Rob D

Sounds too good to be true..... If he was near me I would buy everything he has at that price.

Hopefully you'll get some joy from someone nearby with a mill

Stacked cord like ash and sycamore seem to dry a lot faster than oak and beech left in the round. But still not going to match the drying power of split wood!

I agree with all the above. But the 6% moisture content on the end grain I would query - wood will get down to 14% minimum outside but no less. Even a super charged kiln would struggle to get to 6%! May be the moisture meter is not accurate across the face.

I have it in the jig and then pivot the tip down and into the wood next to the rails. The tricky bit is coming down within 3mm of the rails without hitting them. I pivot the saw all the way down until it's vertical. You have to do in one hit i.e. no removing the saw mid way or running out of fuel as when you go back in much more chance of kickback. Push the saw down the rail as usual. Now back up to starting point. You now pull the saw to finish the cut. Again you have to be careful on the pulling as it is using the top or pushing part of the bar/chain which was never how the mini mill was designed to be used.

You are kidding yourself if you think smoking gear doesn't affect the way you work.... it's a drug and it's going to have an effect.

If the waste is being left on site..... where ? There'll be a monster pile from that lot and the garden looks small. Call some tree surgeons from the yellow pages. Ask them to bring proof of qualifications and insurance. See what they quote.

You have to do 2 cuts using a boring method with the mini mill... .... not for the faint hearted!!

Nice and looks good with the waney edge. I love the contrast you get with yew between sap and heartwood....

I wish we had elm down here..... Such a lovely timber to work with.

I'd say selling 1 saw a day for £150 profit is hugely better than 20 a day with £10 profit (or even £20). There's all the card charges, wrapping stuff up, doing receipts etc etc., more talking to people, much higher costs, more chances of mistakes. But of course paying a cheaper price for the same saw is going to result in happier customers especially when the back up service is good. But by this rational in the end there would be no local dealers and just a few huge dealers left. Again I'm not saying that's a good or a bad thing - but that's the way it would go.

The mark up on spare parts for chainsaws is tiny totally different from car manufacturers. Spare parts are expensive to buy because the manufacturer charges big time for them so the servicing guy makes very very little. I would hazard a guess that warranty work is also paid less then 'normal work'.

That's some good points. But you can still compare the two as per aftersales service of a chainsaw, getting spares quickly, speed of repairs, information provision etc.

I didn't want to add that to an already long post! But will now stick my neck firmly on the rail track! Ditto - look at all the threads/posts where we complain about people under quoting, etc etc... Yet this thread seems to clearly demonstrate that when we are the customers we do exactly the same thing - i.e. forget about loyalty to your local dealer go for whoever is cheapest. There's nothing wrong with this at all but you can't then expect your local dealer to be happy about it.

The internet and shows have changed the way chainsaws and other 2 stroke machinery are bought. It's good for us the customers as = cheap equipment. I feel a bit for the dealers though in some ways. If they try and make money on a saw they won't get the business. If they price match they won't make any money. Look at it from the other point of view. If you quoted for a hedge job and the customer said "sorry but this other fellow will travel a 100 miles and is £150 cheaper". Then a week later said customer calls and says "he's made a bit of a mess of it can you come and finish it off properly" would you be somewhat annoyed? Yes I know he's a Stihl dealer and has an obligation to repair Stihl products but can you blame him for being annoyed? That's not excusing how he behaved as it sounds like he was throwing his rattle out..... Perhaps the end is in sight i.e. internet buying and returning stuff for repairs by post. Maybe that's the future despite manufacturers trying to prevent it.

Used an ankalad system for years and found it to be very good. Can be a bit fiddly with the buttons at times but as said with someone on the bottom very handy.

I use Oregons smallest pull cord on a 100 ft reel with a big shot and it's excellent. No knotting or tangling or cutting through your fingers!

I'll be there Les and up for some food as long as I sell something!

Some serious heavyweight posting going on here! But very informative thanks

Excellent look forward to seeing it Put a reminder up when it's on.

Wonder what all these things will cost in 20 years from now? And what the price of diesel will be?!

Great set up and the chainsaw mills look excellent especially the carriage one