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We had shaws where I grew up in North Kent. Alec

I've never really been too worried about the manual oiler. Running up to 4ft bars I haven't found I needed it, except on a 47" hard nosed bar and if I needed to mill bigger than that I would fit an aux oiler anyway. Handy for when your oil pump packs up though. Alec

084 is lower revving, higher torque so slightly better for milling. Alec

Some comes through Cheffins near Ely, Cambs. Worth keeping an eye on. Alec

Hi Eddie, A couple of your recent posts have suggested that there may be a change of policy in the supply of Aspen, with respect to supply direct from your website vs. supplying through your dealer network. Please could you clarify whether this is the case, and if so what the changes are/will be? Thanks Alec

Just on the subject of hurdles - there were two types. There's the woven type which most people are familiar with, designed for shelter, and the other type designed as a barrier, which is now far less well known. I think it's this second sort you may want to fence off small areas and enable regeneration. Overstood hazel should do the latter rather nicely. I think they were traditionally made from ash but it shouldn't make any difference. There's a good bit on making them about 3/4 of the way through this: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bl1HQg7aCo]Jack Hargreaves - ratting sticks, coppicing, wattle hurdles - YouTube[/ame] Alec

I would have thought they would be fine for that. Alec

I advise giving up counting - life is better that way, particularly when your other half is asking. Alec

Yes, exactly that. Alec

If you use stuff about 3" then I find it lasts about 3-4yrs so long as there isn't too much stress on it. Alec

The 461 and 064 are very different things. The 064 will give you torque and chew through big stuff but it's pretty unrefined. The 461 gives you speed and reduced weight but will top out on max diameter faster. You could always buy the 461 and keep the 064.... Alec

It's best to take a centre-cut first, but not because it will reduce splitting. Cutting up the middle takes all the stresses out of the log, so if it's going to move, it does it then and you can true up the face and then start cutting posts, rather than ending up with your cutting face becoming increasingly more banana-like as the log bends around under the mill. However, I wouldn't go dead up the centre as this will leave the centreline of the tree on the corner of four posts (don't forget it won't be dead straight). Instead, I would go 1.5" off centre, then cut a 3" board off the 'fat' half. This deals with your 3" posts. I would cut them straight out of the slab rather than waiting, as it makes them less likely to split or cup/bow. When you slice the board up, leave out the middle inch or so that contains the centre of the tree. With regard to cutting, not sure what kit you have but the Alaskan/mini-mill combination is very good for this job. On the 3" board, I would use a big circular saw because I have one and it wastes less in kerf than the chainsaw mill. You can do the lot with an Alaskan, but getting it square is tricky, and keeping it square balancing down the edge of a 3" board is extremely tricky. Alec

You can't actually quarter-saw posts (square ones anyway) as they will pretty much automatically be quartersawn one way, perpendicular the other..... Alec

Nothing specific to the milling except that the one which includes the centre of the tree will probably split so cut this bit out if you are trying to avoid splits. Then air-dry with good air circulation but out of direct sun. Alec

If I was buying it for pleasure in use, and not worried about price, I would buy the Gransfors large splitting axe (which I did, only I got mine secondhand but unused on Ebay for less than the above Fiskars). Alec

No, these are plated bores. You need to get the aluminium off chemically, check whether the plating is intact (if not it's scrap) and then lightly rub down (I would go finer than 200grit, more like 400) around the cylinder, not up and down. Alec

It depends a bit on what you want. If you want a lettered stamp then you really want it engraved - google 'engraving' and you will be amazed at how many there are. If you want a proper forged branding iron, two people to try would be Bruce Wilcock on Shetland and Nigel Barnett at Fransham forge. I know both of them and they are really good. Bruce once made me a pair of hammers from a sketch drawing (and I've spent a week at his place) and Nigel's stuff is top quality. Both of them are best approached by phone. Alec

