<div dir="ltr"><font size="4">Farmer Robinson wrote"
This morning (Tuesday) I rolled the log splitter out into the bright sun and we then spent the morning and early afternoon putting up an electric horse fence.</font><div><font size="4"><br></font></div><div><font size="4">What sort of fence does it take to hold those electric horses?</font></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Feb 16, 2022 at 7:55 AM Stephen Offiler <<a href="mailto:soffiler@gmail.com">soffiler@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Thus confirming there's nothing actually in need of repair or adjustment; this is just the familiar reluctance to start at low temperature.<div><br></div><div>I've got a modern Kohler on my log splitter (less than 5 years old) and an aging Tecumseh (20-30 years old) on one of my generators, just two examples of many. Despite their design and age differences, they are both 1-3 pulls to start at shirtsleeve temperatures and they are both nearly impossible to start below freezing. I can possibly get the Kohler going after many pulls, dozens... and just forget about the Tecumseh. One thing, it's hard to get them spinning when it's that cold. You can really feel the oil viscosity at lower temperatures (and for the record I use 10W-40 in most of my gas powered equipment). My guess is that even with full choke, those cold internal surfaces condense fuel out of the mix and they're too lean to fire. This is where the unlit propane torch enters the picture. Works every time, as long as the engine is otherwise sound. I think you'll like it if you get a chance to try it, farmer.</div><div><br></div><div>Reminds me of a story with the Tecumseh powered generator. It is used for emergency power at my rental place. I got a call at work one very cold day (teens), power was out, and my renter (a solid, decent guy, retired pipefitter, a practical guy who knows his way around mechanical stuff in general) had been pulling on the generator for over an hour and was starting to injure his shoulder. He was that reluctant to admit defeat. I drove home from work, grabbed my torch, and headed over to the rental, where we greeted each other very briefly. I walked up to the gen, pulled the air cleaner cover (simple wingnut) flowed in some propane, pulled it twice, fired it up, then smiled and waved and walked away with his jaw just hanging open. He's got his own propane torch and this scenario hasn't happened since!</div><div><br></div><div>SO</div><div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Feb 15, 2022 at 10:54 PM Indiana Robinson <<a href="mailto:robinson46176@gmail.com" target="_blank">robinson46176@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div>+I This morning (Tuesday) I rolled the log splitter out into the bright sun and we then spent the morning and early afternoon putting up an electric horse fence around a field of corn stubble. about mid afternoon I walked to the splitter, sat the choke and other settings and pulled the rope about 3 times and it started... I accidentally moved the throttle too far toward turtle (science reference) and it died. I pulled the starter rope and it started right up... We split about half a trailer load of dead but solid elm blocks. It ran perfectly the whole time.</div><div>I might make a small well insulated room in one corner of the shop for the wood splitter and the air compressor.</div><div><br></div><div>.<br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Feb 15, 2022 at 9:19 AM Indiana Robinson <<a href="mailto:robinson46176@gmail.com" target="_blank">robinson46176@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div>Thanks guys...I need to use it this week and maybe next week. I'll be trying some things, especially Steve's LP trick. I wonder where I put those torches. :-) <br></div><div>One thing on my side now is that it will be 50 degrees today and 60 tomorrow. I may not need anything extra. I do know that one problem is the thick oil in the tank and it not having a way to clutch out the pump for starting.</div><div>I'll try to keep you posted.</div><div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Feb 14, 2022 at 9:59 AM Stuart Harner <<a href="mailto:stuart@harnerfarm.net" target="_blank">stuart@harnerfarm.net</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div>
<p>Remember the old fire triangle? Fuel-Air-Heat.</p>
<p>With the ever more restrictive regulations filtering down to the
smaller engines the manufacturers have had to lean out the mix as
far as possible. If you were to put a pyrometer on one my guess is
that at operating temperature they are running on the lean side of
peak.</p>
<p>As air temp drops it gets more dense but without a choke to
compensate the mix is just too lean to light off. To make things
worse they have taken all of the adjustments away from the end
user to prevent us from becoming criminals against the
regulations. I suspect it also makes the carbs easier and cheaper
to manufacture. If a bad one slips through, just replace it or the
engine because it is cheaper than figuring out the problem. We see
this in a lot more then carburetors.</p>
<p>Changing to a lighter hydraulic fluid will help make it easier to
spin the engine faster when pulling the starter. I am not sure if
that will help make a hotter spark or not considering it probably
has electronic ignition anyway. Faster starting RPM could help
with sucking in more fuel each stroke but then that means more air
to, so back to lean.</p>
<p>I suspect that Farmer's engine sputters once in a while is that
the raw fuel builds up enough in the cylinder to cause a rich
enough mixture to fire once or twice. Once that is burned off,
back to square one.</p>
<p>I am not sure that adjusting the valves would help any unless
there is a way to lengthen the duration. Taking out all the
backlash might cause the valve to open a fraction sooner, but once
everything is warm and expanded there is a risk of it not closing
