Anyone have experience with Super Splitter Electric

Not sure how much longer I can split by hand - I love it, but my right shoulder is telling me it might be time to give it up. I tolerate the chainsaw noise because there is no alternative. Don't really want more engine noise from a hydraulic splitter and the electric versions all seem like toys to me.

Just found out about the Super Splitter Electric and was wondering if anyone here has experience with it or can provide any input that might help me decide if I want to purchase one.

Here is a video of the HD version in action:

Thanks.

 

HDRock is planning to sell his little 7 ton electric. Lots of guys here who've been real happy with those.
No experience with any electric splitter.

 

I know 2 guys who have/had the gas version of the SS and they both love them. I wouldn't like having to split wood near an outlet, I like to split near my wood piles.

 

My buddy has one, he loves it and as far as you having split by hand you won't have to relearn how to split on this machine. You have to place your wood against the ax part of the splitter and then pull the lever. Fast isn't the word he split a pick up truck of rounds in about 20 to 25 minutes he was trying to impress me with its speed, I guess if you're careful and slow down it would be great. As for moving it to where you are stacking he had a Honda generator to solve that problem. If you are the only one operating this machine I say it's a great investment and a massive time saver over splitting by hand.

 

You mentioned the noise of a gas splitter. This one doesn't seem to bad as some of the electric versions I've seen. The "whine" of the electric motor on others would drive me nuts!! Like others said if you have to take it out of the yard then a generator would be needed and that defeats your whole purpose of the electric splitter.

 

I'm home bound when it comes to firewood. I cut wood from two properties that I can drive my cub cadet & dump cart to (don't have a truck or trailer); I also have a tree service that will bring rounds for a very good price. My processing area is about 100 feet from an external outlet, so that is not a problem. To minimize steps/lifting, I planned to take rounds out of the back of the dump cart onto the SS and split into my smaller hand dump cart and take directly to my stacks. For tree service rounds, I might need to build a ramp for the bigger pieces or noodle them into reasonable sizes before splitting.

Just got a quote back for the Electric HD model (1.5 hp) and shipping to MI - $3358. Just wondering if my desire for a quiet splitter is playing too much of a role in picking one. The SS has a reputation of lasting a long time, so perhaps it is worth it in the long run.

Would like to know how much SS maintenance your buddy needs to do if you could get than info.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

I have no first hand experience with the electric super splitter but watching several videos on youtube I would have some concerns.

First, as Backwoods said, it is horizontal only. The rounds that I really wish I had a splitter for are a little too heavy to maneuver up there.

Second, after watching a few videos, it seems to do fine on red oak and other easy to split wood. As soon as it hits a branch or crotch piece it appears to bog down and needs repeated hits to split the round. Same with other harder to split wood like sycamore.

Finally, for wood like elm, it does not appear to have a power retraction or any method to dislodge the round if it gets caught on the blade. You have to manually fight the round off the blade.

I personally would be more comfortable with hydraulics that can go both vertical or horizontal.

KaptJaq

 

Thats what they make extension cords for...

 

Chuck has one and was running it at the PA GTG this year. It was pretty dang slick.

 

I have no experience with this splitter but it appears to be exceptionally quiet based on the video.

I use a high quality muffs that make my gas splitter noise very tolerable. Some gas units are much louder than others, I can run my Honda GX. 270 at 1/3 throttle. Only saying not all gas units are exceptionally loud and good hearing protection goes a long way.

I personally think this video shows some of the deficiencies and difficulties these super split units have and this is one is with fairly easy to split red oak. Usually you see them splitting staight grained smaller rounds and ripping threw them at lighting speed. Trade offs come with any splitter, pick what works for you.

 

Some manufactures do put electric motors on 16+ ton hydraulic splitters.

 

All I know is that when he talked to the owner of Super Split and yes the owner answers the phone he only makes about 60 splitters a year. He was told where he could buy a replacement motor so as not to have to wait for it to be shipped. His fell off his trailer his fault as it wasn't tied down properly. I also talked to the owner as I was interested in maybe buying a gas Super Splitter he explained that his father had bought the patent from the original owner and that the patent had expired. It cut his business down as the big boys got in on the game, 0% finance and all kinds of other incentives (DR splitter). I was going to buy one for the smaller pieces of wood knowing it would increase production, because I wouldn't be running the machine it scared me that one of my hire's would hurt themselves. Too fast for someone who isn't paying attention and no safety once you lift the lever get your hands out of the way, end of story. For smaller wood this machine is the fastest you will find, split the larger rounds by hand save them for when you feel the need to exert yourself physically.

 

this could be an option for you:
http://www.logsplittersdirect.com/Ramsplitter-HV16-4-Log-Splitter/p3298.html

 

Thanks everyone for your input. I agree that there are some limitations to a horizontal only splitter. I am also giving a gas engine some thought; never even thought about taking the splitter to the woodlot and splitting there ... just not part of the routine I was used to. I can't really explain it, but I am intrigued by this SS. Spoke with the owners son (he is the production manager) today and found out the J model is more than sufficient for my needs. Suggested going with the gas engine if on the fence regarding electric; swapping out gas for electric is easy if needed in the future. He told me these are commercial grade splitters and that they have many customers processing up to 300 cord/year with these machines. Said they are working on a log lift, but no details about availability.

Up until last winter I had never needed to split anything bigger than perhaps 14 inches in diameter; it was only when I bought a few loads of tree service rounds that I ran into the big rounds splitting issue. Not sure if I will continue buying the tree service rounds or not.

Here are a couple better videos of the SS for those interested:

 

If he's not splitting more than 15 cord a year I like this one. Didn't check out the warranty but if it has a one year I would grab this one and save about $1,600.00 dollars because that's a lot of wood to split to make up the price difference also as long as time is on his side there is no reason to go that fast. Check out some of the youtube videos there's one where two guys are splitting about 2 cord (20 pieces a minute) an hour. If you need to split that much wood then you need a processor. The only reason I even looked at it was trying to sell more then 50 cord this year and only splitting a cord an hour with two guys one feeding the rounds and one guy operating the splitter as most of my wood comes in 16" lengths delivered so a processor is foolish for me.

 

As soon as I get caught up on the stuff I have in my "holding area," I'm taking everything I cut onsite to the stack, where the splitter will be, for immediate splitting and stacking, right off the quad trailer. My 22-ton gasser isn't very loud; I don't have to use hearing protection with it.

 

That looks like a great electric unit. I can't get over how fast that it is ...maybe too fast. I would think this would be a one man only operation. Too many hands in the mix and someone might lose one...

My one complaint with the SS you have shown above would be the rather small (short) wedge. In more than one of the videos above, the wedge isn't large enough to make a full split resulting in the log biting onto the wedge. There seems to be some a lot of extra man-handling of the rounds to get them unstuck. Maybe a larger wedge is an option.

 

Found quite a few posts regarding the SS on the arboristsite. Seems to be a small buy happy set of owners. Many had started out with the gas engine and switched over to the electric and there was one guy who had both gas and electric motors mounted on his. I'm really close to pulling the trigger on this one. I probably can't justify the cost and perhaps the need for this machine, but it sure floats my boat based on it quiet operation and speed. Will it split everything I want it to? Doubt it, but likely it will have a higher success rate than my x27. My biggest concern is this: if I buy it and join the splitter club, will my membership card have a crimson H on it since it is horizontal only?

Here is one last video showing it splitting what I call a "stinker":