Brushcutter

Do you not have a guide bar roller tool for squishing the rails back together. A tool I've only ever seen and don't have myself.

A bench belt sander is also really good for dressing bars. At least short ones.

Any tractor dealership mechanic should be able to do it. Basic service isn't too hard to do yourself. If you have a fuel problem and you use the machine infrequently it's most likely water in the fuel or crap in the fuel hose.

I tend to use fancy guildbars that are so hard they don't burr easily. They need a diamond to get close to dressing them. On the standard bars I use the dressing tool all the time. I really rate it. I've got a vlorbe one, does a great level and being able to put a consistent 45 bevel on the rail edge is nice.

That is a good price for a square file. You need to clear that gullet out a little bit more for that to clear better. Is that filed inside to out or outside to in? Looks like the second angle face isn't quite right. I'm still at the rough job on square filing myself. I found it easier to get some 75CJ chain from Oregon and sharpen that by copying what was there.

I got a quote for insurance on a pickup the other week. As I hope to move soon I used the same vehicle different postcodes. The difference was a grand so that plays a huge part in the cost. My insurance is currently about 1200 quid up from about 900. Luckily for the economy uninsured drivers keep crashing into cars in the area driving up the cost of the insurance because of the risk. London bubble for you.

Chain boxes

If you want to spend some money then the chain locker is cool. If you want to spend less money Stihl do a little plastic chain box. As I'm tight. Used take away cartons is what I store mine in. Washed first obviously as one isn't a savage.

Practice holding the saw level. Would you put a pint on it? Quite often people get the bar level end to end but not side to side so it cuts up or down hill. Saw on the side use you thumb on the trigger helps reduce fatigue and keeps the saw level. Bend down get close to the work and it all works better. Take your time go step by step and don't rush. If you scarf isn't right change it. Got a Dutchman correct it. Draw it all in crayon on the tree if it helps. Use a stick to help say parallel with the undercut to make a nice hinge. If you can get your body at 90 degrees to the direction of fell and your leg in line with the hinge things will be easy. Did I mention don't panic. Listen and learn practice. Take mental notes track your progress. You will get better..

Do you have a supplier?

I think on the 530 it has a nipple in the UJ and on the 540 on the flat face. Of the joint between the two yokes.

The shafts that go from the common gearbox to the roller. They are on the top of the UJ. You need a 90 degree grease connector most of the time as the chances of the shaft stopping with the nipple accessable from the top of side are small.

Cheffins sells a bit. Seen a few roof mounts go through over the years. Occasional trailer and saw bench. Sometimes it sells some of it sits around then goes. Lots of places sell second hand forestry kit. Those looking for it tend to find it.

Can you - yes. Should you - probably not I cant see why undoing them at that the low torque they are at would hurt with an impact. Doing them up with an impact is a big no no.

Plus point the narrow guage on an 18" bar will reduce the drag making the saw a little bit more lively. The downside is that kerf can be a little narrow for some felling bars so you have to carve a bit more out.

I've had 2 noses on my 15" GB bar and they chip like they are free. The rails chip too. I know most people rave about them but I've found them marginally better than my stock of 00s Husky toffee bars. I've used a 54 odd GB for milling and that seemed ok so it could be just the short ones are crap. Tsumura light weight with all the small inserts are nice. As is a Sugihara I like Sugis as I've got some life out of my 13 and 15s. Ive ordered a 24 inch Cannon Duralite as you can't get the old style Oregon lightweights anymore. Yes it was very very expensive but if Its good and it lasts... Then money well spent. Only used the black cannon bars superbar maybe which are a bit heavy but amazing. On a 500i a 28 powermatch bar would likely be nose heavy but they are great bang for your buck bars.

This. Love the ms400 be interesting to try the ms400.1 You don't feel the weight of it but the power is amazing. I've tried 18 and 20 on it but I'm sure you could put a 25 on it and it would do the job.

I have a pro 3m one. It was very expensive but it's great. 3 adjustable legs means you can put one on a retaining wall and on a unlevel ground surface and get bang on level. Use some non adjustable tripods. Once you have the strength and adjusbiility of the henchman you won't go back

Not sure why you would want a 70cc saw on .325 because the bars over 20" are rare. If your looking to standardise the put your 261 on 3/8 which is a simple modification. They actually run quite on it if you don't go above 15".

Frank Alviti - Hire Alpine Tractor FRANKALVITI.CO.UK Leading UK supplier of new and used McConnel Machinery, Stocking and immense numnber McConnel parts at unbeatable prices. Robocut... I think kilworth.do one as well.

What is access for a lorry like? How far away from the trees is the landing? Is the landing big enough for all the timber or does it have to go in stages. Is the tree/landing close enough to make chopping the brash for biofuel economical? If you had a small landing then the forwarding needs to be constant as does the uplift. Anything over 250m makes skidding and winching painfully slow and uneconomic. If you don't own a forwarder then there are few companies that rent alpine tractors with a trailer. A productive unit with a good driver, but if your going a long way the small payload can be frustrating. The longest extraction I've done is about 3 miles with a 10 tonne botex trailer. I did it in two hits woodland floor to that woodland rideside then out to the lorry access. Worked out much quicker. What the timber grade like? All firewood or does in need grading out into sawlogs etc. more money in sawlogs but more products mean more space on the landing. Remember to take into the tidy up that you don't think about. Scraping landings reinstating rides, sweeping roads etc.if required. The digger can cope with most of that but it does mean it needs to stay until the end. Fairest way is to pay by the tonne. Luckily the tree sheer will put the cost of felling right down. Then the forwarding is a distance/weight thing.

I lovet between 2 nfu offices about 5 from one 16 from the other.. Many years ago one would insure me for tree work and the other wouldn't. One said they wouldn't be competitive in my area and refused to quote for insurance on a pickup. The other office was cheaper than online. My car they wouldn't quote for as they weren't competitive in that area. 2 years ago I wanted to insure a land based training company. They didn't want to know no to which both annoyed and amused me. Either way it seems to be pot luck with NFU. one thing you can count on is good service, communication and documents.

Better than a kick in the teeth.

Zuidberg make the linkage and the other is creepy lobster doctor from the year 3000. Easy mistake to make. They are very good come and fit it and everything. Pricy but very useful, priced one up for an n series Valtra and it was about 4k tapped off a spool valve. That was a good few years back.