Seeking Ramsplitter HV-16 Electric Feedback

[jdinspector]

OK, I visited the Ramsplitter fabrication shop yesterday, saw a 16 ton unit in operation, and ordered one. I'll pick it up next week. It's smaller than I expected, but then, I'm a homeowner using it for 4 cords a year. I expect it will be just fine. I'm going to be more selective about what I pick up in the future and look for mid-sized rounds with straight grain. Frankly, not too concerned about that. 4 cords isn't a lot, so I can afford to be selective.

The electric unit, which I'm purchasing, is a bit louder than I expected. I thought it would have a low electric motor hum, but actually has a whine from the hydraulic pump. In any case, you can talk over it, albeit a little loud. It should work for me.

I looked at their website and saw that they also do custom colors (i.e. John Deere Green) which is appealing to me. I'll call and ask. The other part is that they can make one with a little longer ram for me, if I want. The standard unit has 20" ram. I just might want to go larger/longer. Overall, great people to work with.

And, as I said earlier, MADE IN AMERICA. I feel good about helping out a poor economy. Rockford, IL is reeling in this recession and I feel good about helping out.

 

[pdhowell]

Hi folks,

I have the same Ramsplitter 16 horizontal/vertical model and find it very satisfactory after two years. The criticism that it is limited to an electrical outlet and cord is somewhat misleading. When in the woods, it runs fine off a 3500 watt generator. I also get lights off the generator allowing me to work after I get home. At home, it is near my woodpile, in the winter, in my garage for making kindling (no fumes). It is sometimes used very early in the morning (no noise) because of the electric motor. The pump whine is irritating, but a radio or conversation with others overwhelms it.

It will split anything I can lift on the beam, and is an excellent kindling maker, thus it has a very nice balance for the homeowner. The build quality if much better than the production splitters I have seen. The components are all generic and can be easily replaced at any farm supply or hydraulic shop.

For what it is worth, this splitter is working every day for a family where the dad lost his job, then sprained his back cutting firewood. This guys wife, daughters (and boy friends) are using this splitter in a shed, out of the wind and with dry footing underneath. They bring the rounds in with a tractor loader, and refill the bucket with splits. Five buckets is a $250 load in dump trailer. The throughput, with two people, is about the same as a gas engine/four inch cylinder. To the present, it seems to be solid and trouble free. Hope this helps, dh, Maryland

 

[jdinspector]

PDHowell,

Thanks for your information. I'm committed to one now (I ordered it and will pick up in a few days). Just joking here, but maybe I made a mistake... I had mine wired for 240 volts. I knew I would have to purchase a long extension cord, and I wanted a good, safe install that would never overheat. I purchased a 10 gauge, 100 foot cord along with an appropriate outdoor (watertight) receptacle. The parts (cord, twist-lock plugs, outdoor wiring harness (liquid-tite) and miscellaneous items cost over $200. The cord was $92 plus tax! All in all, I'm sure I'll be happy, but I was a little bit put off when it was all tallied up. Did anyone else have this type of expense when purchasing a large electric splitter?

 

[pdhowell]

JDinspector,

I think you are wise to get this splitter wired for 240 volts. The amp draw is less at startup, and you have no problems with circuit breakers not holding. I only had had the circuit breaker problem when my motor was wired 110 and it was very cold (below zero, and ATF hydraulic fluid). It was frustrating not being able to just turn my splitter on, as I was used to. I got in the habit and splitting the days supply of kindling before going to work each day.

Price wise, a ten gauge 50 foot cord is about $50 here at the HomeDepot/Lowes stores we have around here, about what you quoted. I run my splitter off a an already installed welding outlet in a shed, so did not have any other expense. Around here, with 20 cent per kilowatt electricity, the full electrical draw would cost about forty cents per hour, actually much less, because the motor draws it's full amperage only when making it's max torque, which is only momentary when the relief valve opens at 2500 psi. This which hardly ever happens. My gauge very seldom goes above 1000 psi, and then just for a second as the wood is split. I have never seen any affect of my splitting on my electric bill.

My thought is that you soon recover the cost of the any electrical investment. I am guessing twenty cents max as opposed to a couple of bucks per hour for gas. However, to be honest, I have not run a gas splitter since I rented them years ago. My mowers/snow blowers seem to use about a gallon an hour.

I think you will like your splitter. It will split everything I have set on the beam (except for one large walnut burl that had no grain, anywhere), it is quiet with some pump whine, and can be used anywhere, anytime. Even deep in the woods with a generator.

