OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Idle Chatter Brushcutter Work

Yeah I had heard that about those Hondas,



Ditto on not needing the genny,
You dont need an engine for light IMO

But good goin' Ty, you look like your outfitted just fine!

Keep the photos coming!

Kori

i've heard the honda motors mounted on the atom edgers have a fairly big problem with not getting oil.

The generator is fairly needed in this case, as the house is in need of extensive repairs;

On the lighter side, there is about 5 coats of thick paint to be removed from the weather boards that will remain, for which a belt sander, disk sander, corner sander and finishing sander are all being used.

The there is doors to repair, using both routers and planers, a few support beams to replace needing the drop saw and circular.

Not to mention 2 walls will be re-boarded, the veranda needs to be completly redone, supports and all, 2 stumps need replacing, and the entire back half of the house must be pulled down and rebuilt!

Ontop of that, over the weekends we are ataying out there in a caravan, and while it's surviveable to sleep in without heating, it would be nice to be able to heat it up before bed, as it has dropped below 0 in the caravan, and some nights -5 outside!

Plus a toaster would be awsome!

The honda engine I have spare came from an atom edger, so hopefully it does not have damage from oil issues!!!

Well, the new generator has arrived, and WOW, it's a big one!

730x550x690, with a 30L tank, kicking out over 3.5 kVA on each of it's 3 sockets, and weighing in at about 90kG!

Have not had a real chance to put it to the test, but I have assembled it and fired it up, and it started well.

With this, we will be able to have one person out the front taking on the belt sanding, while another uses the drop saw to prepare timbers, and a third inside running the disk sander over the internal boards, as well as a 12V inverter charging the batteries to keep the cordless tools powered, and the little generator kicking around for the finishing sanders.

Then of a night, there will be enough power to give us light and heat in both the cottage and the caravan (some weekends there will be more people than the caravan can sleep) as well as TV, Kettle, Toaster and Chargers for the laptops and phones (these will be surege protected even though the generator is regulated)

I'll get some pictures up soon of the beast, which has been dubbed 'Tony the Tank!'

on the jenny!

Yeah I hope that spare engine doesn't have scoring on the cylinder walls..... A 4stroke on an Atom just sounds like your asking for trouble...


And Lets see some pics of "Tony the tank" lol

Kori

Well... Apparently the remote start feature has been tested out now, and indeed the machine can be stopped and started wirelessly, from a small key fob remote similar to a car alarm remote.

The only issue that has become apparent with the remote start, is one I was already suspecting would be the case, from cold start you still need to turn on the manual choke on the machine, which voids my plan to have the remotes there to start the generator from inside the caravan of a morning, without having to head out into the early morning chill (about 0 degrees when we get up)

Really not to much of an issue though.

And Elly has taken to naming as many of them as she can, Max the Mower, Harold the Honda, Tony the Tank, Roxie the Rok, Jenny the Generator (GMC)...

Here's Tony the Tank's eBay Pictures, I'll get some up soon of the actual unit in action!

At least you can start it up unloaded, at the farm I am working on at the moment the air compressor has a honda copy engine on it, due to load being on the engine at all times, starting it can be a real PITA, especially when you already have 90psi in the tank and need more to make the big rattle guns work out in the paddock.

Yes, that is definatly an advantage, I have been curos as to how the honda copies go at starting in such circumstances, considering the few I have experienced (generators & Mowers) have specified in the manual not to start under load.

I'm fairly certain the Duca is a honda copy, I'm going to take a close look, but from a general look over, it seems quite obvous to me!

i have a pressure washer with a honda copy on it (chonda), i noticed the same thing as joe mentioned when it has load on it can be a real dog to start but once it goes its a real tough little motor.

OK, well an update on what has become a Multi tool review!

In the last few weeks a lot of the yard work has died down, especially since a very generous neighbour offered to run down the paddock with a tractor slasher, which has removed most of the work.

On top of that, the focus has now shifted to the house, so the remaining blackberries are on hold.

Overall, the yard equipment performed well, the star player was definitely the Honda brush cutter, which took on anything that was thrown at it with ease, aided by the carbide tip 40 tooth blades, and a good, thick line.

The Victa 2-stroke utility also performed well, happily cutting down scrub up to 70cm high, and still providing a satisfactory finish.

