flatyre

cheers buddy hope you had a good one!

If you can find a mazda 2500 nearby its just a ranger for less money, think both came off the same mazda production line in Thailand?

there are rumours about that the amount of ethanol in regular fuel has doubled and to be honest regular fuel doesn't have that nice petrol whiff that I remember as a kid, plus it doesn't look as clear to me, and if I leave a machine for a lot of months without starting it, it usually requires fresh petrol. I have been using BT ultimate for a few months now but too early to say if it does any better, heard a lot of good things about aspen but never tried it, as pointed out already an accurate fuel/oil mix is very important and draining a machines system of fuel if your not going to use it for a while is good practice.

Well I've been busy buying up leaf springs, steel, 8x4 weldmesh, etc for the trailer, but seeing as someone mentioned a tipping trailer I'm thinking about it. I hadn't intended to build a tipping trailer but once someone plants the idea....Anyway I have a 3 ton jack which I rescued from the skip as the seal had gone. Its too big for anything I need but am thinking of repairing the ram seal and using it to make a manual tilting trailer. when fully raised, the ram raises to about a metre which is plenty high to tip a 10x5 trailer body if mounted in the centre. Has anyone ever used a manual ram to make a tipping trailer or can a manual ram from a jack be converted to run off a 12v system? thanks

engine sounds good, but think i'll leave it in to someone who knows more about them than me.

I know there is quite a difference in quality between ebay pistons and barrels etc, but what about carbs. They don't need to handle the stresses a piston has to, so how bad can they be, especially on an ms250? which I doubt is particularly fine tuned. Would a £20 ebay carb do?

Hey folks I have a small Honda 4 stroke ohv engined power washer which is meant to produce 2500psi. I didn't buy it new but it looks like its had very little use. The engine and pump are in very good condition with no leaks, but there is very little pressure. I can hold my hand over the lance nozzle when on full power which I don't think I should be able to do as 2500psi should strip my skin off. It has a plastic K'archer lance and hose with one of those orbiting turbo lance ends. The hose is also plastic and has quite a small internal diameter. Could the lance and hose be the problem? Thanks

Cheers guys, have put Rowena Motors in my ,favourites' folder, will come in very handy in future. $25 USD is about the same as the carbs on ebay from China, what about import tax?

Was using my little ms250 the other day taking out a row of mid sized conifers. Not a pro saw but it has never let me down, but after a good four hours work it started dying at full revs, took the air filter cover off and could see fuel spitting out the carb into the gauze air filter. Saw still started easily but had to keep the revs down or it would cut out. It limped on like that for another hour until lunch but wouldn't start after, not even a splutter. The local Stihl dealer will sell me a carb diaphragm kit for £40 or a carb for £72. Bit steep I thought, but he offered to do a sonic bath for £10. Would this do any good and if not are the cheap Chinese carbs off ebay any good or just a total waste of money?

Echo have been on the go for decades, and have literally made millions of small engined machines according to my local echo dealer. America tried to ban them from selling in the USA as they were out selling the home made stuff. American government said they couldn't sell there unless they opened up a US factory, echo refused as all their equipment is made in Japan and they don't trust anyone else to make their stuff to a high enough standard. they were prepared to turn away millions of pounds in business rather than let someone produce a sub standard unit in their name. The Americans struck a deal eventually whereby the machines could be assembled in America, but the components were made in Japan. They are the only manufacturer who doesn't have domestic/professional grades, as in only one standard which is the best they can make. This is all according to the local echo dealer, though he is also the local dealer for husky, tanaka etc. As for my own experiences, I owned a HCA 2400 long reach hedge trimmer which is the most reliable hedge trimmer I have ever owned, I also have a couple of PB650 back pack leaf blowers which are brilliant machines. Apparently they also make great saws!

I have a couple of Rover mowers, great machines, very reliable and cheap to maintain!

they're all single trunks, the fence runs from the third tree all the way back but thankfully the trees have been trimmed of their lower limbs on one side to keep the driveway clear. Found a local guy a couple of miles up the road who'll take the chippings as bedding, the neighbour is happy to let me work on his side of the fence so removing the hedge should be fairly straight forward, the stumps will be right up against the fence and the large tree stump closest to the house takes up a much bigger area than shown in the first photo, the whole root plate is on the surface so there would be a good days grinding at it alone. Will offer to remove the conifers first, once paid for that then I can offer him a steep price for the grinding as I really don't fancy it!

cheers for the advice guys, will add in the cost of a large skip but ask the local farmers if they want the chip. photos are both sides from the same end. going to quote £950 for the conifers but how much time is there in removing the stumps as well as the ones in the grass? Never removed that much stump before!

Portaferry Northern Ireland mate, definitely nowhere any closer as its on the tip of a peninsula.

