flatyre

Well the 038av arrived today, mixed reviews. Its mostly complete minus the brake band (not an issue) and the chain brake linkage (could be hard to source), it has been fitted with a brand new piston, barrel and plug, unfortunately the new barrel is very light and shiny, which would make me think its cheap Chinese guff. Put some petrol in it and it fired up right away so hopefully i'll get the bits it needs, even with a non oem piston and pot, it should still make a decent backup. Also got a look at the Rancher, its a white top, built in Sweden not USA, its complete and cosmetically in great shape, no damage to the plastics, handle has no tears in the grip, exhaust is good, and it has a cracking spark, unfortunately the piston is the worst I have seen but the ring is still free, not fused to the piston like usual. I had a look at the bore and after a basic hone, most of the marks came out but far from perfect. So question is what to do with it? put a new piston in and hope the bore doesn't destroy it, buy a full piston and bore kit, or scrap it? I know some a lot of you guys wouldn't waste your time on such an old saw, but I hate scrapping old saws.

that was nothing compared to some of the stunts he pulled, he was a proper c**t, four years working for him left me with a bit of a chip on my shoulder when it comes to employers. Anyway enough of that, back to the original point, I started out doing gardening legally, insured and paying taxes and just couldn't compete with all the handymen doing it on the QT while claiming DLA. I make a lot more money now doing landscaping and tree work. Plus although there are still plenty of handymen moonlighting as tree surgeons, more people would rather pay the extra for a professional than have a cowboy drop a tree on their house.

I used to drive for a Landscaping firm and didn't get any extra pay for it, while the other guys were in the canteen drinking tea I was out in the yard checking the van's oil, water, tyres, lights etc, we used to work all over Ireland so they'd be snoring away in the passenger seats while I was doing a seven hour drive back form Cork to Belfast after busting my balls all day. Put a scrape in the van one day because of a plonker drove the van into a right tight corner and I had to reverse it out for him. Boss deducted £20 a week from my wages for about six months to cover the little ten inch scrape plus all the dents and scrapes other people had put in the van over the years. So for six months I actually got paid less for carrying the responsibility of the van, tools and passengers for less than they guys sleeping in the passenger seats! If you want someone to drive for you they should get a little extra!

cheers guys, think i'll get started on the 038 first then, whats the verdict on the 50 Rancher? could they handle a full days work or just a homeowner saw for cutting fire wood?

My house is up a similar lane what has a row of houses backing onto it, fought with the council for years to get it tarmacked but council stated its a right of way but not a road so nothing to do with them, according to land registry each section of lane is the responsibility of the adjoining house, but not the property. I park my van outside my house and nobody cares apart from one sour old bat who tried to tell me I couldn't use the lane incase I stopped her oil man for getting up it, she also got told politely to f**k off. regardless of what the guy says, that lane is there to service the rear of the adjacent houses.

I do buy, fix, and sell a fair few saws, as much as a hobby as for financial gain, gives me something to do when the weathers too bad to work. The husky is a recent purchase so haven't had the time to look at it, the 028's were bought to make one good saw out of the pair but parts aren't interchangeable and both are too good to break, the ms250 was sold but the ebay buyer pulled a fly one and sent it back after damaging it (don't ask), and the 038 popped up at the right price so I couldn't say no:blushing:

I bought one off ebay months ago but through a bit of confusion have only just arranged a courier collection so haven't received it yet. At the moment my every day saw is a 560xp, but don't have a backup. I have a few saws 'on the bench' that need work but which to fix first? Its a bit of a random mix of cheap ebay purchases so any advice is welcome. The options are a Husky 50 Rancher (needs a new recoil), Stihl ms250 (cracked petrol tank), early Stihl 028av (needs clutch worm gears and chain brake linkage), later 028av (complete but needs a new piston and bore honed), and the 038av (worst case scenario new pot and piston). Now I know most people don't rate the US made husky but I have a couple of 36's which are great, simple, easy to work on and dead reliable. The older alloy body 028 runs great so can't justify ditching it despite needing the parts. The newer 028 is complete and would make a good backup once fixed. And the 038 has 61cc so has a bit more grunt. Advice would be much appreciated:thumbup1:

Hey folks a construction firm has asked me to put in a quote for a job. Basically the area in pink is to be levelled, membrane, and ornate gravel, with low maintenance shrubs, its about one hundred yards long, mostly about five feet wide, opening up to a triangle thirty feet long by fifteen feet wide at the entrance. Eighteen ash whips planted between A and B. From B to D is to be planted with 3 to 3.5m Malus Profusion and 2.5 to 3m Cherry Prunus Spire. All gardens are to be turfed, however the ground has been brought up to the level of the kerbs, unfortunately it is pure glar which will need a few inches removed and topsoil brought in to give a workable surface to lay the turf on. I have done this type of work before separately and only as an employee, so basically I haven't got a clue how to price it. I know its a big ask from a poor drawing but even a ball park figure would get me started.

If an unadopted road has not been adopted by the local council and its maintenance is up to the frontiers, can you not explain to the residents that not only does the customer has a right to use the lane, but anyone providing a service on their behalf? if the tree is close to the road you could explain that removing it will reduce the amount of leaves being dropped into the road as well as removing the future risk of the tree itself falling into the road. But yeah it sounds like you met the nosey neighbour!

Mostly ground work, I have stihl kneeflex trousers which are ok but useless up a tree, crotchflex would have a been better invention!

