new speeco won't start...

So, now that its colder , I can't start my 22 ton speeco splitter. I have tendonitus in both arms from hauling rounds, and it is painful as all hell to pull this POS Briggs over 50 or 60 times. Its only in the 20's, guess this is a "summer splitter". Please advise

Ours would do that if the valve was not in the neutral position. Try moving the valve back and forth and leave it centered.

Doobie,

When you get the opportunity, please call me at 800-525-8322. I work with SpeeCo's technical support team and would like to be able to help you get the splitter started.

Ron

I have the same splitter, 25 ton, that I've had for about 5 years. When it gets cold, the engine will turn over slow and thick but I've always had it fire with in 3 pulls. I wonder if a different hydraulic oil would make a difference? My instructions say to use SAE 30W oil above 40 deg F to limit oil consumption. Then it says: "Using SAE 30W oil below 40 deg F will result in hard starting and possible engine bore damage. Use a 10w30 or 5w30 below 40deg". The engine manual says a synthetic 5w30 or 10w30 oil can be used in all temps.

wood splitter woes

doobie57z said:

So, now that its colder , I can't start my 22 ton speeco splitter. I have tendonitus in both arms from hauling rounds, and it is painful as all hell to pull this POS Briggs over 50 or 60 times. Its only in the 20's, guess this is a "summer splitter". Please advise

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Been there done that with a shoulder injury-------------------------

do you have sea foam to treat your gas?

Can you shut the fuel of to let it starve and die out- sounds like water in the fuel.

If you can afford to purchase even the smallest kerosene fired salamander you will have no issues starting it period.
dont buy a propane fired unit as the cheap regulator they use fro them are not good in any cold weather at any time

tooold said:

I have the same splitter, 25 ton, that I've had for about 5 years. When it gets cold, the engine will turn over slow and thick but I've always had it fire with in 3 pulls. I wonder if a different hydraulic oil would make a difference? My instructions say to use SAE 30W oil above 40 deg F to limit oil consumption. Then it says: "Using SAE 30W oil below 40 deg F will result in hard starting and possible engine bore damage. Use a 10w30 or 5w30 below 40deg". The engine manual says a synthetic 5w30 or 10w30 oil can be used in all temps.

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5W30 synthetic helped ease my cold weather starting issues. It also makes a difference if you pull it over until you reach TDC before starting. mine starts better from cold then it does from warm. I usually give it about five pumps on the primer bulb. It takes slow deliberate pumps of the primer. Push in in the primer then keep your finger on the bulb until it returns.

The night before I'm going to use mine I will throw a tarp over it and put a 500 watt work light under that.I also bought a little 200 watt magnetic block heater that I'll slap on the hydraulic tank to make the oil flow a bit better.
I also learned about the getting it to TDC before trying to start it from this place...I love this site

Your issue might be low oil, if your unit has the low oil shut down. if you are using the dipstick gauge, they seldom read correctly as the same one is used for all the engines ( this from an experienced tech not me). Had this problem with a pressure washer drove me nutz. added more oil now starts in one to two pulls. Go figure.

One problem with most splitters is that while starting the engine you are also turning the hydraulic pump, which causes drag on the engine… increasing as temperatures drop and the oil gets colder. There isn’t much that can be done, except to switch to lighter hydraulic oil in colder weather. The improvement will be minimal though.

With 40+ years experience using small engines in cold weather (below zero weather) I can tell you the two things that will improve start-ability the most.

• Switch to a lighter engine oil. I’ve gone to using 5w-20 during the winter.
• Stay away from ethanol blended gasoline. Even fresh, clean 10% ethanol will make for hard starts in colder weather… and the colder it is the harder it gets to start them. Pay the extra for higher octane, ethanol-free gasoline and you’ll eliminate a ton of issues. If in your area you have no choice but to use ethanol blended fuel… DO NOT STORE IT MORE THAN 2-3 DAYS! Dump the crap in your wife’s mini-van, drain it all out of the splitter (including the carb), and buy fresh fuel no sooner than the day before you want to use it. Never, ever, leave ethanol fuel in the splitter tank or carb… drain it immediately after use.

All very good points! One other is that the OHV Briggs engines have a tendancy to get loose valve clearances with time. If you have a engine that use to pull over easy but now you really feel the compression stroke and is hard to start, you might need a valve adjustment. When they get loose, it is possible the decompression lever won't be able to open the valve enough to make it pull easy or for the starter to turn over. Good thing it's super easy to adjust the valves on those engines. Get the right valve specs, pull the 4 screws on the cover, tap the cover to loosen, adjust valves to specs with one or two tools. Most of the time you can reuse the gasket too. All of mine and the neighbors engines have the same specs of .004 to .006 in for both the intake and exhaust valves.

