Chinese Kinetic Log Splitters

[RichL]

I have seen three or four Chinese knockoffs of the Super Split recently. Has anyone seen them in their area? I guess I would have some reservations about their quality.

 

[nathon918]

I have seen three or four Chinese knockoffs of the Super Split recently. Has anyone seen them in their area? I guess I would have some reservations about their quality.

the words chinese and quality do not go together... atleast not with out words like ( "Lack Of", "Low", "No", "Horrible", you get the idea...):msp_biggrin:

 

[D&B Mack]

I have seen three or four Chinese knockoffs of the Super Split recently. Has anyone seen them in their area? I guess I would have some reservations about their quality.

Yep, saw one at Tractor Supply...said "SpeedPro" on the side... I shouldn't say anything though, took a long time to work the problems out of my RapidFire.

I would be really careful there, give the quality control (or lack thereof) in Chinese steel, if one of those flywheels ever let loose...well, you would have a new nickname of peg leg.

 

[rarefish383]

We had a thread going on the Speed Pro that started in Sept 2011 and ran for 73 pages. The last post was in March this year and it stated that TSC and the maker were still honoring the warranty. Not too shabby on them. I was hoping our TSC would put the one they had on clearance, but they didn't, sent it back. Bought a 22 ton Huskee instead, so far I like it, Joe.

 

[bodhisoma]

the words chinese and quality do not go together... atleast not with out words like ( "Lack Of", "Low", "No", "Horrible", you get the idea...):msp_biggrin:

Eh. Not sure I'd agree. Can't speak to raw materials, I'm just talking about manufacturing.

I once worked for a company that sent OEM gasoline pump parts (Gilbarco, Tolkheim, Wayne) to Shenzhen to be ripped up and copied, then imported to the U.S. and exported to the Latin American market. The products we brought in were of significantly higher quality than the OEM products they were based on.

I was proud working there because I was in charge of shipping and inventory control, so I was extremely familiar with the quality of our product since I had to handle it and store it in a way that did not damage the product and I was aware of any return that ever happened because it came to me, so I knew why any given product failed.

Chinese fabricators are capable of doing high quality stuff but obviously high quality means higher prices and if the people commissioning the fabrication want corners cut, they'll get low-quality product out of China. If, on the other hand, the buyers want a quality build, and send back product that fall short of spec, they'll get high quality product out of China. The fabricators know there are a billion fabricators in Shenzhen, and if you mean business they can be replaced by someone who provide you the product you're looking for.

Which is no different than stateside or anywhere else for that matter.

Chinese product is not inherently shoddy. It's that buyers often go to China for the rock-bottom labor costs and those people are often also interested in putting cost before quality and what they're getting is precisely what they want.

Bonus: 你疯了 - (phonetically, "nee fung low mah") "Are you crazy??"

 

[nathon918]

Eh. Not sure I'd agree. Can't speak to raw materials, I'm just talking about manufacturing.

I once worked for a company that sent OEM gasoline pump parts (Gilbarco, Tolkheim, Wayne) to Shenzhen to be ripped up and copied, then imported to the U.S. and exported to the Latin American market. The products we brought in were of significantly higher quality than the OEM products they were based on.

I was proud working there because I was in charge of shipping and inventory control, so I was extremely familiar with the quality of our product since I had to handle it and store it in a way that did not damage the product and I was aware of any return that ever happened because it came to me, so I knew why any given product failed.

Chinese fabricators are capable of doing high quality stuff but obviously high quality means higher prices and if the people commissioning the fabrication want corners cut, they'll get low-quality product out of China. If, on the other hand, the buyers want a quality build, and send back product that fall short of spec, they'll get high quality product out of China. The fabricators know there are a billion fabricators in Shenzhen, and if you mean business they can be replaced by someone who provide you the product you're looking for.

Which is no different than stateside or anywhere else for that matter.

Chinese product is not inherently shoddy. It's that buyers often go to China for the rock-bottom labor costs and those people are often also interested in putting cost before quality and what they're getting is precisely what they want.

Bonus: 你疯了 - (phonetically, "nee fung low mah") "Are you crazy??"

i agree with your last sentence, but its 99% of products coming out of there that are about quanity, not quality that most people see, not often do people see the 1% of "quality" products coming from china...

and your second sentence, how difficult can it possibly be to COPY something like a gas pump, when someone else has already done all of the engineering??? im not familiar with gas pumps, but where were the oem pumps manufactured to begin with?

the whole thing pisses me off, corporate greed IS the biggest problem in this country, it should be illegal for a US based company to manufacture products in another country, just to send them back to the US,
trading goods like food /materials is fine but only if it benifits BOTH countries, not putting 1 country to work while lining the pockets of corporations in the other...

there was a company in the town i work in, (evergreen solar) they recieved tons of government/state money to build their new location/advance the technology. so they built the building, advanced their technology,(all paid for by taxpayers) then less than a year later, closed up shop and started manufacturing in china.
that was about 4 years ago, never had to pay back a dime, just penalties for laying off 100's of people... its reasons like this that it should be illegal to for a US based company to do #### like this. and this isnt the only case, theres many simillar ones out there.

