Chris Sheppard

With the header bricks out we should be able to get 9" wide by 6" deep I think. Currently the concrete lintels are only on 4" overlap but we should be able to get a fair bit more on one end - the other might be a bit more difficult but worse case we could run another course of bricks up to get 8" overlap. To get more than 4" at the other end of the wall we want out is doable if need be but am hoping we can get away with maybe 4" wide but quite deep piece going out that way. Maybe 9x9 for the piece to replace the concrete lintels and 8x4 for the piece to run where the wall is? Sorry for the poor pic - the lintels are purely supporting the concrete roof - the photo was taken from the back door so everything in the photo is part of the outbuilding. What I was hoping to do was to use a mortise and tenon joint to make up the T Dad's been a civil engineer for the last 40 years and is retiring in about 5 weeks so will have plenty of time on his hands to help out - but his experiences with using wood in structural situations are a bit more limited

I'm hoping that as it's only an outbuilding and not officially part of the house as such, that we might be OK keeping it unofficial Hope photo shows it a bit more clearly - I can't get far enough back to get any more in. If we have to go down the official route then I think it might have to be steel as we need to put it in as a "T" - the top of the T going between where the doorframes were and the long bit of the T going back towards the back wall.

I completely understand where you're coming from - when they were first talked about I was absolutely convinced I wasn't going to have one due to the autotune. Took a 560 on demo for a week and within the first 5 minutes I was pretty much convinced I was going to buy a 550 off the back of using the 560. I almost didn't want to like it but really impressed me. So far, mine has been fine, but if it does go wrong I'll finish the day off with whatever spare saw I've got with me and drop it in the dealer on the way home. I know they'll get it sorted as quick as they can. If it turns out to be problematci it can go on ebay once the warranty's out - by then it should have earnt it's keep anyway. My understanding is that all the auto tune is doing is twiddling the high and low screws as such anyway. the 346 isn't bad - but the 550 is a whole new level You should be able t o pick up a 550 for £500 all in without too much haggling - that's 346 money isn't it?

Thanks for the replies guys. Hadn't thought about what would happen in the event of a fire - that's a good point Dave A Fitch plate sounds like it would make things a lot easier, I'm liking that idea Does the timber that's encasing the steel help to stiffen up the steel or is it purely cosmetic? Where the original doorframes are, there are two 4"x6" concrete lintels that join in the middle where the dividing wall is, with taking out a bit of cosmetic brickwork we could fit a 6" deep by 9" wide timber in. Going out along where the dividing wall is coming out is currently only single brick thick so might need to make the pillar at the far end wider yet, but as it is could take 4" wide and 6" deep. I'll try and get some photos today to show it better.

I can't comment on the 261 as I've never used one, but all I can hope is it's better than any of the other small stihls I've used in the past. Out of the two I'd sway towards the 346. However, the 550 is the same money as the 346 (or should be if you know your dealer well) and will blow the socks off the other two. I've had my 550 a couple or 3 months now and it's doing well still. Out of the box they have loads of zip, but once the auto tune beds in properly it just gets better and better. Geometry wise it reminds me of the old 242 and it's lighter than a 346 as well.

That's exactly what happned to the one I have. I went down the route of non gen barrel and piston and that got round the auto decompressor problem as the new cylinder was for a normal decompressor. the non gen cylinder doesnt seem to give as aggressive power delivery but it still runs an 18" bar OK. Think Spud's done a few where he's blanked off the auto decomp where it leaves the basee of the cylinder and fitted a normal decomp.

Not sure if this is in the right place so bear with me On the side of our house is a single storey, brick out building with a 6" poured reinforced concrete roof, that once upon time was probably an outside toilet and coal shed (two separate rooms). but at some point had a roof put between that and the house and a door on each end and became a bit of an extension to the house. What we're planning on doing is knocking the dividing wall out to make the outbuilding into one bigger room - some of the neighbours have done the same but either risked not using a lintel or used steel. I've no problem with doing it with Steel, but I'd prefer to do it out of timber (partly for aesthetics and partly as it won't hold the cold as much), especially as there's relatively little weight to support and only over a relatively small span (sub 6ft). However, I've never used wood in an application like this and wondered how you get round any movement in the wood compared to steel which should pretty much be inert - I'm guessing we'd have to use something that was suitably dried already, but are certain species better/worse than others? Might have enough bits of Oak to do it out of but would take some drying out, but not averse to using some shop bought kilned softwood if I had too. Also do you still put a fillet of mortar on top like you would with steel or just push it up into place and fill below it? Hope that makes more sense that it did to me reading it back

That looks fantastic, absolutely fantastic

I've had a hankering for one of those for a while, just can't bring myself to part with the 90. From what I gathered, they're pretty much a LWB pajero underneath with a van body - think the earlier ones were L300 bodies.

