Splitter Woes

[ashy larry]

Been after the wife for quite some to let me buy a hydraulic splitter. Yesterday whilst xmas shopping she said yes. To Lowes we went bc I had already decided on a 22 ton DHT. Split just a few rounds when I got it home before it got dark. No issues, plowed thru knotty maple and white oak. Today I got off work and wanted to start on the load of white oak in the back of my truck. Split for about 45 minutes and made quite a pile. Took a break to cut some logs into firewood size and move the splitter closer to those rounds. Started her back up, made one split, and halfway thru the second split the motor died. Absolutely will not restart. Has fuel and less than 1.5 hr runtime. Has oil. I'm not gonna go any further than that, back to Lowes it will go. Very frustrating.

 

[NGaMountains]

I bought one this fall with same Kohler engine, never could get it to start. Took it back to Lowes after verifying new spark plug got it running. Ended up with a new one from Lowes once they also saw Lovejoy coupling was never assembled. Probably 30 or 40 hours on the new one, not a hiccup. Try a new plug. Good luck.

 

[DHT]

Give our customer service group a call first. Could be as simple as low engine oil which would prevent it from running.


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[rarefish383]

DHT, thanks for monitoring this forum, you are at the top of the curve for customer service, Joe.

 

[DHT]

No worries! With any splitter the engine is always the most likely thing to give someone trouble unfortunately that is the only part we really can't control. Most everything else is just tight fittings and couplers. Either way we will get you guys fixed up and running!


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[NSMaple1]

Could also be a piece of dirt in a carb jet.

 

[ashy larry]

Lowes gave me a free spark plug I will try this afternoon.

 

[ashy larry]

Put the spark plug in and ran pretty good while I split quite a bunch of oak and maple. It did stall out twice but cranked right back up.

 

[NGaMountains]

Glad to hear it was an easy fix.

Sounds like Kohler needs to work on their spark plugs, and while DHT may have great customer service, quality control needs some work. How they would ship my special order, 500+ pound unit 1500 miles across the country with neither of the major systems functional was mind boggling to me.

 

[ashy larry]

The original spark plug was a Kohler brand. Looked fine besides a burr on the thing that actually sparks. I'm used to 2 strokes where a fouled plug looks fouled. I kinda feel shorted, build date on mine was June of 15 but the sales guy at lowes kept telling me it was a 16 model. Didn't check til I got home. Either way, it's pretty quick and overall I like it and I will like it much more when the log table shows up.

 

[NGaMountains]

I haven't run into anything that stopped it yet, once Lowes gave me one that ran and the cylinder stroked. It's not a world beater but I've split 5 cords or so since I got it and am happy for not much over an $800 outlay. Beats repeatedly renting and good to always have it available if I stumble upon a good log or round scrounge.

 

[ashy larry]

I needed one bad. I had more wood than time. I'm already catching up. Had it two days and it's probably seen a cord just in the short daylight between work and dark.