Timber Wolf Log Splitters

[ChipMonger]

Hi all-

Im considering making a sizable purchase sometime in the near future. Im interested in buying new or used (If i can find one used and in good shape) Timber Wolf log splitter. Below are links for the two models im considering. Everything i have read on Timber Wolf says that the splitter they produce is top quality. I prefer to over buy on equipment and then not have to worry about its ability or reliability...So, all that being said, have any of you owned or used a Timber Wolf splitter? if so, what are your opinions on them? things you like? hated? or tell me about the splitter you have, and how it has treated you. Im planning on heating primarily with would and figure on needing 10 cords to do the job, and thats having a bit left over. Some of my neighbors have expressed the same interest, and i would have no problem helping them split wood so keep that in mind too. Thanks in advance for the replies.

TW-5: Log Splitters | Firewood Processors | Conveyors | Timberwolf Wood Processing Equipment
TW-7: Log Splitters | Firewood Processors | Conveyors | Timberwolf Wood Processing Equipment

 

[EXCALIBER]

They seem like good splitters and many people really like them on here. However if you have any knowledge or skills you could build the same splitter for about a little over a tenth of their asking price is. You would think they were covered in gold or did all the splitting and stacking while you were sleeping! lol
Good splitters just way over priced IMHO

 

[ponyexpress976]

The tw-6 (the one I have) is also a great option. Power of the 7 with the versatility of the 5. IIRC the 7 has the box wedge for making "standard" sized splits. I can see this being an issue with crotches/stringy wood. You can get an optional 6 way wedge for the tw6 for making lots of splits fast. All depends on your average size log. I'd recomend getting the lift table...once I sell a few more cords I'll be adding one to mine.

One option on the split-rite models is the "disappearing" 4 way wedge...drops down flat with the beam for really big stuff then pops back up when needed via hy. cylinder. Don't get me wrong...I love my 4 and 6 way wedges which are also hydraulic adjustable in height, but they are heavy and a nuisance to move around.

Get the optional outfeed table. Really helps to separate the small junk out from you larger pieces. Without it you'll also be stopping your splitting operation to move the machine away from the pile every 10 minutes. You run out of foot room really fast!

Best advice is take some of your average "nasty" pieces and see if they'll let you try it out.

 

[Kingsley]

Look into the Kinetic splitters. I'm kind of thinking my hydraulic splitter is obsolete when I watch the videos of how fast they split wood.
M

 

[stumpy75]

Hi all-

TW-7: Log Splitters | Firewood Processors | Conveyors | Timberwolf Wood Processing Equipment

Do you need or want to make "campfire" wood? I would like the hydraulic 4-way wedge of the TW5 over the campfire box wedge.

My 22 ton Huskee has neither, but if I had the $$$, the TW-5 would be my choice...

 

[EXCALIBER]

Look into the Kinetic splitters. I'm kind of thinking my hydraulic splitter is obsolete when I watch the videos of how fast they split wood.
M

Not to hijack but keep your hydro as kinetics will throw the tough pieces of wood in your face at 20mph, and will not split anything that you cannot split by hand with a fiskars and don't even think of splitting a piece of soft wood with it. They have their place but not as your only splitter

 

[Dalmatian90]

Not to hijack but keep your hydro as kinetics will throw the tough pieces of wood in your face at 20mph, and will not split anything that you cannot split by hand with a fiskars and don't even think of splitting a piece of soft wood with it. They have their place but not as your only splitter

Ever used one Excaliber? Known anyone personally who uses one? I just find that statement you just made odd since four days ago you were asking how they split softwood, stated you didn't know but didn't think it would work well. http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/180355-13.htm#post3214633

Kinetics aren't the solution for everyone. TW-5s with a four or six way wedge will equal or outproduce them except in specialized situations (like cook wood), but you pay more.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

These are beautiful machines, made in the USA. A friend used a TW-6 for many year when he sold wood. He loved it. Having bought wood from him I did not. Much of it needed resplit, and there was a lot of small junk. I only bought wood from him once because of this plus you could of put a piece in the ground and it would have started to grow. The machine easily handled the large wood he worked with however. I am looking at splitters myself. I buy logs to process, so the less junk I produce the better. The size of wood will greatly dictate your needs. What do these machines cost? Also check out Split-Right at the top of the page. Similar to what your looking at and very, very well thought out. They also have their prices listed!!! I've done about 20 cord this year. Myself, I like a table opposite me to catch half splits and such that need resplitting. Lots of good choices out there.

