AHPP

Good lord. A meme I didn’t know. I’m quite up on them usually. Genuinely thought it was an otter. I am ironically booking an eye test tomorrow.

Sorry. Straight over my head.

Probably. Do you enjoy a spanking now as well?

Is that an otter?

Sounds like his problem, not yours.

Axe with a sharp profile so you can stick it in things and not lose it and even cut a stuck saw out in extremis.

I’ve got some pretty heavy rubber conveyor belt scrap (half inch maybe) that I’m going to make into a scraper for clearing concrete, tarmac etc. Will sandwich a strip between two 2x4s and pinch it with the grab. Would be delighted if that worked on grass too. Could make a double sided one with more rubber sticking out one side than the other. Say a relatively stiff 2” rubber tongue for concrete and a floppier 6” tongue for grass.

Amateurs. I’ve got lots of unstarted projects.

I've retrospectively invented all sorts over the years: lifting hydrofoils, the recumbent bicycle, supercharging steam engines, crème brûlée.

God bless arbtalk and all who sail in her, you particularly. They're only half an hour from me and I need to go in that direction to see my stylist anyway.

A 661 over a 500i would save you five minutes at the very most ringing up that oak, maybe ten minutes over a 261. An 881 would be the same or even cost you time, walking to the van, psyching yourself up to carry the bastard, starting it without blowing a shoulder etc. But say you had a five foot DBH stem tapering to three feet at forty feet. Now that is 661/881 territory and you could save maybe forty minutes over a 500i on just the ringing but also probably have the job flow better getting cookies off faster, say twenty minutes for round numbers. Two saws is the key, the shorter bar with a semi chisel chain for dirty bits, ripping/noodling cookies, including ripping/noodling them off stems. For me, that's a 25" on my 500i (semi is also a bit kinder on ropes, trouser legs etc when climbing) and 36" 661 with full chisel for ringing. And don't be shy about changing chains. It's been years since I used an 880 and my memory's shit so I can't speak from absolute gospel first hand experience but I've been around them in use and I'd go with plogs and Saul's appraisal; they're no quicker, sometimes slower. It would be a truly exceptional arb job where 881 pros would outweigh the cons. Plus a 550i and 661 team are the same bar mount and would go on a double end bar if you get into milling later.

That's the current plan. The risk is of course putting it to use, immediately destroying fifty quid of broom heads and going and buying a proper one in a bad mood. Nothing ventured, nothing gained though.

I feared that was the answer because I've seen those and they're not cheap. I was hoping for something I could homebrew for ten and six like doobin's haybob rake.

What's the perfect rake for mechanised cleaning up big domestic jobs?

Nice. Thanks. Short thread.

Watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 and came to a scene where some wizards grow a bridge over a river. Idly wondering why that couldn’t actually be done. People train willow into arches etc. You could plait roots from riverside willows (or whatever), build a frame for them to follow. Would they need watering or perhaps cladding in earth and/or burlap? Could be a nice project for someone patient. Anyone seen anything like this?

Are haybob tines gentle enough to use on a domestic lawn or do they leave scores?

Could you report on here please, ideally tagging me. I haven't done it on my 661 for fear of the oil running out before the fuel. Hugely unlikely I'd not notice but you can guarantee someone else will pick up my saw and cook a hundred quid bar the one time I forget to tell them.

I was nervous about how hard I should be pushing/tapping it. Called Stihl technical who assured me I'd have to be a complete barbarian to harm anything. Suggest you ask them yourself for your own peace of mind. Or pay a dealer to do it for the ultimate liability shift.

I had an 880. Sold it. Too big, too awful. 881s feel a bit less like a bike engine with handles and a bit more like a manageable, ergonomic saw but they’re still too big for the vast majority of arb work here. A 661 with a 36” bar is ample. That tiny oak only needs a 500. There are many other things I’d put on the shelf to be occasionally useful before an 880/881. A petrol capstan is the first thing that springs to mind. Or a yacht winch device. A good chain sharpener? I understand the idea of getting one to mill in future (that’s half why I bought my 661) but unless you really have everything else you need, I’d buy something that’s more useful now and buy something as truly specialist as an 880/881 only when you really need it. Sort of an answer to your question, sort of unsolicited advice. Hope useful.

Keep an eye out for coppers/paramedics/firemen filling cans.

Aren’t rowan susceptible to phytophthora?

Not one of mine but a fabulous thing seen earlier today at the Beamish Trophy Trial. Raleigh boneshaker with external valves and pushrods. Probably makes less power than a strimmer.

Likewise.

You didn’t.