Hey folks have just been asked for a price to remove these conifers. need to figure out how best to remove the chippings to get the quote right. I don't have anywhere to put them myself but a local landscaping supplier takes chippings for free and sells them on as mulch. Unfortunately he's over twenty miles away. I'm thinking a roll on roll off skip might be an option, but no idea what size to price. There are thirty trees in all, not very tall but pretty thick so there will be a good bit of brash to be chipped. Also would a one man operation get it all felled and chipped in one day? or budget for a two day chipper hire? Still not very good at pricing jobs or estimating time scales, roughly whats a fair price for this job? thanks

what about this, think the rrp is a bit off ECHO CS-450 15" Bar (rrp £539.00) Price £373.68 or Echo CS-550-38 Pro Chainsaw (40cm 15") (rrp £635.00) Price £411.85 Anyone own either saw?

I'm a skinflint by nature, and my business is still young with plenty of equipment still to buy, so my natural instinct is to buy two used bits of equipment rather than one new. Gets me closer to being fully operational and I can upgrade later when funds allow. I can also capitalise on some basic mechanical/engineering skills. Problem is the saw will be the key part of my equipment, I have a couple of little husky 36's which despite being old and cheap, make great little work horses, and a Stihl 029 and 038av for larger felling work which I would rarely do. Another issue with buying a used saw is possibly buying someone else's headache. Safe to say most pro saws are owned by pros, and how many pros sell their gear when its still perfectly good. Any tree surgeons I know don't sell their gear until its totally trashed. I'd prefer to buy a better quality used saw, but at least with a new saw you get a warranty:confused1:

She only wants me to get a new saw so I can earn her more money to spend on shoes! inside every loving wife is a cold calculated capitalist trying to get out!

I've been told that all echo saws are of the same grade, semi-pro. Whereas its a bit more difficult with Stihl and Husqvarna as they have homeowner, semi-pro, and professional grade ranges. The local husky guy says any saw starting with 5 is pro grade, is this true?

Hey folks was topping a conifer hedge yesterday, all going well until my ms250 started dying when the trigger was fully pressed, removed the cover and could see fuel spitting out into the filter on full throttle, then after lunch it wouldn't start at all, and still no sign of life this morning. Managed to finish the job with an old husky 36 I keep as a spare. Anyway the wife suggested treating myself to a new saw as she would fit the bill as my Christmas present. My local echo dealer has offered me a new cs-390csx for £400 and the local husky guy offered me a 555xp for £500. Neither of which are particularly great deals but that's what they offered. I don't do a lot of big tree felling, mostly topping or removing conifers, chopping firewood, and taking out smaller trees on occasions. Basically I need something more than a farmers saw but don't need a full pro setup. The echo seems like a good little saw but at £400 a bit steep as I have seen them for a good bit less on the mainland. The 555xp's looks had me drooling but the fact that it needs to go back to the dealer any time it needs a tune up put me off, as for Stihl, I haven't owned any modern ones but have friends who have and wasn't impressed with what I saw. Surely £500 would get a good semi-pro small to mid sized saw for regular but easy work?

sound just about right for what I need!

My local echo dealer has just offered me a new cs-390esx for £400 with two years warranty, Its for small work, topping conifers etc, whats the alternatives?

hey folks I'm getting a fair bit of conifer topping work at the moment, not large hedges, twenty foot residential stuff mainly. I pile up the cuttings from a couple of jobs on site then hire out a chipper for the day, it means going back to the same job twice, once to cut, once to chip and remove. I have a transit van and 10x8 trailer which i'm modifying with removable mesh sides and a beaver tail gate. Question is are the smaller two wheeled 12-15 hp chippers/shredders any good? The trailer is easily big enough to carry the chippings and chipper so I wouldn't need to return to the job. Some of these chippers claim to be able to handle 4" thick wood, i'm a bit sceptical, is this true? I don't mind having to strip the cuttings for the chipper down to a couple of inches and taking the bigger stocks away unchipped, might add an hour to the job but still a lot more time efficient than coming back another day. Advice greatly appreciated.

I have a Stihl 017, best saw I ever owned based on profit for price. Not a pro saw by any stretch but its topped miles of conifer hedging, chopped tons of fire wood, cleared acres of small trees and scrub. Love it!

Whats to know? you fire it up, pull the trigger and start cutting, pretty much the same technique regardless of make, I've never owned an echo but that would be my choice based on what a lot of experienced folks are saying, I certainly wouldn't tie myself to one brand. My local echo dealer offers just as good after sale service as the bigger brands. I do all my own maintenance and to be honest they're all very similar once you remove the plastic. From what I've seen buying echo gets you a great pro saw for much less money as your not paying for the name......unlike stihl or husky, good saws but you are paying a certain amount for the name.