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doobin

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Everything posted by doobin

  1. MS181 with 12" 1.1mm bar. £220 and worth every penny. Local conservation group have three and love them. Secondhand will only go wrong. Have new with warranty.
  2. Best to cut some thin rings off it until the hollow in the middle becomes solid timber and the metal is found/blue disappears. Shouldn't take that much, hard to tell from the pic if the hollow is a tear out from felling or rot. So long as it's still 8' long by then you should get a fair price if you can deliver. Though it may make more overall as firewood in your yard with no haulage costs. The local mill should tell you what length they want it if it's too big as one. Usually 8' for sleepers or posts unless it's high grade.
  3. If something has broken off, it would be most likely to be clunking about on all settings? Or intermittently. If you mean it's a really loud whirr, this is probably normal on high setting. Like when you set a car to max to demist the window.
  4. No problem. FS-90 is solid drive shaft so no danger of snapping it either, which is something you have to watch out for on smaller models.
  5. You'd need to plumb a new double acting spool valve into the circuit. This also means that to make the circuit you need a return- often a pipe going straight into a port on the back end of the tractor somewhere.
  6. Make sure you check the mixture when running a smaller bar- make sure it's not running too lean at the top end. I would just buy a new MS181 for £220 and have a proper sized saw for that job.
  7. It wouldn't cause any ecological problems. Only economic ones. Which as others have mentioned is what it all boils down to.
  8. That wanky top strut for the box really spoils an otherwise excellent job.
  9. 880 should be great on a 36in bar. I'd get all three sprockets and a chain to fit the largest. Hopefully it flies on an 8 or 9, if not then all you need to do is remove a link or two. If one chain length fits all (unlikely but you never know, it should be OK on two of the sprockets though) then you're laughing, and can pick the best sprocket according to what you're milling at the time.
  10. If you can't afford new, then stick with what you've got. Why replace both yours with a secondhand gamble? If you can't afford new then a slightly different saw is unlikely to make much difference to the bottom line. And when that secondhand gamble breaks, you've snookered yourself without a backup saw. I've not a lot of good things to say about a Stihl MS290, but the new MS 291 ticks your boxes and will be new with warranty: http://www.frjonesandson.co.uk/products-page/machines/chainsaws-pole-saws/petrol-chainsaws/stihl-ms-291-chainsaw-55-5cc/
  11. No point having them longer if the stuff you're strimming is going to tear them to pieces. Long double lines are best for quick cutting of medium grass in my book. There's only one way to sort this.... Get that knee healed up and we'll have a strim-off!
  12. M9 is very uncommon and far too large for the bolts you describe. More likely to be M5.
  13. What tractor is it? If you've got a 3-point linkage then you've got a hydraulic pump. Fitting a spool valve should be under £200 for parts and a lot less faff than a PTO pump combined with another oil tank that you have to hitch and unhitch every time you change from a trailer to an implement. The only snag is that if it's a really baby compact tractor, the oil reservoir might not have enough to fill the trailer ram, but that's unlikely if the trailer matches the tractor size wise anyway.
  14. If you need an 18" bar then it's some reasonable size timber you're cutting? All saws weigh the same in the cut....
  15. You're right about quality- you have to watch them otherwise you end up with bent posts, etc. My suppliers are pretty good, they know that if stuff isn't up to scratch it will be coming back at them. They're also pretty flexible re delivery, unless it's to the yard where we have a loader I always spec hiab delivery so it can be swung onto the transit or dumper to get it closer to the job. Meter rate is definitely better for a contractor, but only if the contractor has control of ordering the materials.
  16. Coupled with the username, I did smile to myself. But we've all got to start somewhere. I wouldn't hire a plaslode though, I'd buy a small compressor and cheap air nailer.
  17. I'm cool with it when working on day rate. The rotting thing is not a problem anyway, I make sure they know that a 5 year guarantee on the posts is just that- the labour to replace them is not covered. All my suppliers will deliver direct to site. My point is that a customer who thinks they're the big spiv, the project manager, ringing around hassling Jewsons, Coomers, Chandlers and every other builders yard going for 'your best trade price' for thirty yards of materials before doing the same to every fencer in the area for a labour price only, is a poor prospect. You can guarantee that a customer like this will order the wrong stuff and keep you waiting, meaning your rate in real terms is much less than you quoted for. And that's not on. Either I have control of the job and a defined spec to work to, or some other mug can have the hassle. Or I work day rate, which I do quite a bit of.
  18. Realistically speaking, any time a customer says 'I will supply the timber, you just quote me for your labour' you should tell them to do one. They want to have their cake and eat it, and 90% of the time they are penny pinching timewasters best avoided. Let some idiot who hasn't invested in all the tools do it with a spade and hammer for £10/m cheaper and make a hash of it.
  19. I love Airstreams. I'm also getting along very nicely with Arbotec Scafells. Either are worth the money over the WoodWalkers, although they are a very good boot also and I had four pairs of them.
  20. doobin

    Which Sthil

    I was using my MS 250 today, just for fencing. With a 12" 1.1mm bar it's incredibly quick. It's become my go-to saw for odd jobs, fencing, carrying on a machine, replacing the MS181. I couldn't go back to every cut taking over twice as long yet the same weight of saw. Once it dies, it will be replaced straight away with an MS241. What an awesome power to weight ratio!
  21. doobin

    Which Sthil

    Any saw of that power will struggle with a 16" bar. It's happiest with a 1.1mm (thinner than the standard 1.3mm kerf) 12" long bar. What size bar do you think you will need to run? Remember that the odd large piece of timber you may encounter can be cut from both sides.
  22. doobin

    Which Sthil

    I'd go with a 181 rather than a 170. A bit more power and much more robust. The oil pumps on the 170s are particularly weak.
  23. Rear springs keep it looking from being overloaded, but won't give it any more legal payload. Plus your front springs only ever take the weight of the crew and engine...
  24. From the sound of the first post, the contracting tree company expected the OP to operate under conditions of unnecessary risk. No rescue climber, cars in the way etc. Why take those risks? I reiterate my point- a company that thinks like that would be the first to try to pass the buck to the OP when it all went tits up due to the aforementioned risks- which COULD have been mitigated. I'm a can do man, but I need the right tools or I walk. Never done me any harm.

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