Timberwolf TW-6 Near Catastrophic Failure

[Southern Yankee]

Still have about $5000 left to pay on my TW6, and this is what I am looking at.

548 hours

-Busted main hydraulic
-Warped or cupped I-beam
-Bent 6-way wedge (not pictured)
-Highly worn push block (both inside where it rides on the I-beam, as well as the push plate itself being bent.

I don't think I will be buying another Timberwolf product.

 

[cantoo]

The beam does look light but I build stuff twice as heavy as I need too. I grease mine once in awhile. I assume it doesn't effect the operation yet but it will get worse for sure. The cylinder looks like a threaded cap that is broke in half? Did it maybe work loose? TW's aren't in the lower price range either. Some days I really think the cheapo splitters are a decent deal if you use it then sell it and buy another new one every 2 years or so. Any chance they will at least warranty the cylinder? I doubt that their warranty is that long though, 548 hours is a fair bit of splitting but of course that depends on your setup too. If everything is staged and ready to split the actual hours splitting verses sitting there idling could be huge.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Do you run it yourself, or does hired help?
Does it have the full auto cycle valve, or the return detent valve?
I operated mine by myself, so splitting time was less than one quarter the clocked hours on the machine. The half a dozen times two or more people helped, it was working full time, but splitting half of that, figuring the return stroke.
I did not buy the six-way, but often stalled the four-way. After doing that a few times, I slipped the four-way off when need be for the knotted ones.
Just guessing, but the cylinder cap may have got damaged by litter on the return stroke.
Hours wise, that's nothing for a hydraulic system. What, a thousand cord at most, probably half, or a third of that?

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I was kind of upset the push block on my processor was getting quite worn and sloppy with only ~1900hrs.

 

[kevin j]

that’s cylinder at least should be warranty. well I don’t know about the hours or time interval. I mean failure to function
cylinders are designed for full pressure in the push direction and in the pull direction.
One of the beauties of hydraulic systems in general is with pressure control there is a precisely defined force fir design, compared to some sort of mechanical machine


so unless it put a twist on it and then it should’ve broken rod and if it was a twist it should never have taken out the rod bushing or cap.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Just guessing, but the cylinder cap may have got damaged by litter on the return stroke.

It was not often, but not uncommon either for splitter trash, including larger pieces to get behind the push plate and cause potential damage to hoses, fittings, and even the engine. The cylinder cap is certainly in that area. That's why I ask if it had a full auto cycle valve or the single lever with detent return. Either way, it could easily happen. Same with catching the front edge of the outfeed table if not watching.

 

[JeffHK454]

All the slop in the worn components let it side load the hell out of that poor cylinder...I bet TW says you abused that machine and doesn’t warranty anything.

 

[cantoo]

Jeff, to me it looks like the beam is bent up in the one picture and not worn down? Maybe caused by the wedge sled being too short? I made mine really long so it would sit flatter under pressure. ( okay I was too lazy to cut the drop piece shorter and it worked for me).

 

[JeffHK454]

Jeff, to me it looks like the beam is bent up in the one picture and not worn down? Maybe caused by the wedge sled being too short? I made mine really long so it would sit flatter under pressure. ( okay I was too lazy to cut the drop piece shorter and it worked for me).

I went back and looked and I think you could be right..I thought the slop was from wear but that top flange doesn’t look thinned out , just flared up.

I’d be pissed/disappointed with a high dollar splitter that didn’t last as long as the payments!

 

[cantoo]

I have a smooth push plate on my big splitter. I think it really cuts down on the wear on the slide and it seems to reduce the amount of uplift on my 4 way wedge. It works well on twisted pieces that can turn instead of being forced to twist the splitter beam. Yours has welds on it and with that thin beam it likely puts a lot of stress on it. If the warranty is over I would consider welding a heavier plate on top of it and making a longer slide. No matter what you buy there will always be a weak point on it. Gotta stop somewhere.

 

[c5rulz]

I recently acquired a used Iron and Oak Commercial, 22 ton, W 4 way and log lift. IMHO, a 4 way wedge must be adjustable so that when crotches are being split, the 4 way MUST be lowered all the way so that the splitting is only being done with the vertical wedge. Attempting to use a 4 way (or heaven forbid a 6 way) in crotch wood is just going to bust something. Some common sense must be used if you yourself own what you are operating.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

After Repairing several splitters and working with a lot of different models/styles I knew what I would use when building my splitter. A box slide on a box beam is the most durable I've found. SO much more surface area and wear is basically a non issue.

Mine has 16 inches of length on the slide so it is self aligning and basically side strain can't happen. The short slides are the biggest weak link I see on a lot of commercial splitters. Once the wear starts it only compounds till something fails.

 

[c5rulz]

After Repairing several splitters and working with a lot of different models/styles I knew what I would use when building my splitter. A box slide on a box beam is the most durable I've found. SO much more surface area and wear is basically a non issue.

Mine has 16 inches of length on the slide so it is self aligning and basically side strain can't happen. The short slides are the biggest weak link I see on a lot of commercial splitters. Once the wear starts it only compounds till something fails.

On your next build Kev, consider making it a little more "robust". Put some real steel into it.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

On your next build Kev, consider making it a little more "robust". Put some real steel into it.

Build it once, build it right has always been my motto. Nothing worse than redoing it because of trying to save pennies and a few minutes.

Hope all is well with you.

 

[GM_Grimmy]

Use harder steel. 130+ hours on mine since it was built, scaling isn't even worn through yet.

Sorry to hear about your TW. I'd stay away from any beam splitter just for that reason, they aren't strong enough. Of course you don't need 3k psi either with the right designed wedge.

 

[460magman]

I had hard time getting a pump for mine timber wolf was bought out by group out of NY bio something not good service

 

[Sandhill Crane]

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I had hard time getting a pump for mine timber wolf was bought out by group out of NY bio something not good service

ABS? Automated BioMass Systems?

They had a wood tumbler I had looked into a while back. Just was too much $$ for what it was IMO.

http://www.absbiomass.com/

 

[chiefs584ever]

Use harder steel. 130+ hours on mine since it was built, scaling isn't even worn through yet.

Sorry to hear about your TW. I'd stay away from any beam splitter just for that reason, they aren't strong enough. Of course you don't need 3k psi either with the right designed wedge.

I have to agree with your wedge design comment. Had a tw6 and sold it when I bought my processer.
The wedge on the tw6 caused me headaches. There is no need for it to be so wide at the back.
If you want to learn new swear words, get a round stuck on a tw6 wedge.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[Sandhill Crane]

There is no need for it to be so wide at the back.

The obvious reason is to accommodate the wedge lift cylinder.
It is an outdated design, and makes for splitting smaller stuff a little more difficult as well.
It tears pieces apart and makes junk where a narrower wedge cuts through knots.