WorcsWuss

I have skinny wee chicken legs and I find the leather pads on my ali Bashlins are nice and chunky, second hand off a well known auction site.....

Boy done good

I just had a look on the Stihl UK site and they have 3 pole pruners.... 2 4mix & 1 electric.... Or am I missing something.....

Welcome

Have they scrapped all the basic 2 stroke engined versions....?

I get this one now and again, I call it 'arse cramp'.... not cool....

No, never, and no, it doesn't! I can't footlock for sh*t... It's one of those things I'm not a natural at and have no time to practice.... But I do have my head round how this loop is used now... I can see the reasons behind it, it's a neat solution I must learn how to splice...

I see a petite lady who is actually a horse osteopath. I've tried everything in the past including regular physio at the hospital for short hamstrings. Every now and again I do something stupid and end up in excrutiating pain, after half an hour of fiddling I'm right as rain.... It usually takes around 18 months for me to forget and pull it again....

My old chap has a Stihl pole pruner and he loves it, he uses the bloody thing for everything, he's pollarded some big old willows from the floor with it, using the full length of the bar, it's a wonder he's still around to be honest....! You're right to be wary of the dangers, as you say, there is a risk that things fall on you. They should only be used for pruning small stuff for that very reason. Rather than using the length of the pole to reach as high as you can vertically above your head, the reach should be used so that you can stand out of the potential drop zone of what you're cutting - maintaining the pole at 45 degrees is a reasonable basic starting point, depending of course on the size and spread of what you're cutting. If the branch is so high that you're stood beneath it working above your head, you either need a longer pole or proper access equipment....

You need to put 'all the horror stories' into perspective. Thousands of these saws are sold, some of the ones used day in day out have problems, these are the ones which get talked about. Unless you're working the saw hard every day for a living, it's unlikely that you're going to experience the same issues. Additionally, they've been out a while now, I know Stihl have made changes to some of the problematic saws within the new range, Husky probably have too, so chances are these teething troubles [which you get in all new equipment, be it chainsaws, cars, tractors or mobile phones] have been ironed out by now.... If they were as bad as some people would have you believe, they would never have been released to market in the first place...

All you need is a unique identifying mark on most stuff, the more obscure the better.... Scratching your postcode or even a little symbol into a hidden bit of casting somewhere and photographing it will be all the evidence needed to prove it was yours if recovered. Additionally, it doesn't devalue it, unlike hot engraving into plastics, and it's 'transferable' to any future [legitimate] owners as well if you pass the info on. As I'm stripping down / servicing my own saws I'm doing this to them....

Like murder, the first time is always the hardest.... or so I hear.... Take your time, work on a decent large clear surface, under good light [i have an LED magnetic inspection lamp as well which sticks to my vice an illuminates from the side / below which is helpful] and double check everything, twice. Don't overtighten into threads cut into aluminium castings and make sure everything lines up properly, depending on how the impulse for the carb is fed that can catch you out for instance... There are some genuine bona fide experts on here who will give far better advice than I can, if in doubt, ask, that's what I do! Oh, and some 'special tools' are invaluable yet surprisingly cheap, don't do what I did recently and try to get by without some of them and make a shameful balls up.....!

I have my 5 free items on there....anything for free has to be worth having.... hopefully I'll never find out whether it's any good!

Is it this one....? http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CE8QFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.makita.com%2Fen-us%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fproducts%2FDCS7901%2Fparts_breakdowns%2FDCS7901-1-10.pdf&ei=N3ajUPHACaXb0QXG0oCgAw&usg=AFQjCNEuZK7hI9X3Wwqn3VQcJrHKbm9t8w&sig2=wHEb-rgT8WFH9l2_PUy45A That will show you what goes where, but you'll still need to take care over orientation of things like your base gasket, piston, rings etc, which are only really covered in the workshop manual.... A way round this is to inspect everything very closely as it comes apart and photograph it all in detail. For instance, the piston will likely have a little punch mark on the edge of the ring channel. This kink is to stop the rings rotating round so the joints line up. The rings will likely be chamfered at the split to create a vee which the dimple sits into. If the rings don't sit correctly, they'll protrude from the piston when you're reassembling and you could snap the top one when attempting to fit the pot... The new piston should also have an arrow stamped into it, this probably needs to point at the exhaust port..... They're simple enough, but some things are right or wrong and need to be be got right!

Says it all really.... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1HZztie5ac&feature=related]Unicorn Log Splitter - YouTube[/ame] I particularly love how the bloke in the background who announces 'Watch my Unicorn' sounds like John C Reilly....

So this really is just a footloop...? If that's the case, that is a fancy! Where do you attach the klemheist in relation to your friction hitch then...? Terminally confused..? Probably....

The most complicated bit of this job is compressing the rings and getting the piston back inside the pot. I've got a home made wooden block to sit the piston on [inch thick piece of ply with a slot cut out to slip round the conrod] and I use the plastic ring compressors that are under 2 quid from Stihl.... You'll need a few other bits, bottom gasket, carb base gaskets, threadlock and the right tools, probably a drift to get the gudgeon pin out etc.... but all these things are pretty cheap... So long as you have somewhere clean and tidy to work, have a clean and tidy mechanically minded brain and a parts book & workshop manual to make sure you get little things right, like the piston rings the right way up, then it's just Meccano.... And it's very satisfying when they fire up.... That said, I've only ever worked on Stihls.....

I think I just worked out what this is for... I'm thinking 'footlocking' but I should be thinking 'friction hitch' in the style of split tail..... This is primarily to stop you falling to a horrible death when competing right...?

You're going to need to get round the fact that the 260 has been discontinued and replaced with the 261... Reviews of the 261 I have read were excellent, although some users have reported faults which develop fairly quickly in professional use. That said, for what sounds more like domestic levels of use a 261 should prove a great saw for you, if a little pricey, but I did find a new one online for a shade over £500 .... Stihl MS261 Chainsaw with 18? Bar | Stihl Dealer Norfolk Suffolk Cambridge Essex It's what I'd go for if I was in the market. [i'd have a shorter bar mind you...] I have a 2001 260 which has never missed a beat from new. I have an 025 and 460 as well and the 260 is still the one I pick up first. It's about due a carb overhaul & re-tune but it's been a brilliant saw, worthy of the classic status and cult following it seems to have.... The 261 is certainly starting from the right place....

Drew, I'm sure I'm probably being incredibly thick, but I can't work out what's going on in the photos..... Can you explain please mate...?

The parts book shows how it all goes together, but this might be helpful as well.... Stihl 009 Workshop Manual

Who did they give the other half to..??:lol: Work out what's missing first... Stihl 009 Parts lists They don't seem to fetch a lot on ebay, so this could end up being an expensive way to get a working one.....

Knob... I thought I'd actually spelt something wrong then and was about to fall on my sword at the shame of it.... :lol:

I think that was probably what did it for me too.... Always thought that would be the ultimate job, danger & excitement, stunning landscapes, hero of nature.... real M A N stuff....

Does he need a transit to cut the tree down...? If it's for a demo company why not exclude site clearance and stipulate they provide a green waste skip...? If you're in business then you should have all the tools you need, trees are like any other job, time+materials+overheads=cost... cost+profit=selling price..... you can price it on piece work if you like but ultimately piecework is based on day rates, but work rates are improved to allow you to make more money in a given time period.... while a client likes it because he can cap the cost of a job. At this stage, if he has to ask how to price a job then he probably needs to stick to day rates.