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Hi Jo, OK, first thing is that the 660 is too small for this. The second is that there is a -lot- of timber there. On the access, is it walking through a house, a narrow garden gate or a reasonable trackway? This determines both what kit can be got in and what size timber can be got out. Slabbing this up through and through with an Alaskan has advantages of simplicity, but not of quality. In an ideal world, I would do this quartersawn, by splitting the tree into quarters first and then cutting boards off the faces. This will make some top quality timber if the tree is good. I would either go for 3off 10' lengths or 2off 15' lengths. The alternative would be to use a circular saw mill and make dimensioned boards with it, suitable for floorboards. Final thought - Burrell and I might be able to do this - bit of a trek but we're both in the same area and could probably travel together and get through it in a day. We did some milling for Charles Hey earlier this year on an equivalent scale - see the first post on here: http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/milling-forum/56501-milling-pics-vids.html Do they mind which day of the week it's done? If not, I can have a chat with him and see if he's up for it? Alec

Worth checking L&S Engineers for parts - cheap, online and good service. As to the previous question on why not drop-start - because this saw has no chainbrake and every now and again you will catch it wrong on the start relative to the magnet and it may kick, and whip round. Nasty enough when not running, but if it starts at the same time it will get you, either in the leg or the face. No point risking it so far as I'm concerned. Alec Alec

May be a bit further than you want to go, but Essex Wildlife Trust run a couple of SC coppice woods in Southend, which isn't too bad down the A12. They can sometimes be prevailed upon to sell it in the round for an interesting project, rather than charcoal it (which is what they usually do). Alec

Some brilliant grain in that. Yes - chainsaw mills do give you the advantage of cutting where you want, but how many boards would you have lost in the process? I am about to start cutting up my 7' wide lump of oak again soon, which has the similarity to yours of being for myself, something special which is going to to be very tricky to dry correctly but get it right and it could make something unique. After things like this, mileage, milling costs etc are soon forgotten and you are left with the lasting result. Alec

I generally reckon that a good default position for timber of slightly unknown quality but probably good, which probably won't have any special grain, and with no particular purpose in mind is in the £3-£5/Hoppus foot range. The size is good, so I'd probably go with £4/Hoppus foot as fair to all parties. Alec

Don't throw that one away! Dead handy for Villiers engines as found on saws such as the old 2-man Danarm and Teles. I have a relatively modern feeler gauge for the purpose for my Teles (and for the Allen Scythe which uses the same engine type). Alec

The lever is the oil pump setting (no fiddly little screws underneath on this one). Starting - choke on, starting switch on, decompression on if you feel so inclined (I never notice much difference). Grasp firmly and pull like you mean it. They don't have the same style of magnets as modern saws, so most of the kick is from the ignition system rather than the compression. Take it tentantively and it will rip the starter out of your hands so it's best to just go for it. This also means it's a 'proper' foot through the back handle, hand on the front hand grip start - no drop starting here! As per normal, takes a few pulls to get some fuel through and then it will either 'cough', in which case choke off and try again, or it will actually start and run, in which case choke off when it starts to stumble a bit, which gives you a few seconds usually. Alec

On old apples, I'd go more by the size and colour of the leaves, and the quality of the extension growth, than by the presence of fungi of this type. Proper pruning takes out so much loading on the branches that being hollow is rarely a problem. A good mulch and maybe some balanced fertilizer can work wonders. Alec

I can think of two options - build some form of drying shed to add value, or leave it wet to dispose of. You could either keep doing what you are doing - minimum effort - or try producing compost with it. Sawdust mixed with high nitrogen sources such as grass cuttings or fallen leaves rots down in about 3months, so fairly efficient and you don't need too much space. I suspect it all depends on whether you have a ready outlet or would need to invest more in sales/marketing than makes it worthwhile. Alec

075 and 076 were essentially the same saw - just had a different tank casing and all except the latest 075s were missing the lug on the crankcase needed to fit a chainbrake. Very good milling saws - aim for £300 if you are selling the powerhead only, more with bar and decent chain, depending on length and whether it's a Duromatic or not. Alec

I wonder if that's the one which was for sale in the Cambridge vintage auction on the 19th Oct (didn't sell). That one ran fine, but noisy - they had to suspend the auction while it was loaded back on its trailer! Alec

