GardenKit

Haha, As part of the job its only £3.50, but as a stand alone service it would the minimum charge of £25.00 But I was not knocking your way of doing it Steve, it was a great result. Just pointing out the difference between your way of working and the commercial way, where we simply cannot afford to spend 2hrs with a diamond burr when there is a perfectly good welder in the corner. The welder is also good for getting out broken studs. Simply cut a larger nut in half to make it thinner. Place it over the stub of the broken stud and weld it to the stub through the inner hole. The heat travels down the stud and frees it off, then a spanner can be used to unwind the stud using the welded on nut. Simples.

+1 for the welding technique. I tend to weld a thick washer into the race at the same time as running a bead, in this way not only does the race release but I have something to tap on to tap it out. Spuds way is good, but 2hrs at my £50hr is a bit steep to get a bearing out. 3minutes with the welder.

I try to ensure that I make a profit from every aspect of my business ADW, that includes Aspen (although the margin is low) I also make profit from repairing the damage caused by stale fuel and the margin on labour sales is much higher. You keep on about the cost to 'full time cutters', and granted, the cost to them will be considerable. They will likely not suffer from the mechanical issues of stale fuel, but will have a greater exposure to the toxic effects of the pump fuel, a 'cost' they may wish to consider. But your 'full time cutters' are a very minority market for Aspen, and in my experience all users make their own mind up on their costs. If its not for you, then don't use it, the choice is yours. But we all know its more expensive than petrol, so why keep knocking the product?

Its closer to £19.00 in fact. (£18.98 for 5 litres of two stroke) Plenty do justify it on its merits.

The price is really not an issue to most customers. If it was I would not be selling the volume I do, and would not have the tremendous repeat business. As for getting pump fuel improved...... good luck with that one!!

I am considering selling some Kaaz handheld kit. Has anyone any first hand experience of this lesser known brand?

That would be great, and it should happen. But, sadly, I do not think it will. But I sell rather a lot of Aspen and price is seldom mentioned after the initial raised eyebrow. Sure, it comes as a bit of a shock to the customer when I get to the price, after explaining the benefits, but generally they give a can a try. Then they invariably come back for more, having proved the benefits for themselves and price is never mentioned again.

Very true Eddie, but in those days there was very little understanding of Aspen, or the problems caused by stale petrol. But now those problems are acknowledged by most, even if they have no trouble themselves. And Aspen has come of age. The next three years will see a tremendous increase in the use of Aspen.

That is also good to hear Steve. It dispels the myth that you cannot change between petrol and aspen without retuning. Well looked after machines, in good order, have no problem switching.

Good to hear Steve! You could always go back to petrol on the 201 just to see if its the saw or the fuel:001_rolleyes: But I bet you won't:001_smile:

Good move for them Shavey, an account like that will kick start their sales nicely.

They are in an envelope with your name on Steve. Should be with you in a couple of days. Keep up the conversions:thumbup:

I am glad to hear that Paul:001_smile:

Hi Eddie Hope you are well, you must call in some time. We never did hear from you about that prospect dealer who needed a bit more encouragement when we were away. Did you get him on board anyway? Barrie

The smaller the engine is the more likely the need for a bit of tweaking. 1/4 turn is nothing to worry about.

It is important to note that there are also tuning issues when switching between different makes of petrol, or switching between old petrol and fresh petrol. Switching between summer grade and winter grade petrol also causes engines to run slightly differently, requiring tuning for optimum performance. I get loads of 2 strokes in that run on petrol, but do not run quite right. A little tweak on the mixture screws will often sort them out. But Aspen is no exception, it is after all, slightly different in density and vapour pressure to fresh pump petrol, so it is inevitable that some carbs will need a tweak. Having said that, I have changed thousands over to Aspen and many have required no retuning at all, but some have required a slight adjustment. This adjustment, if needed, is only needed on the L screw ( idle jet) and always needs to be a little richer, just to ensure a smooth idle and pick up. The adjustment will usually be no more than 1/8 turn and very, very occasionally, a 1/4 turn may be needed. This is because Aspen is a little less volatile and as such can be slightly more difficult on cold start and tick over on some engines with 'colder' fuel lines. The H screw needs no adjustment, as the difference in volatility is not noticed through the main jet. Usually, an engine tuned to run on Aspen will have no problem coping with the slightly richer mixture when run on petrol. Hope this helps. Barrie

Great to hear another positive for Aspen! The price of Aspen has not changed in over 2 years and remains at £18.98 inc vat for 5litres of Aspen2, although the oil content has been upgraded to FRT. (£18.49 for the 4 stroke version) hope this helps

If the choice is only Stihl or Echo, then I would say Echo. But I would be a bit cautious about dropping 10cc, whatever you hear about Hi Torque gearboxes etc, 25cc is 25cc and will not do what a 35cc machine will.

Our Biffa driver had a new truck with one of those lights this week. Its also has a speaker on the left which tells the cyclist that the vehicle is turning left, activated every time the vehicle indicates left. Reg, the driver is not well chuffed due to the complaints he is getting in town from residents near his collection points at 5.00 am, as it cannot be turned off, nor his reversing bleeper.

Strange thing though, I gave freely to make JK rich, but I have no choice in giving my tax to fund benefits for those struggling financially. Don't get me wrong, I believe support for the lower paid is important, but I find it hard not to make a moral judgement on the minority who take the benefits and abuse the system. Moral judgements work both ways. I am still in favour of JK and others like her. And another plus for JK is that she still lives in the UK.

I agree Eggs, just can't understand why anyone should be petty, jealous and resentful of someone like JK. Millions of people worldwide, including bin men and the like, have given some of their hard earned wages to read her book or watch her film. No one was forced to, and nobody objected. Those people, just like you and me. have made her rich without making ourselves poorer. So why be jealous? Presumably Matelot has never watched any films or read any books for enjoyment for fear of making the author rich.

Have you read one of her books, or watched the film? Did you enjoy it? If your bin man can write something as good I will pay to see it, but i won't pay to watch him empty bins.

So someone has a million or two in the bank, does not spend any, has no flash cars etc. Nobody knows, so nobody is jealous. This person does the local economy no good at all Another, like JK has a million or two and spends it. Everyone can see this and some are insanely jealous. But this person creates employment and distributes cash earned from all over the world into her local economy. She gets my vote.

If it is that easy then you can do it as well Matelot, can't be that hard to write a brilliant book. Just need a bit of paper and a pen.....

Yet another plus point for Aspen! Its the lower vapour pressure of Aspen that is responsible for this success. Pump fuel contains a large quantity of highly volatile solvents, these readily turn to gas with heat and vibration, and saws do not run on gas. Aspen contains absolutely no solvents so stays in its liquid form until much higher temperatures. This makes Aspen the ideal solution to 'Hot Start' problems caused by vapourisation. As for extolling the virtues of Aspen? I don't think there is much need anymore as most Arbtalkers are now fully aware of Aspen and its merits, even if they choose not to use it, they do respect it. There is only one negative to Aspen, and that is of course, the price. Barrie