 

[ahtune69]

I just bought the twp1 and splits pretty much everything I thrown at it so far. The only thing is the push block shudders quite a bit retracting back to the start position. The only way it would stop is to throw a lot of lube on the rail constantly in order to run smooth. Maybe the rail needs to be broken in but only time will tell. Other than that it works nice.

 

[leon]

timberwolf twp1

I just bought the twp1 and splits pretty much everything I thrown at it so far. The only thing is the push block shudders quite a bit retracting back to the start position. The only way it would stop is to throw a lot of lube on the rail constantly in order to run smooth. Maybe the rail needs to be broken in but only time will tell. Other than that it works nice.

Do you not have grease fittings on both sides of the
pusher block on the under side? If not use some fuid film on the bed.

 

[leon]

firewood

These are beautiful machines, made in the USA. A friend used a TW-6 for many year when he sold wood. He loved it. Having bought wood from him I did not. Much of it needed resplit, and there was a lot of small junk. I only bought wood from him once because of this plus you could of put a piece in the ground and it would have started to grow. The machine easily handled the large wood he worked with however. I am looking at splitters myself. I buy logs to process, so the less junk I produce the better. The size of wood will greatly dictate your needs. What do these machines cost? Also check out Split-Right at the top of the page. Similar to what your looking at and very, very well thought out. They also have their prices listed!!! I've done about 20 cord this year. Myself, I like a table opposite me to catch half splits and such that need resplitting. Lots of good choices out there.

You are not going to avoid small breakage and kindling unless you only split
the blocks into have halves and later into quarters.

its common to have a lot of breakage/bits with log splitters or processed wood
and that is something that will always happen with hardwoods but less with softwoods.

A 6 way head on a processor will produce a lot of trash as the logs are not uniform.

 

[chiefs584ever]

I love my TW6. Log Lift and table grates are a must. The splitter is a beast and is quite enjoyable to run.

Now if you want the king of all Timberwold splitters. Check out this ad on Ebay. Now THIS is a splitter.
Log Splitter- Timberwolf TW-10 | eBay

 

[ahtune69]

Do you not have grease fittings on both sides of the
pusher block on the under side? If not use some fuid film on the bed.

Leon, there are two fittings one on each side. I shoot grease on both sides and grease the rail often. But after about 10-15 logs the shudder returns. The rail is dry and the grease is wiped away. Once this happens you need to lube it with grease again. It's a pain but you have to do it in order to get rid of the shuddering. Timber wolf sent some shims to me and I put the thicker ones on and it did help a little but the shudder is still there.

 

[leon]

Leon, there are two fittings one on each side. I shoot grease on both sides and grease the rail often. But after about 10-15 logs the shudder returns. The rail is dry and the grease is wiped away. Once this happens you need to lube it with grease again. It's a pain but you have to do it in order to get rid of the shuddering. Timber wolf sent some shims to me and I put the thicker ones on and it did help a little but the shudder is still there.

You have the same set up with your woofy that I do,
and I grease it often as it helps a lot.

Do not hesitate to grease it a but more often as the
brass shims which are referred as "Gibs" which are a wear part.
(just be sure to wipe up the excess grease)
Be sure to buy a supply of Fluid Film too as it will help keep
the beam from rusting and it will move better for you.

 

[ptabaka]

splitter

get the tw6 i have one and love it log lift dont lift big logs dont hurt your back ss split fast but no lift and how fast can you split all day and not get a sore back i do 40 to 50 cord a year get the tw6 you wont be sorry my 2 cents

 

[EXCALIBER]

Ever used one Excaliber? Known anyone personally who uses one? I just find that statement you just made odd since four days ago you were asking how they split softwood, stated you didn't know but didn't think it would work well. http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/180355-13.htm#post3214633

Kinetics aren't the solution for everyone. TW-5s with a four or six way wedge will equal or outproduce them except in specialized situations (like cook wood), but you pay more.

