Gnarlyoak

That's cheap, your HIRED! If I was on Wayne Rooneys wage I could pimp myself out as a freelance climber on £42K a day!! £42K a day and yet he's only scored 1 world cup goal in this his third tournament. And as for Suarez, I agree with Steve he should be banned for life and forced to seek some psychiatric help. He's a mentalist!!

Nasty. Condolences to his family & friends, got to feel for the motorist that witnessed the event as well. Could be a while before they have a peaceful nights sleep!

Well that seemed to be a resounding yes for heated handles then. So two firsts this morning!! Not only have I ordered a new saw with heated handles, I've jumped ship to the other side and expect to be the proud new owner of a Husky 560XPG in the next few days. Many thanks to all those that took the time to reply and offer their own personal words of wisdom!

Hi Peeps, Could do with an assist regarding an issue I'm currently having trying to retune my MS200 after solvent cleaning my carb (Zama) and fitting a new carb kit. Saw starts up OK, but I'm really struggling to get it to idle properly. Its either revving its bollox off and chain running like the clappers, or it just stalls. Constantly trying to reset screws to factory setting and just can't seem to find the middle ground, its either to much or not enough!!! What am I missing? Many thanks.

Hi guys, Looking at getting a new saw. I've decided which make & model to go for, just trying to decide if its worth spending a few more of my hard earned dollars on a heated handle variety or not. Now I know we don't get uber cold winters here, but I do suffer from a bit of arthritis in my fingers. Would heated handles help to ease the effects of this condition, when its cold & wet? Anyone else experienced similar, switched to using saws with heated handles and noticed an improvement?

Too true Dervish, lesson learned. Bit peeved as I could have resited the box much closer on another tree that may have only been 3-4 feet away. But this was right on the border of a neighbours garden, and he refused to have the box placed there because "he might get stung!"

Have two ropes, comp climber has to climb up 1 and down the other. BUT, the one they climb up is soaked in petrol or filled with firework gunpowder.... set light to the end when they are half way up!!! Or hire out BB guns or bows & arrows to the spectators. (Arrows could have them rubber suctions caps on that you get in them kiddies kits, I suppose!!). Then it would be a case of "on your marks, get set, GO/FIRE"! Be a right laugh after a few scoops in the beer tent.... Sorry, I don't have any serious suggestions...

Thanks for the links Wisecobandit & Ray1. Had tried a search on the "bay", but was searching Teikei rather than TK, so had limited joy with my initial search.

Ohh. That might not be good news. I did notice as we left the job, that there was still a crowd of bees buzzing around in thin air at precisely the spot where the box they were nesting in used to be!!!

Hi Folks, I have an old Stihl FS65 strimmer and had been looking to get a carb repair kit for it. The only identifying features I can find on the carb are the words "Tekei" Japan. Anyone any ideas where I might find a UK seller for parts for this make of carb? Many thanks in anticipation.

So here's an uncommon scenario that I came across last week. Turned up at a customers back garden last week to fell two small 12-15ft dead trees. Clocked straight away that both trees had bird boxes attached to them! Immediately, given the time of year, asked the customer if there was anything in them. "No!" he says..... Anyhoo, not 100% convinced decided to climb the first tree and double check. Knocked on the side of the box, no sign of any movement or sounds that it might be occupied. Fidgeted away with the clasps securing the lid and finally removed it and peeked inside only to see a Mrs.Great Tit sat blinking and staring back at me. Lid straight back on, down I come. Sorry mate we can't fell that, nesting bird, against the law, Wildlife & Countryside Act an all that, yadaa yadaa yadaa. Erm, what about the other tree? he asks. So went to the other side of the garden. Threw my rope up into a crotch just above the nesting box in that tree. I flicked my rope to slap against the side of the box to see if I got a response before disturbing it. A small white bottomed bumble bee flew out, flicked rope again, and got the same response. Err, you appear to have bees nesting in that one mate. Oh, he says, is there a law against moving that? Well I have to admit, I was buggered if I knew wether or not wild bumble bees are afforded any legal protection in terms of disturbing where they have set up home. Never came across this situation before, does anyone here know if there are any restrictions on moving wild bee nest? On this occasion my attempt to overcome the situation was to block up the hole, remove nesting box from dead tree to be felled, replace box in a neighbouring tree. Unblock hole and run like Billie-O to a safe distance. So dead bee tree felled. Dead bird tree left standing, telling the customer we'd be back in a few weeks after the chicks had hatched & fledged in 4-6 weeks to complete the job.

