Billhook

Mk 1 has one piece conveyor which has rubber belt, very tall for transport and storage Mk 2 has folding conveyor, revised splitter, and maybe easier adjustment if static knife. Looks like a sorted Mk 1 from the niggles point of view It will all come down to price in the end as the Mk 1 has done everything I needed with no problems since 1996 when I bought it off Jas Wilson for £2500

Kevin has been making more videos!

I was thinking of that as well as I have the old 15 ton JCB swing shovel, just trying to find the easiest option and certainly if it works, a stout static knife with the dozer seems the least amount of welding and cost. Need something to do on boxing day to avoid eating anymore left overs!

That was my original plan, and I bought a JCB ram and some H section and welded another bit of dozer blade, I even have the Matbro brackets ready to weld on but I just thought that it is not big enough for the trunks I want to split. Perhaps it would be a better Idea to experiment with the 17 ton Caterpillar D7 " Daisy Etta" as not much stops that machine from going forwards and I doubt if anything will bend the two ton blade! It would be better to have the Matbro at the side ready to pick up the pieces and set them in place for another go if it works. I will need to make the static vertical knife fairly strong and well supported!

I was thinking of post hole followed by the sharpened dozer blade welded inside a length of box section. Put the box section into the ground and concrete around leaving the sharpened blade sticking up vertically At the base of the blade at ground level I would weld another short stout bit of steel to hold a heavy duty chain in position, Take two lengths of chain back to the teleporter either side of the log and fasten them to the chassis with shackles. The advantage of the chain is that you can try and split any length of log by just shortening the chain. I only need to do this occasionally to split it down to a 12 inch size that will go through the Palax processor. Something should give way, it is a question of what! It may help to weld a short sharp leading triangle on the knife just to start opening up the log. By the way I was trying to work out the tonnage force of the teleporter ram extending in the same way that log splitters are categorised. Is there a formula? The Matbro 270 TS certainly seems to be very powerful pushing itself out of deep wet holes when stuck.

We have TPOs on whole roadside copses by the house, which are in the garden. Full of overgrown Laurel and Elder in between a few nice Holly and Yew. I do not know who put these orders on or what the procedure is. They were placed in the 1980s. Is asking for a review sensible or does it open another can of worms? Is it different in different areas? Can anyone apply to put a TPO on any tree anonymously?

With the benefit of hindsight and looking forward to the new house, is there anything you think you could have done to protect it from wild fires in the way of fire breaks or sprinkler systems or are the fires so intense to make such ideas hopeless. It is not just the work but the love you put into it that makes it such a tragedy. I suppose that it is time to count your blessings in that no one was hurt. Tools and house are replaceable.

It was all going so well! Lovely log from a non hedgerow tree, just nearing the last runs and there was a raspy sound which lasted a few milliseconds. That is how long it takes to remove all the five teeth on the blade. Still never found what it was, but it must have been metal and well up the tree. So I have changed many Lucas blades over the last twenty years, more than average as I have been taking them off to do some Lucas slabbing. Never had too much trouble until this one and the Allen screws holding the blade were tight, and I mean tight. I have some high quality socket Allen keys but you could tell something bad was about to happen if I put any more tension on the bar. Tried a bit of heat but not too much which made no difference and I did not want to de-temper the blade. No visible rust anywhere and the blade was last changed in the Summer. Gave the hub a mighty belt with the hammer to try and shock something, still no joy. The answer was for a friend to lean on the bar using moderate force while I hit the other end of the bar over the socket which is in turn over the Allen screw. Doing this with moderate forces on both hammer and bar released all the screws quite easily. Some of you may find this useful one day (others may say go teach your grandma to suck eggs!)

This is the sort of effect I am after for little extra cost!

Thanks for the thought, but that splitter is really no different to the one on the Palax in terms of length, maybe a bit more diameter. What I am hoping for is the that the Teleporter will have enough ram pressure in the telescopic boom to push a large tree trunk through a static knife The knife being concreted into the ground and also attached to the teleporter chassis with chains

If you slip you are completely buggered!

Just had the 181 back from the shop today. The engine runs better and the saw does not bog down anymore but it seems heavier than the 170 both with the same bar and chain, it uses more fuel, does not lubricate the chain quite so well and I hate the filler caps. I would pick up the 170 any day over the 181 as it seems to have more power as well, maybe because it is run in. I think that the 181 is going back as it has not even had the chain sharpened yet as it is still sharp having hardly cut anything.

I cannot see why flow and cooling would be a problem as it would not be running a hydraulic motor and these machines are designed to spend all day lifting heavy loads in difficult conditions. I have a need to very occasionally split a large tree trunk, that I cannot put through the 12 inch capacity of the Palax Combi. At the moment this means tedious cutting into rings and splitting with an axe. So rather than do the ringing and paying for a large hydraulic splitter , I was thinking of building a log cradle at ground level and weld a large static knife at one end. (I have several old worn dozer blades kicking about) I could chain the chassis of the teleporter to the log cradle and then push a log using the full pushing force of the ram and hydraulics through the knife. The boom extends out over three metres so I can split those sort of lengths which I could then put through the Palax. In fact there would be no limit to the length of the log as you could just have a longer chain which could be shortened with shackles as necessary. I am fairly confident that the machine has a lot of pushing power as it easily can push its own eight ton weight out of a sticky hole when stuck. It would be quite simple to unhook the chain after splitting to use the teleporter to pick up the pieces for re-splitting or taking over to the Palax. Watch this space! It could be another of my youtube fails!

It seems as though all the elements are there to make a great splitter. Heavy duty long ram, engine power and hydraulic flow , cab and seat and controls Has anyone converted one by fixing a cradle for the log on the front of the machine and then mounting an axe on the front plate of the boom and split the log by retracting the ram. An additional benefit would be the ease of lifting heavy logs into position. Probably too simple, like me!

