The RSS380 splits wood by boring a spiral cone into the end of a log rather than pushing a wedge through it with a cylinder. The cone threads itself in and the timber opens along its own grain, so there is no ram stroke to wait on between splits and nothing to reset before the next one; the supplier's own comparison is the plain one, much higher splitting force than a cylinder splitter working at the same pressure. It takes stems up to 12 ft, and by the supplier's account as long as 20 ft, and works them horizontally or vertically where they already lie.

The bite comes from two helical spirals machined into two separate pieces of steel that join at a hardened entry tip, so the part doing the boring is also the part that unbolts when it is worn. Behind it sits a planetary drive on a hex shaft, with an integrated shield over the drive and a flange guarding the main shaft seal against debris. Match the carrier to the drive's charted speed and torque at your own flow and pressure.

Mounting is a standard skid steer plate and hoses come with the RSS models, so the head goes on the machine already in the yard with no electrical connection to make. The tool you pick under Tool is included in the price, whether that is the complete 2 in Hex 14x8 splitter cone assembly D002507, the 2 in Hex 20 in dia. 4-knife stump planer bit D002771, or both of them.

The same drive takes a stump planer bit, and that is a different job rather than a variation on the first one. Where the splitter opens a log, the planer takes a stump out of the ground, and the supplier's case for it is speed rather than force: it turns at a low RPM, so the chips stay where they fall instead of being thrown, which is what makes it usable on a front lawn or in a confined space where containing the mess matters as much as removing the stump. Because it is not trying to reduce wood to fine material the way a high speed cutting wheel does, it asks less power for the same stump, and that is what lets a smaller carrier take on a bigger one. What it leaves behind is coarse chip rather than dust, which the supplier points out is mulch for other plantings instead of spoil to haul away.

The planer bit is built to be maintained rather than consumed, and its working width is an 11 in leading knife span and a 17 in clean up knife span. A hardened entry tip starts the cut and unbolts when it is worn, the same replaceable-tip idea the splitting cone uses, and the two knives are different steels doing different jobs, the smaller leading blade in AR500 taking the first cut and the larger clean up blade in AR400 following it. All of the cutting blades can be sharpened, which is the supplier's argument for the running cost, that blades are resharpened rather than replaced as often. Changing between the two tools is a bit change on the same drive, which the supplier puts plainly as easily change from splitting to grinding. Hoses run internally where the housing allows and are sleeved and armoured where they are exposed, on a travelling support with a greaseable pin. One fitment item settles most of these jobs before anything else: the supplier calls a case drain good to have at lower working pressures and mandatory once pressure climbs past its stated threshold, so check the carrier's return plumbing against the pressure it is set to run.

Common Applications

• Removing a tree stump by planing it down to grade, leaving coarse chip rather than fine spoil
• Stump removal in urban areas and confined spaces, where the low cutting speed keeps chips contained
• Splitting felled timber into firewood on site
• Processing storm and clearing wood without moving every log to a landing
• Land clearing work where felled stems are cut down before removal
• Splitting oversized rounds a cylinder splitter stalls on
• Picking up and repositioning a stem by boring part way into it, without leaving the cab

Selection Notes

• The Tool choice is a real decision and the three values are not degrees of one thing. The splitter cone assembly D002507 is the log-splitting tool; the stump planer bit D002771 is the stump-removal tool; the third value supplies both, so the machine changes over in the field. The tool you choose is supplied with the machine.
• The recommended carrier weight differs by tool: 7,000 lb maximum with the splitter cone fitted and 5,000 lb maximum with the stump planer tool. A buyer taking both tools should size the carrier to the lower of the two figures, because the machine has to suit whichever tool is on it.
• The cone is a 2 in Hex drive. The cone assembly itself is not interchangeable with the 8-bolt flange used on the 780, but two wear parts are shared across both drive sizes: the hardened entry tip D002506 and the upper cone half D003722.
• Hoses are included with the RSS models. They are not included with the RSX excavator models.
• A case drain is the fitment item to settle first. The supplier calls it good to have under 3,000 PSI and a must at 3,000 PSI and over, and this model's recommended pressure band runs to 3,000 PSI with a 3,500 PSI maximum.