The log splitter has been repaired and I'm ready to start splitting wood with my Timberwolf Log Splitter. The wood splitter is working great with the Drainzit Oil Drain hose I installed and the table grate.
You just saved me from making a big mistake. I was minutes away from ordering those stroke limiters and thought I should watch a video about them before ordering. Very thankful I did. THANK YOU for posting this.
You goofed. You owned the mistake, paid for it, learned something, and shared your lesson with others. Thank you. I don't get why some people would leave nasty comments.
Whoever told you the auto-detent only works if the cylinder goes all the way back was full of BS. Just their way of justifying charging you an arm and a leg for a new cylinder. The auto-detent function is in the control valve, not in the cylinder. The valve is a simple open/close operation - it has no idea what position the cylinder is in. It releases when the pressure reaches a certain PSI, which happens when the cylinder stops moving, causing the pressure to build up.
It looks like that the pressure has to get so high that it strips the threads though because thats the load path with those collars on. Without those the piston bottoms out in the cylinder and that's what drives up the pressure. The cylinder is designed to take that force.
@david m That is an excellent point. I have repaired a ton of cylinder threads and have charged about $100.00 if I rebuilt the cylinder too. Repaint it, and for practical applications you could call it new, but it is a rebuilt cylinder. Still, you could tell the customer I have the new one for $500.00 or a rebuilt one for $250.00, but I need the core back. If you buy a new one they should offer the old cylinder back, and perhaps this was done, I don't know. You also could have simply put a shear bolt through the connection and repaired it too. All the real force on the ram is going forward, (unless you use the spacers), so a shear bolt would have worked fine.
It has to go all the way back. The pressure in the valve kicks it in neutral. You can't try and stop the yoke. Before enough pressure builds, the yoke strips out just like it did.
All he had to do is rethread the eñd of the cylindet or tac it back on and take a grinder to it if you ever have to repack the cylinder and your correct on the valve because there is always bark and broken wood and debris getting built up on the back stroke and my champion kicks the valve off earlier without pulling my threads threw the yoke and if you don't want it to stroke out so far saving time simply put something at the other end between the block of wood and the end plate like a piece of split wood!!
You know who doesn’t make mistakes splitting wood? Those A holes that watch RU-vid videos and have never split a piece of wood in their life. Forget about the haters, and super appreciate the advice as I stumbled across your video looking to do the same thing to my log splitter
Awesome video and it takes a great man to admit his mistakes.... Everybody makes mistakes, however, either we blame it on the machine, the manufacturer or the parts.... But few of us don't accept the responsibility of our actions, Innovation is great... Kudos to you!.. Thank you for sharing your lessons. Keep your videos coming... They are a contribution to us.
just saw this now. loved the 2 videos. I thought the cylinder stoppers were a great idea. I use those as a stop for my brush hog. not until your video did I even think about where they may be applying pressure to damage the splitter. I just assumed that part of the splitter was indestructible and that was an ingenious way to shorten the unneeded stroke of the cylinder. That failure is nothing to be ashamed of. I hate you had to bear the cost for all of our education but I do appreciate the knowledge I gained from this.
I'm about 9 years late, but you can easily make an extension for that table with some cheap EMT and some couplers from a big box store with nothing more than a screw driver and a hack saw.
Thanks! I just saw those shaft spacers in a catalog last week and was going to try them. My homemade splitter has a 24" opening, but I only split 18" logs. That extra 6" doesn't seem like much, on every stroke of a dump trailer full of logs, the time adds up. Greetings from the other side of the Housatonic!
It is frustrating standing there watching the cylinder move but accomplishing nothing. So frustrating. I've started keeping my hands on the handle to stop it and accepting if I let it auto-return all the way when I go get another log its part of the process and there's nothing I can do about it.
I love the intro (especially the falling tree), and camera angles you used, and no distracting music. Glad you got the splitter running, and in the context of the money you're saving by burning firewood, you're still coming out ahead. I'm looking forward to Part 3 when you work out a better way to control the stroke and add extensions to the table to keep wood from falling off. You could use pipe or tubing that fits over the rod to make extensions, or bolt a back plate on the grate. Next time I play horseshoes, I want you on my side! Thanks for the video!
I have had 3 TW-1's . I trade them in about every 5 years. They are great units. I just got a new one last week. It is the best one I have had yet. I do about 20 cords of wood per year. Mine handles oak, hickory, elm, maple, and locust without a hitch. It will handle stuff that it takes 2 of us to put on the splitter.
Your tool, which you bought with your money. You broke it using how you saw fit, and paid your money again to repair it. After all that said and done, you shared the experience and lesson with the rest of us. You sir, are the real mvp. Brush off any negative comments you may receive!! Keep up the great work!! Cheers!