Charcoal made from Alder use to be used to make gunpowder, when ground down it make a very fine powder apparently. But don't try this at home, as you may be arrested and charged under the terrorism act.

Not really mate. If a 20m tree stands 18m away from the line, and it falls over (eg due to storm damage) then it takes out the power line! And that's what the utilities companies want to try and avoid. Recent history demonstrates the problems this causes, people without power for days over Christmas & New Year, and sadly one old boy died during this winters storm when he tried to remove a tree which had partially fallen across a road, but was hung up on a live power line.

Always have a small Swiss Army Knife (Huntsman) in my pocket. Freed many a young tree from being strangulated by its too tight tie/strap bondage.

Cheers for that Gardenkit. Info much appreciated. So presumably you can now buy "chainsaw parts" online, but you can only buy a complete chainsaw face to face from an authorised dealer. If I'm reading it right. Brilliant. Why the chuffing heck couldn't they have just adopted this policy in the first place!?! Bleedin muppets!

This isn't an attempt to re-open the whole ludicrous (IMHO) online sales policy implemented by Stihl in 2013. Though I am getting seriously fed up of having to put up with saw down time, because I'm too busy work wise to be able to get to a Stihl dealer to order parts, and then have to find the time up to a week later to go back to the dealer and pick up the ordered parts, just to get a saw up and bloody running again. However, I seem to recall a thread here on AT a couple of months ago that seemed to intimate that Stihl were reconsidering their online sale ban. Does anyone know if this is still the case and if so when it might happen. Or was it all just an ugly rumour? Or did I just dream it?

Sounds like a nice little side line business opportunity then Ty. Take back a van load and punt them out at half your local French price, and doubles your money. Kerching!

Every Husky can I've ever come across does exactly the same. Total PITA, & takes some time and practice fiddling to get the spout to sit plumb. Sack it and buy a Stihl. May cost a few dollars more, but probably pays for itself with the amount of fuel you'll save not dribbled all over the floor, back of the van, customers drive!!!!! Never had as dribbling issue with my Stihl!

Get a bloody decent one, and a decent pulley while your at it, you tightwad.

Take a look at The Tree Council website. They now oversee the Tree Warden scheme, and have an interactive map of the UK giving the contact details of your nearest warden. They also do a handy little guide which is well worth the money at £4 a pop: The Good Seed Guide | The Tree Council

WOW, really????? Still winter here in UK, pretty much. Some smaller shrubby plants now have some leaf buds starting to open. But larger deciduous trees are all still very bare. And yet strangely your trees and hedgerows appear to be in full leaf. Then tree line in the distance on pics 1 and 3 show the trees at different stages of turning yellow........ So when you said a few weeks back, did you mean to say a few months? Because that looks like Sept/Oct not Jan..... Nice job though, whenever you did it.

Ahh, my apologies then sir, I had no idea that Stihl were planning to make a few tweaks to the 362. Usually when they decide to change a saw, they release it as a new model, with a new number. Like the old 361, which Stihl changed to adhere to new EU emission rules, which gave birth to the 362. Shame really the 361 was a mighty fine saw, the 362.... mmmeh! The 362 is a nice upgrade from a 261, if you want some extra power and/or to run a larger bar. But it might be OTT if you just want to ring up a bit of firewood, unless your regularly cutting through timber 12" or more.

Hello! Do I know you.....???? Stop stalking me...... Maybe I should have more lie ins to help restore my memory....

It may be considered morally wrong, but would it be "illegal" to pop down to that beach and, ahem, heave up a couple of those stumps and take them home as souvenirs? Bet they'd look lovely polished up and made into a table.....

Yeah, but the earthquake in Bristol Channel was only a 4.2 minor tremor barely felt by anyone not near the epicentre. Shame it wasn't a big fissure ripping quake in the middle of the Somerset levels, could have helped drain them within a few hours, then everyone could have gone home and back to normal! So long as their house was still standing.