Timberwolf Verses Super Split process time

[LoggerDoug]

LoggerDoug there is more to splitting wood than cycle time. Only being able to split a piece two ways is a deal breaker for me. So what if the cycle time is faster......the operator having to pick up and re-split the pieces of larger rounds is a lot of work compared to a splitter that can bust the larger piece in four or six pieces on the first split.

Maybe you find so many more hydraulic splitters on the market because there are hardly any supersplitters out there? If 999 out of 1,000 splitter are hydraulic what would you expect to find?

Splitting just two ways is a deal breaker for me I don't care if it's got a one second cycle time.

Still.......I'd like to give one a try sometime.

I agree Treeco. I just aint sure a super split or comparible hydraulic could take a 4 way wedge and get the job done without having to fuss with wood that jams. A bigger more powerful hydraulic I have no doubt will handle it, but I'm talking about the the SS and similar hydraulic. I want it to be some what mobile and don't want to fuss with a log lift. It's all good...

 

[svon89]

I own a timberwolf PW-1 and do like it. But I do think the cycle time is slow. I was talking to a friend the other day who's brother had a supersplitter and ended up selling it and bought a large, quick hydraulic. He liked the speed, but couldn't make enough time with it compared to the hydraulic with 6 way. I guess the hydraulic has something like a 6 second cycle time.

I only cut and split for myself so I do not need to spend any more than I did. I do wish I could get the cycle time down on the PW-1, but it does the job for me. If I had it to do again, I would seriously consider a SS over hydraulic, but I haven't even owned the PW-1 for a year. I have many more to go before I have to get another.

 

[Outriggers]

I think each has their pro's and cons, Ideal would be to have both. The ss would be great for straight grain rounds. The hydraulic for the uglier big stuff. I must admit I like fast but, a ss makes me cringe a little when I watch. Doug

 

[bighead]

Great video and good work splitting!


Q's and A's:
Stalling? NO!
Overheating? NO!
Leaking? NO!
Troubleshooting? NO!
Fill fuel every now and then? NO!
Have to wait for splitter to get done?? NO!
Have to deal with "Speeco" warranty claims? NO!
Any real competitors on the one way wedge splitter market? NO!

Curious about a 4 way wedge SS? Oh yea!

What is best alternative for the money? 49$ plus change for a Fiskars SS!!

opcorn:

awesome job! btw, just curious, how old are you? what kind of wood were you splitting?

 

[HARRY BARKER]

Super splitter is not limited to block size. It's limited to what you can lift. It will split whatever you out up there. We loaded 30" plus elm on mine with a front loader. It split them. It didn't like it but split them anyway. When your going for production the SS is the best machine hands down. I can get over 2 cord on a tank of fuel. It's not even a gallon. My cords have about 960 pieces in them. There is a reason you don't see SS for sale used. When people buy them they keep them.


Scott

\
exactly!

 

[AKKAMAAN]

awesome job! btw, just curious, how old are you? what kind of wood were you splitting?

Are you referring to my Youtube video, using the Fiskars Super Splitter??

Anyway I'm 57 and a half now...LOL....I count every half year as a gift now....LOL......I actually have "refurbished" myself since I shot the video....I am 175-180lbs now....was 245-250lbs when I shot the video....prepping for retirement I suppose....hahahaha

The wood I am splitting is Douglas Fir, pretty straight grain, a few nuts but not bad at all.....My point is the bungee-rope....bundle smaller logs together and split like a large log....safe and simple....
Thanks for the credit...

Per A

 

[HARRY BARKER]

Are you referring to my Youtube video, using the Fiskars Super Splitter??

Anyway I'm 57 and a half now...LOL....I count every half year as a gift now....LOL......I actually have "refurbished" myself since I shot the video....I am 175-180lbs now....was 245-250lbs when I shot the video....prepping for retirement I suppose....hahahaha

The wood I am splitting is Douglas Fir, pretty straight grain, a few nuts but not bad at all.....My point is the bungee-rope....bundle smaller logs together and split like a large log....safe and simple....
Thanks for the credit...

Per A

wow! thats about 70lbs.....what happened?

 

[AKKAMAAN]

wow! thats about 70lbs.....what happened?

eating less calories, and more good food....

 

[bighead]

good for you AKKAMAAN!!

 

[ropensaddle]

How many cords a day can you do at 15-20 min a cord? Since I do 16" wood and split it small I haven't been able to get thru that much wood that fast. I've done a 16" cord in just over a half hour but I can constantly do 8 cord a day.
I split a ton of elm last year with the SS, yes its slower but does just fine, I quartered most of it with the saw just to lift it. Most 13 sec. hydraulic splitters won't have 13 sec. cycle time in elm when they kick down to 2.5gpm.