Thank you for sharing...sometimes great ideas become learning moments. I agree that the table needs to fit your splitter. Hopefully Timberwolf is listening.
I spent all my childhood summer vacations splitting and bagging wood. I fully understand what you were going for with the idea. It's a shame the cast iron ripped out.
On your damaged end of the cylinder you can bore a hole through it and the splitting head.Then install a pin to connect it together. Makes it easy to remove for any repairs to the cylinder or splitting wedge.
I believe you could have had the striped cylinder rethreaded and the splitter retapped and bushed a lot cheaper. If worse came worse you could have welded it back together. We all live and learn
Like your video i changed the right angle joints (create more heat )for smooth half rounds joints on my hydraulic hoses this helped heeps also move your side catchers down past the cutting bar this will help with your logs entering the catcher i have the same log splitter Northstar in Scotland keeped on stopping after 10 minutes running in the end was the spark plug cheers and thanks
Kind of funny, when I lived in Illinois, I cut wood at my Uncle's land, and I had Oak and Hickory, some Black Locust, and Cherry. I knew I had it good, but I didn't know how good. Out here in Colorado, Oak goes for $600 to $700 for a cord! One place sells non-seasoned Oak for 15 cents a pound. The only wood I can get for free is Cottonwood, and some Elm, and the occasional Willow. I get the wood nobody else wants, like the huge knuckles and just plain big ones. I made a log splitter back in Il., but out here I bought a Earthquake 22 ton unit. It has performed quite well, splitting some Cottonwood over 50 inches Dia. I have another project one, but I am going to have to re do a lot of it. The one I made before I had 2ea 6" cylinders set up one over the other. I had them set up so if the first cylinder was pushing hard, the solenoid opened up and then both cylinders pushed. With a V-4 Wisconsin 42HP, and a 45 GPM 2 stage pump, it could split all day and not even breathe hard. I put a lift on it, and used a 12 inch I-Beam with a 3/4 " web and 1" thick flanges. I actually bent the I-beam on a big piece of elm. For the money ($800.00 new) the Earthquake has performed admirably for a 22 ton, but I am looking for a bigger one to be able and split the big ones I have. I have had people make fun of me, burning Cottonwood, but the first year I moved to Colorado, I used 3 tanks of Propane, (500 gal), and now I use about 200 gallons per year. Laugh if you will, but a local tree service is happy to dump the wood off, rather than paying the landfill to dump it there. I was looking at the 37 and 42 ton ones, but after seeing the issues they had with those, I am going to have to take a hard look at what I can get. Cycle time is not that important to me, but durability and power is. A firewood processor is pretty much useless with the kind of wood I have. When I saw the little attachments on your splitter, I thought that stripping the thread might happen, but the only reason I suspected it was going to happen is that we did the exact same thing on a reaction molding press. Fortunately, I had a machine shop at my disposal, and I could weld up the ram, and re-machine the threads on it, and do the same thing for the female part. Still took some time. Thanks for the free info and for posting!
The reason you liked the other splitter so much is that it's backwards from yours. You're running the split wood and wannabees back through every time but the other one kept the unsplit wood on the beam and you just threw the split piece. No wonder. I ended with a stand up job and it's waist high, perfect. MOved the engine/pump back 8 inches to get it out from the wood drop zone and replumbed and remounted the hydraulic valve from the side to the top of the cylinder so it can be used from both sides. Backed the hi/lo down so the engine doesn't have to strain so much and my wood hauling buggy fits right over the engine so it's protected and the right height to hold large halves till they get split. You can have that back breaking rig. I also drilled a hole in the wedge and filled it with old rags and lube the beam with used oil. And I can even use it in the upright position but that's a back breaker too.
Anyone that tells you they have never made a mistake is a fibber. At least you have the guts to admit it and help people at the same time. Forget the trolls, keep making great video's.
Just now saw your video, and it wasn't the stroke control sleeves that broke your cylinder rod. That same cylinder is used in applications where they pull as much as they push, so they are designed for that threaded part to hold rated pressure on return. I have seen the sleeves themselves break (they are just made of cast aluminum), but that cylinder rod and yoke was on its's way out anyway. I would imagine it was ran loose for some time, and all the back and forth wore on the threads, and it was already weak. Granted, it would have probably ran for years with the worn threads, because there is normally very little return pressure on that joint. That being said, I wouldn't have bought a new cylinder. I would have went to a welding shop and have him weld the yoke onto the rod for probably $20.
