raker

..............Could you just nip back down and get my screwdriver? A climb up the tallest tower on Yahoo! Video

I got stung a few weeks ago. First time in ages. Recon it took a couple of weeks to heal properly,it went a bit septic. I thought horsefly bites were bad ,its left a small purple scar. I was chopping some ivy off a dead tree with a bilhook when it stuck me in the arm.Stood and looked around for more but didnt see any so i chopped up the reclining tree then went for a brew. When i got back there must have been 20-30 wasps milling about looking for the entrance i had blocked. A mate got stung about 30 times when he was strimming. All in his boots and up his legs. I use piriton and put some deet on the sting site. Didnt have any adverse reaction to my sting and it didnt swell at all shortly after.

I bought a similar one from lidl a year or more ago. A folder. Cheap as chips and if i lost it, its no biggie.Still have it though and its still sharp.

My wife is a stroke unit nurse and knowing a little about her work , i think you have been very lucky(although it might not feel like it).Strokes are far from an affliction affecting the elderly. There have been folk in their twenties on my wifes ward. Lives completely destroyed. Important thing is to recognise the symptoms in others, as the right treatment early on is crucial. Best wishes for a full recovery.

If it sparks then then its maybe fuel not getting through or air filter blocked. Clean the filter first as thats the easiest, then try it. Old fuel in your carb may have gummed it up. Can you smell fuel and does your plug get wet?If not it might need a carb kit. Easy to do with a systematic aproach, otherwise your fuel line or impulse hose may be shot.Both simple fixes.

Doesnt copper nails and brake fluid kill trees?Might be some evidence of that.

We`ve got a Hamlet two door.Couple of years old now and only replaced the door sealing rope. Nice looking unit with airwash or whatever you call it to keep the glass from getting sooty. Certainly kicks out some heat and theres an option of integrating it into the central heating system if you want at any point.

Must be scored then. Its a bit of a `throwaway`saw, from the bottom end of the range with a clamshell design motor that doesnt lend itself to rebuilds that well.

Thats timed to finish friday evening. Together with saturday and sunday eves when a bit of alcohol is added is the worst time to bid on a saw. Stihls go for silly money, and you dont know what its condition is really like.I`d suspect that if you bid on it, it will be immediately outbid because someone has entered a price they will go to but it doesnt show until another bid is received. It will go in increments. You are better off looking in the week for buy it nows, just listed, where folks are having a clear out of inherited gear and job lots.They dont know the true value and just want rid with a shedload of other gear to turn a few quid. I picked up an ms180,50 quid,026c 95 quid and an 046 for 280 this way. Not much sign of use on any of them. A lot of time spent trawling pays dividends.

I think the answer will be no.Farmers do have people cut and clear trees for them as they are often too busy to do it themselves.I do it, but they also want to know that you are competant. Having read your other threads i think you need to take a step back and have a think about what you are getting into. Felling trees is dangerous and cant be taken lightly.Chainsaws are the most dangerous power tool you can own. Together its a recipe for disaster. Maybe fatally so. Get some training or help someone out who has some experience. Maybe just for free just to watch and pick up some safe working practices.

`wasteland` is a bit of a missnomer.All land belongs to someone. It might look unused or abandoned, but there arent huge tracts of wilderness like in some countries like Australia or Canada where you can do as you please. You can bet that however neglected an area appears,as soon as you take up some kind of activity on it someone will appear out of the woodwork to charge/sue/call the police/etc.

Well i find my 026 pretty indispensable, although i have a short length of pipe coming out of the exhaust. Mods really wake up this saw, and they`re not difficult to do. MS180,handy little saw for a lot of things.Some folks look down on them but if mine blew up i`d have another. Really good for the jobs described.

We`ve got a two door Hamlet. Dont know its model name offhand, but it has the riddles,clearview vents, and other vents. Locks down for an overnight burn, and the spares can be had from the country store i bought it from. Had it a couple of years and it still looks spanking. Only had to replace a door cord in that time.

I use an 046 with 18" and 28" bars. Great saw.They can eat dust, but i dont think its the filter, its the mating surface. I grease mine and have no problems. Keep the chain good and sharp to turn out clean chips and the dust should be at a minimum anyway. Not noticed any probs with the anti vibe personally, and use it for long periods without fatigue. Dont have any huskys so cant comment on them but the 046/460 proper rips with a muffler mod.

I burn a lot of willow in my stove. Due mainly to the fact that i do all the treework at the gunclub i go to.Its `wet` ground ,crossed by numerous streams,grows like a weed.Nice and dry its great, but fast burning.Let it get wet and even large rounds will start to sprout.

Years ago, at college doing engineering,we visited a local electricity generating station. The guy showed us round and said someone had got in to retrieve a frizbee. All they found was a charred handprint and a pool of fat on the ground. Lots of cable thieving going on at the moment. There was a story in the paper about a considerable length of overhead cable getting nicked.Hopefully Darwin will sort it out.

I thought they had no purpose, but in fact they do:they are voracious predators of a lot of `pest` insects like caterpillars etc. While i was sat in the park next to my lads school waiting for him to come out, i noticed a steady stream of wasps coming from up in a horse chestnut. They were attacking the many crane flies in the grass. After systematically cutting up the fly to leave the thorax(where the wings attach)they carried it back to the nest. I`ve seen them carrying off caterpillars too. Got stung the other day helping a mate out with his gardening job. Thought it was a one off, so carried on cutting this rotten log. Went off for a brew, and came back to find ten or so wasps milling about looking for the entrance i had blocked. Havent been stung in a long time but the sting gave no reaction apart from a bit of tingling. Planned on burning it out at dusk, but it rained so we packed up and left.

Thanks for the replies guys.I had my suspicions it might not be entirely kosher.

I used my 180 to sort some snow damaged cedars. Pretty bullet proof little saw. It fell from about 20ft once. No damage.Certainly saved my better saws for that type of work. I havent got a top handle, and it was a favour to a farmer whos land i shoot on. But it worked well.

Last winter, with all the snow, various roads were blocked with fallen timber locally.They were closed for a number of days. Is this wood `fair game`for the enterprising firewood hunter? Went for a mooch along one road which had been cleared, then past some forestry. Stopped to chat to two forestry commission guys who were sorting their own problems.They indicated that they suspected who `had that away`. It wasnt FC wood, just trees at the side of the road we were discussing. Is it seen as a helpfull civic duty, and anyone can get stuck in, or is there more too it. Local farmers were doing a bit to clear roads but there was nothing properly organised by the council. I was left feeling we`d `missed the boat`but obviously wouldnt want to do anything iffy. Wifes a nurse. We were running her workmates about at the time in the disco(i had the week off). Had a saw in the back just in case, but had no plans at that time to collect any. Just cut to get through. Cheers.

The small handheld ones are normally used in conjunction with a few more cops further down the road to pull you in. The camera vans take a photo for evidence, then they send an NIP demanding the name of the driver within 14 days. Notice anyone getting pulled over further down the road?If there was and they didnt pull you in then you might be in the clear.

I cut seven or so on a building plot a couple of years ago. Nothing huge, and i just felled them. I did rope them all because of proximety to other property. No dramas that i can think of. Ringed them all up for firewood and burnt the rest. It was hard on chains from the `foreign objects` viewpoint. Bits of fence,even a cable in one. Otherwise no problems.

Cheers for the advice guys. The leaves are starting to curl up already.

Buy and learn to use a MIG welder. Nearly everyone i know who has one has had the joy of it knocked out of them by MOT failures,shocking hidden bodges,creeping rot. The others paid a bomb for a refurb.

Cheers. I`ve got some of that. Just didnt think it would work on trees.