 

[bodhisoma]

i agree with your last sentence, but its 99% of products coming out of there that are about quanity, not quality that most people see, not often do people see the 1% of "quality" products coming from china...

I used to do photography and occasionally, VERY occasionally, weddings. Since I shoot prime only (doesn't zoom, just one focal length), usually that means I'll have my 50mm and need an extra body and an extra lens. If the client doesn't want to cover these expenses, I'll still hire out but they're definitely losing some excellent opportunities.

Blaming the Chinese for half-rate production is like blaming me for half-rate production.

and your second sentence, how difficult can it possibly be to COPY something like a gas pump, when someone else has already done all of the engineering???

Depends on the thing being copied. A label? I could probably do it. Electronics? That's decidedly non-trivial.

im not familiar with gas pumps, but where were the oem pumps manufactured to begin with?

Probably in Shenzhen. =)

the whole thing pisses me off, corporate greed IS the biggest problem in this country, it should be illegal for a US based company to manufacture products in another country, just to send them back to the US

Can't say I agree with you but I can't say I don't, either (I'm both anti-protectionist and pro-union). In any case, I'm willing to leave it at that, I've got way too much to do to get into that kind of debate.

But clearly American citizens don't agree though they once paid a great deal of lip service to the idea. Remember in the mid- 80's when there was MASSIVE push to "Buy USA" and eeeeeeveryone was checking labels?

How long did that last? 1988? Maybe?

And it's worth noting that the people who were the loudest about buying American are the very same people who shop at Walmart today. Walmart; the epitome of "patriotism be damned if we can shave two pennies."

 

[srb08]

I see this thread heading for the political forum.

 

[rarefish383]

Nah, I think it's about done, Joe.

 

[woodman6666]

i agree with your last sentence, but its 99% of products coming out of there that are about quanity, not quality that most people see, not often do people see the 1% of "quality" products coming from china...

and your second sentence, how difficult can it possibly be to COPY something like a gas pump, when someone else has already done all of the engineering??? im not familiar with gas pumps, but where were the oem pumps manufactured to begin with?

the whole thing pisses me off, corporate greed IS the biggest problem in this country, it should be illegal for a US based company to manufacture products in another country, just to send them back to the US,
trading goods like food /materials is fine but only if it benifits BOTH countries, not putting 1 country to work while lining the pockets of corporations in the other...

there was a company in the town i work in, (evergreen solar) they recieved tons of government/state money to build their new location/advance the technology. so they built the building, advanced their technology,(all paid for by taxpayers) then less than a year later, closed up shop and started manufacturing in china.
that was about 4 years ago, never had to pay back a dime, just penalties for laying off 100's of people... its reasons like this that it should be illegal to for a US based company to do #### like this. and this isnt the only case, theres many simillar ones out there.

I will do my best to mind my p's and q's here but as far as the corporate greed comment, I own a corporation and yes we need and want profits if not we wouldnt be here long. Why do you think the corporations want to have another country put there things together? Cheaper labor and why do they have cheaper labor in other countries? Government regulation here is much more intrusive and costly than most anywhere between unemployment, work comp, and dont even get me started on obama care, and there is the answer to most of your whole post. This government needs to learn how to make itself competetive again with the rest of the world and having the most strict and costly rules and regulations on its business will never be the answer or get them to look attractive to any business.

One more thing 90% of the tools I have ever bought that say made in china on them have broke.

 

[SomeotherGuy]

I have a super split and I love it.
Bought it a few years back from Paul in MA.
No problems with it at all.

 

[Steve NW WI]

I see this thread heading for the political forum.

It's close, real close.

If y'all want to discuss Chinese splitters here, lets keep it to the splitters themselves.

If you want to discuss the politics behind it, ask me for the Politics and Religion forum password if you don't already have it.

 

[513yj]

I never seen one of the inertia splitters working in person but all of the videos show them splitting very fast. However, I only see them splitting nice chunks of wood, straight grain, no knots. I had to take some chunks of old elm to the fil's to use his 25 ton splitter in order to make the wood useable for my wood stove and it was grunting a little on the larger rounds. I'd like to see one of them kinetic splitters working on something similar that is rock hard, stringy grain so I can form my own opinion. I can split red oak like one video I watched with a maul, but I couldn't dent this elm without a wedge and bfh and it still was a p.i.t.a.. Hoping to upgrade to a splitter but so far hydraulic is what I'm thinking until I get to make some comparison. I won't give up hand splitting tho since it's a good way to vent frustration and it's nice to do with a fat cup of good fresh ground coffee in the morning listening to the birds chirping.

