GardenKit

It will be very slow

Also worth noting that its best to leave the helicoil a little below the surface, and scrape off any of the little plastic mound left from the stretched plastic thread. This ensures that the carb seals against the flange. The Huskie Mondo must be the worse strimmer ever made, also the worse strimmer ever made. I hate them.

Haha, but you still have a very nice collection of tools, I must admit to being a little jealous. I can just imagine them being all Facom.......... Oh, how I would polish them, tidy them, drool over them........... (and the chrome would never flake!)

Sharp eyes there div. TBH I had managed for 35 years on the tools without buying SnapOn. Torx screws were not around when I started but later on in my career they became popular so I bought Draper. They lasted a few years (the T27 gets the most use obviously) before wearing out. I replaced with Halfords, but they too wore out. So I thought it was time to invest (heavily) in a Snap On set. But they lasted less time than the Halfords ones. Not only did they wear out, but some even just sheared off. Absolute pile of carp in my opinion. The rep even told me when I bought them that their lifetime warranty would not apply if I wore them out. I have now replaced most with Facom which are absolutely brilliant. So never again will anything SnapOn grace my bench! But each to their own.

You have a most enviable collection of tools Mr Div. Even in my Ag days I neither had, or needed, such a selection. And now, with only small kit to repair I only keep a small selection of mismatched tools to hand on top of the bench. The bigger stuff is in a tool chest which is very untidy and seldom opened.

I still have customers who want to do their 'last cut' before letting their mower come in for winter service. A week later they will be desperate to do the 'first cut'

Thats impressive:thumbup1: If you are like me you have a tool for every occasion, but 80% never get used! Most of my big sockets only get used for pushing bearings.

It will be fantastic if it does, but I doubt it. The base product of Aspen is Alkylate which is produced quite expensively from what are effectively waste gases from the distillation towers and 'crackers' Thus, the base gases, being byproducts of petroleum have little value in their raw state, its the alkylation process that gives the base product its value. It is this base product that Aspen buy and blend. The price of crude has little effect on the price of alkylate production, but will have some effect on the price of packaging and distribution. The lower price of petrol though, does now widen the gap between it and Aspen, which is bound to make it more difficult to sell to new users. I doubt however, that many Aspen converts will be tempted back to petrol even with the lower costs as the benefits of Aspen are so significant.

The Customs are all front wheel drive, thats going to make it pants at towing on slippery surfaces or uphill. My 2012 FWD Transit certainly has rubbish traction, despite traction control, which contrary to common belief is no advantage in slippery surface traction. The Gross Train Mass is 4400kg, so thats the van, trailer and load. The van grosses at 2500 kg allowing a very generous 1900kg behind, but it will be over 3500kg so I think it will need a tacho.

Never come across that brand Mike. Must be a welsh thing!

I know its stating the obvious, but buying a saw from ebay is a risky business. I know some on here have had a good buy, but many, many more are buying problem saws. I see it from both sides in my shop. I get folk in with saws just like the one Div has bought I get folk in with their own non runners, which are beyond their economic limits to repair, who then go off to sell it on the bay as a runner. They even boast to me about how much they got. Buyer beware.

I guess it may then be termed as a benefit which you as employee will be taxed on

Plus VAT?

If its original Stihl then its a bit dodge. The RRP from Stihl is a whopping £283.99 plus the VAT.

Yes, the JD is very under rated at present. Its main strengths are in its very strong deck and quality wheels with bearings. The models with a BBC also have a Kawasaki motor, but to be honest the Briggs are extremely reiable too. The collection is amazing, thanks to the design of the blade, and the fan which sits above it. It whacks the grass into the bag and really compresses it, even in the wet. Another bonus is that the grass bag is parallel top to bottom and side to side, so the grass comes easily too. The grass box has a tongue at the bottom which enters the rear of the mower ( 4 wheelers only) and takes the compacted 'plug' of grass out with it when emptied. No more sticking your hand up its rear every time you empty to clear the plug.

Exactly right! We hear a lot on this forum about gearbox failures on Kaaz and Honda being common place, but its really not the case. Yes, they do have the potential to fail in the areas I have mentioned, but to be honest they usually give many years of service before any problems show. Bad usage and maintenance may of course contribute to earlier failure.

