DR power fixed (kinetic 34)

[Patrick62]

I got a call from the shop, my splitter is repaired. Great, I'll pick it up this afternoon.
Evidently the pinon gear stripped out, the forward stop adjustment bolts were bent as well.
All of that I found to be "most interesting". They replaced the pinion shaft and the bent bolts, and greased everything up.

I have been instructed to grease the rack. Pull it out and spread a handfull of grease to the teeth on the bottom....

I find that interesting. I mentioned that there is no mention in the owners manual about this. There is mention of greasing the engagement handle and yoke, and zerts are provided. Every 10 hours that is supposed to happen. I still didn't find any mention of lubrication of the rack...

I said that "it makes sense" to me (sort of). and asked what time frame are we talking about here? He suggested "daily" if we be using it a bunch.

Okay, I told him that I am going to tape a tiny tach hour meter to the machine and start a log book. I am going to carefully document all the maintenance, and the hours of operation, and the closest estimation of production.

What do you guys think? Are they on track? Or full of crap somehow? Do the other kinetic splitters require sonstand lubrication? Or just the DR stuff?

 

[brenndatomu]

You know that goop that builds up under your truck when you let a oil leak go long term? You know part oil, part grease and half dirt, black, stains your hands for a week. Sounds like your shop gave you a pretty good recipe for the same stuff only with splinters and chips in it. I would think a good dry lube would be a better choice.
I don't recall hearing anybody talk of lubing the rack on the other brands, maybe a bearing/bushing or two but that's about it. Course, CRS could be setting in

 

[flotek]

Does the super split require daily grease treatment . Sounds like they think they are selling Minneapolis molines

 

[olympyk_999]

Does the super split require daily grease treatment . Sounds like they think they are selling Minneapolis molines

he could call paul to see what he would suggest...but paul would probably hang up because he bought the wrong brand

 

[USMC615]

I got a call from the shop, my splitter is repaired. Great, I'll pick it up this afternoon.
Evidently the pinon gear stripped out, the forward stop adjustment bolts were bent as well.
All of that I found to be "most interesting". They replaced the pinion shaft and the bent bolts, and greased everything up.

I have been instructed to grease the rack. Pull it out and spread a handfull of grease to the teeth on the bottom....

I find that interesting. I mentioned that there is no mention in the owners manual about this. There is mention of greasing the engagement handle and yoke, and zerts are provided. Every 10 hours that is supposed to happen. I still didn't find any mention of lubrication of the rack...

I said that "it makes sense" to me (sort of). and asked what time frame are we talking about here? He suggested "daily" if we be using it a bunch.

Okay, I told him that I am going to tape a tiny tach hour meter to the machine and start a log book. I am going to carefully document all the maintenance, and the hours of operation, and the closest estimation of production.

What do you guys think? Are they on track? Or full of crap somehow? Do the other kinetic splitters require sonstand lubrication? Or just the DR stuff?

The problems you are seeing with your DR are the same problems, I believe, that a lot of machines suffered from in the old DR thread(s) here. I know many pinion gear failures/rack teeth failures, but I think there was a fair share of bent fwd stop adj bolts. I think several of those folks had repeated failures, got to the point, they just got their money back and moved on to another splitter. I would simply question DR's R&D if these same problems still exist 2/3 years later.

I know what I would do if it were me...that machine would be going back, and I'd be making a call to Paul in Mass.

 

[Patrick62]

On my way outta the store, I mentioned that if I manage to strip this thing out again I am going to seriously consider returning this thing for a full refund.

I had to think about why the forward stop bolts were bending. The answer is in the force produced by loading the rack, and then with the gears wearing out this becomes greater. with some clever math one could figure out the force involved.

 

[USMC615]

On my way outta the store, I mentioned that if I manage to strip this thing out again I am going to seriously consider returning this thing for a full refund.

I had to think about why the forward stop bolts were bending. The answer is in the force produced by loading the rack, and then with the gears wearing out this becomes greater. with some clever math one could figure out the force involved.

If it happens again, would be a no-brainer for me. I fear it's just a matter of time.

 

[bubmiller]

1. When the ram stalls on a tough piece be quicker to pull the handle back and you'll save the rack.

2. It doesn't matter if you save the rack because the bracket that holds the handle stop bolts will bend next.

3. Good luck on that "full refund"

4. Good luck on that "full refund"

5. Good luck on that "full refund"

6. Personal experience shows that a 27 ton hydraulic splitter idles through the same piece of firewood that sends a "34" to DR to its grave.

7. Good luck on that "full refund"

Sent from my XT1045 using Tapatalk

 

[Hinerman]

What do you guys think? Are they on track? Or full of crap somehow? Do the other kinetic splitters require sonstand lubrication? Or just the DR stuff?

I know a super split SE owner. He had a problem (unlike yours) but I can't remember exactly what it was. He called Super Split; they told him to grease the rack. Problem solved. Maybe he will chime in.

 

[KiwiBro]

yes, the rack on my SS gets greased. Doesn't take too many hours of use to get a good feel for when it needs another greasing.

