Dirty Hand Tools 22 Ton on sale at Lowes this weekend

[treeguy]

If you have tried with chothepulls dial the choke back and keep the throttle full. We have noticed, at least at altitude in CO, that if it doesn't catch the few few pulls to dial the choke back.....usually starts right up. Doesn't seem to matter if it is the SH265 or CH395. Otherwise give us a call and we'll get it fixed up at a Kohler service center.

DHT, thanks for jumping in. Yes, I have tried to start it by dialing the choke back, and in temps below about 20 degrees it won't pop/fire unless the choke is on.

I don't have a receipt for this splitter as I got it used, but the previous original owner said he bought it last year and barely used it.

I still have his phone number and can check to see if he still has the paperwork.

I need to get some fresh 5w-30 in it to see if that makes any difference first. Just haven't had time yet. Hopefully tomorrow.

 

[troylee]

My 35 ton also didn't start in the cold. We just took it inside the shop for awhile, but also know that wont always be a option. Good to know about the choke settings.

 

[Philbert]

A 'little birdie' just told me that the DHT 27 ton splitter will be as low as $699, after rebate, on Black Friday. Non-sponsor home center, so I can't post it, but a motivated buyer could probably find it.

Philbert

 

[Sam.coots]

I was very happy with my DHT 22 until Wednesday. I had my splitter by the wood in horizontal position and I was getting ready to split a log . About half way through the split the whole splitter tipped over backwards until log came off and I tipped it back over. A little alarming.

 

[ttyR2]

Did you mount the beam to the hinge with the right set of bolt holes? The wrong set (at least on my 28t) would have the beam supported incorrectly.

Looking at mine, actually, the other set of holes wouldn't have let the beam tip all the way vertical, so nevermind.

 

[Sam.coots]

I think it was poor round choice on my part. 30" diameter by 24" length oak.

 

[blue66]

A 'little birdie' just told me that the DHT 27 ton splitter will be as low as $699, after rebate, on Black Friday. Non-sponsor home center, so I can't post it, but a motivated buyer could probably find it.

Philbert

Yep....799 with a 100 rebate. Better be there early....while supplies last. One heckuva deal!!

 

[luckydad]

Yep....799 with a 100 rebate. Better be there early....while supplies last. One heckuva deal!!

So it's going to list for 799 and then the 100 rebate ?? Wow it lists now for 1399 at the store !!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[treeguy]

So it's going to list for 799 and then the 100 rebate ?? Wow it lists now for 1399 at the store !!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pretty sure they were clearancing out, as I had my eye on that too. They are not listed on their website anymore.

 

[treeguy]

Got a question for dht or whoever.

I just picked up a 27 ton unit second hand. It had only maybe a couple tanks of gas thru it. Anyway, I can't hardly get the 6.5 HP Kohler to start when it's below 20 degrees. This morning I stopped trying after 15-20 pulls. It was 10 degrees ambient.

The engine will occasionally fire, but getting it to run is another issue. I have not inspected the spark plug yet, but I doubt that's an issue since it ran well enough in warmer weather.

I'm thinking something isn't quite right with it.

The only gas that has been run in it is the non-oxygenated stuff.

Any ideas?

Sorry it has taken so long to get back to this.

I got a couple of spare carb main jets online. The Honda gx160/gx200 clone jets work in this carb. They are exactly the same as the OEM jet that Kohler supplies in this engine.

Anyway, my friend has a set of those tiny drill bits. I opened the jet from .028 (OEM) to where I stopped tinkering at .033 in .001 increments.

I noticed that at .031 the engine would miss (it seemed) very slightly. It became more pronounced at .032 and more yet at .033. I ran the engine for at least 20 min at a time, and I checked plug color every time. I found that the plug remained white for the most part until I hit .033, where it went sharply black (too rich).

There didn't seem to be much of an in between stage, such as what I was looking for where the plug turns a nice golden brown. But it could be that 20-30 mins of run time between stages was simply not enough to do that.

Here's the disappointing part. The engine didn't start any better in the cold with any of those main jet adjustments. I also had first gone thru the carb completely, making sure that every orifice was clear.

So, I took another jet, drilled it to .029, and called it good. I set a thermometer on top of the engine to more accurately monitor actuals temps on/in the splitter, and I more properly determined that the engine won't start at around 11-12 degrees. I barely got it to start at 12 degrees, but it will not start at 10 degrees. Between 15-20 degrees it is a one or two pull start.

I figure this must be just the way it is, and I will have to see if starting fluid aids in colder weather starts at all.

BTW, there is fresh 5w-30 synthetic in the engine. Another thought: I think that an electric start would get this thing rolling in colder temps, as it does pop and fire when I'm pulling it over, but just not enough to get it going.