 

[johncinco]

"there was a company in the town i work in, (evergreen solar) they received tons of government/state money to build their new location/advance the technology. so they built the building, advanced their technology,(all paid for by taxpayers) then less than a year later, closed up shop and started manufacturing in china."

Hard-Hit Michigan Town Sees Some (Sun)Light at Last — Site Selection Online Insider

The solar guys figured this out a long time ago. Get a bunch of money in grants to help the US save energy, fail, keep all the cash. The guy in this article has done it 4 times already, and each time a new energy shortage kicks off he does it again. The plant mentioned in this article was not open a year. Another plant in the southern part of the state was built, and NEVER even opened the doors. You would think the dolts passing out the cash would do a little research before writing the checks. It is simple really, learn how the government works, find the loopholes, and suck up the cash. I have a buddy who does consulting work, a lot of research to figure out some really dumb stuff. 99% of his work is all govt research, and all paid for on grant money.

 

[planman]

buy an american splitter and get a Chinese wife !!!

You guys should do what I do, I buy american but outsourced the old wife for a new chinese model and boy is it quality, no more not tonight honey for me.

 

[half]

chinese splitters

Yes, I see all these nice splitter demos with their straight grain wood that falls apart with a thought of a wedge, Boy I wish I could find that, 90% of mine has knots or twists and turns in it, and i,m sure the kinetic splitter would not even look at it.
I have a 22 ton Champion, USA company ,but i,m sure manufactured in china, And it struggles with some of the nastys I throw at it, But in saying that ,in most cases just turning it around and splitting the other way wins. It has not been beaten yet. As far as quality goes it has worked excellently for the last couple of seasons , and split a heap of wood, and it now road legal,{since I added lights} and tows good at 90km

 

[KiwiBro]

chinese splitters

Yes, I see all these nice splitter demos with their straight grain wood that falls apart with a thought of a wedge, Boy I wish I could find that, 90% of mine has knots or twists and turns in it, and i,m sure the kinetic splitter would not even look at it.

There is no way a SS is ideal for very tough or stringy NZ/AUS woods, but it sure will get through it OK. Might take a few strikes but it'll do it. Much of the problems are having to think differently to normal hydraulic splitting. Approach it more like axe splitting.

I've split al manner of tough NZ woods. Some of it doesn't split so much as it fractures or rips apart. SS still gets through it. But in such woods, the more I'm chasing production, the bigger the ugly pile becomes. That said, I think you'll be surprised a what it can do. I know I was. Wet, stringy, knotty OM Pine, gum so hard you'd swear your newly sharpened chain is blunt, etc. If this one ever dies before I'm too old to split wood with it, guess what I'm buying to replace it? Another one.

 

[half]

There is no way a SS is ideal for very tough or stringy NZ/AUS woods, but it sure will get through it OK. Might take a few strikes but it'll do it. Much of the problems are having to think differently to normal hydraulic splitting. Approach it more like axe splitting.

I've split al manner of tough NZ woods. Some of it doesn't split so much as it fractures or rips apart. SS still gets through it. But in such woods, the more I'm chasing production, the bigger the ugly pile becomes. That said, I think you'll be surprised a what it can do. I know I was. Wet, stringy, knotty OM Pine, gum so hard you'd swear your newly sharpened chain is blunt, etc. If this one ever dies before I'm too old to split wood with it, guess what I'm buying to replace it? Another one.

 

[half]

Ive just put a pile of old real dry gum through mine last weekend. It did it ok ,some with a big bang and pieces scattering everywhere, The first time it did it my mate got a hell of a fright. The trouble is there is no way to tell it is going to happen, so still going well
Its good to hear the SS is handling the tough stuff, I can only agree with you about the not splitting part, the strings hold it together That is the advantage mine has I think .I can hold the wedge at the end of its stroke and pull the wood apart. Mine does not close right up to the end , there is approx 25mm gap, {1 in} between the wedge and the back plate at full stroke. I think it is a safety thing But really who would put there hand anywhere near the wedge when you are splitting , and I dont lend my machine ,so it is only me using it. I have scored a piece of 40mm square { 1 1/2 approx} that I am going to cut in 2 and mount it with a couple of bolts to help when the stringy stuff comes around, that way the wedge can go into the gap and cut the strings

 

[blades]

Its not that they can't do it or put out a quality product- its more about quality control than anything else and it starts with the base materials. Those that have been around awhile in chi-com mfg know full well the trials and tribulations of qc over there. It is imperative to to have on sight, hands on people on board stationed at the particular sight.

I also noticed a large assortment of kinetic splitters hit the west coast shortly after the DR fiasco under various names