Jackofsome

To the best of my knowledge the A-C version was a re-badged Milwaukee, not the other way round. Atlas-Copco bought the Milwaukee Electric Tool Company in 1995 from it's second owner - third if you include the founder. Sold about ten years later to Techtronic who also own AEG and Ryobi.

Milwaukee does seem to have hung onto its heritage and quality though.

Fair enough, can't say I had ever heard of Milwaukee before 2002-2003 but I knew they were linked because they were identical to the ac ones. And I know it was pre 2005 because I stopped going to the ag. Dealer where I saw them pre 2005.

Milwaukee were sold by Atlas Copco in 2005 I believe. Now owned by Techtronic.

It happened before 2005 and they were identical to the atlas copco models and they stopped selling the atlas copco version at the same time, I know because I had the ac version.

You what? When your car slows down because of a slight hill, do you put your foot down or leave it where it is??

 

I find the opposite- people run big strimmers flat out when there's no need.

That's what I mean, that is why I would find cruise control nice, because running flat out is not what I want.

In my car I have automatic and cruise control so don't bother asking me, and anyway a car is not a strimmer.

Generally when strimming you have a fairly consistent sort of material to strim then perhaps encounter anothe rpatch of something different, like the field I had the other day was 1 acre of gras and about 0.25 acres of bramble, the brambles were all one end.

I only said I thought the cruise on the husky was a good idea I have never used one and didn't say I had.

I don't buy all this cruise control bollocks. Numb fingers from holding the throttle? Lack of anti vibe more like.

 

You don't get in a car and put your foot down, then leave it down. You drive and apply throttle according to the conditions. It's the same when strimming.

I didn't think it was anything to do with vibes, I thought it was more to maintain consistent revs as anyone knows from using big machines especially it ia all to easy to struggle to maintain consistent revs manually.

As plant fitters/fabricators on the road and in the workshop we get through a reasonable amount of cordless power tools and have tried most makes, Hitachi, Bosch, DeWalt, Makita, Metabo, Snap-On etc etc. We currently are on Milwaukee 18v and I must say the drill is the best cordless I have ever used. The power, chuck and build quality are just unreal. The 1/2" impact gun is a fair tool too and the batteries are getting better with use but I think the Snap-On gun still has it licked.

Milwaukee drill is just awesome though. We also have cordless grinders from Milwaukee. Good kit.

Milwaukee are rebranded atlas copco, happened in about 2002-2003 or rather the new name for them one of the two.

I am going to destroy this thread by saying I have Festool and would never go back to anything else, the quality of build is terrific and you really do get what you pay for, I got mine about 6 years ago it is the D handle one but not the new cheapie version! I think it is the c12 or something and it outperforms 14+v other drills.

I know they are quite pricey but I like tools

I have had such bad experiences with local Stihl dealers, some even quoting 20-30% more than rrp for strimmers and such that I found a dealer some many many miles from me somewhere else who not only is willing to do discounts because I am trade but also posts the stuff out to me for free...I even got a Stihl saucy calender for Christmas

He has even discussed with me the possibility of doing carriage back and forth for servicing once a year, or I might just just drive there in the winter stay over a night and get the stuff done all at once.

+1 fs460 I got mine 2 years ago and have never looked back it is a beast of a machine starts great runs better and chews through undergrowth like nobody's business, used it with the shredder again yesterday and love it, I now have secured a third job on the same property to clear >1 acre of bramble filled field!

A slightly smaller fs would probably do you, but I love my fs 460 (although I have 2 other machines of different sizes for different jobs!)

I believe the Husky machines do or certainly used to have "cruise control" which meant you could set the revs lower and just plough on, I wish I had it on the stihl but the lack of it doesn't bother me enough to change.

And yes I use my strimmers on a regular basis as that is my business, I do gardening/grasscuting rather than tree work.

Just an update for you all.

I got my saw back from my man today and it is singing beautifully, it was an intermittent ignition coil apparently.

He fitted a secondhand one from a spares machine he had and it is going great, he charged me €40 in total for the job, personally I don't think I was robbed?

Thanks guys for all your help.

I have a stihl fs460 and have the optional shredding kit, I used it for the first time last week on some brambles and it is amazing!

I don't know why people don't like the 4mix engines, I have found mine to be very good but I suppose time will tell?

Low speed power is fine on my machine.

We have a non boiler Charnwood, they are very well built stoves and I can't fault our one at all, 25kw will go through a lot of timber though, although I'm sure you already knew that.

Other good makes to look at are clearview and Jotul.

I don't use saws at work but use 2 stroke, I do as the other chaps have said I use the measuring bottles and pour the right amount of 2 stroke in then top up with exactly 5 litres of petrol, I use hp ultra and hp (red) because I got a gallon of the pink stuff some years ago, so the stihl kit that requires the hp ultra gets it and all the other strimmers, hedgetrimmers etc. get the hp.

Where in Munster are you sandworks?

Aspen is available here and available in bulk I believe.

Three local places to look:

 

Park hill training

Dart

Broomfield

I would have to second Park Hill Training, I did non chainsaw training there a couple of years ago and they were terriffic, even tailor made a 1-1 plan for me to fit multiple courses into an intensive week and their prices were very reasonable I thought.

Hi David,

Do you know which engine it has, I am assuming it is the overhead cam one?

Thanks spudulike, jomo et al,

I will have a go at those suggestions over the coming days.

Thanks pinkfoot I'll try it.

Hi Mendip,

You will have great fun with it, but as some guys have already said, they are bloomin sharp and don't take prisoners, on my first outing with my zubat (admittedly doing something really stupid) I managed to cut almost to the bone on my little finger, I still have the scar 2 years on and it still tickles if i touch the scar!

Hi peatff,

Yes it closes, and then when the saw "pops" it opens again or vice versa, I'm not very up on terms yet....

I don't own one but I have used a customer's one a few times and I absolutely love it, although I wouldn't have a huge amount of use for one on a regular basis, I don't actually use chainsaws in my line of work, all of my saws are for home use.

I personally have a Silky Zubat 330mm saw and it is teriffic! I also have two bahco/sandvik triangular saws, one each with hardwood and softwood blades. I use all of them on a regular basis although the Silky is my go to saw, then if the timber needs something else I'll go to the bow saw.

Somewhere in the back of my head is telling me blackthorn or elm although I suppose elm is tricky to get hold of.

I am pretty certain that elm used to be the favoured timber for chopping blocks because of the twisty grain.

Get a lot of those nice chaps selling them around the markets in Ireland in the summer too, I have never seen so many fake saws in repair shops before.

Unfortunately the third plug hasn't done the trick either.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

Many thanks urban dekay, I might just go and try a third plug just to make sure!

Hi Chris,

Yes I have, although, is there a difference? I used a cj7y or whatever the standard one is, the 2 same numbered plgs have different coloured writing on them, is this significant or are they the same?

Thanks,

Jack

Thanks guys for all of your suggestions, I honestly think this one is beyond my abilities, the compression seems ok, I can't see any scoring down the exhaust, the fuel was mixed only last week and is 50:1 stihl hp ultra, the only thing that slightly worries me is on pulling it over and it coughing after a few goes I notice a little wetting around the spark plug.

I'll take it to my machine bloke for him to have a look.