Timberwolf TW-6 Near Catastrophic Failure

[milkie62]

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.

My splitter without the 4 way rarely sees over 1100 psi on the guage even going through crotchy elm.

 

[rancher2]

Southern Yankee
Any up dates on the Timberwolf ? What did the company say? Are they going to be any help to get you back running?

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Any up dates on the Timberwolf ? What did the company say? Are they going to be any help to get you back running?

Bump... ?

 

[cantoo]

Paging Bryan Dodge, Bryan Dodge please??

 

[Natster]

Is it possibly ole Dodger?
That was my first thought.

N

 

[c5rulz]

Paging Bryan Dodge, Bryan Dodge please??

@Bryan Dodge To the courtesy phone.

 

[Deleted member 117362]

Is this the same Bryan Dodge that was bashing Eastonmade unit used in rental business? Looks like he can ruin just about anything. Wonder what he was asking them for as a replacement?

 

[cantoo]

No, I doubt it is the same guy. This guy does have legitimate issues. Some preventative maintenance might have helped too though. I build stuff all the time and sometimes I forget to finish welding something or tighten a bolt. Every manufacturer has the same issues.

 

[WoodTick007]

It's hard to imagine a splitter costing several thousand dollars could end up in that condition with such low running hours.

 

[Huskyuser]

Posting a splitter like this serves to make most of us feel bad............

 

[tla100]

Not to sound like a Richard, but how do ya got that much left to pay on it? That is a lot of wood split. Running 10 hours a day for 5 weeks straight, thats a lot of wood.

Back to splitter, hope they fix the cylinder and get a new wedge. Other is wear n tear....

 

[KiwiBro]

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

Yeah Automated Biomass Systems bought them quite a while ago and it looks like they might be rationalising the two brands somewhat and I suspect they may fold ABS into TW over time so that there is just TW in the future but with many of the ABS ideas coming through to the TW machines. There are already new TW products just released that show such a trend. I looked closely at them recently because I am planning a new splitter purchase and can't say I was begging them to take my money. Personally, I did not think the path they are taking is proven enough to be worth buying into at this stage.

 

[CUCV]

My TW5 lived a hard life like this TW6 before I got it. It just split large rounds that wouldn't go thru the large chipper for a tree removal company. I bought several tractor trailer grapple loads ($300 load) from them and found out quickly it just wasn't worth the time even though the loads were so cheap. I could see the beam twisting following the grain of the wood. When I got it the wedge was no longer vertical the beam was bent up and twisted and the push block had at least 1/4" of slop on the beam. I rebuilt the super leaky cylinder. Then I twisted the I-beam back and got the wedge vertical. Straightened out the top flange of the I-beam. Welded up the push block and installed new slides on the bottom side.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Aside from all that damage, they are a nice splitter, if not abused. I used mine with a modified four-way and often took it off to quarter large nasty stuff. I paid dearly for the splitter new, and abusing or pushing it to the max was never a thought. 10k plus machine vs a couple bucks worth of firewood in a nasty round? The fat wedge design did not help splitting even small nasties, and made junk of them, so much of a big nasty was forgone junk before starting.
There are a still a couple nice pluses to these machines. One is the log lift. Another is the combined components make for a faster hydraulic splitter.

 

[CUCV]

The log lift is great, it tows amazing, controls are well placed and is a whole lot more of a splitter than what you can get at a box store. Seems like TW hasn't done much to evolve the design like many other companies. Then again SS hasn't evolve there design in years as well. I see guys post on here that they push everything thru their TW 4- way wedge... I can't even count how many times I have stuck a log on the TW single wedge let alone the 4 way. Guessing they only process forest grown wood and no shade tree wood. It is definitely important to find the balance between using your equipment and abusing it.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I can't even count how many times I have stuck a log on the TW single wedge let alone the 4 way.

After sticking a round two or three times you discover how to best clear it. More importantly, I learned how not to do it, as it is plain and simply a waste of time.
This is my four-way wedge modified the first month I had it, after being tired off chasing huge splits to be re-split that fell on the ground on both sides of the machine, and stuck under the wedge and needed to be pushed through (and further from me). Again, all a waste of time.
On the ground, which is where rounds in the first two photos are headed: or on the raised log lift/splitter beam using a pulp hook, the last two photos. (operated from the log lift side where the work is.)