Log Splitters

[zopi]

Was a big discussion over o. Another board about the DR...with factory rep jumping in and defending DR...

My experience...local small engine mechanics won't mess with DR...say they are almost impossible to get parts out of.

I am pretty leery of anything that is marketed as heavily as DR...much like ronco...it slices, it dices, it splits wood!
Nahh.

[paul case]

you mean ''set it and forget it''?????    pc

[Qweaver]

I bought one of the Huskies 6.5 hp, 22 ton units at Tractor Supply.  It splits fine but it is slow.  It's OK for a home user but it would be tough to use to make money with unless you don't care how much your time is worth.

[sawman]

  Stopped by our local tsc yesterday, and they had a speeco flywheel splitter there with a 2.5 sec cycle time, had to use both hands to operate it,push release button with one hand and hit lever with otherhand. If I remember correctly if you released button, the cycle would reverse at that point.
 I think price was 1699.

[sawguy21]

You do not want a hand anywhere near the wedge when it starts to move. ;D

[John Mc]

You do not want a hand anywhere near the wedge when it starts to move. ;D

Or on the other end.

I used to be able to say "I'm always very careful about where I put my hands when splitting".

As of June 2, 2011, that was no longer the case. Not sure how it happened, but I got my left index finder caught between the log and the anvil. I basically "popped" my finger open, and slightly cracked one bone. Stopped just in time to avoid shattering the last couple of bones in the finger. 14 stitches, looked pretty gruesome for a while. I'm left handed, but like many lefties, I'm somewhat ambidextrous, so I got by OK while it was healing. Signing my name was a tough one, however.

It's healed up pretty good now. Still a bit limited on range of motion. The one upside is that my finger is a pretty good predictor of coming storms now... it aches a good bit when something is brewing.

If I'd been using one of the flywheel type splitters, I'd be limited to giving people the high "4 & 1/2" after that. (Believe it or not, I'd still go for a SuperSplit if I could justify it. Wouldn't go for a DR Products RapidFire on principle, since it sure seems they just robbed SS's design.)

John Mc