Timberwolf or Forst 6" petrol?

[Old Mill Tree Care]

This is not a brand comparison question!

I just wondered what the pitfalls are, if any, with the design of each?

Design flaws? Construction flaws? Recurring problems?

Any comments from current operators would be appreciated.

[butters]

Couldn’t tell you anything about the Timberwolf but I’ve got the forst overall really good machine built well doesn’t feel plasticky or tinny like some machines do. Throws chip really far. Will do about 8 hours to a tank and around 6 if you max it out with timber going through.

I’ve got 217 hours on mine and not one single problem [emoji1303]

[PeteB]

1 hour ago, Old Mill Tree Care said:

This is not a brand comparison question!

I just wondered what the pitfalls are, if any, with the design of each?

Design flaws? Construction flaws? Recurring problems?

Any comments from current operators would be appreciated.

Okay, not a brand comparison, but really a model comparison either? Which model TW agin the Forst? A comparison should be like for like, one is supported through a network of dealers while the other isn't. One (TW160), is designed to be under 750kg while the other isn't. One is British developed from a company with manufacturing pedigree while the other is a spin off of a foreign made machine which its core design features from derived from. 

 

Okay, that last is a tad cheeky as plagiarism is the best form of flattery!

[GA Groundcare]

What model TimberWolf? Do you wish for sub 750kg? We have a fair few TW's come in our workshop. Nothing really wrong at all with the later models. They have been building chippers for a long period of time so they've gone through the hard times of "works on paper but doesn't in the field". 

[HuntingHicap]

2 hours ago, PeteB said:

Okay, not a brand comparison, but really a model comparison either? Which model TW agin the Forst? A comparison should be like for like, one is supported through a network of dealers while the other isn't. One (TW160), is designed to be under 750kg while the other isn't. One is British developed from a company with manufacturing pedigree while the other is a spin off of a foreign made machine which its core design features from derived from. 

 

Okay, that last is a tad cheeky as plagiarism is the best form of flattery!

I thought the ST6P was also designed to be under 750kg? I like your informed input on the forum but being a chipper manufacturer yourself can imagine that Forst's meteoric climb in market share must have given yourself and a few other manufacturers a bit of toothache. I haven't used a timber wolf or a petrol Forst, I have used the ST6 and ST8, TR8 a fair bit, and although you do occasionally get small fixings dropping off lol they do chip like animals...

[GA Groundcare]

1 hour ago, HuntingHicap said:

Forst's meteoric climb in market share must have given yourself and a few other manufacturers a bit of toothache. 

No doubt it has, adding another brand into the line up will always do that. They have had extreme growth in six years for sure. They've built a product that was initially very similar to the one that they were importing for many years. They had a huge customer base they were previously distributing to. In the first couple of years pretty much everyone who was chopping a Jensen in was getting a replacement Forst. It wasn't until Jensen came over unannounced to APF a few years ago to find out what was happening in the UK market they immediately pulled the plug on Redwood building /selling Forst and also distributing Jensen. Jensen themselves told me that, as prior to becoming a full main GreenMech dealer I was able to sub deal Jensen and had our own hire A530 750kg I bought brand new.

 

They have been very successful in sales. No one can deny that. They've reported this week sales of 7.5M on one of their online posts. But they also boost 2M of used chipper stock and the largest used chipper stockist in the UK. Long term have they got their success from buying deals and paying top dollar for used kit which they can't shift? Is it sustainable? I think in the next 5 years we will find out.

 

The chipping performance of a Forst is impressive. All manufactures have had to step their game up. Folk do question its longevity however.

 

 

 

Edited December 12, 2019 by GA Groundcare

[SimpleSimon]

Having been used to a Forst ST6 as the only chipper I'd really used, I was disappointed by the performance of the first Timberwolf I used. I now regularly sub to firms using various models from both brands and the Forsts undoubtedly feed and chip better. 

[GA Groundcare]

1 minute ago, SimpleSimon said:

Having been used to a Forst ST6 as the only chipper I'd really used, I was disappointed by the performance of the first Timberwolf I used. I now regularly sub to firms using various models from both brands and the Forsts undoubtedly feed and chip better. 

Was that a TW230 diesel you were using? 

[butters]

I love how green mech and Timberwolf dealers all rip into forst and yet forst will never say anything bad about there competitors. Goes to show the other brands have felt the hit since they came along.

[GA Groundcare]

31 minutes ago, butters said:

I love how green mech and Timberwolf dealers all rip into forst and yet forst will never say anything bad about there competitors. Goes to show the other brands have felt the hit since they came along.

I’m not ripping into them, I purely said how they initially got a large market share. Which also said is impressive ?