Assuming the original 19" still stands. in the circa £450-£500 bracket I would sell you the ALKO 4610HPD. I sell loads to pro gardeners who absolutely love them despite trashing them in 3-4 years of hard use. But just over 500 gets you the aluminium bodied Stiga, but £800 gets you even more Stiga. If you wanted the best ally 4 wheeler on offer it would be a toss up between the Kaaz and the JD, but if you wanted the best 19" roller then it would only be the Kaaz that I would consider selling you. DGM?, well they are not really my competition as I do not really have any. I have done things the same for years and have a loyal customer base. Other dealers are therefore 'alternatives'. rather than competition. So I will not run them down. They have been at the game for years and have some good staff. If they are convenient for you, then use them. Its better than travelling miles for service. On the other hand if you turned up at my shop I would not turn you away! And, in my opinion as an engineer, anything under £500 is not really suitable for heavy pro use.

To put a few things straight. Honda Pro Rollers are not clones of Kaaz, quite the opposite. The first Honda mowers were made by Kaaz for Honda. These 'badged' mowers put Honda firmly on the map as a mower manufacturer, so they ceased to buy from Kaaz and cloned the mower to manufacture themselves. Kaaz continue to build mowers in Japan. The genuine product is imported into the UK by Danarm. The MTD and Cobra machines are also made by Kaaz, as are Kubota and a few other names. Every make of mower suffers from gearbox failure. OK, not every owner suffers, but believe me, every make does. The Kaaz and Honda boxes are similar and are the best built gearboxes you will find on mowers, but they have two weaknesses. On wheeled mowers the gearboxes seldom suffer failure, but will suffer from wear on the dog clutch which makes them click when taking up drive. This is caused by the initial torque on take up of drive due to being shaft driven (there is no slip or 'give' as in belt drive) This wear can be minimised by pushing the machine forward before taking up drive (rather than trying to make the machine pull you off your feet) The clutch will then last for many, many years. The newer models incorporate a torque limiter in the drive shaft to minimise that start up torque. The roller mowers suffer the same with the clutch, but also suffer from bearing failure of the output shaft due to water and soil ingress around the ends of the rollers. This problem is a little worse on these mowers as the gearbox sits between the two roller halves and drives directly rather than by chain as in the JD and Hayter for example. Regular cleaning of the rollers helps, as does avoiding using hess mowers in wet and muddy conditions. All roller mowers hate the wet and mud, so its best to use a 4 wheel mower for late autumn and winter. But which mower is best? There are many good mowers available It depends on your budget and the strength of your local dealer (assuming you need dealer backup) Probably best to choose your dealer, then choose a mower from his range.

Not necessarily true. It depends on the airflow into the box how tight the grass gets packed. Some mowers, like the Kaaz and the JD have fans which really belt the grass into the box, compacting it and fully filling the box. A small box, tightly packed holds more than a loosely packed large box.

I had a 'micro drone' quadcopter. The bloke on the market stall said 'very easy to fly' It was indeed , very easy. The trouble was that its quite fast, and I tried to be clever and fly it around a tree, but when I lost sight of it I lost control and it never came out the other side of the tree! The whole family spent 2 hours looking for the flaming thing in the pouring rain this morning:001_rolleyes: I was not the most popular chap around. We found it some 200yds away at the far side of the neighbouring 4 acre field and 10 yards from the river. It is quite impressive though for something so small, complete with camera.

A very merry Christmas to all followers of this thread. And, I wish you all all a very Aspen New Year.

The Time Machine strikes again!

You must now have achieved celebrity status then Paul:big grin: Well done mate, you have a had a fantastic 3 years on the whole and inspired many with your positive thinking. Keep posting.

I maybe wrong but I guess Mr Walker was also thinking 4 mix, as I was earlier. Some 4 mix have a tank vent in the top of the tank below the carb which is connected by a hose to the air box. These 'one way' vents have a habit of becoming 'two way' and filling the air filter with fuel. Its a simple fix on the affected machines to change the vent.

Thats a spot on reply WeFixIt, and due to the early hour its probably one not clouded by cider, as most of my late replies can be.