For what it is worth, a wood stove and a generator makes you pretty safe combination, no matter what the weather.

Hope this helps, Dave Howell

 

[JayD]

Congrats! I shoped some of the salvage yards and found a 8g big motorhome power cord only 50ft but the price was right and twist locks were aleady there. You may need fluid 5 gal at auto zone. Whats with this pump whine? Mine don't whine? What RPM are these running at ? Mine is 1750 rpm, Is he now putting the 3000 rpm motors on his splitters.

 

[pdhowell]

Hi folks,

Just to clarify, there is some noise with my electric splitter. There is an electric hum, and there is also some pump noise, that may or may not be noticeable depending upon location. Outside, the motor pump noise is not significant. In fact, my biggest problem with this splitter is not turning it off. When I bring my 1750 rpm splitter inside my garage for the winter to split kindling, the motor hum and pump whine is noticeable, not that you need ear protection, but you do remember to turn the motor off. Hope this helps, Dave Howell

 

[JayD]

OK I understand, I use mine outside next to my pile thats the difference. Its sure is nice all the nabours here is the actual wood splitting if they have windows open. Jay

 

[Gooserider]

Price sounds about right on the electrical stuff - copper wire is expensive, no way around it... I also agree that you are best off getting wired for 240, it is much better for high power draw items.

Just as a note on fuel consumption - my 30 ton w/ a 9hp Subaru-robin will run for about 12 hours on a gallon tank of gas, and makes somewhat less noise than our lawn tractor or snowblower, I wear ear protection but more on general principles than because I feel like it's really essential...

On my friends 20 ton, w/ a 6hp Honda, we can split for about 6 hours on a little under a gallon, and again, noise isn't that much of an issue...

Gooserider

 

[pdhowell]

Gooserider and other good folks,

The joy of this forum to me is that you get the experience of lots of good people, and you get to see some excellent fabricators, both those who use what they can scrounge , and other who have access to great equipment, design and fabrication tools. Also, there is a spirit here, of people working hard, being honest, providing a renewable heating fuel for their families, and to the greater community.

Back to the topic of gaoline use, my gas engines, Honda (lawn mower) and Tecumseh (snow blowers), and generator (Honda) all use about a gallon of gas an hour. I was out of line extrapolating that experience to splitters, especially when my last experience with a gas splitters (rented) was several years ago.

To me, to get 12 hours of run time out of a gallon of gas in any working engine is great. I wish I could come close to that.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Just as a note on fuel consumption - my 30 ton w/ a 9hp Subaru-robin will run for about 12 hours on a gallon tank of gas,

On my friends 20 ton, w/ a 6hp Honda, we can split for about 6 hours on a little under a gallon

Is the 6 hp working a lot harder than the 9 hp? Kinda like the gently driven V8 doing better than an 80s era underpowered 4 banger?

 

[Gooserider]

Just as a note on fuel consumption - my 30 ton w/ a 9hp Subaru-robin will run for about 12 hours on a gallon tank of gas,

On my friends 20 ton, w/ a 6hp Honda, we can split for about 6 hours on a little under a gallon

Is the 6 hp working a lot harder than the 9 hp? Kinda like the gently driven V8 doing better than an 80s era underpowered 4 banger?

Many ways the 6hp is working harder... First off, because it is a 20 ton as opposed to the 30 ton, any given split requires more engine effort simply because the resistance is a greater percentage of the splitter output... I notice that it is fairly unusual for my 30 ton to kick into the high pressure pump mode, and when it does, it is only for a second or two. My friend's 20 does so on about half the splits, just because his machine doesn't get as much pressure on the wedge in low pressure mode...

Secondly, when I'm using my splitter I have to spend a significant amount of time moving wood into position to be grabbed and split - I'm working by myself and one can only stack the incoming pile so high... When I'm using my friends machine, he has a front end loader that he uses to keep pushing the work pile up to me, so I never have to stop other than for water and potty breaks - thus while I'm on my splitter, it is actively cycling about 20% of the time, when I'm on his machine it's more like 75-80% as all I'm doing is grabbing a round off the pile on one side of me, splitting it, and tossing the splits onto the conveyor on the other side of me...

Lastly, his splitter has a slightly smaller tank...

Gooserider

 

[SolarAndWood]

thus while I'm on my splitter, it is actively cycling about 20% of the time, when I'm on his machine it's more like 75-80% as all I'm doing is grabbing a round off the pile on one side of me, splitting it, and tossing the splits onto the conveyor on the other side of me...

