I was looking forward to picking up a wood chipper this fall. We have a ton of branches around the property, and we use a ton of mulch, so i figured why not just cut out the middle man and just get one of those machines that turns branches into mulch?
I did a bit of web searching and i narrowed things down to a Troy Bilt model sold at Lowe’s. I am a big fan of Lowe’s so I figured since they are local, and this thing is super heavy (although it has wheels) i would be OK.
They helped me load it into the Green Machine and i carefully unloaded it and removed the box from the pallet. The neighborhood kids had started to gather to see the red metal monster.
I put in the oil, added the gas and carefully rolled it onto a level grassy area. I put on my goggles, had everyone stand FAR away, and pull the cord. It started right up. It has a large chute at the top for brush and a tube for larger branches power down. Unfortunately, as i was putting in the second branch, the engine slowed down and then just stopped.
I did some careful inspection and determined there was no clog. However, I could not pull the starter cord. The flywheel was locked. The Troy Bit help line was no help since it was closed on the weekends (good idea!). Eventually I called Lowe’s and they came out, picked up the non-working chipper and left me with a new replacement.
A few days went by and it was the weekend again. Same routine, rolled it onto the grass, started it up. It ate a few branches and yet again, the engine slowed down and stopped. This time I could pull the cord and the flywheel turned, but the engine would not spark. My neighbor came by to help but he was stumped as well.
Aargh!
Another phone call to Lowe’s and they picked it up and gave me a full refund. Final Score: Lowe’s = 1, Troy Bilt = 0. Now I am in search of another model.
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