfortable and safe. Mine has also a fast reverse stroke, which is very handy and saves a lot of time.
It's less powerfull of course than a motor driven unit, but it's a silent worker and powerfull enough to split all short woodblocks. The blocks that are too stubborn, I precut with a chainsaw, very simple solution.
If you split wood only a few times per year for firewood purposes, electric can be a perfect solution :virtually no maintenance, no old gas problems, no hearing protection needed, reduced weight, etc. The only sacrifice is power...but 6 T is not neglectable.
having a bad back, the vertical type is a huge advantage and makes splitting very comfortable and safe. Mine has also a fast reverse stroke, which is very handy and saves a lot of time.
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mga
wandering
hey, NC...you have a pic of that splitter with the 4 cylinder wisconsin on it?
NC Firewood
ArboristSite Member
crowbait
ArboristSite Member
I had a custom built splitter made for me last summer. It's got an elec. 5hp motor on one side of the beam, and a gas engine on the other. Two hydralic pumps...one on each side. Using quick connects, I simply move a hose to whichever pump I plan on using. It's the perfect setup, and runs like a charm.
When I'm within 30 feet of the garage (220v, 30amp), I plug 'er in, and we can talk and split all day long. When I'm out in the brush, or splitting for a friend, I move one hose, pull the rope, and I'm on gas.
Electric splitter for easy starting, and log lifter for no back breaking, means my girl friend can split all morning while I'm still in bed.
When I'm within 30 feet of the garage (220v, 30amp), I plug 'er in, and we can talk and split all day long. When I'm out in the brush, or splitting for a friend, I move one hose, pull the rope, and I'm on gas.
Electric splitter for easy starting, and log lifter for no back breaking, means my girl friend can split all morning while I'm still in bed.
Using quick connects, I simply move a hose
A post here not too long back was a guy who had gas and electric, with checks in the outlet lines before joining together. Suctions were teed together. Did not have to use the QC. (QC on suction may be significant pressure drop...) So, just power the gas engine, or the electric (or if lines were big enough, I suppose could do both together for more speed!)
He had problems, but because the check valve sizing was too small, not because the concept was wrong. I would like to try it. Quiet, split in the garage or at any hours of the day.... Or take it out to the woods and fire up the gas engine.
k
A post here not too long back was a guy who had gas and electric, with checks in the outlet lines before joining together. Suctions were teed together. Did not have to use the QC. (QC on suction may be significant pressure drop...) So, just power the gas engine, or the electric (or if lines were big enough, I suppose could do both together for more speed!)
He had problems, but because the check valve sizing was too small, not because the concept was wrong. I would like to try it. Quiet, split in the garage or at any hours of the day.... Or take it out to the woods and fire up the gas engine.
k
crowbait
ArboristSite Member
I am suprised, however, that the elec. side isn't as quite as I expected. Moving hydro fluid thru pipes and hoses, under that much pressure, still creates significant noise. Still...not anything like the gas engine.
Boogieman142
ArboristSite Guru
I have both and prefer the electric one. The gas one goes in the woods with me and the electric one stays in the garage. Nice and quiet and can be run indoors with the doors closed with no fumes (good for the ones you need to re-split in winter-time) and is virtually maintenance free, no oil to change, no rings to wear out...etc...But its not as portable and need to bring a generator to the woods with me if i want to use it. its 220v 3hp, 60 ton
rx7145
ArboristSite Guru
60 ton??
Reading for thoes who have not already:
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=53686
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=66167
thombat4
ArboristSite Guru
I have the 6 ton DR splitter and I'm very pleased with it. Don't have the space or the funds for another gas drinking engine. I heat with wood exclusively in winter and this little machine has done an excellent job for me. It can't compare with a gas splitter but you can run it from a generator with no problem if need be.
