Have to up grade my splitter. Home use for outside boiler

[ant]

Well I loose my helper in 3 weeks. Off to collage he goes..) I have a central boiler and I burn about five or six cords a year. I get my wood free from a tree service cut the length a problem is I build a log splitter 20 years ago and its on its last leg. The wood I'm getting is probably 30 inches in diameter and it's hard for us to lift it on to the splitter . The central boiler will take 30 inches dia wood if I split them in quarters. I'm looking into upgrading to a timber wolf TW 5 which has the automatic lift. I hate to see spending 8 grand and I'm sure I could find a use one. What would you guys do if you are my situation ? I am not getting any younger and its boilers only 7 years old so I have a bunch more years left..

Thank u

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ed*L]

Bought the TW5 last year...should have done it years ago. You'll only regret spending the money until you use it for the first time.


Ed

 

[war-wagon]

kind of sort of in the same boat as you..........though not losing my firewood helper, he has a few more years to go before he'll be able to stack, split, etc. but i have an owb and after the last couple years splitting all by hand i felt i had earned a little relief. two weeks ago i purchased the tw-p1 with manual log lift, 4 way wedge and table grate. i have to tell you i'm glad i went with this and not the tw-5. this splitter will do anything you want it to and then some. currently splitting 24ish red oak, knotty as all get out and not a bit of a problem. the manual log lift can be assisted by pushing down with your foot as you pull back on the bar. really doesn't take any effort at all to get the bigger rounds up.

just my two cents, and trying to save you a few at the same time

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Depending on what is wrong with your splitter you could rebuild for less. If you want a new one then get one. I'm partial to a 360 boom lift with a cordless remote winch. The stuff needed to make it up will run around $500.00. Noodling is an option too but I don't like doing it. I'll use wedges before that but even that doesn't happen now.

What you're talking about is exactly why I built mine the way I did. Rolling some of the those 3 - 4 fters around is a struggle with 2 guys. Now I do it with one finger. Nothing wrong with those who want to do that, I chose not to anymore.

 

[CWME]

I would fix the old one and buy a tractor to help you move the wood around. You should be able to get something decent for the $8000 you would have dropped on the TW-5. I wouldn't be without my tractor now. I split right into the bucket and then drive that to the stacks. In turn the wood coming out of the stacks heading for the house gets loaded into the bucket. The big stuff could be loaded onto the splitter with the tractor.

 

[brenndatomu]

I'm with Kevin, rebuild your splitter and then add a log lift of some sort...

 

[Cheesecutter]

I was going to suggest a skidsteer and mount a splitter on that. But a tractor with a FEL is a good idea also. Either one can be done for less than $8000.

 

[RiverRocket]

Buy $8,000 worth of firewood.
8 grand buys a lot of firewood..just saying. I wouldn't pay that much for a splitter unless you're selling firewood to help pay for it (JMO)
I have a 45 hp Tractor with a front end loader i'd sell ya for 8K to lift them logs..:biggrin:

 

[sw18x]

I also have an OWB and scrounge all my wood and often see 30 inches. Only difference, I go through closer to 12 to 15 cords. I home built a splitter with a 36" throw last year, not including valve and motor which were free, by the time I was done I had close to 3K in it - still a lot cheaper than 8k. But the most important tool I have is a Kubota BX2360 with a front end loader. My wife had a hard time swallowing the idea of a second car payment (5 years/ 282 bucks a month), but now even she is a believer. It's built the way things ought to be (that little tractor is the most reliable thing I own), it will cut my lawn for the rest of my life, has moved everything on my property from dirt and stone to garbage cans, and I use it every time I split wood. I do all my wood alone, and saying that the tractor is my best helper is an understatement since without it, we wouldn't even have most of the wood that we burn. I often take the tractor on site when I'm scrounging wood and so it gets me wood that others have to pass up because they can't lift it. Tree service companies even call me up because they know I can do a full clean up and not just cherry pick the small stuff. It's a real fun piece of equipment and even if you take the firewood out of the equation, I definitely get my money's worth out of it, even though we only have 1 acre of land. Long and short of it is, if you have any decent amount of property and think you can use it for more than firewood (I guarantee you will), a subcompact tractor might be worth considering.

View attachment 309820

That's an older pic of my neighbor's splitter I borrowed the first year on the property, it was an American I think and had plenty of a**, just too small a table for us OWB guys.

 

[triptester]

If you have a welder and some scrap metal you can add a lift to any horizontal splitter. The least expensive route would be to use a 12volt Harbor Freight 2000 lb. winch on sale for 50 bucks. For about $125 you can have a lift; battery included.

Here is a pic of one made by AS member Jags
Pics of a stand alone lift for a Didier rebuild

 

[captjack]

I found a used tw 5 with the 36 inch cylinder - with out a doubt the best money spent - they are hard to find - but worth looking for

 

[Jedc43]

Splitter

I am in the market for a splitter myself...I have the central boiler 6048 and I order my wood log length...the small rounds I cut ay 3 ft and don't bother splitting....the bigger diameter rounds I cut at 2 ft and rent a splitter to make more manageable...I am looking at the new 27 ton splitter from DHT for about $1400 brand new. I don't get anything near the size that you are getting so I think that I should be all set, can you get smaller rounds so you don't have to worry about lifting those heavy chunks?