My 2013 was pretty shitty.

            Years that end in “3” just seem to stink for me. In 1983, my sister died. In 1993, I grew to hate school and dropped out of high school. I grew tired of my job and quit it. I became extremely broke and I remember by the time December of 1993 rolled around, I was destitute with very little positive outlook. It wasn’t until February of 1994 when I found a decent job that I stuck at for any length of time. It paid well. 1993 sucked though. 2003 was the year that we had to adjust to losing KinDee’s boys in a bitter custody battle. Work became slow and it became very hard to pay bills. I had a full time job, but after child support, there wasn’t much left because there just wasn’t much work to be had. Now I have just gone through 2013 and it has been a really trying year.

            First, let me start by saying that I feel blessed that I have a roof over my head and my kids are healthy. Those two things are the most important. However, this is a year that I lost a lot of things. First, I lost our school. In February they voted to end Valley and join with North Fayette and I opposed it vehemently. I had to take nerve pills to help me sleep. In March, my final remaining grandparent passed away, Grandpa Kane. That made me feel like crap. His generation is nearly gone and it feels lonely. Shortly thereafter, I watched as my neighbor moved out. The people who moved in are not like the guy who moved out. I got along well with my old neighbor. These new people just aren’t the type of people that I am friendly with. I don’t drink, I don’t ride motorcycles, and I don’t believe in letting your dog shit in another’s yard.

            I’ve had vehicle troubles left and right. My wood furnace took a dump on me. I got both of them fixed, but at a considerable expense. Everything has just been a giant struggle this year. Even this Christmas wasn’t as enjoyable as I would have hoped. It was just chaotic as hell. Both KinDee and I have had fights with our exes which have caused considerable stress. My health is still failing which depresses me. Our garden didn’t do for shit. Our beloved cat disappeared in August. I had my bathroom remodeled in August, but it wasn’t done the way I had hoped and I had a lot of stress from that. It has just been one thing after another this year.

            I know I’m missing quite a few things that went to hell this year as I quickly write this tonight. News stations like to take a look back at the year that was right about now. I’m doing the same here in written fashion. 2013 has been a crappy year. It could have been worse, but it sure as hell could have been better. 2012 wasn’t nearly as bad. I’m hoping 2014 is much better. I don’t seem to do too bad in years that end in “4”, but in a couple of those years, 1994 and 2004, big changes came to my life. I left home and moved to this area in 1994 and I bought my home here in Wadena in 2004. I really could use a good 2014 after the shitty 2013 I had.

My DR RapidFire, one year later……..

Well, I’ve now owned my RapidFire for a little over a year now and I have put it through it’s paces. I’m happy with certain aspects of it, and had some minor issues elsewhere. First, the good news;

It splits wood fast. It has only gotten better the more I use it. When it’s shipped to you, it has paint on everything and that creates drag. Now that the paint has worn off of the moving parts, it allows the moving parts to move easier, with less drag. That matters on a rack and pinion style splitter. I would also surmise that the engine has broken in and engines generally gain a little power after a break in period. I did change the oil after running the machine about 10-15 hours. I think the manual said to change it after the first five hours. My oil still looked good, but I changed it anyhow. 

I split approximately 20 to 30 full sized pickup loads of hardwood this past year. I don’t sell firewood, but I like to have a decent pile of it. Almost everything I split is hickory, elm, or oak. I do split some other hardwoods like mulberry, horn hopbeam, etc, but the first three I mentioned are the main ones. This splitter splits oak like nobody’s business. Elm and hickory, especially hickory, are entirely different matters. 

Oak splits nicely with the machine. Many times the piece splits in two before the blade is halfway through the piece. Elm and hickory by their nature are stringy woods. The RapidFire splits elm fairly well, but if you get a larger piece on the table, it starts to have trouble. Elm is generally pretty heavy, especially if fresh cut. I have found it is better to split a large round of elm by taking pieces off around the perimeter of the piece as opposed to trying to split down the middle. Smaller pieces aren’t a problem for the RapidFire except for knotted pieces and areas where you find a “crotch”, an area where one branch grew off of the main branch. It is these crotch areas where the wood grain goes in different directions that you have trouble mainly with elm and hickory. It will power through most oak knots and crotches if not too large. Elm and hickory knots and crotches will bring the RapidFire nearly to it’s knees. Many a time we’ve had to beat a piece of firewood off of the splitting wedge on the RapidFire. Well, it’s mainly my stepson who runs into this problem. I do pretty well by looking at the wood and splitting around trouble areas, especially if visible. 

Hickory is about the most difficult wood that I have split with the RapidFire and it’s the wood that it has the toughest time with. The hickory that I am cutting and splitting is shellbark, shagbark, and pignut hickory. Hickory has been used historically for tool handles and is known as one of the toughest woods out there. Andrew Jackson was nicknamed “Old Hickory” because of his perceived toughness and unbending nature. The hickory that I split is full of small knots throughout the wood and they will nearly stop the machine. You can’t see all of the knots that are in the wood. The DR RapidFire sure finds them! We manage to get along well though. You just need to pay attention to what you’re doing and when splitting hickory or elm, try splitting around the perimeter and be prepared to retract the ram should you hit a knot. 

I had some constructive criticism for DR in my initial review. I see DR has made changes to this splitter. The engine is mounted different, the logo is now smaller and looks much better, and most of all, it is road towable. I wish I had the current model instead of the one I have, but that is life. It’s customers like me who have made it possible for people today to get a better machine. 

I have two complaints after one year of using the machine. The first is belt squeal. I get a lot of it, even with the belts taught. I wonder if small belt slips over an extended period of time don't glaze the belt and reduce it’s friction ability? It has only been one year and I think I need a new set of belts. The other complaint is that my handle fell off. It’s two pieces and the weld was bad. I took it to our local welder who put it back on for $10. He even said that the weld was poor and didn’t burn in properly from the factory. Other than that, it has been a faithful machine. You have to learn how to use it as it’s a different beast than a hydraulic splitter. If this one blew away in a tornado, I’d be in the market to purchase another one, especially now that it can be towed down the road!