question about timberwolf log splitter

[coyotedown]

I am new to this site and been lurking around asking some questions to some members behind the scenes about their splitters. There are some awesome splitters made by a lot of different people here. I have found a used tw-5fc that the gentlemen says he special ordered from timberwolf to have 28 tons splitting force. Have any of you ever heard of being able to do this, and if it does not have as much force as he claims, can a person just change the cylinder from the 4" they come with to the 5", or will more need to be done? I need a splitter to be able to split some big pieces of stringy green cottonwood, and hate to lose it if you guys think it will work for me. I probably didn't phrase this quite right, but I can buy this for not much more money than it will take to build a high end splitter myself and it is a 2004 model.

 

[skid row]

Welcome to the site stranger. Sounds like a good buy on a quality splitter. I think a 4X24 cylinder is 34.250" between the pins. And 36.250" for a 5X24 cylinder. Unless ya gotta lot of steel and parts laying around it can run into some $$$. If ya like building stuff, have some spare time, and got the nessessary tools and materials then build your own.

IMHO, I would buy the Timberwolf, it should split everything ya put on it. And if need be it can always be modded to fulfill your needs.

Good luck in whatever you deside to do.

 

[abohac]

I am new to this site and been lurking around asking some questions to some members behind the scenes about their splitters. There are some awesome splitters made by a lot of different people here. I have found a used tw-5fc that the gentlemen says he special ordered from timberwolf to have 28 tons splitting force. Have any of you ever heard of being able to do this, and if it does not have as much force as he claims, can a person just change the cylinder from the 4" they come with to the 5", or will more need to be done? I need a splitter to be able to split some big pieces of stringy green cottonwood, and hate to lose it if you guys think it will work for me. I probably didn't phrase this quite right, but I can buy this for not much more money than it will take to build a high end splitter myself and it is a 2004 model.

I have a TW6 and like it it, but you can get a piece wedged on mine (won't split everything). I've had to cut pieces off the splitter before.

 

[triptester]

The TW-5fc and the TW-5 are the same splitter with different cylinders.
The TW-5fc has a 4" cylinder ,11 hp. engine , 22gpm pump.
The TW-5 has a 5" cylinder , 11 hp. engine , 22gpm pump.

The real stringy stuff will sometimes be a problem with a 4-way wedge but this can happen with any splitter.

If the price is right buy it you can't go wrong.

 

[wkpoor]

4" cylinder is large enough for 99% of the wood. Even the nasty narly stringy stuff. Plus you can get more speed from the smaller cylinder. Whats helps is to have the wedge on the ram instead of the beam so if you do get one stuck it can be withdrawn hydraulically. My first year splitting I had the conventional setup with the wedge on the beam. I got tired of beating off pieces of curly red Elm that got stuck. Next year I had one of the TSC Speeco models and that was a joy to operate. I put the sledge hammer back in the shed.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

if it does not have as much force as he claims, can a person just change the cylinder from the 4" they come with to the 5", or will more need to be done?

I dunno the Timberwolf except by reputation, but I'd wonder if the lighter model would stand up to having a 5 inch cylinder put on it. You might have to do some reinforcing, and then you might be into more money than you want.


You can always buy and try, and if it doesn't do the job, sell it. I would expect a TW to hold its value pretty well, with the excellent reputation they've got.

My first year splitting I had the conventional setup with the wedge on the beam. I got tired of beating off pieces of curly red Elm that got stuck. Next year I had one of the TSC Speeco models and that was a joy to operate.

Yup. I haven't had the sticking problem because I started with the TSC. I have had to whack something off the wedge one time, but it only took a good kick. I've had some pretty stringy stuff, too.

 

[Zodiac45]

4" cylinder is large enough for 99% of the wood. Even the nasty narly stringy stuff. Plus you can get more speed from the smaller cylinder. Whats helps is to have the wedge on the ram instead of the beam so if you do get one stuck it can be withdrawn hydraulically. My first year splitting I had the conventional setup with the wedge on the beam. I got tired of beating off pieces of curly red Elm that got stuck. Next year I had one of the TSC Speeco models and that was a joy to operate. I put the sledge hammer back in the shed.

+1 Amen too that.

 

[nikocker]

Whats helps is to have the wedge on the ram instead of the beam so if you do get one stuck it can be withdrawn hydraulically. My first year splitting I had the conventional setup with the wedge on the beam. I got tired of beating off pieces of curly red Elm that got stuck. Next year I had one of the TSC Speeco models and that was a joy to operate. I put the sledge hammer back in the shed.

I don't see your point. Actually the wedge on the end of the beam is very efficient. If a piece happens to stick to the wedge the next piece you split will merely drive it through and off!.No need to retract the cylinder to knock off wood that's attached like on a Speeco, Northern or any Horizonal /Verticle unit that has the wedge on the ram. In fact that is the beauty of a strictly horizontal splitter, plus its' ability to use a real 4 way wedge.

Al

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I demo'd an FC in 2000 and it got stuck several times. The cycle time was not so great as to make it worth the power loss with the model I tried.

 

[wkpoor]

I don't see your point. Actually the wedge on the end of the beam is very efficient. If a piece happens to stick to the wedge the next piece you split will merely drive it through and off!.No need to retract the cylinder to knock off wood that's attached like on a Speeco, Northern or any Horizonal /Verticle unit that has the wedge on the ram. In fact that is the beauty of a strictly horizontal splitter, plus its' ability to use a real 4 way wedge.

