Dale the Builder dropped off his log splitter for some work. Wouldn't start, ram is slow.
Based on past experience, assumed no start was bad gas/water in the gas/crap in the carb. Pulled the carb and there WAS some crud in it, but not bad. Cleaned it, reassembled, installed a fresh plug, checked for spark. Yanked on the starter cord and damn near pulled it out of the engine. VERY little (no?) compression.
Gave it a whiff of StartDamnYa and it did start but smoked pretty bad.
I had added a gallon or so of hydraulic fluid as it was low, decided to cycle the ram to see what "slow" looked like. It WAS pretty lethargic. Bumped the control into return mode and walked around to see if I could throttle the engine up a bit. When the ram hit the stops it blew the pressure-side hose right out of the pump, and pulled the threads with it.
So, after conferring with Dale, I now own it, worn out engine, blown pump and all. OTOH, everything else is usable - ram, hoses, valve, tank, frame. I don't need a(nother) log splitter, but I've often wondered if a fella could make a hydraulic steel bender out of one...
Based on past experience, assumed no start was bad gas/water in the gas/crap in the carb. Pulled the carb and there WAS some crud in it, but not bad. Cleaned it, reassembled, installed a fresh plug, checked for spark. Yanked on the starter cord and damn near pulled it out of the engine. VERY little (no?) compression.
Gave it a whiff of StartDamnYa and it did start but smoked pretty bad.
I had added a gallon or so of hydraulic fluid as it was low, decided to cycle the ram to see what "slow" looked like. It WAS pretty lethargic. Bumped the control into return mode and walked around to see if I could throttle the engine up a bit. When the ram hit the stops it blew the pressure-side hose right out of the pump, and pulled the threads with it.
So, after conferring with Dale, I now own it, worn out engine, blown pump and all. OTOH, everything else is usable - ram, hoses, valve, tank, frame. I don't need a(nother) log splitter, but I've often wondered if a fella could make a hydraulic steel bender out of one...