Rob D

Hmmm... not really and have to say not milled many if any logs that have been that valuable getting the extra slab is worth losing sleep over. There always seems to be loads of wood out of a big tree and it's always a relief to get the last slab out! More important I'd say is you want the job to be as easy on you and your gear as possible given how hard chainsaw milling is so the switch to lo pro is more about that. But on the larger saws the 27RX makes milling so much user friendly although overall speed is slightly slower and finished boards are slightly rougher. The 3/8 lo pro set up is not for everyone as there is less margin for error I'd say.

Good luck Steve and I'd lay a few crisp smooth new £10 this won't be the last tree you'll ever climb! One door closes another opens - I still do the odd tree now and again - it feels great to be up there again and also feels great when you come down, take your harness off and know you made the right decision not to be doing it full time anymore... It's not so much the tree climbing that's the downside it's all the nonsense that surrounds it... Either way though onwards and upwards!!

Apologies late reply only just seen this - comes with a light type dime tip carving bar.

There is nothing wrong with Oregon 91VXL chain - one of the best lo pro chains out there in my opinion. Prob it is not ideal for smaller top handled saws - but that does not mean the chain is no good! The bumper drive links although mainly designed for reduced kickback seem to give a smoother cut so if your saw seems overly grabby and it's a new chain maybe switch to 3/8 lo pro .043 chain - this is the 3/8 lo pro in a narrower version and gives a cleaner and smoother cut ie. Oregon 90PX or Stihl 3610. Age of a bar and chain mean nothing if the bar has been damaged - just because a bar is a few days old doesn't mean it's not the bar if something nasty has happened to it.

Apologies late reply - other posters bear in mind 3/8 is not the same as 3/8 lo pro. 3/8 standard chain seems to give little advantage over .404 chain. 3/8 lo pro chain does have advantages over .404 and 3/8 standard. Here is the rub - you can run 3/8 lo pro on the MS880 and we have a 48" bar that does it. Can be used in conjunction with a GB lo pro drive rim. BUT 3/8 lo pro chain is weaker than .404 chain - and we have folk calling up scratching their heads saying their .404 chain on their MS880 has snapped... You need to be fully up together on your chainsaw maintenace and bar maintenace and chain maintenance. And have a good knowledge of the wood you are milling plus your chain sharpening needs to be spot on. I've been using the 48" lo pro bar on my MS880 for around 12 months now with no issues - however if you are rough with your gear (I know no one on here is of course this comment for any guests reading!) then there is a greater risk of chain snapping. You also have to be careful with the wood you mill - super hard ash and yew would also increase risk. Poor chain sharpening with too big a gullet in the tooth would make it too aggressive and put more strain on the chain. .404 chain can cope with the above type issues - 3/8 lo pro might not. Plus there is more chain stretch and also I'm not sure it oils quite as well as a .404 chain. Pros are - gives a lovely clean cut, keeps the speed up and board is smoother.

As above it's Olive ash - I think a fungus induced staining which can vary in depth of colour - but can look extremely attractive.

Got to be worth a saturday to turn that into summat useful ain't it!

Yep I'm not surprised I mean ripple has gone up x350 in 2017?! It does not seem real - but the facts are - Ripple went up x350 in 2017. So whether it seems real or not - them is the facts. Will it keep going up? I expect so but of course there are no guarentees....

Ok Ian done you and Mr Kipling (in terms of 200 Dogecoin before someone starts making lewd assumptions!) That is a wallet you have there. It is a called a 'hot' wallet as they hold the key for you. Less secure but much easier to use. This year will find it easier to spend crypto - at the moment the interface between the fiat and cryto world is the barrier but that will change... Am away for a bit now - so that's all the free Dogecoins sent.... will check back on this thread on my return.

Next 12 weeks should be fine, next 6 months as well (probably!) - long term I'd say Bitcoin's days have to be numbered. Huge power to mine it, slow to send and expensive to send. At the moment it is used to buy other coins but if the exchanges start to change that? Well then surely it's days are numbered. Ethereum is a better bet - but again newer technologies are emerging. Some of the newer coins such as NEM, TRON, CARDANO, RIPPLE I'd say are better bets.. but of course no one really knows. There are new and much better coins and much better technology now. I was checking out RaiBlocks - newer technology - transactions are fast and FREE! Yes it is free to send money from A to B and uses virtually no power. Ok these newer technologies are new - no doubt there are bugs etc but in the end I'd expect them to take over. I tend to use Binance now as preferred exchange - most coins I put in wallets and the rest leave on the exchange to trade (I accept these are at risk if the exchange is hacked). Best thing I reckon is to spread your coins about rather than have them all in one coin.

Ok Rich and Mark just sent you over 200 Dogecoins - they should show up pretty quickly Anyone else? Will do around 1000 coins...

So anyone going to stick their head above the parapet?

