arborlicious

Full chisel is actually easier to sharpen since you can see the perfect point on top of the cutter when you're done.

Another great bend for joining two ropes is called 'Shake Hands' - youtube 'shake hands rope'. Easy to untie after loading too unlike the overhand knot.

I use the Drayer Tango StatX 11.5 with the original Rope Runner. Super static rope - even more static (1.2% elongation) than the Teufelberger Xstatic (1.4%) The Drayer Tango StatX and Teufelberger XStatic are my favourite SRT ropes followed by Donaghys Cougar. Teufelberger drenaline feels like elastic after any of those.

I'll have to say that in future - no 'gutted heron'

It was my last day contract climbing for this company–too many differences of opinion. The boss seemed to want everything over-pruned (Eucalyptus, exotic deciduous or palm) so the customer thinks they're getting better value.

Not something I do very often in Australia but spent most of Tuesday cleaning up an English Oak. I don't have the 'before' picture but the main thing I'm questioning is how bad is it for the tree to clean all the leaf fluff off the branches–especially heading into summer?) The owner wanted to see clean branches so lots of faffing with the silky.

Showa Atlas Fit 300. I get a couple of weeks per pair before downgrading the gloves to ground work only.

Scary hollow ivy covered willow.

I guess that's why the m-tronic service kit (1144 007 1801) comes with a better fuel filter too.

Old MS661c is fixed. Warmed up, calibrated yesterday on the job and it powered through some big cuts on dead Eucalyptus. It now starts when warm in "I" position without having to use the ▲ position. Will also idle when warm I'm assuming the old black solenoid was the problem. Found a good video with more details - redbull661 Stihl 661 Coil fix + Reset or Calibration ?

Got around to replacing the coil, solenoid and fuel filter today. The old coil was v1 m-tronic 4700 D while the new one is v3 4702 A. Needed a T10 torx screwdriver for the screw in the clip that holds the solenoid in place. Saw started fine but I have yet to go through the calibration procedure as it's a warm Sunday afternoon so I'd rather drink beer than disturb the neighbourhood.

The rings and cylinder are fine - definitely no scoring. Have been running Bel-Ray H1-R for many years now in all my saws always 50:1 with 95 octane fuel (no Ethanol.) The m-tronic service kit did not turn up last week but I need the saw this week so I've had to put it back together.

While I'm waiting, decided to take off the cylinder and see how it looks after 5 years. Still looking good–obviously I don't use this saw every day. Always use full synthetic 2 stroke at 50:1.

Ordered the MS661c service kit yesterday so I'll report back with the results.

My five year old MS661c has been giving me grief lately. It won't hold idle for long before it cuts out and then I always have to put it in the cold start position ▲ to get it going again, i.e. no warm start in the "I" position. Have gone through the usual suspects, new spark plug, clean air filter (actually replaced with a brand spanking HD2). Compression is still spot on at 165psi. Have performed the M-tronic reset (90 seconds in start position ▲ then stop.) During the re-calibration the saw seems to stay at the same RPM–is that normal? I've heard that these older MS661c had problems with the fuel solenoids and control units so I'm thinking to do an upgrade. There is a specific MS661c service kit (1144 007 1801) containing a new solenoid, fuel filter and v3 control unit (1144 400 4703 or 1144 400 4704) I suppose I should take it to the local dealer and they can run the diagnostic checks but I don't want to pay them $60 then to tell me I need a $30 solenoid...