spudulike

Yup on the tablet unless you like the finished wine slightly fizzy or petillant as us buffs call it😂

I can't say mine is too standard, I find it almost impossible to pull over....with the decomp in....pop up piston and the base of the cylinder taken down, ported and muffler mod. It is a bit mad and prefer the 346 TBH but it is FAST..

Looking good, keep racking it off in to a new demijohn to get rid of any sludge in the bottom that may taint the flavour. It should stop fermenting at some stage where you can kill the yeast and add a little sugar if needed to taste. 👍

Only the surface of the log will be wet if the thing has been fully seasoned in the past and the only way the log will get completely wet again is to leave it in a bucket of water. Rain will just cause the surface to get wet and a week or two inside will dry it again. Best get a moisture meter, even a cheap one will give you useful information. 20% and under is ready to burn.

Keep it coming, fingers crossed all will be sorted soon.

357xp, 346xp and 181SE (ex army spec), none of them standard and I will be buried with them👍

Ah, sounds like the head gasket on the right side has cracked and letting in oil. Bummer 😞

Have you looked at the plugs after the machine stops? Wet or oily plug on one cylinder may lead to a fault one cylinder. Blue smoke is usually oil and white is excessive fuel. It could be one cylinder not firing after a minutes running so dodgy coil....does it have two coils, is the coil to magneto gap nice and close as a large gap may make the coil only work when stone cold....seen this before on chainsaws.

If you don't know too much about saws and the things some less scrupulous sellers may do to sell them then purchase new. The sort of things I am talking about is using cheap non OEM parts such as carbs, coils and cylinders so they can turn a profit. If you are purchasing from a known contact you trust, perhaps a larger arb company that replace kit every two years then you may get yourself a decent deal. Assuming you are after a single ground saw that can cut the mustard then the 550xp MK2 or MS261 mtronic are both decent saws and have both been around a long time.

Now, bearing in mind the only Vanguard I know are the US investment specialist....was this engine playing up before you made any adjustments to anything? Assuming not....white smoke...what does it smell of, burning oil smells like burning oil😬, It could be diesel in your fuel....that smells like paraffin as combustion leaves.... paraffin to exit the exhaust, water in the fuel can give all sorts of issues with running so drain off a bit from the carb float bowl in to a glass and look for the water at the bottom of the fluid...it is pretty obvious. It could be a stuck choke, as I said, I don't know the engine but if the choke is stuck shut, white smoke and stalling is the symptom you get 100%. Compare both cylinders for compression, leak down and plug colour. If the head gasket has gone in one, there will be a significant difference. When you stripped the carb, did you pull the main jet AND the emulsion tube...those little holes can get blocked up. I can't say I know that much about mowers😉 Good luck

From the description, it sounds like the saw is running very rich so... Blocked air filter Choke stuck partially on Check valve stuck open Assuming the H adjustment is set correctly!

I did once purchased a genuine Zama carb from China for a 201 and 150 for something like £15 off eBay. Worth a good look.

It won't be long before there is a "pay per log" tax on wood burners.

On the new cylinder, does the cavity the hole runs in to, get the crank case impulse from the transfer port? It is difficult to see.

Double check the coil to flywheel gap and if you can unscrew the HT lead ( some you can), then unscrew it, check the continuity, clean it and refit it. It is also worth checking the continuity between the HT cap and earth. You should get a reading of sorts, possibly 20k ohms, but it will show the cap and lead are OK before purchasing a coil. I had a 461 once that had a corroded HT line and this check saved purchasing a new coil.