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I bought a Bushnell Trophy Cam about three years ago for about £200 and it has lasted well and the bwtteries seem to last for ever, at least six months with quite a lot of traffic. I put this one down by the lake to catch the otters. I put it on a tree on a narrow piece of ground between the lake and the stream so that wildlife has no option but to go by. The night shots are always black and white and the range is effectively about twenty yards as far as triggering the camera goes. You than then either set it up with a ten second video which resets again after another short period, or a series of three still shots. Day light is in colour and has the range of a normal camera. You can either watch the video on the camera or take it home and watch on you computer which I recommend. You need to site the camera facing away from sunlight and away from branches and plants that move with the wind which can set the camera off. I bought the Bushnell as it has a screen to disguise the infrared light which some animals might see and be alarmed by. I see there are hundreds of these cameras if you search on Amazon and many around the £60 mark. I bought one of these cheaper ones https://www.amazon.com/Cyberdax-Infrared-Waterproof-Wildlife-Scouting/dp/B01DXEM0CU which I can only find on the American site but it has been fine so I am sure a cheaper one would be the way to start and if you find you are keen and the results are good, then you can upgrade.

Just found this on youtube, great minds think alike!

Interesting you found the 181 to be gutless. Did the chain end up not rotating like mine or did it just cut slower? The 170 with the 16 inch bar was not nicked after all just"borrowed". and "I hope you don't mind" borrowed and put back where I did not find it for ages. However it did give me a clear comparison with the 181 which on paper should be better. I also had those lousy fuel and oil fillers on the 181 which are really fiddly and easy to cross thread and knacker. The oil filler one is in such a position that the handle of the saw is in the way of the flip up device. you can undo the old screw type fillers with the Stihl spanner/screwdriver with gloves on but these ones no way. I am blissfully happy with the performance of the 170s. They are light, easy to start, do the jobs I want to do and more. From leaf blowers to hedge trimmers to log grabs I have always been impressed with Stihl tools but the 181 seems to be a bit of a dud. I shall give it one more chance when it comes back and report here possibly with a video of the two together. When I was in the shop I bought a new chain for the 170 16 inch bar and we gave the saw a good clean and adjustment and it goes better than ever. There seems to be little difference between the cutting speed of the 16 inch 170 and the 12 inch 170.

Like a lot of things in arb work and indeed life itself, there is a world of difference between "should have" and "did" !

You obviously work much harder than I do billpierce!

The barsteward has returned my old 170 with the 16 inch bar. (just borrowed it for a small job hope you didn't mind!).I now have the two together and I see that the bars and chains are identical, both picco same size. 1.3mm Gauge 3/8" Pitch 55 Drive Links .The old 170 with sharp but worn teeth went straight through a fourteen inch ash log whereas the new 181 bogged down and would not even look at it. I cannot work out if it is the clutch or the engine or both. The chain stops turning as soon as the bar enters the wood fully and the engine bogs down. Took it back to the shop and they rang the supplier who told the shop to send it back so I will have to wait and see. However very pleased to see my old friend back. I did not think it would be man enough for the 16 inch bar when I ordered it but it has been fine. I keep the other 170 on a 12 inch bar just in case I trap the other saw. The 170 is really all I need for brashing and occasional logging and is so much easier to carry and start all day long when you are an old codger like me who feels these things a lot more than I used to! The 181 will go back if it does not perform slightly better than the 170.

Several years ago the local store was selling Stihl 170s for £124 at a time when they were around £170 elsewhere. I bought four. One went to a colleague and one was nicked. I found that having the two remaining small light saws was perfect for my requirements over the years cutting up mainly fallen trees up to about 24" diameter. I bought a 16 inch bar for one of them with a picco chain and was surprised how good this little saw coped with it and it became my saw of choice. Now some barsteward has nicked that saw and it seems that I cannot easily find a replacement so I was persuaded to buy a 181 with a 16 inch bar and slightly heavier chain for around £225. Now whether it is the heavier chain or the newness of the saw that has not been run in properly I am not sure but it seems to have far less cutting ability and bogs down easily., by which I mean the chain stops turning in the middle of a cut and the engine revs drop. Thoughts please

Grenadier is good but seems expensive. It lights kindling and branch logs without matches. Good for stirring up a fire that has been allowed to die down Key for element which is 1300watts turn off to leave fan only. The fan soon heats up a heap of branch logs and it would be well worth Sandspider's time to see if it cures the chimney problem. Looks like a hairdrier but I would not try it for that! We had a couple of Pifco models in the eighties which did not cost a lot £25 I think This one seems rather tired and expensive https://www.gumtree.com/p/heating-fireplaces/classic-pifco-electric-fire-lighter-electric-fire-starter/1155545789

Now I have just talked myself out of business as we have this cold air problem in the Pioneer in the office. I start it with a firelighter and then some ash branchloggings which are relatively smokeless and become hot very quickly, door shut but bottom vent fully open.

WE had a lot of smoke trouble with our new Danish Aduro when we first tried it. We have a Clearview Pioneer and an Aarrow and have many years experience of starting these stoves in the way most people do by newspaper and small kindling followed by larger stuff This method caused a mass of smoke with the Aduro and we have to use the paperless inverted method used in the following videos We have a Grenadier firelighter, not sure if that is the right thing at £120, but if the problem persists it may be better just to try one of those cheap electric 2kw fan heaters just to start the air moving (before you light the fire!) https://www.amazon.co.uk/RS-Components-Electric-Heater-Portable/dp/B01N22BTQJ/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1511645988&sr=8-5&keywords=electric+fan+heater