question for stump grinders re fuel pump....

[OLD MAN GRINDER]

My grinder is eating fuel pumps 3rd one with only 400 hrs.....as most of u know I have a bandit
2550 all hyd grinder, 4th diff grinder I have owned over the last 10 yrs since starting business
when I retired......I have the kohler big block 38hp engine, the fuel pump is mounted on the
valve cover and operated by the valve rockers, when the first one went the dealer sent me
one from an old engine they had until kohler could send me a replacement, it went out
yesterday and put on the one kohler sent me, don't know how long it will last, looks like I
will have to order a spare and keep it on hand, kinda frustrating to say the least.....

My question is what do u all think about putting on an electric one????, have any of you did
this or have any experience with an electric pump on your grinders ??.

Would be useless to talk to bandit, they just refer u to the dealer or kohler so I will just
have to work this out myself with your help..

Thx much..

Bob....

 

[Mowingman]

You might want to talk to some other authorized Kohler repair shops for their ideas. Depends on how competant you think your current dealer is to handle the problem. Not all Kohler dealers have the same diagnostic and repair capabilities.
As to the electric pump. I had a commercial ZTR mower with a 23HP Kohler that developed fuel pump issues. After several repairs/replacements, the dealer gave up and installed some type of small electric fuel pump. I never had any fuel pump problems after that. It has been so long ago, that I can not remember what type of electric pump they installed.
If you are still getting warranty help on the issue, make sure EVERYTHING done is documented by the dealer, and be sure you get a copy. As a former Kohler dealer, I can tell you that the small engine manufacturers are sticklers about warranty documentation.
Jeff

 

[CalTreeEquip]

I have never had one of those Kohler valve cover fuel pumps go out. I'm guessing the 38hp is the same as the 25hp.
It shouldn't be an issue to put an electric pump on. That a common practice on the Wisconsin engine. Maybe look for one of those.

 

[OLD MAN GRINDER]

You might want to talk to some other authorized Kohler repair shops for their ideas. Depends on how competant you think your current dealer is to handle the problem. Not all Kohler dealers have the same diagnostic and repair capabilities.
As to the electric pump. I had a commercial ZTR mower with a 23HP Kohler that developed fuel pump issues. After several repairs/replacements, the dealer gave up and installed some type of small electric fuel pump. I never had any fuel pump problems after that. It has been so long ago, that I can not remember what type of electric pump they installed.
If you are still getting warranty help on the issue, make sure EVERYTHING done is documented by the dealer, and be sure you get a copy. As a former Kohler dealer, I can tell you that the small engine manufacturers are sticklers about warranty documentation.
Jeff

Hi Jeff...

The dealer that kohler sent me to in my area didn't even have a fuel pump pressure gauge and was 3 weeks b4 he could even
get to me, dealer in pearland was bought out by bandit, always great to work with they are the ones that sent me a used one
until kohler could send me a new one, have now installed the new one, don't know how long it will last, the pumps on the
small block kohlers are completely different, they are vacuum and do not work off the valve train, the one on my 27hp ztr has
over 1000 hours with no problems..(knock on wood)....I think I will check with my local stihl dealer, he is also a exmark
dealer and great to work with and see what he thinks about an elec pump, I was just concerned that the elec pump might
put out to much pressure for the engine to handle, will wait to see what everybody else has to say, it's just so damn
frustrating never knowing when the pump is going to quit, esp if u are out in the field somewhere and u can't get the truck
in position to load the grinder, I am now carrying a come-along just in case, but if the wheel is down I would guess I would
have to bleed off the hydraulics in order to raise the wheel and load the machine, hope I don't have to find out lol...

thx for your help...

Bob....

 

[Mowingman]

Sorry to hear of your problem. I know how frustrating something like this can be. A dead grinder on a jobsite is no fun, I have been there before with my old Bandit track machine. There is a really great Kohler repair dealer in Dallas by the name of Parker Power. You might look them up on google and get their phone number. Give them a call to get their opinion on the electric pump idea. In my opinion, Parker Power is one of the best Kohler engine dealers in the entire U.S. I know it is too far to haul your machine, but I think they will give you some good info over the phone.
Jeff

 

[ozzy42]

The way I have raised the cutting wheel on a non running grinder was to remove both spark plugs and crank the motor over while raising the boom. Just be careful not to overheat the starter. No fluid mess that way.

 

[elmostump]

I feel your pain, I am on my 3rd replacement pump on my Rayco 1635Jr. BS Vangaurd big block. I now carry a small fuel tank off a old push mower, when it quits I hook up fuel supply line to it and either finish or put it on trailer. Mine tends to vapor lock a lot too. I also have thought replacing it with low pressure electric fuel pump. Good Luck.

 

[marne]

Try to prevent vaporlocking by using a 1:300 to 1:400 twostroke oil-gas mixture.

 

[elmostump]

Thanks marne, I've never heard of that, I'll certainly look into that mixture!

 

[Steve-Maine]

I had a similar problem with a Wisc. 37 HP on a 630B Vermeer. Bought an electric fuel pump and had no more problem. Just make sure you hitch it up to ignition on terminal on switch. Good Luck.