Good feedback, thanks all. I got it started yesterday and never let it get too cold. It seems like the oil is way too thick when cold. I think I put 5-30 in it, but I'll change it to 5-20. I used ATF instead of hydro oil. The block heater sounds like a plan, if i can get the oil to lighten up a little I can pull it over fast enough to start it. What is this TDC of which you guys speak? First i heard of this in this type situation. It was 3 degrees this morn, hence my troubles.

doobie57z said:

Good feedback, thanks all. I got it started yesterday and never let it get too cold. It seems like the oil is way too thick when cold. I think I put 5-30 in it, but I'll change it to 5-20. I used ATF instead of hydro oil. The block heater sounds like a plan, if i can get the oil to lighten up a little I can pull it over fast enough to start it. What is this TDC of which you guys speak? First i heard of this in this type situation. It was 3 degrees this morn, hence my troubles.

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TDC is "Top Dead Center". Lightly pull the starting chord until you feel the piston come up to the compression stroke. Then loosen the chord and let it go back all the way in - then pull hard to start. By doing this you get the most revolutions out of each pull.

You might also try using Avgas 100LL in the winter and see if it works better for you. It is a little more expensive and sometimes harder to buy - but it does not have ethanol and runs a bit richer - but it does vaporize better than the ethanol fuel which should help with the starting issues. I am not an advocate of running Avgas in everything - but I have a generator that runs a bit lean on pump gas and it runs great on Avgas......and it is always ready to run as the Avgas never goes stale.

Used to have those same cold weather hard starting issues until the engine oil was changed to synthetic 5w-30. Much easier from that point on.

TDC does help quite a bit.


A heater and something to contain the heat around the splitter works great. Salamander type heaters can have it warm enough to start easy within 20minutes.

I know I am going to get scolded for this, but when I had my Speeco I used a very short burst of starting fluid. Made all the difference in the world. I now have electric start on my Timberwolf so cold starting is now a non issue.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

I use starting fluid for easier starting when it gets cold. Lighter oil also helps the briggs turn over easier.

beerman6 said:

The night before I'm going to use mine I will throw a tarp over it and put a 500 watt work light under that.I also bought a little 200 watt magnetic block heater that I'll slap on the hydraulic tank to make the oil flow a bit better.
I also learned about the getting it to TDC before trying to start it from this place...I love this site

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I forgot to say that I also bungee the handle so the the cylinder is trying to extend while I'm pulling it over,so I'm not trying to crack the pressure relief valve.

Starting fluid for mine when it is real cold out.

beerman6 said:

I forgot to say that I also bungee the handle so the the cylinder is trying to extend while I'm pulling it over,so I'm not trying to crack the pressure relief valve.

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Looks to me like some electrical heat tape wrapped around the hydraulic tank would work well in this situation? I'm, thinking just wrap the tank with the tape, plug it in for a couple of hours (or all night-whatever it takes).

When ready to use the splitter, just unwrap it from the tank. Just thinking out loud.

Thanks for the tip about bungee to the handle. That makes sense. KD

kd460 said:

Looks to me like some electrical heat tape wrapped around the hydraulic tank would work well in this situation? I'm, thinking just wrap the tank with the tape, plug it in for a couple of hours (or all night-whatever it takes).

When ready to use the splitter, just unwrap it from the tank. Just thinking out loud.

Thanks for the tip about bungee to the handle. That makes sense. KD

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I have a speedco 22 ton withe the B & S 650 motor. I live in North central Minnesota. The only time of year we split wood, is during the colder months. Usually 20 degrees or colder. We always had trouble with this thing. Why did they remove the choke? We use the magnetic heater, 5W 30 synthetic motor oil, synthetic transmission oil, starter fluid, put a fish house over it with a sunflower hearter and we always have trouble with that POS. I realize that its under pressure with the pump, but not much thought was put in a devise that was to be used mostly in colder weather. Why do we have to do all these things to get it going. Why do we accept it?
Without any babying the snowblower starts, the atv starts, the snowmobile starts, the auger starts, the chainsaw starts. Why can't Briggs and Stratton make a motor for a log splitter that starts when it gets cold out.

I switched mine to synthetic, didn't help much. Starting fluid helped some, heating helped a lot.

My brother overheated the plastic and the starter pawls started breaking often, what a pain.

I posted this before:

My junk

View attachment 227058



The original 12 hp briggs engine was a hard starting, plastic wrapped, pile.

My brother had an old lawnmower with a 15 hp Kohler, I figured what the heck, lets keep the original controls in place and adapt what we can.

Electric start is nice.

Yea, the headlights even work.

Been running it for several years with no issues