Once upon a time maybe Morrison's or Asda here

Older 4.2 lancruisers seem to be well thought of for travelling.

It's something I hope to do one day

Husky 560 or if I was scared of autotune, husky 372 If you only had one saw to choose from then anything less powerfull would soon get boring when you needed a bit more go.

No prob. IT's something tht's on my to do list at some point too but it never seems to get any closer Might not get much useful info for costs in relation to UK, but there's shedloads of US based websites that might help with timescales etc - Log home Builders Association and International Log Builders Association could be a good start

Think Nathan from Home Forestry said he'd built some so maybe worth speaking to him - he's on here somewhere. There's a guy who I don't think's based too far from you Sam (maybe not Cumbria but somewhere North of Yorkshire and below Scotland), who built the one at Grizedale. Met him a while back but can't rememember his name Do you not fancy building one?

How long's a piece of string? Work it backwards - to start with, what's it worth to you at roadside? Then work out how much will it cost you to get each tonne from stump to roadside, how much per tonne to fell/crosscut/stack. Take all that off the rodside price and that will give you the figure per tonne to give a break even, so then the rest comes down to what profit you hope to turn.

Where's it say that?

agreed

If you do happen to go for a 266 (or 262 possibly) I know where there's a genuine piston and cylinder kit sat on a dealers shelf gathering dust that should be similar money to a non gen kit but better quality.

There's definitely a knack to starting them. On my 181, I pull it over til it's just before fully compressed and then give it a good go. Usually fires first time and starts second or third. Trying to start it like a little saw just makes hard work and sore fingers

Qualifications (other than certificates of competance maybe) won't help much from a cutting point of view, more important for managerial roles I'd have thought. Experience, IMO, is more important. There seems to be a good few colleges offering courses that combine Arboriulture and Forestry but in reality seem to concentrate on tree surgery skills.

10-12 a week is an awful lot - do you tap then out to clear the filings? I used to use nothing but Oregon but after using up the last of a batch I bought a few years ago, the newest box I bought wasn't great. Tried Stihl ones and think they seem to last longer than the oregon ones. Dunno best place online for them though as picked mine up local.

254 wouldn't be a bad one. 242's are nice but seeme to command good money on ebay - most of the one's I've wanted have been too far away and the seller's woun't post or let a courier collect.

Finally got round to actually building my bench this morning and even got chance to christen it with a saw this afternoon Have a couple of old Husky 42's one's a late 80's grey top one and the other is a late 90's 42 special we think. The old grey top seems to be in better fettle but when warm and sat on it's side the idle would increase, sat upright again it would drop back to normal. Made me chuckle when felling with it Other than that it ran pretty well so figured I'd try the carb off the other one first before delving too deep - that seems to have cured it, though I've only cut a few bits in the garden so far. The other one is one I bought off ebay ages ago as a "good runner", yes it ran but very poorly - pics are on the other computer but what had happened was at some point someone had had te carb off and refitted but managed to fold the gasket in half and it was sucking in air (and crud probably) and it needs a piston at the very least. Only paid a little more than spares money for it so not too fussed.

As above, there are some similarities but not as much as a lot of people think. Yes, they both involve chainsaws and trees and there are some activities that are a bit of a cross over, but on the whole they are two completely different activities. There's plenty of companies out there that do both though successfully. Generally though (not always beforee any one starts ), someone with a purely tree suregery type background may be quite slow to start with in production forestry, making themselves a lot of extra work and someonewith a purely commercial forestry background may be a bit rough for non climbing tree surgery work. From my experiences, Tree surgery pays better money for less effort than forestry, but forestry is less stressful. There's plenty of people out there that like the idea of forestry but think they can earn Arb money at it. Most soon realise setting chokers all day or running 8-10 tanks through a saw shortwooding and stacking isn't as glamorous as it sounds EDIT: What Andy said