Carpenters who are employed by design-build remodelers often do things that they’ve never done before by virtue of working with an in-house design team. This is the case at TDS Custom Construction, where our carpenters and project managers are encouraged to give the design team input on what materials are specified and how assemblies go together. For example, a recent screen-porch project called for exposed rafters with tongue-and-groove beadboard showing between them. After consulting with the team, we suggested sheathing the roof in 2x6 T&G material over Doug fir rafters. This provided a good opportunity not only to try out a new roof-sheathing approach but also to test Simpson Strong-Tie’s Timber Drive structural screw fastening system.

The Timber Drive allows the user to drive structural screws ranging in length from 3 to 6 1/4 inches from a standing position. It’s driven by corded or cordless drills fitted with Simpson’s Quik Drive adapters, with the screws loaded one at a time into a tube on the side of the tool. Because the screws are gravity fed to the bottom of the tool, it’s capable of fastening downward only. A removable nose plate exposes a cone-shaped tip that can act as a positive placement tip for fastening metal connector straps. The screen porch had a 3/12-pitch roof, and—judging by how the tool operated on that project—I would expect that it can drive screws on any walkable roof slope.

Designed to be used vertically, Simpson Strong-Tie’s Timber Drive can be used with SST structural screws ranging in size from #10 to #14 and from 3 to 6 1/4 inches long
Ethan Butler Designed to be used vertically, Simpson Strong-Tie’s Timber Drive can be used with SST structural screws ranging in size from #10 to #14 and from 3 to 6 1/4 inches long

Simpson’s website states that the Timber Drive is designed for “wood-to-wood or engineered-wood applications such as on wharfs, docks, walkways, mass-timber spline connections, multi-ply truss, and any application where stand-up driving of structural fasteners is required.” Stand-up driving of large structural screws en masse is also more comfortable—though not necessarily faster—than bending over and using an impact driver. Two of our 20-something carpenters were confident they could screw down the 2x6 T&G material faster by crawling around with impact drivers, but tools like the Timber Drive that allow tradespeople to work from the correct ergonomic position are a crucial part of maximizing the length of a tradesperson’s career.

In use, the Timber Drive is compatible with more than a dozen of Simpson’s structural screw offerings, with a variety of head types and applications. The tool has several adjustment settings, including two for screw length (one at the feed mechanism and one at the drive tip), a knob for setting the screw diameter (#10 to #12, #14 to 0.315 inch, and 0.316 to 0.394 inch), and a countersink-depth adjustment knob at the connection point to the Quik Drive–equipped drill motor. After dropping the screw tip into the loading tube, the user pushes the tool’s nose into the work surface to set the screw into place within the machine before attempting to drive it. We found that getting this rhythm correct was challenging and required focus to achieve. I would expect, though, that this rhythm would develop with continued use.

Fasteners load one at a time into a feeder tube on the side of the Timber Drive.
Ethan Butler Fasteners load one at a time into a feeder tube on the side of the Timber Drive.

At $875 for the Timber Drive with a storage case but without a driver, this qualifies as a specialist tool in my book. The driver motors are compatible with other Quik Drive tools, adding some versatility to the kit, and I expect our production crew will find additional uses for the Timber Drive as their familiarity with it grows and as they become increasingly focused on performing their tasks in an ergonomically sound manner. strongtie.com