Supersplitter HD electric for large Sweet Gum rounds

[GreenClayton]

I am looking for advice on using a Supersplitter HD kinetic splitter with an electric motor (a step up from the J model, and a step down from the SE gas-only model) on the numerous large 15" to 30" DBH Sweet Gum trees from a 14 acre forest.  Does anyone have experience using a Supersplitter on big sweetgum rounds?

I am advised that repeatedly stalling out the electric motor may be bad for the motor.  I have also heard that splitting wood with interlocked grain like Sweet Gum may be easier if the splits are made along, instead of across, the tree rings.

Any advice would be appreciated.  Thanks!

[Southside]

I don't care what you use, gum splits hard, really, really, hard - especially if it's green.  Not being familiar with that splitter my question would be how hard is it to get a wedged head out of the round?  I would expect it to happen more than a few times.  

[sawguy21]

Unless you have 3ph power you are going to be limited to 5hp which may not be enough to drive a suitable splitter.

[barbender]

I don't think kinetic would be the right choice for that type of wood. 

[Downstream]

A few of the tricks I have learned with kinetics is you can split off center on tougher wood to start the process vs going down the middle so you are partially shaving vs straight splitting.  I have always found that once the log has had any split taken out of it the remainder of the splits seem to go easier.  Another thing on the kinetics is that the splitting force is not coming directly from the engine rather from the kinetic energy stored in the spinning flywheel.  this coupled with the fact that most kinetics allow you to disengage the rack/pinion at any time in the split cycle either by letting go of the handle or popping it "out of gear" you can get a feel for when you are slowing the flywheel and instead of letting it drop too low in RPM you pop it out of gear and re-hit the tough piece without the engine/motor having to fully recover the RPM's.  On a hydraulic you just power through it and lug the engine, but on the kinetic you can pop it in/out trying to maintain lets say 50% of max rpm at any given time which does not lug the engine as bad.  After you have split enough with them it becomes an automatic process you don't even think about.  They are fast enough the re-hits can be done well inside the normal cycle time of any hydraulic that is trying to power through a tough split.

[btulloh]

My first question is do you really need to burn sweetgum?  It's a low btu producer with a lot ash produced. Considering how hard it is to split, it's not a good use of your time for the little amount of heat you get. 

[stavebuyer]

I am a big Supersplit HD fan but splitting gum is not going to work out. Motor choice really is of no consequence as the force is generated from the inertia of the 100lb flywheels. If you are determined to burn your 14 acres of gum I'd be tempted to buy a small bandmill and saw your firewood. 

[thecfarm]

Probably no way to do this, plus I've never set eyes on sweet gum before. My father cut a elm tree one year. He left it cut up for one year. Than we split it. We use to split by hand. But there was 5 of us doing it too. I can still hear him say, to get the life out of it, so it would split easier. 

[Gere Flewelling]

I have a Super Split SE and though I do not have Sweetgum in my area, I have split lots of elm and large ash that is full of large knots and crotch's.  If it won't just split it, it will cut its way through.  The second the pusher starts to stall just release it and once returned pull the lever and hit it again.  I have had to cycle the pusher 5-6 times on the rare occasion.  Kind of like using a manual post driver on a metal fence post.  Just keep hitting it and it works its way down into the ground.  Mine has a gas engine, but I suspect the electric will operate similar as long as you release it when you see the ram start to stall.  Keep some small wood around to use to push the stuck large chunk off the wedge.
This works much faster and better than any of the numerous hydraulic splitters I have owned over the years.  I was a hard sell originally on the Super Split, but wouldn't have anything different now.

[GreenClayton]

A few of the tricks I have learned with kinetics is you can split off center on tougher wood to start the process vs going down the middle so you are partially shaving vs straight splitting.  I have always found that once the log has had any split taken out of it the remainder of the splits seem to go easier.  Another thing on the kinetics is that the splitting force is not coming directly from the engine rather from the kinetic energy stored in the spinning flywheel.  this coupled with the fact that most kinetics allow you to disengage the rack/pinion at any time in the split cycle either by letting go of the handle or popping it "out of gear" you can get a feel for when you are slowing the flywheel and instead of letting it drop too low in RPM you pop it out of gear and re-hit the tough piece without the engine/motor having to fully recover the RPM's.  On a hydraulic you just power through it and lug the engine, but on the kinetic you can pop it in/out trying to maintain lets say 50% of max rpm at any given time which does not lug the engine as bad.  After you have split enough with them it becomes an automatic process you don't even think about.  They are fast enough the re-hits can be done well inside the normal cycle time of any hydraulic that is trying to power through a tough split.

Thank you for confirming these points.  I have been talking to the owner of Supersplitter, and your description of the technique of disengaging before stalling jibes with his description of how to work with an electric Supersplitter.  The worry is that using that technique imperfectly may be harder on an electric motor than on a gas motor.  As Gere Flewelling notes, the gas-only Supersplitter SE model allows a different approach, but for reasons of noise, fuel type, and expense, I want to stick with an electric motor. 

Splitting along the rings (off center) and while the wood is green (before its twists get worse in drying) also appears to be key.

Stavebuyer: Great minds . . . .  I have plans sawing sweet gum firewood, too.   And making firewood out of sweetgum lumber failures.  Right now, however, I lack capacity for whole-log handling.  And I have two-ish cords of maple rounds that need splitting, too.

If anyone has specific experience in using the Supersplitter HD electric on sweet gum, I would love to hear from you. 

[Downstream]

I may sound funny but to get the most out of your kinetic you have to think differently than you learned with a hydraulic splitter.  When we first started taking our new unit to shows it was interesting to see people step up to demo and start splitting like it was their normal hydraulic and struggle a little bit.  After a few minutes of discussion and showing them different approaches they would be flying.  Once in awhile you would get somebody that was just bound and determined to split using their hydraulic techniques with less than optimum results.  Once we decided they were not going to try it a new way it was time to get them off the kinetic because they were going to continue to struggle.  Kinetics are not for everyone.  They should be, but only if you are willing to change the way you think about splitting.  Also if you want a nice upgrade attachment keep your eye out for a used log lift attachment for the Split Second Kinetic.  We originally designed it to fit on a super split also, so it can be retrofitted.  May be hard to find , but may get lucky.  nice as a ift and also for staging rounds since it locks in the horizontal position.

[Grigg]

Late to the discussion..

We have a  supersplit with the larger flywheels powered by a small Kubota diesel.  I bought it new without engine and mounted the Kubota myself.

Sometimes I get dump truck loads of random wood and it will split any and everything... Well sometimes a big knot cluster is not worth the effort.
It'll split, or more accurately cut, gum but it's no fun.  I do not look forward to messing with gum, given any choice I wouldn't.

[jb616]

Is Black Gum as bad as Sweet Gum?  I have Black on my property.  The worst I ever split was Sycamore...