Thoughts?

Maybe someone already posted. These are new to me.

 

It is so slow it would drive me nuts waiting on it.


My name is Mike, and I'm an Okie hoarder.
Lopi Endeavor and Republic 1250

 

You can buy a lot of gas for one of those batteries, a whole lot more for 2.
Granted no worries about gas going bad and ruining carb.
If you're in the dewalt family. Might not be a big deal if you already have some 60v batteries.
I imagine most guys have a few big packs and a lot of the smaller ones. I do with the metabo line.
Sure would be nice if they standardized these battery packs so they fit all different competitors. aka cas batteries

 

I would like to see them still remain branded batteries with distinguishing features that can use an adapter to connect standardized batteries. Some sort of adapter is crucial especially for backwards compatibility. Sure they can standardize manufacturing, but then you have sent a whole bunch of useful tools to the landfills because support for oem batteries will fall off.

Something I've always wanted... a cord that can be used with battery powered tools if desired/necessary. A 6 footer with a slide connect to get onto whatever brand of tools. Would need an inline DC converter, but so does every Sony playstation I think?

 

It’s a rebranded YTL product.

 

For the record, I am not interested. Wondered what others think of them though.

 

Metabo has that, it's a battery pack adapter that plugs in. It is really nice option to have on some tools.
I use one for my compressor at times instead of using the 36v packs. Of course it only works with metabo.
The CAS metabo is more a europe thing... They still have branded batteries but supposedly should work on any competitor brand that is part of that alliance.

 

They used to be such an awesome brand. Then they started with the 'assembled in Germany from foreign components and I'd guess now they have full blown chicom gear like the rest. We still sell their stone polishers to a customer at work. Apparently all the others fall short in that category.

 

Too Slow, Too Expensive, and the decibel level may be lower, but it’s still loud enough, that the pitch of the noise they make would bother me more than the sound of the Kohler powering our 27 ton DHT splitter

I Love my DeWalt cordless tools, but I wouldn’t buy either of those

Those may be okay for someone who splits/burn less than a cord of wood a year, but burning an average of 8 cords a year, those machines just wouldn’t cut it for me

The amount of wood split per battery seemed awful low, as I expected, and to split the amount of wood at a time that I do would take at least 4-6 batteries and several chargers

I don’t recall if the 20/60v flex batteries need a special charger, I only have one 20/30v 9ah flex batteries, I don’t even recall which tool can use it, all my tools will run on the straight 20v batteries

I have considered getting a flex volt chainsaw, it would be convenient at times for quick jobs around the house, but I wouldn’t use it enough to justify the cost, so a bunch more flex volt batteries would be a huge expense, that I couldn’t justify

My going on 10 year old DHT gas splitter is still doing an Excellent job, and there is no justification for replacing it with an expensive, slower less capable machine


Doug

 

another thought, what happens when the electric motor gives up? It is pretty simple on our ICE splitters, to swap a cheap predator engine on or even rebuild the original if inclined. I look at these tools as a lifetime investment or generational even.
I'll assume the hydraulics isn't anything special on this vs ICE ones so that should be easy enough to fix if needed?

 

Hmm yes let me wipe out multiple years of savings provided by woodburning for a proprietary piece of crap that uses overpriced lithium batteries. I am a rugged outdoorsman on my homestead.

 

Why don't you tell us how you really feel?

 

I did notice that while running the 9 ton splitter, he was much more efficient about stopping the ram on the return stroke, than he was when running the 20 ton .

Letting the ram fully return, and auto stop, would really slow down an already slow machine, and also affect the battery life, much more than the fuel used on a gas powered splitter, I am always amazed at little fuel our’s uses, it is well worth the cost of the fuel, even using Non ethanol

He also mentioned Maintenance and winterizing.
I admit that our splitter doesn’t get the maintenance it should. I have changed the oil (I’m Pretty Sure ) but honestly don’t remember how long ago, and I’m equally sure that it is still running on it’s original spark plug.

That Kohler engine puts the Energizer Bunny to shame, it doesn’t get the maintenance it deserves, lives under a tarp in the driveway, and starts the first pull almost every time. It can sit for 6 months or more, and if I pull it twice without it starting, I am checking the On/Off switch, then the fuel tank, yep I have made both those mistakes

On winterizing, those electric splitters would get the same “Winterizing” as my gas splitter, a tarp thrown over them, and nappy time until I need them again. Being air cooled, there isn’t really anything to winterize

I’m sure that there are people who these would be a good fit for, but I’m not one of those, and I suspect that with the amount of wood that most FHC members burn, there probably aren’t too many here that these would be a good fit for


Doug

 

A Realtor would tell you that the “Primary Heat Source” in our house is Forced Air Electric, but I will tell you that in Reality for Us, it is our wood burning stove.

FAE, is a real budget buster, even here in the PNW where we have abundant, supposedly inexpensive hydro power. The wood stove probably saves us over $200/month on our electricity bill.

So on a Realistic 2 saw plan, and the hydraulic splitter, our ROI is probably 2 years or less, the saws beyond a reasonable 2 saw plan ( Yes, I know that is Blasphemy around here) I have still more than recouped my “Investment “

I consider my saws a “Practical Hobby”, especially the equipment I have for milling, and like my model trains, which I haven’t been as active in, I consider the saws an “Investment”, just not a Financial one, but rather an Investment in my mental health, though both can sometimes be a threat to mental health

Hand splitting would definitely be less expensive than either my gas splitter or these DeWalt Battery splitters, but would take me so much more time, that I can easily justify the expense of the gas splitter, but the electric splitters are enough more, that I couldn’t justify that price, with the gas splitters being an option

I will also admit, that I just am not that accurate swinging an axe or maul, and
Not only do I get better sized splis with the hydraulic, but I can also split accurately enough to debark splits, and that dramatically reduces the amount of time that it takes splits to season



Yep, it slows processing down a bit, debarking on the splitter, but after a bit of practice, not too much

I could never debark like this by hand with an axe, it would be much more time consuming, and a LOT more wasted wood, though when splitting at home, I will often keep the better bark splits, they do dry fairly quickly when split that way, but when splitting in the woods, we typically discard the bark splits


Doug

 

Those are some pretty splits.

 

Thank You

As mentioned, they season much faster without the bark, and it is much cleaner in the house that way


Doug

 

Looks like a solution in search of a problem.
If you split within reach of an outlet, then corded is the way to go.
If not, then gas powered is the answer.
Hell, I'd take my generator and electric splitter out into the field before I'd get one of these.
I'm all in favor of reducing the number of gas engines in my fleet, I get electric whenever practical.
This is a dumb idea.

 

The problem is the price. If it was $1200 it might be worth a look but $2200 is wild. Where is that extra thousand dollars going?

 

Maybe in another decade the technology will improve to the point where you can't really poo-poo it for the operating speed or battery life. The price might have to come down too, although a more realistic hope would be for the price to remain the same as it is today.

 

We all should know better than to think the price will ever come down or stay the same.