Unfortunately for me, for something to qualify as 'the best' value needs to be considered as much as ability, not denying its the most versatile 4x4 ever made, just incredibly over priced. The Defender is the best you can get but no thanks to LR. If you have the money to buy a new landy buy a second hand one and use the spare cash to get it to the standard LR should have done in the first place, then you'll have the best 4x4 ever made!

"none of the things you mentioned is of any relevance to those who actually went out and bought a Land Rover" so if its not build quality, extras, reliability, low maintenance costs, what is relevant when buying a £20K+ motor? I have mentioned a few times that I actually like them, my argument is simply that they were grossly over priced, I get value for money which is propably why I don't get defenders. And i'm not trying to get anybody to agree with me, its just my opinion, sorry if I've offended anyone.

Hey folks i'm trying to create an A5 portrait flyer for the business and need some advice. Firstly whats the best online design and print service? and secondly this is what I've got so far... habitat landscaping & tree services are a local firm operating in the blah blah area. We cover all aspects of hard and soft landscaping and tree care. We are fully certified and insured, so you have peace of mind knowing your property is in good hands. All work is considered and all quotes are free of charge. We also offer estate maintenance contracts for commercial and residential clients and a 24 hour emergency call out service. Its just the rough draft but constructive criticism would be appreciated.

You can pretty much make any vehicle last for ever if you keep replacing the scrap parts. And the fact that there is such a demand for landy parts says something. My point is given the price, LR could have done a much better job. Whats the point in bolting a non corrosive body to a corrosive chassis? I would say the Landrover has the biggest profit margin or any other vehicle, Its not like LR ploughed millions into its various re-designs, interior comforts, safety features, hell they couldn't even stretch to slapping a drop of filler over the spot welds. If I can get a Landrover chassis galvanised for £200 (Leeds Galvanisers) i'm sure LR could have done it for a lot less in house. They could easily have absorbed the extra cost without making the Defender financially uneconomical to build. I'm sure the bigwigs at LR are laughing their asses off!

I have a couple of long reach Tanaka's, great machines, very compact engines make them light as a feather yet have very robust cutting heads. You can swing them about all day and most of the vibration is lost in the shaft before it reaches you. I rarely use my short reach cutters as a good set of long reach cutters can do everything the shorter ones can! I also feel I have more control cutting in big arcs.

thanks guys, just sent off a few price requests, so avoid vista then?

I think in future i'll tape the bar and chain to the rest of the saw, plus I have been trying to get Hermes to collect a saw for almost two weeks, the seller was quite awkward as he didn't get a high price for the saw, and Hermes didn't turn up to collect it on three occasions. According to their tracking system it was finally collected on the 18th then lost at their national hub on the 19th, however the seller called me to say they didn't turn up again. I re booked the collection through parcel force on Thursday evening, twice the price but it was collected the next morning and is safely on its way, so no idea what Hermes are up to but they did issue an apology and a claim for compensation for losing a saw they never collected:thumbup:

I just can't see how the bar could have fallen out of the box, and the driver would need to have driven over the saw to cause that much damage!

I do like their towing capabilities, legally they can tow more than most, but so can a Fourtrak (according to a mate) and is a great little off roader for under a grand, wouldn't get much of a landy for that, and if you put the same time and money into it, probably last as long?

Hey folks I ordered a couple of t-shirts off vista print which were decent fruit of the loom shirts, but not a great selection of colours and the logo was only available in a few sizes. Does anyone know where to get good quality clothing with decent logo options, or even buy the clothing elsewhere and send it to someone with the logo on disk?

good advice guys, i'll get a set of T&C's drawn up asap!

its not fair to compare a 30 or 40 year old landy to a Japanese truck unless your going to compare one that hasn't had thousands spent on it being restored three times. Do that and your comparing two piles of rust, only one rust pile costs twice as much as the other. Maybe if Japanese truck were grossly over priced and the owners needed to keep them on the road for three decades to get their moneys worth, then we might have a 'jap 4x4 appreciation thread' as said before, I like them but if you want a good landy you need to build it yourself, that's the pisser, you give all that money to LF for a poorly built kit car!

He goes by the name "matilav" its all a bit suspect to me, he clearly knows about chainsaws and their workings and their value, yet paid £160 for an ms250. And the box I sent it in was lined with another layer of heavy cardboard on all sides, top, and bottom, loads of additional packing inside to take up any voids, then totally encased in layers of parcel tape, yet the new 18" bar still managed to fall out. And both the chain oil and petrol tanks are both ruptured! Funny I didn't notice either the day before it was sent which was the last time I used it. Can't see ebay dropping their fees, so looks like i'll just have to fix it and keep it as a spare. Any ideas what superglue works on petrol tanks?

I have never owned one, but have driven many in previous jobs, and spent more hours sitting in the yard trying to fix them than I can count. And I know plenty of LR enthusiasts so know the amount of time needed to keep them on the road. Sorry but I just can't see where the price is reflected in a new defender. I would like an older one but only because I have enough mechanical and welding skills to fix most issues. What really pisses me off about the defender is it symbolises British engineering over the last thirty years, great idea, great design, sub standard final product. Sorry but all defenders have a Friday afternoon feel to them:001_huh:

I always start my saws with the brake engaged, I keep the brake on right up to making the cut and engage the brake immediately after, even if i'm making another cut right away. I'm a bit lax with some rules but I do use the brake correctly. I only discovered the saw would start with the brake off by accident.