Chris Sheppard

We had a 3.0 @ 140hp a while ago and it was ace. Would go all day with 3.5tonne trailer and fully loaded in the back and barely know it was there. This one was a downrated 5 tonner though so don't know if there's much difference between that and an off the shelf 3.5 tonner.

From what I've read (no actual experience yet ) it does't have to be perfectly straight, more important is that the grain is fairly straight rather than twisted as the whole shell will try to twist and the notches can open up I'd be talking to local estates and looking for blocks of over stood softwood for thinning as they should be some reasonably long/thin straight trees. Apparently, Poplar isn't bad for cabins either. Long term, I still want to build a cabin and really want to do it out of Douglas Fir.

Got my old Husky 181 put back together this afternoon and it runs - not ran it for long but sounds pretty good so far. Next on the list is a 42 special I bought cheap off ebay - supposedly a good runner but his idea and mine obviously differ Didn't pay a lot for it so kept it anyway. whipped barrel off - not good, but think I might have found the cause How someone managed to not realise they only half had the gasket in place I'll never know. Bottom end feels pretty gritty too - will get rest of it to bits at some point and see if crank is OK.

It lives Finally got the last gasket for it yesterday so spent this afternoon sat out in the garden putting it all back together. Always a bit tentative when it comes to starting up a fresh engine, but it all turned freely with no horrid noises. Checked for spark, all OK, bit of petrol in, fired after a couple of pulls and started on the third. Only ran it for a minute or so but should get chance this coming week to let it warm up properly and see how it's running

What sort of money do the Niab ones start at and how much HP tractor would it need?

Nice find Charlie If anyone's after a good cabin building book, I just got one delivered from the US last week direct from the Author for £29 all in (same one over here is £50 something plus postage!). It really does go into a lot of detail - if anyones interested in it, here's the link Learn Log Home Construction -- Book In his links page, theres a free downloadable book too that was done for the Alaskan government and that's not bad either, though it is a fairly big file.

If you can, swing by a local sawmill and beg/buy a bundle of slabwood - it'll cost you a lot less but still give the same effect. Round us it's usually worst case £10 a bundle and a bundle is usually thick end of a tonne or so.

For the extra £25, the 550 is, IMO, leagues ahead of the 346. My 550 is a 2011 one and has been great so far, working in timber I'd usually be taking a 60cc saw into. It really does rip and holds power when buried hard into a stick. Only thing I can think of worth mentioning is that warm starting is a totally different routine to starting a "normal" husky but as saws are a new thing to you, it shouldn't be a problem:thumbup1: I would say, however, that you might find it a bit lively for your first saw.

The current Ferrari/BCS/pasquali are all pertty much the same tractors (all owned by one big company) just with different coloured/styled panels. AGT - simple, basic, does what it should but maybe not the prettiest. Owned an older Carraro for a couple of years and never had anything much to do to it mechanically despite working it harder than I maybe should have. Best I've seen so far was a Carraro with 9000 odd hours on and still running well. Thought that was quite good for a small tractor. Never had anythng to do with Goldoni.

If I could justify it, I'd really quite like one of the 95hp Carraros. 16" ground clearance, 40K gearbox and a lifts somthing daft like 2000kg on the linkage. Weighs about 2 tonne and is only about the same size as a normal 40hp compact but still oscilates like a normal alpine. If you're not needing the stability of an Alpine, then a decent sized compact on the right wheels/tyres can be made to work really well, and come in cheaper too. Used to run a 50hp alpine, mainly for winching, and it would handle steep ground well, but lacked on ground clearance. Regularly work alongside a 28hp Landini that punches well above it's weight and we've recently picked up an older 40hp Kubota for pulling the forwarding trailer and that works well too. Only critiscism with any of the smaller conventional tractors is they cross axle really easily so you need to be thinking a fair way in front.

I've no experience of the little stihl, but our local husky dealer was telling me he's sold a few of the 435's to pro guys who were looking for small saws for underbrashing etc and they seem to last fairly well considering that's not the sort of abuse they were built for. If you've not got experience of usign a chainsaw, then I'm sure you' be fine with either. It will feel plenty fast enough,even on the 12" or so diameter stuff - loads faster than doing it by hand. If you were going to be doing it regularly though, 40cc would get boring fairly quickly

Have you not seen the alstor on arbtrader for £19K?

Sounds good stuff Quite fancy trying one batch of dry and one of sweet.

Not this time it aint

Something I've been wanting to try doing for a few years, I finally got round to having a go at tapping some birch this year. Got around 7 litres so far and should have enough by the weekend to do 2 gallon's worth. Have found a few recipe variations on the web but wondered if anyone has any tried and tested recipes they'd be up for sharing? Got a batch of Elderberry and Bramble wine maturing at the mo - never tried making wine before that so it could be rank

We're coming to the end of a thinning job and should have at least one load, possibly a couple, of Birch firewood spare. All sub 15" diameter but 90% sub 12" and pretty straight. Cut to 12'. Site is just outside York with very good access for 8 Wheeler, though we do have a preffered haulier we can put you in touch with. PM for more info

Even taking the braking out of the equation, there's no mudguards, non-speed rated tyres, no suspension and a dolly can only be used for recovering of a vehicle to a safe place. Still looks ace though

Great book, good film and great soundtrack

That looks ace, but I'd be doubtful you'd get away with towing it like that in the UK for very long

So, a couple of weeks further on and so far all's good in 550 land. Had it in some skanky,hairy lodgepole today (you know the sort - even when they hit the ground they're still 4 foot off the ground ) and it made light work of snedding the big, horrible, hairy beasts. Ordinarily it's the sort of stuff I'd have been using the 372 with a shorter bar in but as the sprocket nose self destructed on that this morning, the 550 got drafted in and really surprised me. Did fell a few of the smaller ones with it too but generally they were 24" give or take and it was quicker to crop them off with the 72 on a bigger bar (which is a donkey to sned with) Only real gripe I have had with it so far, but seeme to have solved, was how easy it is to flood after re-fuelling. Pretty much it bolied down to not reading the manual properly and trying to start it like a normal husky and giving it choke - all it needs is half revs setting and a couple of pulls and away it goes For how reluctant I was to give modern technology a try, all I can say is I ain't half glad I didn't buy a 346 (just hope the electrics don't prove to be it's downfall)

Do Caledonian not bring in Kranman stuff anymore?

On Radio 1 this aft on the 10 min takeover there was a request for S club 7 by Mark the Tree surgeon from Kent - Was it our very own Mr Bolam

Just been out and whipped piston off - think we have a winner Wasn't obvious from the outside because of the state of the piston and the groove but a look from underneath showed this. What causes it to lose a peg? must have had some fair force to blow it through like that

Drawn a bit of a blank - both bearings seem complete with nothing missing and the big end seems sound. Haven't taken anything apart on the inlet side of the cylinder yet so maybe something let go from inside the carb? Anyhow, just managed to save a fair bit as managed to source crank bearings without going through Husq as the originals have the SKF part no on the side still £3.81 each inc delivery compared to £15 each from Husky