Super Split Arrived

[dnf0929]

The one bright spot of the storm that knocked out my power on Thursday and as I post is expected not to be restored until late tomorrow night is that my SSHD finally arrived. It was supposed to be delivered on Friday but arrived late yesterday. It did take a little while to assemble but with my wife's help when heavy lifting was required it went smoothly. Here's a brief review. More will follow with pictures but I'm at a Panera right now catching up on what's been happening for the last 5 days.

The thing is awesome. It's rock solid. The 6hp Robin runs perfect and barely breaks a sweat. The working height is great as I'm 6' 2". Everything that everybody said good about it is true. I too had my reservations and maybe I'm easily impressed but after previosly using a hydraulic splitter this thing is in a whole different league. I fed it all sizes of oak, ash, elm and hickory and it tore through it. With the tough gnarly stuff all you have to do is read the wood and it rips through that as well. Only got to use it for an hour as I had to get gas for generator and kerosene for the heater and drop some wood off to a couple of nuns who are without power. Agree with those who raised safety issues. You need to be very careful and work smart because it's fast.

:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[maplemeister]

Hey Dan,

Nothing like a new toy huh? Initial reports sound encouraging. Take care
of the necessities first and when things calm down a bit we'll be waiting for the full report and of course some PICs as well.

Maplemeister: opcorn: opcorn:

 

[Wet1]

You're going to love it... I now wonder how I ever lived w/o mine!

 

[thejdman04]

Can you send it my way so I could demo it :greenchainsaw:

 

[STLfirewood]

Can you send it my way so I could demo it :greenchainsaw:

If you want a demo come on down to St. Louis and I'll let you operate mine. I'l make sure I have 10 or so cord that need to be split so you can see how it works. I wouldn;t want you to make your decision on just a couple of pieces.

Scott

 

[dnf0929]

The one thing I noticed today is how nice, neat and completely it splits the wood. Will make for easier and neater stacking. The ram on my hydraulic unit stopped a couple of inches short and with some of the stringier stuff it wouldn't finish the job which slowed things down even more.

The only probelm I encountered today was a sliver of wood got stuck between the beam and the plate the ram is attached to and the ram wouldn't return. I just loosened the bolts a little and was able to free it. Overall still very, very pleased.

 

[alderman]

Looked at a demo on their site

Looks like it would work great with the stuff I cut. Hard to fork out that kind of money just for the few cord I put up each year though.

 

[Wet1]

Looks like it would work great with the stuff I cut. Hard to fork out that kind of money just for the few cord I put up each year though.

I agree it does make it hard to justify purchasing a SS for just a few cords each year. Since I'm not a volume reseller, I couldn't justify buying a new SS... But I HAD to have one after seeing them and comparing it to all the other hydraulics I've owned and used over the years. My only viable option was to find a used SS, but they are very hard to come by. If you can find one, you better be fast on the trigger because I've never seen one on the used market for more than a few hours. I ended up finding my almost new SS through a wanted ad I placed. It cost me $1400, which was still a little more than I was hoping to spend, but I stretched my budget a little since the splitter was almost new. I have to say it was money very well spent! Splitting wood was a job I use to dread doing, now I can't wait to fire up the SS!

 

[alderman]

Just a question

Are these things light enough to move by hand? I'm not talking about great distances, but just relocating around the wood pile as it grows.

 

[Wet1]

Are these things light enough to move by hand? I'm not talking about great distances, but just relocating around the wood pile as it grows.

Yes. I added a two foot handle to mine that swings into place on the front of mine. I pull it out of the garage and next to wherever I'm splitting (typically <75') by hand with no problems.

 

[STLfirewood]

The roll around really easy. They only weigh around 500 pounds

Scott

 

[kah68]

Yeah just watch it on the inclines, once it starts its hard to stop!

 

[kah68]

Yeah just watch it on the inclines, once it starts its hard to stop!

 

[gage52]

Can you send it my way so I could demo it :greenchainsaw:

where in IL are you? i lived outside of rockford in winnebago and have a ss. if your looking into getting one come check mine out

 

[dnf0929]

Snow held off until about lunchtime so I took the Super Split out for a little while before I had to park it and gas up the tractor/snowplow. Here's a few pictures.

 

[BuddhaKat]

I'm curious as to how well the SS will handle a gnarly piece with a bunch of knots?

 

[Wet1]

I'm curious as to how well the SS will handle a gnarly piece with a bunch of knots?

It depends how bad it is. If you try to go directly into a large crotch, it if just stall it right out. If you know how to place it on the splitter, it will go through it, but it has to be done correctly. With knots, I've found you sometimes have to hit them more than once if they are pretty bad. The key is to disengage it quickly (before it wants to stall) and then hit it again. I'm yet to find a piece my SS wont go through, but if I know the piece is going to be a PITA, I sometimes just toss it aside and rip the one or two bad ones with one of my large saws.

 

[monk680]

I can't understand why the super split cost so much. Has less components then a hydraulic slitter. I like the super split great idea but to much money. my own opinion

 

[dnf0929]

I definitely agree with you as far as the cost in regards to the components that make up the actual machine but so much more went into determining whether the SS was worth the cost to me.

The fact that I work by myself, don't require a log lift and the shear speed of the machine played heavily into my decision. I did about 15 cords this year with a Tractor Supply machine and could have done much more if the thing wasn't so slow. The SS is conservatively 5 times faster. My time and increased production are definitely worth a lot...at least to me!

I love splitting wood but it seemed like an eternity standing there waiting for that thing to return. With the SS no time is wasted waiting on the machine...it waits for you. I have never used a Timberwolf or American but they were machines in the same price range that I researched and seriously considered so I was going to be spending 3K no matter what.

I have bought vehicles, tools and electronics that seemed really impressive when I was shopping and dreaming about but once you paid for them and used them it just wasn't exactly quite what you thought it was going to be. Personally for what I was looking for this machine meets and exceeds all of my criteria and at least to me is worth every cent I paid for it.

 

[wkpoor]

From the look of your pictures your wood pile looks to be only the nicest pieces from the tree. I don't really see the forks and nasty crotches lying there. Just straight grained rounds. I'm real curious to see someone with a vid of that unit splitting the bad stuff. Which just happens to be most of what I have. I've got stuff here so nasty its hard to saw up cause the grain runs all different directions inside.