Haironyourchest

Bought yesterday, with the 12" bar a single 200 (4AH) battery and quickest charger. Wow, what a beautiful saw! Lighter than I expected, just so nice to use. Picked it up and went straight to work, removing a sycamore from a roadside wall. Didn't bother with ear defenders, didn't need them. The saw feels extremely controllable, no gyroscopic effect except for a very slight vertical nose lift. Did the sycamore down to about fifteen feet, and topped a small cypress, still had three lights on the battery. It does demand mindfulness as the saw could potentially un-break itself on branches, so was hyper-aware of break and throttle position when picking it up. The torque, relatively slow chain speed, quietness, complete lack of vibration etc. made the working experience more "studied" - more deliberate, I would say. Easy and instant communication with groundie was a blessing. I find I'm developing a kind of pseudo-fetish for the 160t, I keep going to the shed just to pick up the saw and hold it, marvelling at the design and technology. Would recommend.

Sorry Nath, I may have got you wrong - I realise now that you meant people who actually have zero quals falsely claiming NTPC certs. I read it as people with NTPC certification but not higher degrees in arboriculture putting NTPC on their cards, implying that NPTC is not a "real" qual. Don't know why I interpreted your peeve that way. I take it you meant the former, in which case I agree with you completely, apologies.

Try a RADS set up. Much like Ddrt for positioning but SRT, and very safe. If you move on from that you can still use the descender for base tie emergency belay etc. All you need is a CT quickroll hand ascender and a cammed descender Rig, ID, Sparrow etc. And 11mm line.

I have two questions for you. 1. Witch gizmos do you mean, exactly? 2. "People who advertise NTPC qualified" (???) What would you prefer they stick on their card then? You come across as very presumptuous.

Most pros don't ware them dude. They were designed to protect the back of the hand from being damaged by the "chainbreak" in the days when chainsaw chainbreak were made of metal and didn't actually function as a chainbreak, just a barrier between the front-most hand and the chain in a kickback. That's why some brands only have padding on the left hand glove, though most seem to pad both now. There is some argument that the padding could offer some small protection if one was using a top handle saw one handed, and the off hand got in the way, but if proper work practice is respected this should never happen, and even then, the % protection would be minimal at best. As I understand it the HSE requirements for gloves is something of a mistake, as most chainsaw gloves actually don't allow the same grip strength and friction as modern working gloves, green palm or black. Both pairs I own, are sub-par in this respect and I feel they actually put me at risk, especially the Hysqvarna ones, which are leather and downright slippery when wet.

Found the problem. It's the driveshaft main bearing on the clutch side. Very disappointed, saw has not done many hours and always used HP Ultra at 40:1. Gonna have to fix and run at 25:1 from now on.

1. Find some trees to practice on. 2. It's who you know, not what you know, though obviously you do have to know something. 3. Do odd jobs for friends. 4. Consider going self employed.

Steve are you Irish?

The more I hear the more I appreciate the Strawbs.

I don't have enough experience to comment but I intuitively think the same. I'm big on ratchet traps wound multiple times below the cut.

Yes it was a borecut dog'stooth, I wasn't asked to do it, just describe it. I don't think it's really possible to work it into the assessment anyway as the regulation branch is about 4 inches diameter so not thick enough to bore.

Just an update - I passed the assessment today. Officially joined the ranks of the superheroes!

1. Meeting a random friendly dog or cat. 2. A nice clean dry pair of thick wool socks without thorns in, and dry boots. 3. A freshly sharpened chain.

Thanks for the replies fellers, I posted the topic twice by accident - we have resolved the question, it's essentially a dogtooth bore-cut, then 45 degree back cut to sever the holding strap.

Have you checked the blades are sharp?

Yes, I think you're right, I actually start to remember now the instructor did talk about a dogtooth cut. I find the assessment schedule wording a bit weird, I should have taken better notes during the course. Cheers for they help guys.

Going for my CS38/39 assessment Monday, some unavoidable delays make this four months after the course and my memory has faded a bit in the interim. Can anyone describe to me a "holding cut" as it applies to arial tree work? From the assessment schedule I gather I will only need to explain this cut and not demonstrate it, and I could just parrot the schedule definition which is "Sink cut with retained hinge and hold at the rear used on larger diameter stems under tension" - but I'd actually like to know what I'm talking about. I'm sure our instructor explained it but I've forgotten. Do they mean a bore cut with a holding strap at the back? Cheers.

Going for my CS38/39 assessment Monday, some unavoidable delays make this four months after the course and my memory has faded a bit in the interim. Can anyone describe to me a "holding cut" as it applies to arial tree work? From the assessment schedule I gather I will only need to explain this cut and not demonstrate it, and I could just parrot the schedule definition which is "Sink cut with retained hinge and hold at the rear used on larger diameter stems under tension" - but I'd actually like to know what I'm talking about. I'm sure our instructor explained it but I've forgotten. Do they mean a bore cut with a holding strap at the back? Cheers.

Brilliant! I'm been reacting like that lately too when I hear "free" bandied about. Government doesn't care about cost because they're spending someone else's money, not theirs, and they doesn't care about quality because they're buying for someone else, not themselves...

Cheers, yeah that was my thought, something in behind the clutch or bearing gone. Will check later or tomorrow morning and update, cheers!

Hi all, I started my 461 this afternoon - (had not been started for a few weeks), was put away clean, started fine, cutting fine, all was well, but then started to notice a weird sound at idle, which I can only describe as "shuffling". Very faint compared the the idling saw, but still loud enough the detect through my earmuffs. Going home to examine the saw now, just any ideas would be appreciated.

He seems remarkably chill about it. Maybe he has slow-moving pain receptors?

Surely you meant to say 20-30 yards?

I use Complan meal replacement powder, plus some whey protein isolate and maybe some generic ready-breck type instant oats dry in a shaker. Keeps for several days, if I need nutrition just add water and shake.

Sounds like a local dialectic version of the modern "howl" - from middle english "houle"....