OK, firstly make - Oregon or Stihl, doesn't make much difference. Windsor is reckoned not to hold its edge so well. Tooth form - depends on what you are doing. Semi-chisel will hold and edge longer and cope with dirtier wood whereas full chisel will cut faster when fresh but will dull more easily, and doesn't cope so well with dust and grit as the corner tends to chip off. Have you looked at the options on chainsawbars.co.uk (Rob D's site)? Go to the Custom/Bulk Chain tab and click the 'Custom Loops' option - if you then select .404" .063" then it will give you the options to browse through. Click on the individual options and you will get a short description. Alec

Yes, this is sadly quite normal. There comes a point where people assume that whatever you offer it must be worth more. Trouble is, they have no other frame of reference to compare with, and anything you provide them with they assume is biased. At this point, the only thing to do is wait for the next one (which usually comes along a lot sooner than you think in my experience). Alec

Coming at it from the milling perspective - there is nothing above I disagree with in the slightest Put more work into something and you should get more money out of it, so if you take a butt, ring it and split it, you have put your time and fuel into it, and once it has seasoned you will get more from it than selling it as a butt. However, if you have other things to do that pay more per hour than the above, and if you have no particular need for the firewood or desire for the exercise, and either the site allows for extraction or milling on site is acceptable, it may pay to advertise it on here (with some photos) and just see if you get any takers. If not, you can always ring it up anyway. Alec

I agree with Eddy's list for pots - for pistons I would add Golf (probably between Meteor and Hyway). Alec

Firstly, you want 1.6mm (0.063") gauge, which is standard for .404" chain. The really old Oregon bars don't have any references available, and the number of drive links will depend on the distance from drive sprocket to bar, as well as bar width, so can't assume number of drive links. This means you have to measure up. The best bet is to put the bar on the saw, with the chain adjuster wound as far in towards the drive sprocket as you can go. You then wedge it there (or stick one of the clutch cover nuts on with some big washers to hold it) and measure round the sprocket and bar with a tape measure (in inches). This gives you the chain length. Divide through by 2, then divide by .404" and this gives you the number of drive links you need on your chain. Round up, not down, and if it is -very- close to a whole number add another 1 or it will be really awkward to get the chain on. Note to anyone else trying this - the above works on saws with an inboard clutch. If you have an outboard clutch you always need to add an extra 1, otherwise you can't get the chain over the bar nose. Guess how I know this... Alec

To work out Hoppus feet, measure the mid-quarter girth in inches (ie go halfway along the log and measure the circumference, and divide the total by four); square this and divide by 144; then multiply by length in feet. Alec

My original post said non-OEM, ie cheap Chinese. OEM will cost a -lot- more. There is an intermediate position of trying to recover the pot and using a good quality non-OEM piston such as Meteor. If you can get away with this it will be even cheaper than £50 in parts. Don't automatically write off the cheap Chinese ones. They are variable, rather than consistently bad. If you get a good one they will work fine - I have them on my 066 and 044 and they have both seen some serious work but others have had bad experiences. 044 had failed due to a broken piston ring so it was obvious what was wrong. 066 failed due to a poorly inserted crank seal (done by a dealer) which resulted in an air leak and the wrecking of a second OEM pot and piston inside 10 tanks of fuel. Some companies can be better than others about taking returns on sub-standard pots and pistons as supplied. Alec

The key thing is not just to get it fixed, but to understand why it failed, and hence to be confident that it won't do it again. The possible causes of failure include those you have had quoted, including stale fuel, which either means using fuel left in the tank after a week or two, or fuel left in the can for more than about 4-6weeks (time depends on things like original quality and storage conditions. If it's a fuel issue then you could buy a generic non-OEM pot and piston and stick them on, and it will then work fine. Doing this will cost you about £50 and take less than an hour, however.... ...there are other causes, such as air leaks, which need to be diagnosed by a pressure/vacuum test. This is where you need specialist kit to do it. There are three people on here who are regularly recommended - Spud, Rich2484 and Gardenkit (if you happen to have occasion to be in Devon). Alec