The Revolution backpack brush cutter was very good for moving through the thick of it at speed, thanks to its larger engine, higher rev's, and the removal of the guard, however it's lower torque did mean regular stops to unjam the head, on it's last run, it collided with a hidden stump, and now has a clutch issue that needs to be looked at, the centrifugal clutch will not disengage, and it is not wanting to pick up the rev's anymore, however, this should not be a difficult repair.

The Rok hedge trimmer gets a special mention, as it has done nothing but surprise me, what was bought as a sacrificial lamb, a low end, Chinese Cheepie with the aim of just getting through a job well above it's pay grade (due to the use outside of specification, the Cheepie was chosen, as the high risk of damage was not worth submitting a decent machine too) has instead taken on the full task with ease, and only left me with the same two very minor complaints, the guide tines are a little soft, and bend easily, thus needing occasional re-shaping, and the location of the kill switch is impractical, as it is easily bumped during work, or even while starting, aside from that, this little, low-grade unit has chewed through a task that it really was not intended for, and come out powering on fine!

The Ozito chainsaw has been decommissioned for now, the chain tensioner has failed, causing the chain to randomly loose and gain tension, either flopping around, threatening to eject, or snapping so tight it can't be turned. A little research showed this to be a regular fault with this unit, and being a throw away, parts are not available. I will be seeing what I can do to repair the issue, but I don’t hold hight hopes.

The Husqvarna chainsaw has done very well, recovering from it's surgery with ease and bighting straigh back into it, it has tackled everything I have thrown it's way with ease, and after a quick chain sharpen, it has shown it can get through the lot, and fast!

The GMC generator is still out of action, it will be repaired soon, as a unit to provide occasional power needs away from the main Generator, then it will leave the Job, and live out it's days with me, as a useful generator for powering drills etc.

The Ryobi blower is still going strong, however it hates cold starts and takes a lot of effort to get going, and a while to warm up, the Weedeater gutter blower has not yet been put into action, but soon will be.

And of corse the new generator, the absolutely massive Ducar key start!

This generator is proving to be the most valuable asset purchased for this job, it has provided all the power that has been needed, simultaneously giving us tools, light, heat and food!

It can happily run a heater, a series of work lights, a cook top, sanders, drills and the drop-saw all at once in the house, while running another lead to the caravan to give it a heater, lighting and charge for laptops and phones, while a spotlight lights the yard at night from the 12v outlet!

It is also highly responsive, providing the power as soon as it's needed, without hesitation, the engine revs the second the trigger is pulled, and there is no noticeable lag, no mater how much the device draws, or how many devices are drawing.

The original Idea was that I would buy this generator from the owner at the end of the job, however they are very much considering keeping it, in which case I will be making sure to get my own.

Sounds like things are happening fast!. The back pack brushcutter seems to have served well good to see it came through in the end. sounds like the ducar generator is a fantastic generator one of the main things is how responsive they are under load, seems like it is definately a winner.

It won't be hard to get the backpacker back up, it certainly is not what I would call a mark against the machine, it simply collided with an immovable object.

I'm gessing the shock knocked a spring in the clutch out of action, resulting in the clutch being stuck, and the wobble that is causing it not to peak any more.

From what I have worked out so far, getting parts will not be hard, or expensive for that clutch, so I predict it will have pleanty more life to come for fute Jobs.

I'm no longer planning to swap the motor out, It looks like I may have sourced another backpacker with a very dead motor, which I will talk into accepting the honda, that way I will have one for High rev's, and one for High torque, like I have on this Job.

The Honda is great all round, and in no way struggles to deal with the thick brush, however for the general paddock scrub, the backpacker is easier to move fast with, and for the wide area spaces, it save alot of time, which also saves the honda for the tougher stuff, giving them both a few less hours in the day, and extending their lifespan.

good to hear, the clutches are easy to get now luckily. i have a feeling that clutch may have also been a tad unbalanced.

It's quite possible, after I got used to that michine, I noticed it vibrated most as it accelerated, but before it got going, once you got the revs up, and the clutch fully engaged, it settled right down.

yeah thats how i remember it, it was better with a blade or weedwakka on, when running the nylon head it was at its worst. For the times i used it i mainly just wanted grunt!