fully and burning the valve or seat.</p>
<p>To get a more rich mixture for starting you could try to restrict
air (like the old choke plates did) or add fuel like a primer
does.</p>
<p>I have a Knipco stye heater that will not light off at any air
temp unless I use both hands and cover as much of the air intake
as possible. It lights in less than a second and then runs fine. I
have tried different nozzles and moving the igniter around, but it
still needs less air to get going.</p>
<p>On the 1978 motorcycle I once had it was a victim of early
tampering with emissions on motorcycles. When new it would not
start on a cool day and it had a manual choke. I rigged up a way
to inject a little ether into the airbox that was buried under the
seat. Had to put 10,000 miles on that bike before it got over that
problem.</p>
<p>The idea of using an unlit torch to add a little fuel sounds like
a good one. Red Green would just slap a little piece of duct tape
on the air intake until it warms up.</p>
<p>Best of luck to Farmer getting this working.</p>
<p>Stuart<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<div>On 2/14/22 01:34, Greg Hass wrote:<br>
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<div dir="ltr">I have a JD Zero Turn with 27 hp. Briggs engine and
electric start. Anything around 45 to 50 degrees and it just
wouldn't start. It does not idle good either, but the book says
that is because of emissions control. My brother has a
Simplicity zero turn 3 years old and several times has tried to
start it in 40 degree and it just won't fire so it is not just
my mower. Both engines have fixed jets so no adjustment is
possible. It is possible other things could be wrong, but my
only other idea is to make sure it has fresh WINTER blend gas.
<div> Greg Hass</div>
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<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sun, Feb 13, 2022 at 8:15
AM Moe Fretz <<a href="mailto:tubetester@gmail.com" target="_blank">tubetester@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
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<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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<div dir="auto">Try this site, they should be able to help
you. </div>
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<div><a href="http://ppeten.com/forums/search.php?search_id=newposts" target="_blank">http://ppeten.com/forums/search.php?search_id=newposts</a></div>
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<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Feb 12, 2022 at
18:51 Mike M <<a href="mailto:meulenms@gmx.com" target="_blank">meulenms@gmx.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
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<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div> Hi Farmer,<br>
Just a thought, my log splitter was hard to start in
cold weather, until I changed the hydraulic fluid from
the OEM fluid to transmission fluid,a whole world of
difference.<br>
<br>
Mike M</div>
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<div>On 2/12/2022 9:24 PM, Stephen Offiler wrote:<br>
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<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">Hi farmer: I'd have to think you've
already been down this road, but, I'll say for the
record that I've had pretty decent luck
downloading manuals from the Briggs site. But I
haven't done it lately, and it's always 20-year
old stuff when I do. The other thing I'll
mention is the good old unlit propane torch in the
intake trick. That's my go-to when they're almost
trying to start. There's spark and fuel but the
modern carburetors are set lean for emissions and
it just seems that the choke doesn't quite get the
mixture rich enough.
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</div>
<div>Good luck,</div>
<div>Steve O.</div>
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<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Feb 12,
2022 at 7:43 PM Indiana Robinson <<a href="mailto:robinson46176@gmail.com" target="_blank">robinson46176@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>We have a log splitter a couple of years
old that has a OHV CR950 Briggs. It only has
a few hours on it but has become quite hard
to start (recoil start). It is way too
recent for my knowledge base... It seems
that most things are these days. Apparently
the OHV Brigg's have a cam bump "compression
relief" I also understand that there is an
important valve adjustment procedure that
can normally improve starting problems. We
can't find a site that gives a clear and
understandable explanation of the procedure.</div>
<div>Does anyone know of a site with a clear
description of how to do it? It will usually
start if it is sitting in the sun and the
temp is at least 50... Yesterday at 45
degrees it "ALMOST" started 837 times... It
keeps firing enough to keep you trying and
trying...<br>
</div>
<div>Thanks<br>
</div>
<div><br>
-- <br>
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>-- <br>
<br>
Francis Robinson<br>
aka "farmer"<br>
Central Indiana USA<br>
<a href="mailto:robinson46176@gmail.com" target="_blank">robinson46176@gmail.com</a><br>
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</blockquote></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>-- <br><br>Francis Robinson<br>aka "farmer"<br>Central Indiana USA<br><a href="mailto:robinson46176@gmail.com" target="_blank">robinson46176@gmail.com</a><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br></div></div></div>
</blockquote></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>-- <br><br>Francis Robinson<br>aka "farmer"<br>Central Indiana USA<br><a href="mailto:robinson46176@gmail.com" target="_blank">robinson46176@gmail.com</a><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br></div></div></div>
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