I can't wait to get a 4 way on my SS!

This is a little video of my SS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoIkEBKmQ5k

Nice but I have too much big stuff my tw 6 sure saves the back

 

[angelo c]

here's my take, I own a SS and run a tw-6 for a friend when we get enough wood to sell. The two machines have no direct comparison much the same way a 200t and a 372 don't compare. When I get straight grained woods under 36" I take them home to split. When I get nasty knarly stumpy stuff it comes with me to the TW-6. I love my SS but the TW-6 is a beast. I can count on my hands how many times we could jam up the thing and that was because we were running the 4 way and not paying attention to reading grain and growth patterns.

Money no option a TW-6 with a kubota power supply would be in my yard. There is nothing that the TW6 can't do that the SS can, but there are things the SS CAN'T do that the TW6 can. I can't get enough tree service cast aways to justify the expense of the TW-6 which is roughly 3 times the TW6 and that's the only draw back. The log lift is a major consideration for me too. A verticle hydrolic is useless to me and no comparison to the SS but I would rather have a SS then a TW-1 or similar scale machine.

If I had a major firewood business to run. I would have 2 or three SS and those will outperform, production wise to the TW-6. It would also come down to amount of labor available as it I had the hands to run only one machine with one helper it favors the TW-6. Give me 6 guys and 3 SS and the TW-6 is in the garage sitting.

both have their purpose and maximum efficiencies. As always, wood dictates tool not tool dictates wood.

Anyone that wants to run both side by side, come on down.

 

[TreePointer]

Thanks for the comparison, angelo c!

 

[ropensaddle]

here's my take, I own a SS and run a tw-6 for a friend when we get enough wood to sell. The two machines have no direct comparison much the same way a 200t and a 372 don't compare. When I get straight grained woods under 36" I take them home to split. When I get nasty knarly stumpy stuff it comes with me to the TW-6. I love my SS but the TW-6 is a beast. I can count on my hands how many times we could jam up the thing and that was because we were running the 4 way and not paying attention to reading grain and growth patterns.

Money no option a TW-6 with a kubota power supply would be in my yard. There is nothing that the TW6 can't do that the SS can, but there are things the SS CAN'T do that the TW6 can. I can't get enough tree service cast aways to justify the expense of the TW-6 which is roughly 3 times the TW6 and that's the only draw back. The log lift is a major consideration for me too. A verticle hydrolic is useless to me and no comparison to the SS but I would rather have a SS then a TW-1 or similar scale machine.

If I had a major firewood business to run. I would have 2 or three SS and those will outperform, production wise to the TW-6. It would also come down to amount of labor available as it I had the hands to run only one machine with one helper it favors the TW-6. Give me 6 guys and 3 SS and the TW-6 is in the garage sitting.

both have their purpose and maximum efficiencies. As always, wood dictates tool not tool dictates wood.

Anyone that wants to run both side by side, come on down.

Sounds very logical the tw6 you ran prolly has the table grate right? I should have got one but will probably just build one if I ever get a look at how they fasten! I have found three guys on the 6 and the machine still waits for you lol. A conveyor would be great too lol.

 

[angelo c]

Sounds very logical the tw6 you ran prolly has the table grate right? I should have got one but will probably just build one if I ever get a look at how they fasten! I have found three guys on the 6 and the machine still waits for you lol. A conveyor would be great too lol.

Rope,
yes it has a home made table. It really sucks to run the 6 w/o one. Picking up all those pieces that the 6 makes is crucial to any efficiency. and yes as well you really need a conveyer, it buries itself in wood and splitter trash in about 4 hours if not.

I've got about 5 hours run time with Manatarms(AS-member) Built-Rite spltter and that is a tough choice between the TW-6 and the Built-Rite. The 6 will out grunt the BR but the BR is faster, as it should be with the single stage pump.

 

[angelo c]

Rope,
Let me know if you want me to take a photo of how he mounted the table. Pretty much just 4 bolts right to the main frame under the Beam.

A

 

[ropensaddle]

Rope,
yes it has a home made table. It really sucks to run the 6 w/o one. Picking up all those pieces that the 6 makes is crucial to any efficiency. and yes as well you really need a conveyer it buries itself in wood and splitter trash in about 4 hours if not.

I've got about 5 hours run time with Manatarms Built-Rite spltter and that is a tough choice between the TW-6 and the Built-Rite. The 6 will out grunt the BR but the BR is faster, as it should be with the single stage pump.

Yeah those look very well built but no dealers round here.

