Are Timberwolf chippers really that good ??

[skyhuck]

 

Just to add, if the chippers were serviced as they should be then the bearing problems would be picked up on the service schedule.

 

Sealed bearings mate, there is nothing you can do to make them last longer.

 

I could always tell mine were going by a change it the sound of the machine when at full rev's with no load, it would start making a slightly higher tone.

[Johny Walker]

keeping the blades sharp does help prolong the bearing life,if your doing 10hrs + a wk chipping with a 150 you need to change the blades wkly

[Dean Lofthouse]

Sealed bearings mate, there is nothing you can do to make them last longer.

 

I could always tell mine were going by a change it the sound of the machine when at full rev's with no load, it would start making a slightly higher tone.

 

I mean the bearings can be replaced before they fail, if they are checked on 50-100 hour or major service intervals as they should be, then bearing play / rumble will be picked up on and sorted

[tommer9]

Further to my post, I have just been and looked at my Vermeer 935, which I have taken out the infeed roller, to sharpen it, the cutter wheel to replace a bearing and a few other bits in the process.

This is a picture of a cutter wheel bearing- only one needed replacing (the other one lol)

As you can see it is very hefty, and very easily replaced,ten bolts to undo and the whole flywheel can be lifted out, and it has a has a grease nipple. None of these would have been possible if built to a budget or weight limit.

The housing for the cutter wheel is made from 13mm steel plate, and the cutter wheel is 38mm thick. Again- not possible if weight or price limitations are adhered to.

Like Deans post after mine, the limitations which manufacturers like timberwolf set themselves, in order to respond to a niche in the market, result in the machines we see.

So perhaps CTS' question ought to have been more along the lines of 'for the price is there anything inherently wrong with TW's?', to which the answer is probably no.

Edited October 3, 2010 by tommer9

[skyhuck]

I mean the bearings can be replaced before they fail, if they are checked on 50-100 hour or major service intervals as they should be, then bearing play / rumble will be picked up on and sorted

 

Mine never got any play, they just went from being fine to failing, as soon as they sound changed I changed them.

 

Feeling them after the machine has been running, to see if they are getting warm, is a good idea.

[armchairarborist]

Good post tom

 

Timberwolf along with a lot of other manufacturers have a lot to contend with.

 

Firstly they have to try to build a machine to satisfy a budget, which is difficult, then they have to build a machine that is robust and reliable and keep it sub 750kg which is extremely difficult.

 

If the rules change and the tow limit was raised to 1000kg it would take a huge amount of pressure off manufacturers and give us a more substantial and reliable machines for our money

 

At the end of the day you get what you pay for, simples

 

Just to add, if the chippers were serviced as they should be then the bearing problems would be picked up on the service schedule.

 

Hi dean, the 190 is the one with the same engine as the 150 but built not to a 750weight spec, mines 1050kg, unless you're talking about the 150?

[b101uk]

there are 5 TW150 at work, and really its TW them self’s and there dealers who don’t have any impetus to push for a change in design to much as they make money from it, the design isn’t to bad its self though it could be improved.

 

that said a 2006 one has just has its first set of flywheel bearings and a nose shaft at just over 700 hours though the nose shaft shouldn’t have warn because the bearing that ran on it was ok, the other 2006 tw150 with more hours on it is still on the original flywheel bearings as is the 2006 tracked 150.

 

The nose-shafts have now changed for the worse I fear as the as they sent one of the new ones which I refused to fit as the new design places all the load from the feed rollers pushing wood agensed the flywheel on the tail-shaft bearings only and non on the nose-shaft unlike the old design which placed that load on both bearings sets, so we ended up contacting TW and getting there last old style nose-shaft they had at the factory of which they don’t intend to make any more of (so they said) so the old nose-shaft will be built back up with weld and then turned back down to 40.00mm then put on the shelf until needed.

Edited October 3, 2010 by b101uk

[Mesterh]

Any pics of the offending bearings on the 150?

 

Just out of interest.

[Dean Lofthouse]

Mine never got any play, they just went from being fine to failing, as soon as they sound changed I changed them.

 

Feeling them after the machine has been running, to see if they are getting warm, is a good idea.

 

They dont go from fine to fail Dave, although it appears that they do. They grumble or go dry for quite a while first. Hard to pick up by the user but not by an engineer or decent mechanic with a stethoscope.

 

You just touch it on the bearing outer case and it will sound like a bag of spanners

[Dean Lofthouse]

Hi dean, the 190 is the one with the same engine as the 150 but built not to a 750weight spec, mines 1050kg, unless you're talking about the 150?

 

Any chipper built to a 750kg limitation is going to be stuck with components that have been used based on their weight and not their strength.

 

It seems they may have used said bearings on the 190 too ??