Chipper advice needed for 8 acre residential property that has logged

[steven1955]

Any Honda engine experts here? More on that in a moment.

We bought a "Parts Only" Altec DC610 chipper at the auction. It was parts only because the auction house couldn't start the engine, but one fuse later the engine starts just fine. That being said, there are things that needed fixing.

Why a fixer upper trailer mounted chipper instead of a new PTO chipper? It came down to what we think will probably be easier to sell when our project is done.

So....
1. The controls are sorted out except for a limit switch (missing mounting hardware) that prevents running the engine if the disc cover is open.
2. Belt idler needs bearings.
3. The disc bearings will need replacement soon.
4. Blades will need replacement.
5. The Honda GX690 idles poorly, but runs at full speed well once warmed up, and the spark plugs suggests one cylinder is running lean. Compression is OK. So I'm cleaning/rebuilding the carb.

In order to clean the carb body the pilot screws have to be removed, and they were under EPA compliant tamper proofing brass plugs that had to be removed. That's where I discovered that Honda pilot screws have a necked down section that is designed to be broken when the pilot screws are removed. So I need to replace the pilot screws.

So here's where I'd like an expert on Honda engines.... The original necked down pilot screws are Honda part number 16016-Z6L-003. Are there replacement pilot screws available, maybe from an older Honda engine, that will work yet not have the necked down section?

 

[mrhemihead]

Sounds like the potential for a great machine, at the right price.

I experienced these same symptoms, but with my Honda 620 twin.

Purchased a Chinese knock off carb. thru eBay for $25 without a gasket. The engine now works as it should with the brand X carb.

With several Chinese carbs purchased for other Honda engines it appears all were CARB compliant...fuel mixture tweaking is intentionally limited.

How close were the compression readings? I read 90 in one and 120 in the other. Never could find a spec for this but it runs strong so I did not investigate further.

If there is not a fuel shutoff already I would suggest adding one. When the machine is stored for extended periods shut off the fuel and run till it stops. Not a guarantee but it has worked for me.

 

[steven1955]

If I had been able to find a Chinese knock-off carb for our GX690 I'd have bought it, but there are a lot of carburetor variations for the Honda GX630/660/690 twins, and none of the the knock off carbs I found were considered a replacement. A new carb from Honda was $200-ish, so I am cleaning and rebuilding the old one.

The compression in our engine was 75 psi on one cylinder and 90 psi on the other when measured cold. Honda's spec is between 73 and 102 psi measured on an engine at without operating temperature. There is so little room between the left cylinder and the chipping disc housing that I'm not going to do the compression test hot unless I really have to.

 

[johninky]

Just wondering how many cords of firewood tops from 200 trees will produce. Thinking at least 40 if the trees where of any size.