 

[Outriggers]

Rope,
yes it has a home made table. It really sucks to run the 6 w/o one. Picking up all those pieces that the 6 makes is crucial to any efficiency. and yes as well you really need a conveyer, it buries itself in wood and splitter trash in about 4 hours if not.

I have a TW6 with a 6-way wedge and table grate. It makes so much wood without a conveyer I am overwhelmed. Even by myself I have to stop and move wood. I use a trailer that is level with the table grate, no bending over. I have spent too many years bent over a splitter and lifting pieces. I figured a TW6 was a good value $, compared to a shot back. Doug

 

[angelo c]

I have a TW6 with a 6-way wedge and table grate. It makes so much wood without a conveyer I am overwhelmed. Even by myself I have to stop and move wood. I use a trailer that is level with the table grate, no bending over. I have spent too many years bent over a splitter and lifting pieces. I figured a TW6 was a good value $, compared to a shot back. Doug

Howdy neighbor !

Shoot me a PM when you need a hand with that TW-6. I'm down 202 in Neshanic. I spent many a Sunday morning at sky manor .

Angelo

 

[Curlycherry1]

I've done thousands of cords on a 4-way wood splitter with an ~8 second cycle and I have even done a good bunch of handle time one a Timberwolf HD processor. Now nothing beats the processor because it cuts and splits, but the recent work I have on a SS has convinced me, there is NOTHING faster at pure splitting. I am chewing through about 50-70 face cords of red oak and it is keeping me very tired. I am putting a full cord through it in less than an hour, no problem. Now I'll admit I am probably quicker at reading a piece of wood because of all the experience I have, but I am plunking the wood through that SS at an alarming rate. My old 8 second 4 way would need to be moved about every 30 minutes to keep into a pile like I am in now. This SS needs to be moved every 10-15 minutes. That tells me I am horking through the wood.

Including down time for loading logs to a stationary timberwolf processor, I bet a guy and a chainsaw and another on a SS could give a TW processor a run for its money, and do it for <1/10th the cost. Seriously, a SS is FAST. As with any splitter the size of the log will play a part in total process time/cord, but I am splitting stuff from 3" up to >24" and all manner of knots and crotch pieces. No problem with anything.

Edit to add, with a 4 way wedge or especially a 6-way wedge one has to be careful of big pieces that need to be resplit. There is nothing worse nor a bigger sign of poor quality control that wood that is just horked through a 4 way or 6 way and not looked at once it comes out the other side. My brother has captured a lot of customers from his competitiors because he takes care to resplit the big stuff. He now has two single wood splitters attached to his TW Processor for resplitting the stuff that needs to be whacked again.

One key point that folks forget about or do not notice about the SS is there is little to no garbage. No slivers piling up around the wedge like there is with a 4 or 6 way wedge. It leads to nice clean wood with hardly any waste. My brother's processor yields about 10-15 bushels of junk in an 8-hour day.

Another thing about an SS is one does NOT simply keep whacking logs in half, and then half again, etc until it is all split. One takes a log and splits it in half, shoves half to the opposite side of the production table and then takes the half closest to them and starts peeling off single pieces the size they desire. This method, for me, yields a split piece of wood on average about every 2.3-3 seconds. I have been timing it. I lose 5-10 seconds for lifting pieces off the pile and onto the splitter table. The key is to keep the wood moving into the wedge one piece at a time, not trying to do 2 at once, that does not work.

 

[ropensaddle]

I've done thousands of cords on a 4-way wood splitter with an ~8 second cycle and I have even done a good bunch of handle time one a Timberwolf HD processor. Now nothing beats the processor because it cuts and splits, but the recent work I have on a SS has convinced me, there is NOTHING faster at pure splitting. I am chewing through about 50-70 face cords of red oak and it is keeping me very tired. I am putting a full cord through it in less than an hour, no problem. Now I'll admit I am probably quicker at reading a piece of wood because of all the experience I have, but I am plunking the wood through that SS at an alarming rate. My old 8 second 4 way would need to be moved about every 30 minutes to keep into a pile like I am in now. This SS needs to be moved every 10-15 minutes. That tells me I am horking through the wood.

Including down time for loading logs to a stationary timberwolf processor, I bet a guy and a chainsaw and another on a SS could give a TW processor a run for its money, and do it for <1/10th the cost. Seriously, a SS is FAST. As with any splitter the size of the log will play a part in total process time/cord, but I am splitting stuff from 3" up to >24" and all manner of knots and crotch pieces. No problem with anything.

They do look awful fast but to me effort lifting is a huge consideration and the fact that I mostly am getting big stuff in the 36 + range and my back is sore from years of climbing and lifting chunks to put into a split dump! I want hydraulics lifting for me.