I didn't read all of the comments so someone has probably already suggested this. What if you took the two red wood holders that were already on your log splitter and moved them towards the new table maybe 6-8 inches. I think this wood solve your problem. Also sorry you had to make such a costly mistake with breaking your cylinder but the machine looks like it's in real good shape and well worth fixing. Now it should give you years of good service. On the bright side this video should help keep others from making this mistake in the future. Again if some suggested the same thing I am sorry don't mean to step on anyone's toes. Love the videos can't wait to see more.
Never go back to that dealer, you got screwed ! that ram was an easy fix. not to mention you could have gotten a brand new cylinder shipped to your door for about 150.00 and done the job yourself. it's two pins and two hoses.
I agree the dealer hosed you hard. There was probably only one set of threads stripped. Running a die over the ram end probably could have brought it back to work. Worst case I would drill through the wedge and end of the ram and put a bolt through to hold it. Or replaced the cylinder myself as Bo's dad suggested.
Or how about just pinning the end on by drilling a hole through both the clevis and the cylinder rod. If you do it right the rod would be bottomed out in the clevis bore so the pin would only take the stress of the return cycle. Which isn’t much
yeh- getting fooled on the short-shifter is one thing that hurts the pocketbook. I opted for an electric splitter. I think its 4 ton capacity. In all the years, we only had a couple really twisted elm's that would not split green. After a year of drying as whole, they all broke. Its about 1/2 the Gas splitter and it means working closer to the house. But we had a woodhouse on the south side of the home. 3 steps and you were in the house, back and forth. In the house we had a steel catch-all for about 2 days wood. It has worked the last 10 years and still sees action. Cheers
CTSCAPER it dose cost to fix things ,,,but some shops will tell you oh we have to fix it this way ... i hope you kept to old cylinder .. extend it out put a cloth around shaft wet it and weld a new end on ,,not the one that came off .its cast steel .strong but bridal.. use just steel . .. and with it welded you can still rebuild the cylinder .. shops will screw you ..not all of them but they will..they test you see how smart you are and go from there .. .. and the truth about the kick off is it works in the control valve so the add on should have worked they have on mine for years . wish i lived close to you could have fixed yours in a hr
this will go to your post in video 1, but for oil drain, instead of plastic pipe get a empty 1 gallon antifreeze jug, now where lid goes, between lid & handle draw a line top to bottom, now cut it there, now you have a trough with the lid, & you slide it under & let oil drain out lid opening, simple & you can use other items, like oil containers, laundry containers, etc... but works well
Honestly it was more of an adjustment issue on the auto cycle valve in my opinion. If you were holding the handle and making it squawl I could see it but the auto cycle should have a pressure kick off/out I hope they let you keep your old cylinder as it can be used by someone else. We had a homemade that the slide broke off under pressure and it had a lot of slop before hand. Broke the rod off at the first cut thread(weakest spot) In a bind on a weekend so I took it to the shop and penciled both ends and welded it up. Dad went and bought another cylinder for it and we figured we'd switch it out once it broke. It never did in 20 years. I made my own splitter up with all the ideas I've had in my mind of what I wanted. Swing away tables, waist high working height, swing boom with winch to lift and hold the big ones. Check it out and it will put a Timberwolf in it's place. imageevent.com/kevininohio/woodsplitter?n=0&z=2&c=4&x=0&m=24&w=0&p=0 I admire you for posting the mishap and being up front about it. I really like your videos by the way.
I worked on a farm for 12 years starting while I was in High School. We used those collars all the time for new kids working ground so they wouldn't go too deep with tillage equipment. they would bottom them out and squeal the hydraulics all the time. NEVER had one break or pull through. In looking at your first video again, Your slide moves all over the place and the cylinder is bucking up, sideways and such. BAD situation as has WAY too much movement. It's either wore or badly designed. My guess it it worked the threads enough to basically wear them out. Could have been bad threads to start with too. Some of the collars have pinch bolts to basically lock threads tighter but I do not see that on your collar. I never liked using collars, especially aluminum ones as they can scuff the rods or gall metal on them. this will kill the seals quicker causing leaks. My adjustable stop on the splitter I built hits the slide from underneath. No issues. Without addressing the sloppy slide, your new cylinder is in for the same fate eventually I fear..
Thanks on the splitter. Makes the job fun now. On yours. Don't be so hard on yourself as what you did was not the reason it broke. It was just the straw that broke the camels back. Other issues here.
Awesome log throwing at the end. I mean it. Nice videos. I was going to try to put something on my ram to stop it from going all the way back. Well, you convinced me not to do that.
I've used a good many wood splitters over the years and from what I've seen of yours it wood be close to the bottom of the barrel as far as use ability and performance is concerned, just my two cents worth !!