*edit* another thought on this, apart from the more obvious differences in the treatments applied to the rack and pinion of the SS vs DR that may give rise to the latter having issues. If the DR is still the fugly, ham-fisted two-handed engagement operation they used to be (I haven't checked lately), then the user doesn't often get the benefit of the rack bouncing off the return bumpers. For in that split second of such bounce on the SS, the rack and pinion are moving in the same direction thus the engagement is blissfully smooth, easy and silent, rather than a moving pinion trying to engage a stationary rack.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

The Super Split manual says to grease the bottom of the rack every five cords or every two and one half hours use. I adhere to that but apply a very small amount. More is not better

 

[sunfish]

I grease the rack on my Super Split every 3 or 4 cords.

 

[Patrick62]

"bouncing off the bumpers"
If you hit a comfortable stride where you are able to utilize that to your benefit I will describe that as "poetry in motion" so, the rack bounced back forwards off the bumpers and you engage the pinion... sort of like speed shifting a np205 transfercase. possible, but it ain't gonna happen all the time.

Ham handed, two fisted, fugly handle setup. Well.... the first thing (and I told them at the shop) is the addition of a long bungee cord that holds the safety latch up. That reduces it to a fugly ham hand one fist engage. Which actually worked pretty well. The guy at the shop had no problem with that idea.

We can assume that engaging the rack without a load will be minimal wear. Here is a idea... replace the rubber bumper stops with valve springs (yea) and it might spring back up several inches and there would be a nice chance to engage smoothly. Just a thought here.

So, I am off to the store for a tub of wheel bearing grease. something like a EP, moly something or other.

 

[sunfish]

The simplicity of the way the SS engages is just another bonus. One hand, pull up and let go of the handle.

 

[Patrick62]

I have no particular complaints about the handle of the DR. I am 6ft tall so the height isn't a problem. The mechanism inside is going to be very very similer. There really isn't that many ways to engage the rack and pinion.

If I had a chance to do this "sll over again" one of two possibilities. The first and obvious one was to change mind about wanting a kinetic splitter. The other possibility was to do a LOT more research about the things than I did. I had assumed that DR built nice stuff. For that price it really should be! I think that the machine is worth about half what I paid for it. The Super Split, and other kinetic splitters in this category are priced the same give or take a couple hundred bucks.

So, I am where I am. I bought the thing. It will either survive or break down again.

I will give it every chance to survive and not abuse it beyond what the thing really should be doing. I will grease the rack religiously. Those honking big green ponderosa blocks will go across one of the hydraulic splitters. The DR can handle dry lodge pole.

 

[USMC615]

I have no particular complaints about the handle of the DR. I am 6ft tall so the height isn't a problem. The mechanism inside is going to be very very similer. There really isn't that many ways to engage the rack and pinion.

If I had a chance to do this "sll over again" one of two possibilities. The first and obvious one was to change mind about wanting a kinetic splitter. The other possibility was to do a LOT more research about the things than I did. I had assumed that DR built nice stuff. For that price it really should be! I think that the machine is worth about half what I paid for it. The Super Split, and other kinetic splitters in this category are priced the same give or take a couple hundred bucks.

So, I am where I am. I bought the thing. It will either survive or break down again.

I will give it every chance to survive and not abuse it beyond what the thing really should be doing. I will grease the rack religiously. Those honking big green ponderosa blocks will go across one of the hydraulic splitters. The DR can handle dry lodge pole.

Sounds like a plan...

 

[Guswhit]

I grease my rack at the start of everyday, but I don't split for more than 3-4 hours a day at the most-alone-stopping for breaks to stack, move splitter and clean debris. I just use a can of spray grease for simplicity.

 

[Marshy]

All of the mentioned splitters are in the review forum of the site. If you havent doen so yet, feel free to drop in and make a review by selecting a 1-5 star rating on the splitter you own.

 

[Patrick62]

Ran a cord across this machine today. It did fine, and goes into gear a lot nicer now! Runs quieter, and I am starting to feel confident that it is capable as a machine for smaller stuff, and so forth. Never mind the hype about busting really big blocks with it, it just ain't worth it when there are machines available that are much better suited to the task...

One observation that I noted on the repair. The forward bolts were grade 8 that I was shown, and the parts list states that they are full thread grade 8 3/8 and 3 1/2 in long. When I was peering into the machine, it looked like plain old grade 5. I took the cover off this morning to confirm it, and have ordered some of the correct stuff to replace them with! It would probably be fine, but why not use the correct stuff?

 

[USMC615]

Ran a cord across this machine today. It did fine, and goes into gear a lot nicer now! Runs quieter, and I am starting to feel confident that it is capable as a machine for smaller stuff, and so forth. Never mind the hype about busting really big blocks with it, it just ain't worth it when there are machines available that are much better suited to the task...

One observation that I noted on the repair. The forward bolts were grade 8 that I was shown, and the parts list states that they are full thread grade 8 3/8 and 3 1/2 in long. When I was peering into the machine, it looked like plain old grade 5. I took the cover off this morning to confirm it, and have ordered some of the correct stuff to replace them with! It would probably be fine, but why not use the correct stuff?

So the bolts they replaced, they used grade 5, when the parts list shows them to be grade 8 strength?