agg221

How large is very large (diameter), and are the multi-stemmed (i.e. former coppice) or standards? If they're overstood coppice of up to say 18in dia trunks there is a pretty good chance of getting it back into coppice rotation if you want to. This could be useful to you, if you fell a modest area every year and use it on the farm as fencing/posts etc. The problem with sweet chestnut larger than this is that it has a strong tendency to ring shake, which is where the tree breaks all the way around one or more of its growth rings when felled, making it pretty much useless for milling, although you can still sometimes get a few bits from inside or outside the cracks, and there are sometimes good blocks for making shingles. If you're looking at sawlogs, be aware that sweet chestnut can move about a lot when milled. This can cause bending and twisting, even straight off the mill. If you can see a spiral pattern in the bark it will be twisted in the grain. Still OK for fenceposts though. Alec

A brief comment on this - the three controllable variables which seem to give the best finish with an Alaskan are to use Granberg chain, to minimise the hook on the teeth and to use as short a bar as possible which seems to reduce vibration. Other factors which you can't control are the species, the straightness of the grain and how fast grown the tree was. You can use an Alaskan for cladding, but it's a bit inefficient - you're taking 10mm of kerf each time, so for typical boards you are turning around a third of your timber into sawdust. Since cladding doesn't have to be dead flat/planed to an absolutely uniform thickness you don't lose anything in planing up if a bandsaw blade wanders, so a bandsaw is significantly more efficient (~2mm kerf). The other advantage if you want feather edge is that, because the mill head doesn't reference to the log, you can simply saw the cant to width, stand it on edge and then put a half inch stick under one side to tilt it, take a board, take the stick out, take a board, repeat (thanks tommer9 ). Alec

The previous thread was started by jrose I think. Cutting the day before would be the surest way, then a quick coat of acrylic varnish on both ends to stop them drying at all in a hot room. Polyethylene glycol (PEG can work well, but it will drink the stuff, and I wouldn't personally bother for something which is going to be used once and thrown away. Alec

Not particularly near you, but you could try dropping Nepia (Jon) a PM. Not sure if he got it, or still has it, but he may still have something decent. Alec

Given the timescale, you're not going to get much drying and any you do get will be too quick and cause cracking. With that in mind, I think I would be inclined to do it as close to the day as possible, sand it straight up and seal it on both ends with a coat of acrylic varnish - matt or gloss depending on your preference. This will bring the grain out nicely and pretty much stop any drying over the following few days (I'd also keep it very cool with as little air movement as possible, maybe in a garage or shed, if you have one in the shade). This should mean there is almost no drying, and hence no cracking or movement. It won't last much beyond the day, but it should look great for the occasion itself. Alec

Likewise. Alec

This works in that it physically fits on the 070 crankcase, and on the Contra if you mod it slightly, however the clutch will end up giving you issues. The only components which are different between the 070 and the 090 are the pot and piston, starter and clutch. The starter is OK if left alone, so long as you can pull it over. It does put slightly more stress on it, but doesn't have any noticeable effects that I'm aware of. The clutch however does give you a longer term issue as the 070 (and early Contra/Lightning) clutch couldn't handle the torque. The clutch was uprated to the six-shoe version, for the Contra S/090. This can still be obtained, but is expensive (about £180). Alec

Are you planning on treating it at all? If not, oak or sweet chestnut will last about 50yrs, larch ~30. Depends a bit on the exposure and the detailing though. The overwhelming cost of cladding is in the milling rather than the raw material, unless it's softwood from a volume production sawmill. If you can find the butts, having it milled with a portable bandsaw mill is pretty efficient and may save a lot. Tommer9 posted some pictures of milling cladding a couple of years back. edit: there might be some useful content here, including a handy link: http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/milling-forum/36341-advise-milling-fir-building-materials-2.html#post572832 Alec

Nah, top!

Try sending Simon (Big Beech) a PM. Alec

It depends a lot on what it is/how old. You can usually flush from the tank to the carb on an old engine by taking the float bowl off and running a bit of neat petrol through. The bowl and gauze filters will need cleaning anyway. The taps may well have cork washers, which will need to soak a bit to soften up. Very little gets held above the float bowl, so unless it's clogged, it will clear any final oil residue once it starts running. Oil residue in the crank case and exhaust - the easiest thing is to run it on Aspen and let it clean itself out. It will smoke a bit (a lot!) but will soon clear. Haven't done this specifically on a motorbike, but have done several old Villiers 2-strokes (of the same basic type as found on motorbikes), with no issues. Alec

Dip treated won't do you any good - they'll need to be pressure treated to last. Calders & Grandidge might be able to tell you if they can supply or have an outlet (I've found them very helpful). Sweet chestnut is probably a lot easier to obtain in modest quantities and will last 25+yrs, longer if you pack them round with rubble rather than soil. Alec

