New (to us) Splitter - planning a couple of mods

[dlctcg]

Been borrowing a splitter for the past many years either from my brother or one of my friends for our splitting needs. Although not convenient it worked, but we always had the idea of owning our own splitter; we burn 3 to 4 cord per season to heat 3K+ sqft home. We decided we wanted a few things in a splitter... a vertical splitter with a log lift, a push thru design, & fast cycle time.

Well I think we lucked upon a deal... right before pulling the trigger, on a new 22T Rugged Made (which I was questioning my own decision & would have been more $$); we found a "lightly" used Timberwolf TW-P1 with a 4-way wedge, manual log lift, & grate table.... for for under 2K... Not perfect, a little slower cycle time than I wanted (but we're not in a race) & a little lower working height than we would have liked... but it was TiimberWolf's quality that sold us.... It's a 2012 machine that sat in a garage for at least the past 6 years not used... (& garaged all it's life)... The original owners used it for their personal use... then decided wood was to much work, so parked in the garage it were it sat.

The one other thing is I wish it split to the rear of the hitch.... I don't like the idea of having to remove the table grate to hook it back onto a trailer hitch to move it on the property (we will store it inside). I was originally thinking I was going to extend the front hitch but now I think I'm going a add hitch receiver tube mounted to the other end, Then making an extension hitch bar that I can slide into the receiver & pin-in, with a 2" ball coupler on the end. This should allow me to move it to & from the area without removing the grate table or having to worry about moving the mess in-front of the splitter before hooking it up.

I will most likely look at at permanently raising it's beam height & adding a hydraulic cylinder & valve to the log lift in the future. But for now we are going to just run it as is (oil changed to synthetic, cleaned-up & greased) to see how well it works.

Pic's are after it was cleaned up...

 

[ponytug]

Nice looking splitter!

Could you modify the grating so that you could flip it up easily? It would seem easier than modifying the hitch.

All the best, Peter

 

[dlctcg]

Thanks Peter... Unfortunately the way Timer Wolf gate table goes in it wouldn't be easy.... besides if I add the hitch at the back I can pull the unit away from the splitting mess... Still working on the ideas...

Also thinking, if I decide to raise the height of the unit, I will most likely install 5 Bolt Trailer Wheel Hubs on the existing spindles with larger wheels & tires, or weld on some drop down framing & new 1" spindles to use the existing wheels. I would then just cut & extend the front kickstand support to the right length. If I decide to go this route I would either modify the existing log lift length or just fabricate a new one to included the hydraulic lift cylinder (which I would like). We have no intension of over the road travel with it, just pulling it on our property. If I need to move it over the road it will go on one of our trailers.

 

[4570Man]

I extended the hitch on mine mostly so I could leave it hooked on a truck while it’s in use. I just got a longer piece of tubing for the hitch and welded on the beam vs trying to hack on what’s there. I’d also convert the lift to hydraulic. While I was doing that I’d buy valve that detents in both directions and use it for the ram and use the current valve on the lift.

 

[lennyzx11]

I have the TW-P1 also. It’s been a good one.
Let us know when you forget to turn the ignition on and try to start it three or four pulls before remembering.
You’ll see what I mean...

I too want a rear receiver and have an idea for that I’m working out.

For the low height, I put a set of cheap car ramps under the tires and pull the splitter forward on them. This puts the ramp part back out of your feet’s way. Then a block to set the tongue stand on.

The grate will push forward over time as you work so per a tip from someone I hook the safety chains on the outside end of the grate with a twist or two to shorten to hold it in place. Works great!

I moved the cradles forward one bolt hole to keep splits from jamming into the end of the grate and pushing it out. Had to drill one hole for the 2nd bolt but sure made a difference.

I have all the pieces to make a log lift but haven’t got “tuit”. I use the tractor grapple a lot for that so not been pressing.

