Timberwolf part of the family for SP Landscapes

Testimonial

SP Landscapes has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with Timberwolf, and Managing Director Steve Pammenter knows that he can rely on the company’s range of wood chippers to match the needs of his business.

With a background in engineering, Steve started his contracting enterprise planting trees and landscaping for a local Suffolk company. However, he soon found his services in demand for felling, and gradually took on more staff as the business expanded.

Successful contracts for the Forestry Commission led to expansion into highways works, with SP Landscapes taking responsibility for vegetation management on the major trunk roads in East Anglia.

Meanwhile, Timberwolf was making inroads into wood chipper design, as arborists and landscapers looked for ways to make clearance operations more efficient.

We had our first machine, then known as an Entec Chippit wood chipper, in 1996,” Steve recalls, “and our businesses have grown together. We’ve always had an excellent relationship with Timberwolf, and the company has been highly receptive to customer feedback to help us get more out of the machines.

Now, SP Landscapes offers three types of service: tree work, highways vegetation management and grounds maintenance.

“It’s a challenging business environment,” admits Steve. “Local authorities are looking at cutting back and taking work in-house, despite contractors offering them the best value for money. Highways and tree work are demanding in terms of the training and certification needed, and we aim to work to the highest standards.

One partner that can always be relied on is the fleet of Timberwolf wood chippers.
Because our workload is so diverse we need a good mix of machines,” explains Steve. “Currently we have two TW 280TDHB’s on wheeled chassis, two tracked TW 280TFTRs, a TW 190TFTR on tracks and a road tow TW 190DH. We also have a pair of TW 230DHB‘s, which are great if you have younger drivers as they are below 750kg so they don’t need an additional licence. It is a very good machine for domestic jobs.”

For more demanding operations, the TW 280TDHB’s are a good combination of low weight and plenty of capacity.

“The large infeed capacity makes them ideal to take larger pieces of wood, yet they partner well with our VW Crafters with aluminium arb bodies to keep the overall weight down.”

“On roadside work, the tracked TW 280TFTR’s offer simple, safe operation coupled with the go-anywhere agility offered by the tracks”, he adds.

Reliability is essential for our contracts,” Steve states, “But we know that if a problem does occur, we can rely on Timberwolf and our dealer Ben Burgess to get us up and running again quickly. A few years ago we had a breakdown on an M25 contract – Timberwolf worked through the night to resolve the issue and the machine was back on another job the next day! Ben Burgess have even offered us replacement machines to bridge the gap if necessary.

SP Landscapes tend to keep machines for about five years, and Steve remarks that Timberwolf wood chippers achieve strong resale values.
You can always sell a pre-owned Timberwolf.

As Steve gradually hands over to the next generation – the business is run on a day to day basis by sons Simon and Bobby, with daughters Charlotte and Georgina providing essential office back up- he is confident that Timberwolf machines will continue to do the family firm proud.

“The Timberwolf wood chippers have moved with the times, and we have been pleased to help out with the development of the machines over the years. Together, we have gone from strength to strength.”