No, sorry, overqualified. What you need to become a chainsaw tech is to perfect the art of sucking in through your teeth, shaking your head and saying 'well I could fix it, but to be honest it will be cheaper for me to just sell you a new one'. Alec

I've got this pile of logs I've been building up/tree I'm taking down. If I offer it for firewood should I pay someone to take it away or expect to get £1000 for it? Alec

Hi, haven't got a link as it's an old piece of laboratory equipment. I scrounged it when we scrapped a lab as it's dead handy for electrolytic cleaning (de-rusting) but have also found it useful for other things. Next time I'm sharpening a chain I'll ask my wife to film it. I reckon with the sound on you can hear how hard the grinder is working relative to the reading on the needle (yes, it's the old type ammeter/voltmeter with needle readings!) Alec

Interesting curve. Mine is hooked up to a power supply with voltage and current readout (you can set one and monitor the other). I set it at 12V and find that 2A is about right. Any more power risks putting heat in to the teeth. Alec

Current production saws available in the UK, pretty much yes. Older saws - the 075 and 076 will run one happily, and can take a chainbrake. Non-chainbraked the 070 and 090 are built for it. Alec

Cordless dremels are good bits of kit, but they don't do the precision adjustment of tooth length/hook/angle that the Granberg grinder does. The grinder will run perfectly well off the cigarette socket - it only draws a couple of amps. Alec

Looks like you've got a strategy planned, but for reference I do have a bar that would probably go straight through it (88"), with a suitable ripping chain if you need to quarter it. Alec

If anyone is interested in the following, drop me a PM and I'll pass on contact details. Alec : We have a Beech stem at Matterley Estate, Winchester, which we'd like to have planked up asap. Dimensions are 4m in length and 1-1.3m diameter, although can be trimmed down to 1m quite easily. Boards are to be used on site as bar tops for upcoming event. Thomas Owen NCH/Advanced NC/Arboriculture

'Not as good' is subjective. It's a lot heavier for its power than a modern saw, and it won't win any speed contests, but it has pretty high torque so won't bog down as easily with a longer bar on. It would be OK milling with a small log mill or a 24" Alaskan. Not the quickest, but it would handle it. It looks very much like the chain brake parts are interchangeable with the 051 and 076. If so, they are no longer available new, but are easily available from Ebay in Germany at the moment. The brake is mounted in the bar cover (not the same cover as the unbraked one unfortunately - it's deeper). You also need the hand guard with the spring. Edit: Just checked your pictures - I think yours is the earlier type without the cast lug on the top/front of the crank case to take the chainbrake hand guard. If so, it won't fit I'm afraid. Alec

Woolly aphid won't have much effect on fruiting, even at that level. It may make the fruit smaller or increase the level of June drop if the tree is stressed, but that's about it. Lack of fruit will be more down to the season, or the lack of a suitable pollinating tree/pollinating insects. But yes, it's a bug and you can kill it. The wax coating on the aphids limits the effectiveness of contact insecticides, but two approaches which give reasonable control are to use a systemic insecticide, or to spray with soft soap solution which won't work on its own too well, but if applied properly will then allow you to knock them off with a pressure washer, drowning them in the process. If you try the latter, be careful not to get so close with the lance that you damage the bark. Alec

I quite like the beach at North Berwick. Been a long time since I was last there though, nearly 20yrs. Alec

Oddly enough, spares are no problem as all the parts are made by Hutzl, except possibly the badges as they don't supply these via ebay. The problem is that, as you suggest, it doesn't operate to the same standards as Stihl. It's the quality of the mechanical parts which has previously let them down (think about the various comments on 'cheap chinese pistons'). There is a possibly significant trend though. For the past few years, Hutzl were the supplier of cheap, unbranded parts. Progressively they have started putting their brand name to things and you don't generally do that unless you believe you can generate a good enough reputation that people will buy your parts, rather than seek to avoid them! This suggests a rise in quality may be underway. The reason I think this would be interesting (and it would follow the trend in some other sectors for the rapidly increasing quality of manufacturing in China) is that with Stihl's current approach, the difficulties in obtaining Makita/Dolmar and the less than perfect reputation of Husky for reliability, combined with not exactly being a lower cost option, there may be a gap in the market for a decent, solid, dependable saw that doesn't set the world on fire but does what it says on the box. I wonder whether in 5yrs time Arbtalk will have Husky vs. Hutzl threads....? Alec

Once cleft, they will probably not split further as the stresses tend to run radially, so once cleft the stresses are relieved and they can shrink naturally. They will rot slightly more easily if they are unseasoned. The pores in the wood structure close up permanently when the water content drops below about 20%, making it harder for fungi etc. to penetrate them. Still pretty durable though due to the tannin content. Alec