Gotcha...have to love that kind of productivity.

 

[Gooserider]

Yes, its one of the reason I mention cycle time so often when talking about splitters... He also has a Supersplit and when the two of us start really cranking we can fill one of his trailers with between two and three FULL cords in about 5-6 hours... The comparison is interesting, as he can split faster than I can with the SS, but he also has a lot more down time for cleaning and maintenance on the machine, so we stay about even overall...

Gooserider

 

[jdinspector]

I picked up my new 16 ton electric ramsplitter last night. I hooked it up this morning, filled it with hydro oil and ran through some logs. Pix to follow after Thanksgiving. Some observations:

The unit is quiet. I think the demo model that they had at their shop was a bit loud, as well as the fact that it was inside a fabrication shop area that was very echo prone. My neighbor came over and we ran it while having a conversation. Cool!

The unit is not as strong as my old gas powered model. Granted, I was splitting SOAKING wet Maple, but it struggled with some gnarly stuff. The log that had broken my old splitter was my 2nd log on the new machine. It hung up on this one, just like the old splitter did. But after freeing it and moving it around, I was able to whittle off pieces and break the whole thing down to stove size. That was the first log the old splitter wouldn't go through, so it was sweet revenge to break it down with this new splitter. I'm sure a 30 ton gas unit would probably have pushed through it, but I don't run into too many of these. The 4 way wedge works good too. I think with wet maple, it's max sze is 14" rounds. I split a piece of 20" (round) elm in half and then threw the 4 way on it and it went through "like buttah". Ash and Oak would work well. Cool

It's slower than my old splitter, and goes into "power" mode more often, but for my use, it's fine. I split about 4 cords a year, so no biggie.

The jury is out for me on whether vertical is the way to go. Certainly for large rounds, it's the way to go, but for manageable rounds (if you're in a hurry) horizontal seems to work better for me. Note that I have only split 5 logs on the thing in vertical mode, so may have a learning curve.

The unit had a loose hydraulic line when I ran it for the first time. Some oil oozed out of a fitting. simple tightening and it works fine. Another line was partially kinked in vertical mode. Also a loosen/move/re-tighten and done with that.

I had two "custom" things done at no charge. I asked for an additional 2" of length on the beam. Since they make these custom, that was no problem. I also noticed on their website that they will paint other colors than their standard blue. Since I have a John Deere Green trailer, I asked for them to paint it that color. They obliged, happily. Kind of neat to have it personalized.

The miscellaneous items are a bit more expensive that I had anticipated. I just didn't think through the cost of the extension cord, 220 volt plugs, disconnects, etc. In an earlier post, I talked about spending over $200 on cords, etc. The unit only had a 2 foot long pig tail and I wanted longer, so I had to run out and get 25 feet of 10/3 cord. I'm sure I could have gotten away with 12/3 and gone shorter, but I wanted to do this once and be done. It works great on 220 volts and the heavy cord. I think the additional costs will be outweighed by the quietness, ease of maintenance (what maintenance?) and ease of portability. The unit is EASY to move around. I'm not counting on much savings for operating costs, as discussed earlier in this thread.

Thanks all for the input on this unit. So far, I'm a happy camper.

 

[Gooserider]

Thanks for the positive report... It's about what I expected judging by what other Ramsplitter owners have said, but it is good to see another positive review...

Note that even though the electric side won't have much, if any maintenance needed (maybe oil the bearings and blow the dust out of it occasionally, depending on the motor type) you will still need to deal with the hydraulic side, probably do a filter change every year or two, and a fluid change every 4-5 years or so.... Not much, but some upkeep on that side. Also remember to always store it with the cylinder retracted in order to protect the chrome.

Gooserider

 

[SolarAndWood]

Thanks all for the input on this unit. So far, I'm a happy camper.

Glad you like it. With the round that stopped it, did you notice any flex in the beam before the hydraulics stopped?

 

[jdinspector]

Yes, the beam does flex. I can see the whole machine sort of "stretch" when it's under load. As I said above, it does go into high pressure (power) mode pretty often. I think the wood I was splitting yesterday was wet and really made a difference on how hard the unit had to work. I also noticed a lot of "chopping" as it went through the wood. I didn't notice too much of that with the old splitter, but the motor noise probably covered that noise. It occurs when the wood is really wet and the wedge moves, then hangs up for a second, then moves again. "Chopping" is closest I can think of- you know, sort of when it's shearing the wood rather than splitting it? Water was oozing out of all of the logs as I split them. Like I said, really wet wood (for use two years from now). I'm anxious to run through some ash or oak.