My grinder is eating fuel pumps 3rd one with only 400 hrs.....as most of u know I have a bandit
2550 all hyd grinder, 4th diff grinder I have owned over the last 10 yrs since starting business
when I retired......I have the kohler big block 38hp engine, the fuel pump is mounted on the
valve cover and operated by the valve rockers, when the first one went the dealer sent me
one from an old engine they had until kohler could send me a replacement, it went out
yesterday and put on the one kohler sent me, don't know how long it will last, looks like I
will have to order a spare and keep it on hand, kinda frustrating to say the least.....

My question is what do u all think about putting on an electric one????, have any of you did
this or have any experience with an electric pump on your grinders ??.

Would be useless to talk to bandit, they just refer u to the dealer or kohler so I will just
have to work this out myself with your help..

Thx much..

Bob....

 

[OLD MAN GRINDER]

I had a similar problem with a Wisc. 37 HP on a 630B Vermeer. Bought an electric fuel pump and had no more problem. Just make sure you hitch it up to ignition on terminal on switch. Good Luck.

Thx Steve, that's exactly what I wanted to know, put grinder in shop at bandit dealer last Tuesday for the
problem and some others and suggested elec fuel pump to them, have not heard from them yet, been a
week so hopefully they have found and will be correcting the problem, if not I will switch to elec fuel
pump myself...

Thx again..

Bob......

 

[Steve-Maine]

I buy my electric fuel pumps at Advance Auto, Their Part # E3902 for $47.99. If you set up an account with them and order online and use promation code trt30, You get 30% off everything. Can usually pick-up in store in 1/2 hour. Buy all my parts I can there. Good Luck.
Steve





QUOTE="OLD MAN GRINDER, post: 4911323, member: 54184"]My grinder is eating fuel pumps 3rd one with only 400 hrs.....as most of u know I have a bandit
2550 all hyd grinder, 4th diff grinder I have owned over the last 10 yrs since starting business
when I retired......I have the kohler big block 38hp engine, the fuel pump is mounted on the
valve cover and operated by the valve rockers, when the first one went the dealer sent me
one from an old engine they had until kohler could send me a replacement, it went out
yesterday and put on the one kohler sent me, don't know how long it will last, looks like I
will have to order a spare and keep it on hand, kinda frustrating to say the least.....

My question is what do u all think about putting on an electric one????, have any of you did
this or have any experience with an electric pump on your grinders ??.

Would be useless to talk to bandit, they just refer u to the dealer or kohler so I will just
have to work this out myself with your help..

Thx much..

Bob....[/QUOTE]

 

[OLD MAN GRINDER]

Update on fuel issue...

Dealer had grinder for over 2 weeks said it was fixed, I picked it up did a few small jobs, everything ok, started another job, it quit
on first pass on first stump, would not restart, called bandit they brought out a new 2550xp with diesel engine for me to use until
they could fig out what was wrong, used the loaner to catch up with jobs, liked the diesel, very quiet and smooth but did not see
any improvement in grinding ability over the gas engine even tho diesel has more hp, they called today and said grinder was
ready to pickup again, they put on an elec fuel pump and said it was running fine, I will find out on next job, have a large job to
do with 4 large stumps, one over 6ft, so we will see as soon as it dries up down here, lot of rain....

So overall I give bandit high marks for their service and providing me a new loaner, they even threw in a new set of greenteeth
for my patience, the new machine has some needed improvements over my 2 year old machine, so they do listen to their
customers suggestions and are constantly improving their product, I told them I think the solution is to move the exhaust to
the other side of engine away from all the fuel and oil lines etc, they have been having similar problems on other 2550xp's, all
in the south where it gets hot, no problems on machines up north, that ought to tell them something, time will tell, I hope the
problem is solved, no fun to never knowing when your machine is going to quit...

I am also going to mount a small winch on trlr in case machine quits, found out the hard way even with hydraulics released it
is next to impossible to move machine by pushing, I was lucky that when it broke down the customer had a tractor and was
able to help us load the machine to take back to dealer, salesman is looking into putting a winch on their trlr also when he
had so much trouble loading the machine.....

Stay safe everybody...

Bob.....

 

[Mowingman]

Bob,
The winch is a good idea. I have a small Warn winch I keep in my trailer, just in case of an emergency breakdown with the grinder.It is on a little steel plate and has 2 chains that attach to the plate. The chains can be wrapped around the grinder frame or axle for towing. Can hook winch electric cables to grinder battery. Now if the grinder battery is dead, I would have a problem.
Hope your machine is fixed once and for all.
Jeff

 

[OLD MAN GRINDER]

Well back to the drawing board, got machine back last Friday, started a job Monday, barely got thru the second stump and it started
surging again, was able to get stump done and grinder loaded on trlr, this time bandit brought me a different loaner same machine
and kohler eng as mine but with the revolution wheel and only 7 hrs, I have now done 3 jobs with the new wheel, it does seem to
be a little smother grinding but gets bogged down in the chips easier than the greenteeth, I can't see enough improvement over the
greenteeth to make the switch, chipped 2 teeth today and they did not give me any extras so I will try and get them sharpened with
my greenwheel to do a job tomorrow and Monday, dealer called this pm and said my machine will be ready to come back early
part of next week, think the problem was in the ign switch, we shall see, hope they are right.....this is really getting old....

Have a nice weekend everybody...

Bob.....