I must be missing something here. How can the next piece drive it through if the first is stuck and could not be split. If your out of power your out of power. Another piece isn't going to add power to the splitter.....is it?

 

[coyotedown]

Thanks for the replies. I am still a little worried that the fast cycle will not be quite big enough compared to the tw-5 and I thought that I had a pickup sold which was going to give me the funds to purchase the splitter. If anybody wants the guys phone # I can give it to you and let you talk to him about it. I found it on craigs list. It is an 04 tw-5fc with log lift for $3200 if he still has it. I think it is in Ohio.

 

[nikocker]

Maybe I wasn't clear.

I must be missing something here. How can the next piece drive it through if the first is stuck and could not be split. If your out of power your out of power. Another piece isn't going to add power to the splitter.....is it?

Chances are if the piece is stuck on the wedge it IS split but didn't pop apart. Usually very stringy wood. It's probably NOT because the splitter didn't have enough power - It's just that the wood is still holding together near the non-split end because the ram. So the next piece will continue to shove the stuck piece through the wedge and then will come apart. You said yourself that a 22 ton will split about 99% of any wood out there. It's not a power issue.
Hopefully this clears up my thought.

Al

 

[wkpoor]

I see your point but normally those pieces aren't really stuck, they just aren't fully split. I'm thinking of the ones that are jammed in tight and the piece isn't split yet. I actually had one today in walnut of all stuff. The wedge was buried in fairly deep and it hadn't cracked yet and the unit was out of power. This dude was stuck bad but was able to retract it hydraulically when the piece hit the gate. Had it not been for having the wedge on the ram I would have been whacking with a sledge to remove it. After I got it cracked open I found the grain turned a full 90 degrees inside the wood so it was like trying sever a 12" log in half. Never would have happened with any amount of power.

 

[pdqdl]

My splitter goes through 12" logs sideways like they are candy. But it is homemade, uses a pair of road grader cutting edges welded back to back as a wedge, and is sharpened to a pretty good edge after that.

Good wedge design is something that is often overlooked on log splitters. This one will go through almost anything on a 4" cylinder.

 

[wkpoor]

My splitter goes through 12" logs sideways like they are candy

Holy crap batman! Thats alot of umph out of a 4" cylinder. I can see some of the larger 6" cylinders having that power but 4" wow! You must have about 4000PSI on that cyl. Or you are talking Pine or popular wood.

 

[triptester]

Good wedge design is something that is often overlooked on log splitters. This one will go through almost anything on a 4" cylinder.
__________________

A narrow and well sharpened wedge will "slice" wood with much less tonnage but will require the wedge to travel nearly all the way through wood before the wood separates.
A wide or winged wedge will require more tonnage but will "split" the wood often with half the travel of the cylinder.

Timberwolf and other premium splitter makers use narrow wedges that require less tonnage.

 

[pdqdl]

Holy crap batman! Thats alot of umph out of a 4" cylinder. I can see some of the larger 6" cylinders having that power but 4" wow! You must have about 4000PSI on that cyl. Or you are talking Pine or popular wood.

Nope. Just a really nice curved wedge, with a 10 degree "off vertical" angle to force logs down to the beam instead of popping off the top. The road grader cutting edges are high carbon steel with a concave surface: back to back they make a great cutting edge that opens quickly to a 4" wide wedge. The pusher block on the ram has a recessed notch to allow the angled wedge beyond the pusher block, so that NO fibers are left.

The original design had a narrow slab of butcher block material imbedded (at a matching 10 degrees) just to make sure that all the fibers got sheared.

System pressure is probably only about 2500-3000, as it is being driven by a 25 gpm 2 stage gear pump from Barnes. It has QUICK cycle times.

Wood ? We don't split anything but hardwoods. If the tree guys are pigs and cut the wood too long, we just stick the smaller pieces in sideways and shorten them.

 

[Ohiowoodguy]

Gotta agree with all the kudos for Timberwolf! I have a TW6 with lift, grate, and 6-way wedge and 3200 hours on the Honda- I've only replaced oil, filters, pump (twice) and adjusted valves.

Gotta disagree with beating the stuck wood off the wedge with a sledge. Just run the ram up to it, wrap a logchain around the ram and the wood (NOT the wedge!), and reverse the ram- pulls right off .

 

[wkpoor]

Nope. Just a really nice curved wedge, with a 10 degree "off vertical" angle to force logs down to the beam instead of popping off the top. The road grader cutting edges are high carbon steel with a concave surface: back to back they make a great cutting edge that opens quickly to a 4" wide wedge. The pusher block on the ram has a recessed notch to allow the angled wedge beyond the pusher block, so that NO fibers are left.

I've got a good visual on that and it does sound like a nice wedge idea. I wonder if the 10 degree off vertical helps with the shearing as it would limit the bite. Imagine a metal shear that came straight down, it wouldn't work as the force would be many time greater to push through. By coming down at an angle it lessens the force greatly. Thanks!

 

[pdqdl]

I sort of inheirited the partly built splitter from a fine old gentleman that was not able to finish it. The wedge and pusher were WAY overbuilt, but the I-beam it was mounted on was not strong enough.

I added the pump, tank, hydraulic valves, and motor. It needed an axle too!

Since then, I have had to redesign it from a twin-ram design to the single 4" hydraulic cylinder it has now.