 

[pdhowell]

Jdinspector,

Thanks for sharing your experience. I will check my splitter for beam flexing. I have never observed it, but then never precisely measured for it either. I have a precision machinists straight edge and will check the beam by forcing it into valve bypass. I hope that I haven't given you or anybody else here any bad advice, because I have been very enthusiastic about my splitter. (And mine is working everyday, inside in an open shed , for a family whose only income right now, is wood.) I, we, only split sixteen to eighteen inch lengths.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I haven't seen a small residential class machine that doesn't flex a little with a gnarly round. That is a lot of force using the foot or beam mounted wedge as a lever. I am kind of surprised we don't hear about more failures like jdinspector's mtd.

 

[pdhowell]

JDinspector,

Your observation about the beam bending surprised me, so I though I would measure mine, to see if there was any deflection. I clamped a .125 (1/8 inch) gauge block under each end of a twenty four inch machinist straightedge under the beam. When I put a piece of locust in cross wise , stalling the wedge at the pump bypass point, I could get a a .120 flat gauge in with a very tight fit. That would be a .005 inch deflection at the greatest pressure possible. At any pressure less than this, no measurable deflection was noted, always a tight .125.

My valve with a decent quality gauge attached just before the cylinder was showing about 3000psi. The surprised me, because I thought I set it up for 2500 bypass pressure. Delivered from the factory it was set about 2200 psi, so I had bumped it a bit. Apparently it has crept up and should be reset to 2500 psi, the rating of the cylinder.

There is side to side play built into the cylinder mount that seems to allow the cylinder to move a a bit.
This seems to prevent side pressure on the rings in the cylinder. I don't know for sure if this understanding is correct, but my ram does move a small amount, maybe 1/8 inch laterally. Is this the stretching to which you refer?

If you sharpen the wedge with a file, it cuts/crushes through grain easily. I find I have to put some grease to keep the sharpened metal edge from rusting because my splitter is outside, under a grill cover, when not being used. I haven't noticed the stuttering you spoke of. You might want to check the valve pressure setting, the gauges are not expensive, and the adjustment is easy. Hope this is useful.



dh, Maryland

 

[jdinspector]

Great info. The "stuttering" is a better word for what I've heard. I split about 2/3 of a cord today. I checked my hydraulic level about 1/2 way through and found that it was low. I guess I hadn't checked since the original fill up. In any case, when I filled it back up (not completely full, but 3/4" from the top of the tank) it seemed much stronger than before. I split through some large maple rounds today, many of which were anything but straight grained. It ran through all of them! As before, I had to nibble away around the edge, but it did split everything that I ran into it today. Some photos attached... The round in the picture had already been split in half when I took the picture. The little splitter ran through the middle of this one without a problem.

Great splitter. Very happy so far. I've split about a cord since I got it. Quiet is the key word here!

 

[Gooserider]

Definitely looks like a nice machine... One very minor comment - I've tried several different things for sitting on while splitting, and found that a milk crate works better for me than a bucket. Seems to hold my weight a bit better, and I like the very slightly larger size and shape of the sitting surface... I also found the bucket was a little to tall, the milk crate gets me at a better height. However the best seat is what I have over where I work with my friend, he has a padded mechanics height stool, with a swiveling seat. Comfy, and allows me to turn easier to reach the rounds on the "to be done" pile that are behind me...

Of course everyone's preferences are different, so whatever works - just mentioned as it is something you might find helpful to experiment with.

Gooserider

 

[b121]

I had two "custom" things done at no charge. I asked for an additional 2" of length on the beam. Since they make these custom, that was no problem. I also noticed on their website that they will paint other colors than their standard blue. Since I have a John Deere Green trailer, I asked for them to paint it that color. They obliged, happily. Kind of neat to have it personalized.

I have been lurking in the back ground following the comments and I had a question about your new Ramsplitter, if you don't mind.
In a previous thread you mentioned you ordered the beam to be 2 inches longer.
I was wondering how many inches does the wedge on your splitter get from the foot when fully extended ?

 

[jdinspector]

The wedge stops about 4" from the foot. I found that on some elm, it didn't split all of the way through. I put a block on the foot to make sure it went all the way through the few pieces that don't fully split. Maple splits fine, as I expect ash and oak will too. Stringy wood (elm!) has always been a problem on every splitter that I used.