Yes because last year as from 1st Jan 2017 it was $0.000233 and 1st Jan 2018 it was $0.00870 so an increase on investment 3,700% or x37. Saw the bank manager the other day as needed to open another account. He also asked did I want a savings account? 'How much interest does it pay' 'Oh it's 0.35%' he replied. You're right - it goes to show how ridiculous some people are with their investments

Apologies on this one only the first sentence on my post was for you - the rest for everyone else. Now I read it back it makes me look like a right patronising so and so which I know I am - but I just didn't mean to be on this occasion

Limited time offer, terms and conditions apply, myself as the sender will not be held responsible for the loss, damage or otherwise degradation of this Dogecoin or other implied monetary .. blah blah blah

OK Rich how about some Dogecoin for this year? Free to a good home - x200 of the little beauties! Download this wallet (make sure is this one as the others can be harder to set up) - find the receive bit, take a pic and post up here. Same for anyone else on here x200 Dogecoin which I reckon will be worth $200 end of this year, it could be more! And if it burns out it cost you nowt! - stick the scan picture thing up on here and I'll send you some. Just as a wee experiment.

Yep we are all entitled to our own opinion simple is that... I still struggle a bit (ok I lie I struggle a lot!) with why everyone just keeps looking at the money involved with crypto currency... the money is the smallest part of it!! The money is a minor side effect of it... it is the tip of the tip of the iceberg. Imagine crypto currency as a rocket. This rocket is going to the moon. Bitcoin was that first big booster/fuel cell that comes off the rocket and falls back to earth as the rocket comes out of the atmosphere. It was and still is a fundamental necessary thing but in the end it will fall back to earth as it is no longer needed. Hence no need to stay too focused on Bitcoin. It is needed for now but I suspect in the future (but this is still a year or so away) it will be available to see as a small glass exhibit at a museum!

Yep fair enough Spud - like virtually everything in life it is not for everyone. I reckon just keep an open mind to it all... that's all. No need to have strong opinions on this that and everything else. Me personally deep down I think we have not even started yet... this is the start. This sphere is beyond what has ever happened before. It will usher in new technology that could not even have been dreamed about. It's not all about the money - but money always comes in handy! What are my reasons for bleating on about it? Same as they were in the original post...

Well said Rich... Although could be amended to a Dog e coin is for life or until it reaches $1.00 then you sell the lot and emigrate to Barbados

What I can't work out seeing the reactions on here is that folks seem to be placing themselves in a lose loses situation in their opinions and thoughts. If Bitcoin and the like explodes upwards, keeps going and makes fortunes - it'll be unfair because that'll be taking food out of you and your families mouths. If Bitcoin and the like crashes and burns never to be heard of again - the best you can do is say 'told you so'.

Yep you're right who in their right mind would invest in such a thing... you would have to be beyond stupid... right? (only history and perspective judges stupidity from brilliance....). Luckily I only have $3k in that one so phew! (and no I'm not joking either!). Why would I do that? Because so often it is these type of ventures that start as a joke or start as a mistake end up being some of the biggest ideas. They have a great friendly community behind Dogecoin, they have a forum and it is cheap and easy to use. I would expect this to increase in value x100 in 2018 (no am not joking about that neither!). I got my missus some for Christmas - she hid her delight and surprise surprisingly well

Bitcoin has the possiblity of crashing but not because it is a scam or a pyramid scheme... Massive power consumption now needed to perform Bitcoin mining. And you can't just stop mining because it is the miners that validate and run the network. Is it therefore sustainable? This power usage will only get higher and higher... If the price drops a lot it becomes not worth mining it - which means the network slows down and or even ceases - which means more people sell, price drops, and down she goes! High transfer fees - because Bitcoin has increased so much in value the fees for transferring Bitcoin have gone up - they were always meant to be negligible. Speed of transactions slow - again down to price and the amount of transactions on the network. Few years ago they were instant - now they can take up to 10 hours. The whole ethos of Bitcoin was to have fast cost free transactions. But both these main fundamentals are no longer true. Doubts about Tether coin which it seems could have been used to artifically increase the price of Bitcoin and if the all the coins drop then people buy Tether (which is pegged to $1) in order to safeguard gains... then when you think the Bitcoin price is at lowest you buy in again. Last time looked at this there were $800 million in Tether, now there are $1,200 million of tether... if you look at the chart you can see it has gone up because folk see all the coins dropping and look for a safe haven! And this coin has got to be the least safe haven! I was hoping at some point in the thread we could turn the debates and discussion more about the above rather than just the standard 'she looks like a witch so buuuuurrrrnnnnnnn her' type posts

Haha! Just worked it out! You're that Kaiser Sosay or Satoshi Nakamoto right? Now if you don't know Satishi Nakamoto or who he is - maybe have a wee Google (if this interests you) and look into things a little deeper than what the Daily Mail does