I also hate not having a vertical capability so I bought a used husky and use it in the vertical mode mostly and since it pushes to the back away from the hitch, it’s good for dragging around the property and cutting up and splitting dead trees. Don’t really need 2 splitters but it was real cheap needing some work when I ran across it.

 

[dlctcg]

@4570Man - I thought about extending the hitch on the front but decided we didn't want the hitch coupler out past the grate.... the plan is to split directly in to a pallet box which we can then move & dump the splits to our wood pile with the forks on our tractor. I stack the log lengths & rounds near the edge of the woods & setup an area there to split, that way I can just push the mess into the woods when done & move the splits to our stacking & storage area (which I need to redesign & relocate).

@lennyzx11 - Thanks for the info on the table grate moving & moving the log cradle forward. I'll look into both.

I know a lot of people use either ramps or blocks to raise the beam height, but it would negate the use of the log lift that is currently on there as it would not sit at ground level. I'm leaning towards raising the entire machine, leaving the existing spindles, & just building a new simple frame with the additional height & new 1" spindles. This would allow me to use the same rims & tires. Then extending the front support & adding the additional length to the log lift... possibly just build a new lift platform with the hydraulic lift cylinder....

Thanks both of you for all the info

 

[Oaktree]

When you say cycle time, do you mean how fast the ram moves? What would affect this? I presume there's a restrictor in the valve that could be changed to speed up/slow down the cycle time?

As far as a 4 way wedge, that would cause me to look elsewhere. Unless all your wood is within a fairly narrow size range, not all needs to be quartered...some in half is fine, other, larger pieces need to be split into more than just 4 chunks.

 

[ericm979]

Cycle time is determined by the pump output and the cylinder size. A larger cylinder gives more force but takes more fluid so you need a larger pump to maintain the cycle time, and a larger engine to turn it. There's no restrictor.

The 4 way wedge does not make you split into quarters. You can run larger pieces back through just like a regular single edge wedge. Really nice splitters have the 4 way on a hydraulic cylinder with a valve so you can raise or lower it as needed for each split.

 

[dlctcg]

@Oaktree - Cycle time refers to the time it takes for the splitter to complete a full cycle, all the way out & then all the way back. As @ericm979 mentioned it is determined by cylinder & bore size & the pump output. The Timber Wolf has a more than expectable cycle time for our use (3-4 cords a yr), but if I was purchasing something new I would have looked for a little faster.... The splitter we purchased is close to $ 3900 new & we purchased this one for under 2K... so I think we did ok... (& it's Timer Wolf quality)

The 4-way wedge was a definite want for us... & the Timber Wolf's slip-on 4-way is reversible, each way gives you a different split size. It slips on & off in seconds to allow you to spilt using the single wedge for larger pieces or the 4-way. A lot of our stuff is 10" - 14" round & the 4-way should substantially cut down on our splitting time. Don't get me wrong we have a lot of stuff 24"+ too which is why we wanted a log lift; that we would run through on the single wedge... I can not imagine it making anyone look elsewhere (if the machine is capable of a 4-way).... it is the best of both worlds... slip it on when you need it & leave it off when you don't & it literally (I mean physically) takes seconds... Hydraulic 4-ways are awesome but overkill for our use...

@lennyzx11 - I saw your "
Let us know when you forget to turn the ignition on and try to start it three or four pulls before remembering. You’ll see what I mean..." make me smile.... Been there done that... I think I have that out of my system now with all the Honda equipment we run either at home or at work.... but there was a time...

 

[oosik]

Forty years ago, when we burned wood, I had a horizontal splitter - Didier. It worked well except when we would fall one of the gigantic ancient pines. Tough getting the round up on the splitter. I don't know if vertical splitter were even made back then.

My solution - dig a shallow ditch with the rear blade. Roll the splitter into the ditch. Then the rail and ground level were the same height. This helped a lot.

We usually split around five plus full chords a year. Usually around three of our pines.