Ok my point was watch the video on post 145 http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/180355-10.htm You see how those pieces come back and dang near try to take your head off? No thank you I like the way I look. Plus it took him 3 minutes to split a simple little piece of wood, hitting it multiple times and having the machine power out many times trying to split it. He even put next time the hard pieces will go on his hydro splitter. Now I asked everyone about softwood as it is way harder to split than hardwood and no response in any place with any kinetic splitters, they treated my question like I had leprosy.

Like I said if your splitting easy straight grained wood they are fast, however if I wanted a splitter to split the hard stuff, and it was my only splitter I would keep the hydro. JMHO

 

[BSD]

Ok my point was watch the video on post 145 http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/180355-10.htm You see how those pieces come back and dang near try to take your head off? No thank you I like the way I look. Plus it took him 3 minutes to split a simple little piece of wood, hitting it multiple times and having the machine power out many times trying to split it. He even put next time the hard pieces will go on his hydro splitter. Now I asked everyone about softwood as it is way harder to split than hardwood and no response in any place with any kinetic splitters, they treated my question like I had leprosy.

Like I said if your splitting easy straight grained wood they are fast, however if I wanted a splitter to split the hard stuff, and it was my only splitter I would keep the hydro. JMHO

your points are valid Excaliber. That was my video, and me as the leading actor too. There are pluses and minuses to each machine. It was a bit dangerous, I almost stopped filming it in the middle of the run actually. I did find that my linkage (which I modified) was a bit out of alignment and I was having engagement issues, i've resolved that and haven't had any bounce backs since. I also would have normally split that piece with the Y of the crotch away from the wedge. I have no doubt it would have went through easier. I filmed it that way to show what would happen if you try to just put pieces in there without considering grain or character.

Also keep in mind that if you were running that piece through a TW with a 4 or 6 way wedge you would be removing the wedge. If not I can almost guarantee that piece in particular would have bent or broke something. It really was a nasty piece. removing the additional wedge piece would take up sometime too.

I almost bought myself a tw5 just before I bought my Speedpro. They are an excellent machine. I chose to take a risk with a cheaper unit that'll produce nearly the same output (with a bit more labor) for a savings of ~6k. I don't know if I would own a kinetic if it was my only splitter, but if it was and I was only producing for my own home I'd just look for straight grained wood and be a bit more choosey with material I brought in.

I will film a run of splitting some 18" dbh spruce I cut down a few weeks ago. it was a yard tree, plenty of knots and character in it and post it up no matter the outcome.

To the original poster:
you can't go wrong with a TW5, 90% of the commercial users in my area run them with a 4 or 6way wedge. they are an excellent machine, you just pay through the nose for it.

 

[D&B Mack]

I have the TW-7, but I sell bundled firewood. Unless you are using for this purpose, I would go with the 5. The box wedge produces wood that is too small (IMHO) for home heating purposes. I also have the four and six way wedge as well. A lot will depend on the size of wood you typically split. I ordered a DR Rapid Fire for our smaller stuff, unless you are getting multiple splits out of your TW, they will be slower than a kinetic. I would definitely get the table grate whether you have a conveyor or not, keeps up production whether you are working solo or in a group; also keeps the wood cleaner. You can't go wrong with Timberwolf though, very quality builds, have yet to have an issue.

 

[Oldtimer]

Whatever happened to the TW5-FC? FC stood for "fast cycle"...I don't see it on the TW website anymore.

I think I'd spend my coins on a built-rite. They have several distinct features that put them a little above a TW in my view...and the price is about the same...I mean, what's another $2K after you pass the $9K mark?:biggrin:

[video=youtube;aSfDYIF4-7Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSfDYIF4-7Y&feature=player_embedded[/video]

 

[ChipMonger]

Holy chisel chain and bar oil batman:msp_biggrin:...I posted this thread thinking i would have to give it a couple days or more. Im sorry i under estimated my AS brethren:msp_biggrin:.

I appreciate all the replies. It is very apparent to me that i have a lot more research to do in this area. I have a feeling i will be making this purchase later than i had anticipated to make sure i buy what suits me best for the best price. In regards to the campfire splitting wedge i like the uniformity of the pieces made but in reality the 4 or 6way wedge is more realistic. The outfeed table and log lifts are a must as far as im concerned. I will report back for opinions on my final choices to choose from. Thanks fellas, your comments and advice are very much appreciated.