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Jeremy Crease

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Nov 2, 2017
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Charlestown nh
Hey guys does anyone on here no much about stump grinders? Having an issue diagnosing mine. It’s a older Rayco rg1620. It has a 20hp kohler magnum. I grinded with it all day yesterday and shut it down. Then about 10 minutes later tried putting it on the trailer, and it wouldn’t start. It doesn’t even pop at all. I have spark and gas. I put a brand new fuel pump on cause I had it on hand. I even put a little gas in the carb, still nothing, no pop or anything. I’m a little stumped. Gunna bring it to a shop in the next few days cause I have jobs waiting on me. But figured I’d check in on here and see if anyone could help at all or if anyone has had same experience. Thanks in advance for the help guys. And as always work safe!
 
I have a 1620 JR. Mine had a bad motor and was given to me. I ground about 200 stumps before it flew apart. I ordered a new Kohler Command 23 HP. It's been a great little grinder ever since. Since its a stand alone engine any small engine or lawnmower mechanic should be able to fix it. They're very simple.

You said it has fire. I would take the fuel line off at the output side of the fuel pump and crank it over and make sure it is squirting gas. An engine with compression, fire, gas and air has to run. Sometimes older engines will loose compression when they get warm and won't crank for a few hours until they cool off. I have an old Husqvarna leaf blower that's doing that right now. Can't get parts for it. It's perfect for a sidewalk but after about 5 minutes it won't run anymore until it completely cools off.

Check the gas cap. Unscrew it and listen for air to rush in. If it forms a vacuum in the tank the fuel pump won't be able to pull fuel. I would unscrew the gas cap, take the air filter off and give it a very small shot of starting fluid and crank it over. If it tries to hit then it's probably fuel related.

Sometimes a plug wire can go bad and you will have a spark when checking the plug. Then when you put the plug back in and install the plug wire it won't connect good and then you won't have fire. If you're engine is good and has compression then it's probably something pretty simple. The coil may be acting up. Try wiggling the wires and see if something changes.
 
I have a 1620 JR. Mine had a bad motor and was given to me. I ground about 200 stumps before it flew apart. I ordered a new Kohler Command 23 HP. It's been a great little grinder ever since. Since its a stand alone engine any small engine or lawnmower mechanic should be able to fix it. They're very simple.

You said it has fire. I would take the fuel line off at the output side of the fuel pump and crank it over and make sure it is squirting gas. An engine with compression, fire, gas and air has to run. Sometimes older engines will loose compression when they get warm and won't crank for a few hours until they cool off. I have an old Husqvarna leaf blower that's doing that right now. Can't get parts for it. It's perfect for a sidewalk but after about 5 minutes it won't run anymore until it completely cools off.

Check the gas cap. Unscrew it and listen for air to rush in. If it forms a vacuum in the tank the fuel pump won't be able to pull fuel. I would unscrew the gas cap, take the air filter off and give it a very small shot of starting fluid and crank it over. If it tries to hit then it's probably fuel related.

Sometimes a plug wire can go bad and you will have a spark when checking the plug. Then when you put the plug back in and install the plug wire it won't connect good and then you won't have fire. If you're engine is good and has compression then it's probably something pretty simple. The coil may be acting up. Try wiggling the wires and see if something changes.
Thanks for all your input. I love my Rayco grinder, I’m amazed you got one given to you, but again I must thank you for your input, I got the issue solved myself thanks to your input. I had spark when checking for spark so thought I was all good there, but turns out even though it had spark it wasn’t enough. So as soon as I replaced the plugs, it fired up and went right back to normal. So again thank you for your help and input. Work safe.
 
Glad you got it going. They're a great little grinder. Keep the teeth sharp and they do very good. I sharpen my teeth more often than most. I have boxes of teeth so I'll pick a rainy day and sharpen. It's like a small chainsaw, it will cut just about anything if you do it at its speed.

I was going to buy mine from a guy. He told me the motor was bad. I took it home and got it running with a new fuel filter and a battery. I blew out 2 hoses on the first stump. Changed them. The teeth were bad and the bearings on the cutter wheel had slack and would hit the housing when cutting in one direction. I called him to bring it back running and 2 new hoses and a battery. I told him after I replaced the bearings and then a new motor in the future it wouldn't be worth it. He said just keep it that he didn't want it back. I felt guilty and fell a couple of trees for him. He was happy. A couple months later the motor went. $2,000 for a new motor and then cutter bearings and I have a basically new machine. A local stump grinder swapped to a different type of teeth and sold me about 30 sets of used but very good teeth for $40. I bought a diamond wheel and learned to sharpen them. I've ground about a thousand stumps since. It's a great little machine.
 
Does anyone know where to order a cutter wheel shaft for one of these machines?
 
Is there anywhere to find repair manuals or spec sheets for the Rayco 1620? I'm looking at an older used one, but I'd like to find more information about the machine.

Thanks!
 
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