GardenKit

Yes, but I got some cream for it:lol:

Looks especially tidy at the moment, but TBH it will always be almost as tidy as this. i just can't work in a mess. The bench you see is my tool station, along with the twin cabinets to the left. All commonly used tools are in their own place on the tool bench. Small and fiddly bits are repaired on this bench, but machines are all done on a 6x4 bench just beside the tool bench. All tools are returned to the tool bench between every job, so the 6x4 bench is completely clean for every job. This saves mixing things up and identifies left over bits immediately.

They would not let us be winched from boat to chopper unless we knew how to get out if it ditched. Had to stay strapped in whilst fuselage sank and turned upside down. Count slowly to 20 (meant to give time for the egg whisk to stop) then release seat belt and follow the little lights to the door. They always but the biggest guys further from the door. It makes sure that everyone else gets out before the big boy gets stuck in the door ( I am not small) Still, that was then and this is now. The only time I have ever come near to seasick was in that damn airless life raft. It did not help that the pool was heated. I managed to keep it down, even when most of the others had not. As you said, it only takes one.

Top tip Rich, be the last guy into the raft, hang around and help the others in. They will then pull you in, which is less effort than pulling yourself in. PLUS you will be by the door. If anyone chunders, and they are very likely to in the confined, airless space, you will be able to open the door a little and breath some fresh air. Do you have to do the Helicopter dunk tank these days? Thats slightly scary. Did mine in Aberdeen.

Not so much about whats on my bench, but my bench itself. I decided that after 10 yrs use the tool bench could use a facelift, so built some fresh shelves for testing kit etc and gave the bench a new rubber surface. i don't want to use it now, because it wont stay tidy for long.

I used to love it, was very sad to retire, but free time is much more relaxed now.

Fair play Rich, but make sure you really want to do this before you comit. Being 'on the crew' will take over your life. You will not want to work more than 2 or 3 minutes from the boat, or have an evening out, in case you miss a shout. You will love it, but those you love may not. You will develop a habit of always checking on your belt for your pager. You will always reverse your car into the drive, and make sure you are never blocked in. Always make sure you have some fuel, and dont leave the trailer on. You will lay your clothes out every night, avoiding belts, laces and buttons, slip on shoes are a must. You will have to let all your customers know why they may find the chipper running, but the operator dissapearing off down the road with tyres burning. In short, it will consume you. You will have elation when you save a life and tremendous sadness when you are too late and have to recover a lifeless body. It costs a lot to train a crewmember and too many don't fully commit, so the training costs are wasted. But those who give themselves fully to the job will benefit from the comeradery of some of the most dedicated volunteers in the country. Keep us informed, mate.

This is a good offer, those things retail at £18.90.

So it was that one then Spud. Well cooked.

I had a customer trying to decide which type of mower to buy. Four wheels....,or rear roller???? I explained the pro's and con's. He said ' its got to be the roller model as it will leave stripes, if i have the wheeled one I wont know which bits i have cut'

All these safety devices are indeed a PITA. Remove them by all means, but make a record in your Health and Safety file that you have done so, and why. Then make a note absolving the manufacturer and supplier of any liability for injury you may do yourself. Then tell your insurers, they are sure to understand. And inform your staff that they must use your unsafe equipment and that you will personally cover any shortfall in compensation for injury they may receive whilst using it. Seriously guys, come on and wake up to the real world.

Quite frankly guys, it does not matter what you use to clean the air filter as long as it is cleaner afterwards than before and not damaged. Its not rocket science. Solvents such as carb cleaner and petrol are great on oily grime as they evaporate off and leave no residue. Compressed air is best for dry, non oily dust. Not too sure about wd40 as I can see that it will clean the filter, but may not dry off quickly leaving it likely to collect dust. But then again, filters are meant to collect dust, after all. We used to soak some filters in oil just to do that. Whatever works for you and does not leave holes in the filter is fine.