Failure ,brings knowledge ! It happens to all of us. Therefore ,continue on,I see NO Reason for any tee, teeing, Right ??! Naugatuck,Connecticut Great job,thanks for all your great videos.
THEY SEEN YOU COMING...MAN 500$$$ COULD HAVE BOUGHT A NEW SPLITTER FOR A FEW MORE... YOU COULD HAVE FIXED THE OTHER ONE...just drill a 1/2 " hole through the end and it the ram also just stick a pin in it next time.... ya i have made plenty of mistakes two and will continue two... lets face it it's a perfect world and every one in it..... its what being alive is all about live and learn..... the table works great and i like that drain line....
hey bud canada here u just saved me i was thinking or doing the same thing with spacers a buddy told me we need a hydrlic tether type switch it t sin the lines place it on i beam chanel to set it to the length u want i hate letting mine go back t far then wait for it to come ahead only takes 5 seconds but times that at about a thousand times lol so thanks and sorry for u to
Hey man, You did not break that cylinder, it was was worn out at the threads. That valve has no idea what the cylinder ram position is, it simply kicks it out at a predetermined pressure. The repair man told you that because he also doesnt know, or they want you to belive it was what broke it instead of a poor design. That coupling needs to be drilled for a bolt. to much retract pressure and it simply sheers the bolt. Those rings are designed to protect equipment from a cylinder retracting too far. For example a lot of wheel disk and do-alls can suffered a broken lift frame if a cylinder retracts too far. The ONLY REASON that cylinder coupling separated was because the threads were well worn, and the disk exerted enough pressure. you could have had a machine shop cross drill the rod end and the ram slide for a slip fit bolt and gotten 20 more years out of that cylinder WITH the retract limiting rings installed.
John, very good video, once again. When I saw those collars for the piston I thought they wood B crushed on the return. They held up but busted the end of the piston. Do u think u should notify the company that their collars can cause this type of expensive damage? I enjoy your videos. Watching from Florida, as a former resident in what was formerly the Great State of CT, Thanks 4 doing what you do.
As far as the table grate, take some steel water, (not electrical), pipe with an inside diameter large enough and cut lengths that will slide over the pipes forming the table and reach to the machine filling the gap.
i have a TW5, SAME issue. Mine was custom ordered with the 36"splitting ram splitter for longer piesces. 40% of what I split falls into that gap on my timberwolf as well.
I have never owned a splitter but have rented them. Do you wished it had the vertical splitting capacity to do those 200 lbs pieces. Thinking about buying the tw p1
Is it possible to move the cradle toward the wedge by one hole? I am only assuming the 3 bolts that hold the cradle are equal spacing, moving the cradle would close the gap That’s my no cost thought! IF this is possible, then drill a new hole and mount the cradle securely. My question to Timberwolf would be, why are the cradles so short? Having an out-feed table is nice. I added one to mine 2 years ago and also a 42” in-feed table for logs ready to be split. Both in-feed and out-feed tables are made from wood. Thanks for sharing your experiences and solutions, although this one costly, but a much happier ending you had in this video. Bryson
***** The cradle(s) I am referring to, are the 2 wings mounted to the beam when you first place the log on the splitter. Maybe the next time you use the splitter, this will seem clearer. I’m sure you will come up with your own solution that suits you best. It’s time for my last load of wood in the heater for the night and one big glass of water to guarantee I’m up early before the fire gets too low.
I was going to do something similar that would trip the handle. Some sort of linkage. I rethink it and thought it would be more trouble. Maybe you could have drilled a hole and inserted a pin. A lot less than 500
It's the difference between common names and scientific names, which is kind of like potato potatoe. The scientific name of that log is Betula alleghaniensis, but people around the world can call it whatever they prefer depending on where they live. Here is a video of the tree ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pxGV_yNUdII.html .
I use a large "feed table"-made from a 30' log split lengthwise. I load it up with "rounds", with my front-end loader, then roll them unto the splitter. Freshly split wood goes onto the front-end loader as well, to various locations. Old fat guys do not like bending over any more than needed.
+Land Designs Unlimited LLC If you wanted it to look really smart, you could then slot more tube over the bar so it all looks the same, but that may be getting carried away! let us know if the idea works though. As you said, I don't understand why the table is made like that anyway.