I've decided to keep this splitter, and I had a welding shop extend the side rack out a few inches, and they put a one inch lip around it to keep pieces from falling off. I don't know about the other DHT splitter users on this board, but I find that bigger rounds are too much for the side table to handle. They slip off the rack. I like the rack and think it's well-made from the factory, but if others are like me in the way that I split wood, then the rack is a little too small too be really practical, and it needs a lip too.

The next project is to figure what to do with this hose (pictured). It extends down within a few inches of the ground and way too easily catches on stuff when the splitter is being pulled thru the woods. Almost tore it off once already.

Overall, I think this splitter is very well designed and built. I'm just looking for a little more user-friendliness out of it.

 

[brenndatomu]

My Champion splitter with a Honda clone 6.5 hp engine starts the same way in the cold. Normally just 1 or 2 pulls, until it get real cold, then PITA. Sounds like you are on the right track with carb and lighter synthetic engine oil. The big issue is the cold hydraulic oil, too much drag to get the engine spinning good. BTW, you are right about the electric start, she'd pop right off. Anyways, if you are gonna run in cold weather very often, change to lighter hyd oil, that should help the cold start issue. Something like AW32 or even AW22 if you are into really cold weather operation.

 

[treeguy]

My Champion splitter with a Honda clone 6.5 hp engine starts the same way in the cold. Normally just 1 or 2 pulls, until it get real cold, then PITA. Sounds like you are on the right track with carb and lighter synthetic engine oil. The big issue is the cold hydraulic oil, too much drag to get the engine spinning good. BTW, you are right about the electric start, she'd pop right off. Anyways, if you are gonna run in cold weather very often, change to lighter hyd oil, that should help the cold start issue. Something like AW32 or even AW22 if you are into really cold weather operation.

I got this splitter second hand, but I just talked to the po and he said that he's pretty sure he put aw32 in it.

I'm sure atf would make some difference, but I don't want to go there.

I make that engine spin plenty fast (two hands on recoil and full power trunk twist), but the lack of a sustained spin is a problem. The other part is it seems the fuel just has a harder time popping off as it gets colder.

 

[brenndatomu]

Yeah I wouldn't go to ATF, not that it would be terrible, but I'd stick with AW, like 22. But like you said, in the end it is the drag of the thicker oil that causes the engine to stop as soon as you run out of rope, instead of the flywheel inertia taking 'er through another few strokes. We used to have an old Bobcat skidsteer with a Kohler 18 hp single on it. It had a disengage lever on the drive belt tensioner, even with electric start, disengaging the drive was the only way to get 'er to fire when it was real cold out
I forgot to mention earlier that there are a couple other things to try on the engine. The first one is to use ethanol free fuel if you can find it, most community's have a station somewhere around that sell it. The other thing is changing the spark plug to a Splitfire or E3, something like that. I have had great results with a simple plug change on hard starters in the past.
Oh, last item, using starting fluid in a gasoline engine is a really bad idea, especially a single cylinder. I have replaced pistons with the ring lands blown off, bent rods, and split heads on engines that were takin nips from the ether can. So if you want try out a different engine on that splitter, use the starting fluid...

Just thinking out loud here, someone mentioned a mag block heater earlier...I wonder what that would do if you put it on the hydraulic oil tank? Maybe after a few pulls the warm oil would be pulled into the hyd pump? I dunno, just a thought

 

[treeguy]

Yeah I wouldn't go to ATF, not that it would be terrible, but I'd thisith AW, like 22. But like you said, in the end it is the drag of the thicker oil that causes the engine to stop as soon as you run out of rope, instead of the flywheel inertia taking 'er through another few strokes. We used to have an old Bobcat skidsteer with a Kohler 18 hp single on it. It had a disengage lever on the drive belt tensioner, even with electric start, disengaging the drive was the only way to get 'er to fire when it was real cold out
I forgot to mention earlier that there are a couple other things to try on the engine. The first one is to use ethanol free fuel if you can find it, most community's have a station somewhere around that sell it. The other thing is changing the spark plug to a Splitfire or E3, something like that. I have had great results with a simple plug change on hard starters in the past.
Oh, last item, using starting fluid in a gasoline engine is a really bad idea, especially a single cylinder. I have replaced pistons with the ring lands blown off, bent rods, and split heads on engines that were takin nips from the ether can. So if you want try out a different engine on that splitter, use the starting fluid...

Just thinking out loud here, someone mentioned a mag block heater earlier...I wonder what that would do if you put it on the hydraulic oil tank? Maybe after a few pulls the warm oil would be pulled into the hyd pump? I dunno, just a thought

Thanks for the tips.

I do use non-oxygenated gas.

The tank/block heater idea sounds like a pain. I want to make this as user-friendly as possible, but it seems that below 12 degrees won't be user-friendly no matter what. lol!

I forgot to mention that I sometimes pull this through the woods, so being able to start reliably in cold temps would sure be nice. But it seems like I am dreaming to expect that at this point.

I like the spark plug idea. I will research that out.

Thanks, once again.

 

[farmer steve]

update. just got my lowes flyer and the 22 ton on sale for $949.