djbobbins

I've just sent an email asking why the prices are so different to the Stihl UK contact address on their website. Will post on here if I get a reply!

... Stihl chainsaws are so much more expensive in the UK than the USA? I have just found a site near where a pal of mine's family live (Pennsylvania) where a Stihl authorised dealer is selling an MS250 with 16" bar for $319.95. At current exchange rates that's less than £200, yet the Stihl UK recommended price for the same model is £505 and my local dealer (who appears to offer a good discount on Stihl gear) is £348. Is this like the whole thing with Levi jeans years ago where they operated separate prices for different markets?

Called in to a local "outdoors" shop today to have a visual at the saws. They've got a few different Stihls in, top of the line they stock appeared to be the MS230 16" bar. But I nearly fell over when I saw the price - this is less than 10 miles away from the local specialist equipment dealer. Same saw, same bar, £410 at the outdoors shop, £306 at the equipment shop, £440 Stihl RRP. More than £100 difference for two places, both authorised Stihl dealers, so close together! Clearly pays to shop around.

I can't comment on the impact of Eucalyptus on soil, other than the fact that the two I've cut down (in my front and back garden) both had wide-ranging networks of roots just under the grass. Made a real bu*&er of my lawn! What I can say is that both trees were, I believe, planted in the early 90s, and both were about 40" tall - they had both been subject to at least one pollarding in the past too. I felled the first one in the summer of 2007 and the second in 2008. Both have been cut into 9 - 12 inch sections and stacked to dry / season. Things I've learned: The amount of greenery and unusable branches (stuff less than about 1.5" where the effort to cut it up for the fire seemed greater than the benefit of burning it) was higher than for e.g. alder. The wood dries and cracks more than anything else I've seen. No photos but there are sections of trunk in my yard that look more like pacman than a circle. Any sections without knots in will split - particularly if cracks have appeared during drying. Anything with knots in or at a fork you have got no hope of splitting. At 2 and a half years after felling, the wood burns well in an open fire - good heat and holds together well without being too hard. Not far behind some seasoned ash as a firewood, I'd say. You might want to take a look at this: Prima Bio - eucalyptus specialists - promoting new uses for eucalypts and this: AIE - Firewood - information In summary - if I had some land that I wanted to yield firewood from, and didn't have to think too hard about the future usability of the ground, I'd plant eucalyptus without a second thought. Good luck!

Also did someone just try to send me a private message? I got some kind of acceptance box on my screen which I accepted but the security software is set to reject pop-ups and so the message didn't appear... I've allowed pop-ups for now if you want to get back in touch!

There is a dealer just up the road from here (DC Burgoyne, just east of Knowle i.e. half way between Warwick and Solihull) that is doing an MS230 with 16" bar for £306. My plan is to go round there for a bit of a look and to discuss relative merits of the 230 vs a Husky 435.

Will definitely be getting the trousers as well; I have got a contact today for one of our PPE suppliers at work (I work for a major utility) so will have a bit of a fish to see if I can get a decent price! I'm not certificated but have been felling trees and doing logging for 25 years, using chainsaws, felling axes and even a two man cross-cut saw. If the Jonsered 2138 is out (and from what I've seen of reviews of Poulan equipment, if it's a rebadged Poulan then it is out), what about a Husky 435, 15" bar? I have found somewhere doing them for £255.

At risk of asking the same question 50 other people have asked on here... I've got about £200 to spend on a new saw. I'm got some experience of using chainsaws and have equipped myself with boots, helmet, gloves (trousers next on the list). I was given a cheap (from Aldi) 38cc, 16" saw which I have used for the last couple of years, during which time I've felled a couple of decent sized eucalyptus (40 foot), done a fair bit of logging and most recently felled about 30 alder. The saw is now difficult / impossible to start and I'm a bit concerned about its safety - it seems to be prone to bouts of over-revving and I'm not convinced that the chain brake would have any effect if anything happened. I've now got the opportunity to manage a piece of woodland, basically just thinning out to allow me to take as much firewood as I want. It's mainly alder (not necessarily the best for burning, I know) so the bulk of it is only 10" or so but there are a few bigger bits in there. I will probably do about 10-15 sessions a year down at the wood, so don't want to splash out £500 on a saw, but what I do want is: something which will start and run from cold, warm or hot 16-18" bar conventional chain tensioner will provide 5 years plus of service on the workload I want from it Having looked around I was very tempted by a Mcculloch ProMac 10-46 (I've had good experience with Mcculloch garden gear before) but see that in most places it is out of stock so I'm guessing its discontinued. I'm now thinking about a Jonsered CS2138, which seem to be going for about £170 - but the question in my mind is whether it's worth the extra 100 sheets and a slight compromise on bar length to go for a Husky 435 instead?? (Or - I've got no particular hang-up on brand, so if anyone has a different suggestion I am happy to consider all options!) Thoughts / views / opinions appreciated.