Could have quite easily replaced just the piston with new seals. It really doesn't even require more than a pair of decent snap ring pliers and socket wrench/box end wrench to open the cylinder. Far cheaper. Seems senseless to replace the whole assembly. But then again I worked maintenance at a die casting plant for a time and worked with repairing hydraulic systems daily. I feel like a guy in this line of work would be a little more familiar with repairing his own equipment, but I'm a guy with a homesteading mentality too. I would have fabricated my own upgrades, like the drain hose. For goodness sake a couple fittings and a piece of rubber tubing from the hardware store would do the same job for < $5! I'm guessing you paid upwards of $20 for that thing haha. The rack would be nice to just buy as an add-on, but super easy to make (to work the way you want it) with some cheap cold roll steel and my trusty MIG. But, you look like more of a city dweller dabbling in homestead "hobbies". I mean no offense though, it's taken a number of years to learn what I've learned, and I still run into some equipment issues I'm unfamiliar with. The real fun, however, is figuring it out and fixing it myself so I don't have to depend on or pay somebody else to do the work. Just take some hydraulic systems apart, it's really easy to see how they work, not much to them.
Hi John, I am wanting to buy my first log splitter and trying to justify the cost of buying the Timberwolf TW-P1. However, my local Lowes has the Dirty Hands splitter 20T which is the same power for half the price. Just curious to know why you went with the Timberwolf.
If you look at it you can see it's built beefier than the others in that size. The Timberwolf is a lifetime machine and parts can be easily obtained through the dealer. Not sure how that works for the Dirty Hands one. I'm sure they're both good splitters but if you can save the change the Timberwolf if Great. P.S. I bought mine used because I couldn't handle the cost either.
I purchased a new TW5 as well, due to the extra beefy they build these. I custom ordered one with a 36" ram - so as it can split logs up to 36". I have the log life, table grate, 4 way, and 6 way wedge.. love MOST of this. However, as seen in his video, mine does the exact same thing, in that roughly 40% of what I split falls between that gap.... :(
alright, I figured it would have been a bit more. those AG style Pistons are usually about 200 to 300$ for that size and tonnage. the re-shims probably about 20 to 50 and labor to put it all in. if that happens again take a look for a local hydraulic shop cause I guess that piston rebuilt is around 175 ish. just trying to save some dough. what part of CT are you from?
Like your videos. I just picked up a TW-2 that has the 240 engine. They improved the length of the log cradles, making them solid (rather than attached with bolts) with the log lift attached to the cradle). They also added bolts to secure the log tray; however, you have to unbolt them for travel - I'm looking for some quick release bolts, but, this did correct the problem. >>> QUESTION: How do you drain the hydraulic fluid as my manual does not have the procedure. I called the company and they said to disconnect (after de-pressurizing) the hose from the pump to the return. I was wondering if you had done this, and, is it the easiest way rather than pumping the fluid out? BTW, a few teaspoons of SeaFoam in the gas tank on each fill seems to keep the carb clean from the ethanol. Thanks much. GOD Bless
I've never changed the hydraulic fluid or filter. It sounds like a great idea! My dealer said the pressure gauge will tell me when to change the filter, which will most likely be a very long time. I wonder if you could use a vacuum pump like this ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-co3RnZ6YVlc.html (Shameless self-promotion) and drain most of the fluid out on a regular basis. The upgrades to the machine sound really nice, especially the log trays. Moving a log splitter is never fun, especially without a tractor or quad for help.
@@CTSCAPER Thanks CT - this seems a bit easier to move than my last one which was a 27 ton horizontal/vertical splitter. I have a pump like that. Last question for you. Does your engine have the separate oil tank for the centrifugal clutch mechanism? Thanks much. GOD Bless
@@sandypidgeon4343 Hmmm. I'm not sure on that one. There may be a tiny tank with some oil on it where the clutch has its joint that's designed to give. I have several videos about the splitter, you may be able to spot that part of the motor.
@@CTSCAPER Thanks. It has a separate oil dipstick on the left side - I've never encountered that before, and, it talks about that in the Honda engine guide they gave me....just wondering if it was truly separate - probably is - good videos you have! GOD Bless
Not enough material left on rod to clean up the boogered threads. Best fix for that application would be to re-assemble it, drill 1/4 hole through both parts and run a bolt through to act as a roll pin. Oh well, live and learn.
I know this video has aged a bit, but don't feel so bad about your little "accident" with the splitter messing up the cylinder and wedge adapter. I, too, own a splitter and wondered why the auto return valve didn't sense the piston stopping and trip before shearing the threads? As a rule of thumb, log splitter cylinders are designed to have full power extending, but low pressure retracting due to the seal on the shaft. Some valves have an adjustment I thought to control the trip pressure on the return cycle. Hmm. I know my own machine has, on occasion, needed intervention to manually hit the lever to neutral after piston has fully retracted. Telling me the valve needs adjusting. Again, I'm NO expert here, just my own formations and opinions! Hope the splitter is still working good for ya.
