Fixing 20 Ton 9 HP Briggs & Stratton Log Splitter

 Alex towed the log splitter to a buddies' house to help split some firewood.  Said it would not keep running.  I had him put in a new plug and they got the tree split.

Now it's our turn to split up some wood.  The darn splitter would run, but ONLY if you kept the front end lowered to the ground.  That's odd!  So we split Nick's entire barn full of wood with the splitter angled down.  It was inconvenient, but not insurmountable.

Thus starts the cogs inside the brain.  It can't be the gas as tipping the splitter DOWN moves the gas away from the carburetor.  Maybe a filter is clogged?  Maybe the carburetor is gummed up?  Time to start eliminating possibilities...

I had Sandy purchase a can of Carb & Choke Cleaner.  I tore off the air filter and the carburetor after shutting off the gas line.  I cleaned everything and all parts appeared to be functioning properly.  Reassemble.

Next I drained the gas tank (there was not even 1" (2.5 cm) left in there).  I found a few flakes of "crud" in the tank, but nothing that would stop petrol from reaching the carb.  Besides, it drained just fine.  I cleaned the tank anyway.

I then moved around the front side of the splitter (the bit near the operating handle and tongue).  There I saw an interesting little wire.  Looky there!  I'm betting that's some sort of level switch or pressure indicator to shut down the motor if there is not enough oil.  I go back around the engine and remove the oil cap.  Sure enough, it appears low.  But hey, while I'm here I go ahead and drain all the oil so that I can change it for fresh.  In fact, I do not recall the last time I did this - not that the splitter is used all that often, but I am sure it has collected moisture from sitting in the barn for years...

Oil is drained.  Plug is reinstalled.  My funnel is too large to fit into the oil fill opening.  I quickly McGyver a funnel from a used Diet Caffeine-Free Pepsi (TM) aluminum can after cleaning it first.  Next step?  Pour oil all over the damn place.  After that?  Fill the engine with too much oil.  Well, at least we know it's not too low.

I clean up my mess, satisfied that I have eliminated the problem - which I am now confident was the oil switch (if you canted the engine down, it thought there was enough oil).  At least that makes sense to me.

I pulled on the start cord and it will not fire.  In my haste to validate my hypothesis, I have neglected to (a) open the fuel line and (b) turn the throttle up to run.  I pulled on the start cord until I was sweating - it's 30 F today (-1 C) - so any amount of effort wearing all the clothes I had on caused perspiration.  All set now you fool?  Yes.  Houston, we have liftoff.

Runs like a champ now after I drained out some of the "too much oil" I put in the engine.  Now if I can only convince my wife to join me in the barn to split the pile o' wood out there.  As soon as it is split and stacked, we can back the Gator directly up to the pile to load wood up for the house.  Right now the large pile of wood will not let us get to what we need to burn in our fireplace.  Ah, the joys of winter in Central Indiana...

You?  You should learn from the mistakes I made.  It could save you some time and effort if you're ever having problems with a 9HP Briggs & Stratton engine on a 20 Ton wood splitter.


Take a look at where the yellow arrow is pointing.
According to the interwebs, that is an oil pressure switch.
That little wire running off the top?  It kills the engine if it senses low or no oil.
Wonderful idea to save yourself from blowing up the engine!
However, you do need to ensure you have enough oil in there.
Duh!

Just to be clear, I bought this splitter Used for a song (like quarter retail price).  And I've used it for the past ten years or more - as has RePhil, Alex, Krueger, and Nick.  The only things I've done to it so far are (1) replace the link on the handle, (2) put on new tires that dry-rotted on me, and (3) change the hitch that rusted so badly it would not function.  I still have less than retail in this thing.  It owes me Nothing!  I have already won... And yes, I will agree, it is showing its age...but it's entitled to do just that.

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