I'm very interested in some of the pear, but trying to figure out how to do it. I do come past about once a month, but unfortunately whilst I'm next up on Monday/Tuesday next week, I have to travel with a colleague this time and I don't think he would be very impressed! How quickly does it need clearing, and is there any chance of storing a couple of 2m lengths of the pear until I can pick up? Cheers Alec

I did Danson Park in Welling on Saturday (as per usual) and will be doing Sevenoaks next weekend. I forgot my phone last night but will try to take it to Sevenoaks next weekend. I have some film from last year as I did Brands Hatch, which was quite surreal with footage of the racing artic cab units one side and fireworks the other. Alec

Hi Jo, Do you know what the milling spec is - through and through slabs, quartersawing or a series of regular, narrower boards? Also, do they want it milled in at the full 30' or cut into lengths, if so what length? Would establish whether a chainsaw mill or circular saw mill is best suited. Alec

The mini-mill is very useful, but for milling reasonably accurate thickness boards/slabs you really need the Alaskan. With that saw, I would buy a 36" mill (because inevitably you will either enjoy milling and buy a bigger powerhead or not like it and sell it on, in which case the 36" is more versatile). As mentioned, you lose quite a lot of bar length - about 7-8" if you leave the dogs on. This means you can afford to put an over-length bar on, something around 28" or 30", which would give you a cutting width of around 22" and the saw will handle this reasonably well. If you want to run a bar which is on the long side, Granberg chain is reckoned to demand a bit less power (~10%) although it's more expensive. You also need a precision grinder to keep the teeth absolutely identical to put less demand on the powerhead. Alec

Well done, now the fun paperwork begins! Alec

Thanks Alun, that's very clear. I shall know what to do with the next suitably non-straight bit of oak that shows up:001_smile: Alec

If it is, you have firewood. Alec

That's some really nice colour for ash. Doesn't seem to have lost much from the trimming up (and saved your chain a bit ) Alec

That is very clever, I like it a lot Do you have any side-on pictures from earlier in the construction which show how the back legs are done? Alec

Yes, possibly, but it's limited. Sycamore either has to be seasoned standing on end (reared) to stop it marking, or using special plastic stickers with fingers on. It is also usually wanted 'white' which means milling in winter (which is convenient!). To be honest, you will probably only get firewood prices, but save yourself the fuel and time cost of ringing it up. Alec

If that is really straight for 13m (ie 40ft), and by really straight I mean you can run a stringline down it on the top and on the side and get no more than about 3" deviation from the line, then it will make a very nice beam. You would need to measure the timber dimension, and personally I would look at the heartwood dimension as this is usually what will be used for construction, but on 80cm (32") you would get a 22" square beam which would be significant. Assuming it is that long, straight and clean without side branches, I would be looking for around £6/Hoppus, so around £1200-1300, but the problem you have is whether if this buyer doesn't take it you have any realistic alternatives? If not, I would take what they offer! If it's not that straight or clean, price will come down fast. Reckon on £3-4/Hoppus if you have something more like 10-15ft long of clean, straight timber. Alec Alec

Some useful information here on identifying the correct chain for your saw - most of what you need will be stamped on your bar: Chain | bar | sprocket identification You might also want to compare the price (go to the custom chain loops tab and enter your spec. then type in the number of drive links you need in the box). Alec

Having only done concrete once I have very little to add, but a couple of things that may be of use. If you are putting expansion joints in around the edges, we used Korpak which is like MDF soaked in bitumen. Comes in an 8'x4' sheet in various thicknesses (we used 25mm) and easy to cut to shape - in your case probably 6" wide strips. Before we put the plastic membrane down, we blinded out over the base with sand - not very thick but enough to stop anything poking through the membrane. I don't think it makes a lot of difference if you use sharp or soft - we scrounged up every last bucketful of sand lying round the place in the end as we were a bit short. Ours was the structural slab to the extension, so had low edge walls at the time, hence no edge boards to tamp off. We marked up heights on the wall (actually on the membrane) and filled to that, then tamped down with an edge board. I like James' technique of laying in strips, but not being aware of that we more just went for it and it turned out fine. Area was about 6m x 4m, hand mixed in a Screwfix electric mixer, by one person in about 6hrs working time. Alec

Excellent, that's a good result I think. It will keep him out of of trouble for a while if nothing else! Alec