Faulty Forst ST6

[Skyhigh_Arb]

Evening all,

 

I'm looking for some advice, I have owned my Forst ST6 since May 2014 and experienced no end of problems mainly with its reliability or lack of.

 

It initially failed me on day one within 20 minutes of use where the top feed roller shifted and hit the side casing causing it to become inoperable. A fitter came out and then took it back to the factory to go over the entire machine. Since this it has been back to the factory a further two occasions and has had fitters out on several occasions for other issues. Which included it not starting on a regular basis and then starting and dieing immediately and then starting, running for a while and then dieing mid operation.

 

The top feed roller becomes jammed open, there are cracks in the metal on both sides of the chute, the paint job has been peeling left right and centre, grease pipes that pop off even though I have greased it exactly to the requirements specified by Forst themselves. The air filter has fallen off twice now, the top feed roller shifted again around a month ago and the ignitin barrel has fallen out. However my biggest irritation is when chipping a 5-6" bit of wood and it gets towards the end and jams between the back of the feed rollers and front of the flywheel causing the chipper to stall! This is the short story and I'm happy to go into detail with anyone who would like to discuss this and I may have missed a few problems that have occurred. I'm just a bit fed up now of constant unreliability and looking for some advice.

 

What would you guys do?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Hodge]

Sell it.

[Johny Walker]

Evening all,

 

I'm looking for some advice, I have owned my Forst ST6 since May 2014 and experienced no end of problems mainly with its reliability or lack of.

 

It initially failed me on day one within 20 minutes of use where the top feed roller shifted and hit the side casing causing it to become inoperable. A fitter came out and then took it back to the factory to go over the entire machine. Since this it has been back to the factory a further two occasions and has had fitters out on several occasions for other issues. Which included it not starting on a regular basis and then starting and dieing immediately and then starting, running for a while and then dieing mid operation.

 

The top feed roller becomes jammed open, there are cracks in the metal on both sides of the chute, the paint job has been peeling left right and centre, grease pipes that pop off even though I have greased it exactly to the requirements specified by Forst themselves. The air filter has fallen off twice now, the top feed roller shifted again around a month ago and the ignitin barrel has fallen out. However my biggest irritation is when chipping a 5-6" bit of wood and it gets towards the end and jams between the back of the feed rollers and front of the flywheel causing the chipper to stall! This is the short story and I'm happy to go into detail with anyone who would like to discuss this and I may have missed a few problems that have occurred. I'm just a bit fed up now of constant unreliability and looking for some advice.

 

What would you guys do?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

i know yr pain , i bought a brand new kwikchip some yrs ago ,broke down on its 1st day, & thats how it continuied ,suppler ws pants had to go bk to germany to get it sorted ,stil wasnt right,:thumbdown::thumbdown:

[Skyhigh_Arb]

Problem with selling it is that I'm going to loose a lot of money without even accounting for all the down time where I have lost money and jobs because of it being unreliable! I feel that I have given the manufacture/seller plenty of opportunities to admit fault and try and rectify it. I also feel there is a major design issue with the chipper jamming as sure otherwise there's no point in having a no stress system?

Edited November 24, 2015 by Skyhigh_Arb

[White Noise]

If its not fit for purpose you can and will get a full refund .....Obviously through the courts ? Although a reputable dealer should offer a full refund if not happy Best of luck .

[Ian Leach]

You can't sell it on, speak to dealer say you will be going through court unless it's sorted with new machine or a refund.

[richy_B]

If its not fit for purpose you can and will get a full refund .....Obviously through the courts ? Although a reputable dealer should offer a full refund if not happy Best of luck .

 

I'd be considering something similar. At 18 months old I am not sure you'd get a full refund but arguably a chipper should have a 10 year life span so I'd be expecting 85% of the value paid. The challenge with the courts is its all based on 'what's reasonable'. If you have had a few hundeds hours use over the last 18 months then i doubt you could justify a full refund. I'd have thought going directly to Forst and asking for a replacement machine could be a good move.

[Skyhigh_Arb]

The chipper has only done 156 hours which lets face it in 18 months is very low hours. Part of the reason for the low hours has been due to its inability to be reliable and breaking down which has forced me to hire a chipper on occasions when it has been down or back with Forst. I have consistently told them that I do not want the chipper and that I want either a replacement machine or a full refund. Both of which I have been refused on several occasions. I just feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall especially when I get excuses from them which don't even add up.

[stihlmadasever]

A good supplier would swap with new machine,if not persue through the courts.

[Skyhigh_Arb]

Unfortunately the supplier isn't offering me these options, I have emailed them once again this morning and now they have said that if I want my chipper "fixed" I need to take it to them!