Sold a few of these. In common with most machines of this size they ar OK but dont expect too much. They are stated as having a 65mm capacity on the chipper, but you will soon get fed up trying to chip that. It will however gobble up 40mm with ease, but the sticks do have to be straight with no branches. The shredder must not be overloaded, its only suited to about 12mm material max, and not too bushy or you cant get it down to the shredder, it just jams in the chute. It chucks the chip out the bottom and soon builds up a pile which blocks the discharge, so clear the chip or move the machine often. On the plus side its well built and has a simple belt drive which is self tensioned by the weight of the engine. Its a bit bulky for storage too, and unstable for transport in a van or trailer. Hope this helps.

You will need 1129 647 9400 hose, and 1123 640 3800 body (filter).

the best pictures are over there

Thats what I meant about his way with words.......Brilliant (I think)

A question from someone who knows nothing about felling. How much does a tree like that weigh?

IMO the JD R series are unbeatable in the 43cm and 47cm models,both 4 wheeler and rollers, every bit as good as the KAAZ but cheaper. The 54cm 4 wheelers are also brilliant. I have sold quite a few of the 54cm roller models but its not quite as good as it should be in the transmission area. I will now only sell this big one to domestic users and will be selling KAAZ to heavy users. BTW, JD dont just put their name to the SABO mowers, they own the SABO factory.

I am honestly not into porting. I don't see the need. But I respect those, like Spud, who do. So he's the man.

Anyway, anyway,anyway, back to the thread title..... On my bench today were Tanaka long reach HT for full service and sharpen Stihl FS55 thing, full of old, gummy fuel. Cleaned Zama in U.S. for 45 minutes, rebuilt with new diaphragms etc and hey presto!!...rubbish. Fitted new replacement Walbro and off she went..perfect. John Deere Ride On for starting problems, simple solenoid replacement. 200t for full service and new brake handle. Hayter Ranger mower for full service and new gearbox. A couple of new chains fitted, a couple of sales, so a couple of PDI,s. 3 pairs of shears sharpened. 6 cups of tea drank, and an hour spent chatting to an old friend. John Deere delivered back and another collected. Quite a quiet day compared with the last 6 months.

Thanks Rich, its kind of satisfying when we are able to help someone sort out their problems, and more than a little frustrating when we can't. I do this sort of thing on the bench, day in and day out, so that it becomes sort of automatic, but when trying to sort things on the forum it is different. Firstly we have to understand the problem as written by the arbtalker. Then we have to communicate the answer, or ask further questions. This is where Spud excels. Besides his thorough understanding of the products he has the ability to compile clear and concise instructions. I have tried this but find it a little difficult, so on the whole I leave it to Steve because he is the master especially with saws. Every now and then a topic appears where I say to myself "I can answer this!!" so I jump in. Its a good forum. There are many very knowledgeable members. There are many inspirational characters. There are those who talk nothing but nonsense, but also those who talk common sense. I enjoy it immensely. Thanks once again to Spud for this thread, and of course to Steve Bullman for the forum, as well as to all the Arbtalkers, without them there would be no forum.

That may depend on where you live??

I checked with my Zama distributor today. It seem that the carbs for that saw are only available as OE. Stihl, like many manufacturers, will buy something like a carb from a specialist producer (in this case Zama) and have a contract which forbids the sale of the same product through other outlets for a set time period. So many newer machines can have only genuine parts.

It was a great idea to start this thread, Spud. I have learnt a lot from this, even at my age when I thought I new it all! I have learnt from you and other posters, but strangely I have learnt from myself. When I have tried to tell someone else how to do what I do naturally, then that has in itself been a learning process in how to get knowledge from my head into comprehensible words. I have found that trying to describe these tasks consolidates the knowledge I have and encourages me to fill in the gaps. Thank you for tolerating my intrusions on your thread.

Hi Woodland. You will need not only the clearance but the setting technique. For normal valve adjustment you line up the little arrow on the flywheel with the RH ignition module bolt. As its a 4 stroke this will occur in 2 positions, if the valves are operated by the rocker arms in this position (valve overlap) rotate the crank another turn and the valves should be idle i.e not operated when rocking the crank back and forth. Clearance is 0.1mm (+ or- .02mm) adjust, and rotate 2 turns, check again. You will need to cut your feeler to fit between the flanges of the rocker arm (about 3mm). Hope this makes some sense.