I bought this exact splitter to do smaller limb wood (6” or less). Unfortunately, my wood is oak and hickory. This splitter seldom split anything. I was extremely disappointed.
I have a 36 ton hydraulic splitter that never stalls and can be used horizontally or vertically for really big rounds. I put a roller conveyor in front of my splitter and have split rounds up to 36" in diameter.
Good review. The two handed operation would be a no go for me. I'd also make the table bigger to hold halves and waiting rounds. For the price, its hard to beat though!
Maybe a no go... but at least I have all my fingers still lol. I honestly have gotten kind of used to running it without the safety... def a little faster!
I bought a Super Split HD last summer and found there's mot much stopping it. I saved a 18" knotty pine round just to see if it would go through it and didn't even have to hit it twice, just went right through it. I love the speed of this thing and can load a IBC tote in maybe 10 minutes. I will agree, wood will go flying if you're not mindful of angled cuts and I had a piece of Ash go flying about 15ft. And yes it does suck when a piece gets stuck on the wedge, I had to use a chainsaw one time to free up a round stuck on the wedge.
Yes I'm also planning to buy a Super Split. In the past I mostly did mine by hand, used a neighbors tractor mounted hydraulic splitter for a while and kind of got turned on to the idea of buying a splitter.. I really like the idea that the Super Split is purely mechanical, no hydraulics , seals , pumps, valves, like the old saying anything it doesn't have can't break. Realistically this PowerKing would probably suit my needs but the supersplit is just a top notch unit and it's nice to have top notch stuff.
I'm an Alaskan and I just purchased my first kinetic. Thanks for the break down of common mishaps. I am set to break down 10 cords this weekend and I was a little concerned but am certainly less worried now.
Great post, currently run a Fiskars Isocore Splitting Maul and a Fiskars X27 Splitting Axe. My current splitter is a Bark Buster....I am currently looking to get a kinetic log splitter and there is a Power King splitter for sale near by ... actually want a Super Split... But I just might pick up the Power King
Thanks for the demo. Never considered some of the points you made. I purchased a 27 ton Champion from the local box store. You are right. It is heavy and the least piece of debris makes it a pain to roll around sometimes. However, my decision toward the hydraulic is that I deal with a lot of large oak, hickory, maple, etc., crotches and knotty crap. The hydraulic splitter works better to a point. Sometimes it is better to simply saw the really bad stuff up into firewood sized pieces. While the kinetic wouldn't touch the bad stuff, the hydraulic will often times destroy it. Positives and negatives to both. Happy with my hydraulic splitter though. Have split around 200 face cords with it and have had zero problems thus far. I too store outside but with a cover sold by the manufacturer. The Champion engine has done well. Take care. If you are ever in the Bristol area of Tennessee, let me know. We will grab lunch or something. Chewy -
@@CountryBoyChronicle So, you're saying you have lots of log fires *in the middle of no-where*?! I suspect this is not the case and that the logs eventually end up on a fire or in a stove in a house... which will almost certainly have electricity, probably mains electricity. In which case, just change your log-processing arrangement to bring them to the house to split rather than do it out in the wilds. Then you *could* use electric which, God-awful noise aside, produces no local emissions, requires no effort/time to start, needs practically no maintenance, is significantly lighter, requires no highly flammable and thus potentially dangerous fuel (or oil) and costs about 1/4 or less to run than the engine-powered version.
@@CountryBoyChronicle Don't be silly - I'm just *suggesting* you change your system a bit to make your life easer and more pleasant - not to mention the same for your neighbours.
So can you actually split faster with a maul than a hydraulic splitter? I assumed the kinetic splitters were the “cheaper” ones but that looks like an absolute beast.
Great review, bro. Wish you were my bro, bro. Everything in your review was mad useful. Wish we could drink a beer together. Ima go head and subscribe. Thanks.
I've been running at all Sears and Roebuck splitter that I paid $800 for 16-17 years I've never had a problem little slow but she gets the job done and that's angles with just about anything you put on
Great review. Thanks. Imagine someone punching you in the face with your head up against a brick wall versus punching you away from the wall. With nowhere to go, the punch against the wall is going to do a lot more damage. The same principle applies when you split wood with a maul. Setting your piece on the soft ground allows the piece to move. The soft ground absorbs some of the shock of the maul. If you set your piece on top of another piece, the shock is greatly increased and so is the chances of splitting in one whack.
I concur with everything you said. Exact same experience for us. I made a small business with my son using a kinetic splitter and a couple of chainsaws and he made enough to afford his first car. We had the exact same pitfalls as you described. We were able to split oversized rounds but it was just as you say in working the big rounds around the perimeter until it was down to a smaller size. Keep up the good work Indiana...
Well after watching this I'm glad I went with the dr k22. Been using it for three years and have split probably 50+ chords of madrone, tanoak, live oak , Pepperwood and fur. I've only gotten the Ram stuck twice. Both times were in knotty huge piece of wood that would have made a hydraulic grunt its ass off. Some rounds definitely take more than one hit, sometimes 4 or 5, but it goes through them. I've split rounds up to around 30in. over that I usually noodle them. I have a small winch lift I made out of a 3000 pound winch and 2 inch galvanized pipe to lift the rounds up on the splitter. Seeing this thing stall out in less than 20 inch rounds it makes me happy I went with the Dr.
Eh, sounds likes it's got too many little things that would be getting me pissed off. I'd rather accept the slower speed of a hydraulic splitter and not have all the little problems
Excellent. I have a couple of large hydraulic splitters that operate off of the skid steer. I am getting one of these for most of our rounds that don't need 30 tons. I will probably get the electric because I do not need a 7th gas motor on the property that has old gas and/or maintenance. And we make the fuel (electricity) on the property.
Hey partner. I highly recommend that you ONLY use ethanol-free gas in all your small engines. The ethanol in regular pump gas will foul your carburetor jets, because ethanol eats aluminum via "alcoholate corrosion". Small engines run hotter than your car's engine, because they're air cooled - so they will run better on 93 octane. But you want ethanol free gas. Highest octane you can get. Drain the carburetor bowl every time you let it sit for more than a couple of months to keep the gas from going bad. Seafoam original gas treatment in small doses is also good for keeping problems away. Do all the above and your small engine equipment will fire up strong every single time. 💪
@@CountryBoyChronicle haha. Close enough! You say the words and I’ll build you a nice axe brother! That is a pretty bad ass power splitter though. That thing does some serious work!
I used one of the early Super Splits for about 10 years. The original B&S motor died and I installed a 3hp Predator motor. For safety, I could only run that motor just above idle. The speed of the ram shown in this video makes splitting very dangerous. The man in the video talked about the splitter throwing out wood at times. I would recommend slowing down the rpm’s of the motor and therefore the ram speed to about one half of the speed shown here. This is just my opinion but it’s formed from literally hundreds of hours of experience with this type of splitter.
