Is this a good price for a TW 5 and I&O 30 ton commercial

[CaseyForrest]

Asking price is $5500. Looks a little "well loved" for the asking price.

Asking price is $4200. Looks brand new...

I couldn't follow through with the Super Split purchase. Something was nagging me that it wasn't the right splitter for me.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Here are some thoughts;
How much do each cost new?
Timberwolf TW-5. It appears to have auto cycle and should have an hour meter. I have seen some photos where there are spots on the hydraulic tank that I assumed to be from hot hydraulic oil entering the tank near the botton. I do not see that on this one. Looks used but taken care of.
Iron and Oak. Looks repainted, or brand new, never used. Nice tall vertical wedge, nice wing, shelf style four-way that lowers flat with beam. Hitch on wrong end for conveyor or wood pile build up. Controls on one side, which makes ard to use log lift without a second person. The controls could be moved however. No outfeed table, and they are handy. It does have a much nicer wedge than the TW.

 

[CaseyForrest]

Not sure on the TW5... The I&O is $7300 at the dealer. My saw shop has this exact model sitting in his shop and I keep beating him up on it, but he wont budge. I&O add states its MAYBE seen 1 cord of wood.

No conveyor in the future, but a table would be constructed off the wedge end.

 

[CaseyForrest]

I wonder if the I&O could be modified into a box wedge......

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I doubt the iron and Oak could push through a box wedge. Many people have said the six-way seldom get used on the TW's, so I never bought one. They are not cheap either.
Come try my SSHD.... or TW-6.... I'll just watch.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

jrider uses an I &O, a lot!

 

[T. Mainus]

That TW-5 is identical to the one I have. Out feed table might be a little beat up but all in all it looks pretty good. I think $5500 is a pretty fair price. I have been thinking of selling mine and that is about where I would start with mine. Wouldn't let it go for under $5000. There is quite a few TW's on craigslist out east and some of those look really bad compared to the one your looking at and the price is not much cheaper. New ones are going for over $8000 I think and they don't come with the auto cycle.

 

[jrider]

I do use my I&O quite a bit and I love it. It's not this model however so I can't comment much outside of saying they build a very durable machine - mine has around 1,000 cords through it. I replaced the control valve a few times and the Honda engine quit on me this summer but I am happy with the mileage I've gotten out of it. I know this one is heavier than mine but I do love how easy it is to move around. I know that isn't the case with the tw5. I also like the working height better on the I&O - I'm 6'2". My biggest complaint with mine is the stand by the hitch is poorly/underdesigned in my opinion. I made my own stand years ago because theirs just wasn't cutting it.
I can see how the controls only being accessible from one side can slow things down. I windrow my splits so I like to keep the rounds on one side of the machine and the spits get tossed to the other side. I would have to change that up with this I&O. Every person out there has a method that suits them and that helps determine which machine works best for them. I think that is more important when comparing 2 machines that are nearly equal in cost.

 

[CaseyForrest]

Hard to believe these two came up for sale at the same time in MI. Close enough to pick them up.

Decisions.
sent from a field

 

[CaseyForrest]

I doubt the iron and Oak could push through a box wedge. Many people have said the six-way seldom get used on the TW's, so I never bought one. They are not cheap either.
Come try my SSHD.... or TW-6.... I'll just watch.
View attachment 529309 View attachment 529310

I don't work cheap.

sent from a field

 

[shamusturbo]

I vote TW-5. Auto cycle saves some serious time waiting around. I got my 2006 model for a steal. $2350 in 2010. I don't ever see me selling it. It has seen 1000+ with just my brother and I and it was well used when we got it.With that, I have almost no iron and oak experience. We ran a standard model at the local dealer years ago just to say we did.

jrider beat me to it! The work height is horrible on the TW-5. That was the first thing I modified when I got it. It came with a 4 way wedge and we built a 6-way. The six way probably hasn't seen a cord pass through it. Once you get ahead of the learning curve, you can fly with the adjustable 4 way. And if you have someone handing you logs or loading a stack on the log lift, even better. Once a pile would build up, it would push the machine along as it split instead of throwing every single split out of your way.

You can 't see the H-beam I used for a spacer to move the splitter height up. Hind sight, I wish I would have put a suspension on it as well. I also put a tongue extension and a mesh table on the front of it. It made it a little easier to move it around and the table is pretty convenient. The tongue is maybe 8" from the I beam frame of the machine and is difficult to move. The weight is too compact. Giving it a bigger footprint helped. It has a log lift you cant see, as well.....

 

[Hinerman]

Price them new and you will see they are priced very fair IMO. Need to add a table to the I&O.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I don't work cheap.

We won't call it 'work' then. These are toys, and it is playtime!

 

[CaseyForrest]

We won't call it 'work' then. These are toys, and it is playtime!

I'll work for wood.

Been going back and forth on buying/building a splitter and just can't get the price below the cost of the super split. It may happen....

Fortunately I have a friend's tw p1 living here. I should be thankful it's here but I want to move faster.

sent from a field

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Knowledge and experience is priceless.
I'll even let you buy me breakfast...

Tell you what. Once you start you can stop anytime. Two minutes, five minutes, but you'll be smiling all day. And no, you can't take it home with you.

Split a cord today and another heaping trailer load of bark.