R Mac

Probably sweet FA, a similar thing happened to a mate a few years back, had his motorbike parked outside a shop, woman in a 4x4 reversed back and tipped the bike over cracking fairing etc, stopped, got out, looked at the damage and drove off. There were a couple of witnesses but for some reason my mate didn't get their details and although one worked in the shop next door she decided she didn't want to get involved. He phoned the police who got there eventually (the station was about 300 yards away) after driving past him twice while he's stood with a crash helmet waving at them. Long story short, driver was uninsured, Police done her for no insurance and done damn all about the fact she'd caused damage to his bike and left the scene. After about 6 months constantly contacting and getting strung along by plod he gave up as it simply wasn't (to him anyway) worth the grief. I personally have little faith in the forces of law and order, to protect and self serve about sums it up IMO. For the sake of my blood pressure I think I'll leave it at that

Sound Jo Beau do appear to try to offer something different (and useful) and it looks like there are a variety of upgrades/options you can add to the base machine. Nice

Clever idea but does it operate on both wheels? I'm thinking if it operates on one wheel only surely the chipper will simply rotate around the locked wheel and drop off the side of the ramps, no?

If you have an idea of how you'd implement it, if you feel it isn't going to be a hindrance and it isn't going to negatively effect your safety go for it, can't do any harm can it?

I know exactly where you're coming from, I had the same issue loading mine on the trailer, had to try to hold it from running back while I was getting on the trailer. I'm thinking on a length of angle iron with teeth cut in it and bolted across the chassis rails under the front handle, I should then be able to drop it down on the loading ramps (2 8' scaffold planks) and hopefully it'll hold until I get in the trailer. Alternatively a length of rope attached to the front of the trailer and a prusik on the handle of the chipper, that should hold it.

Hi Stubby, glad you weighed in on that one but I heard it from someone else in person, quite possibly it was mentioned when I was doing my basic tickets. FWIW I use Oregon Semi Synth at 50:1 with regular unleaded (not supermarket) in all my saws/trimmers/blower etc, even the cheap Chinese ones that are supposed to run 40:1.

Ok cheers, yeah I didn't find them hard to file either and if I was pressed for an opinion without doing a back to back I'd agree they possibly did feel a bit softer than Oregon, the file felt like it was biting well and it wasn't a brand new file either. For sure though at 1/4 the price of an Oregon I'm not complaining about their actual performance, just have a slight reservation about the amount they stretched initially, mine hasn't stretched since the 1st day I used it but it may have more initial stretch than an Oregon and that could contribute to more wear on the drive sprocket.

Ok my misunderstanding then, yeah I don't want to see changes made for the sake of change or to compensate for the effect rather than dealing with the cause. I couldn't agree more and in fact I commented to that effect when RCO posted the 1st video on the subject, I was mainly referring to the image that had been displayed on the guys blog that illustrated where injuries had been sustained. I've suggested myself that it's probable that quite a few injuries sustained when using a top handle happened on the ground because someone was holding an already severed branch and cutting it to length using a topper one handed.

Do you mean you have to take more off the cutters to get them sharp as they're more badly damaged/worn after a days cutting than say an Oregon chain?

I run 50:1 as that's what both the saw manufacturer and the oil manufacturer suggest. I heard a theory regarding running e.g. 40:1 that I'll share, not entirely convinced TBH although I guess it sounds plausible, I didn't think too much about it as I wasn't changing from 50:1 any way. The Theory, If you mix at 40:1 rather than 50:1 there's less petrol present in any given amount of metered fuel being delivered to the saw, the amount of metered air remains the same so at 40:1 the fuel has a greater percentage of oil and a smaller percentage of petrol. If the amount of air remains the same but you reduce the amount of petrol the mix is leaner, so the saws runs leaner at 40:1 than at 50:1. Like I say, not my theory, not sure I'm convinced either way and in any case I'm running 50:1 as that's what the manufacturer suggests. I'd be interested in your take on the theory though Spud.

I want to be clear on this, I'm not suggesting the manufacturers should make their top handle saw operate only with both hands on the saw, only that they could if they felt it was required, they clearly designed the saws to be one handed if required so obviously they don't see one handing as an issue. I think if you read my last couple of posts you'll see I'm not advocating a two handed approach as i feel the solution isn't as simple as the industry bodies would have us believe. I'm not sure we can guess to be honest, aren't we talking about injuries sustained by climbers one handing a top handle saw? That being the case they would have the tickets to enable them to purchase any top handle saw. If you're suggesting that the injuries are sustained by non ticket holders then that's another issue entirely. Just a side note but don't Husqvarna require tickets to purchase a top handle saw? There was a sticker on the box my Echo CS-360TES came in saying it was for use by trained tree service professionals only (or words to that effect)

I appreciate that but clearly if people are cutting themselves in a kickback situation with only one hand on the saw the inertia brake hasn't activated. With 2 hands on the saw the hand guard coming into contact with your hand/wrist should in theory activate the chain brake. I was thinking along the lines of a kill switch mounted on the front handle that requires both hands on the saw to get it to run, similar to an electric hedge trimmer, I'm sure it's possible for the manufacturers to come up with something if they feel the saw should never be used with one hand only.

I don't doubt that the manufacturers could design a top handle saw that only functioned with 2 hands on the saw or had some from of chainbrake that worked one handed. The thing is is in an accident where the saw kicked back causing injury is there any way of knowing what caused the kickback? we assume or at least the industry watchdogs and supporters of 2 handed only use seem to suggest that it was a result of cutting one handed, I'm not sure it's as simple as that, surely the point is not getting into a kickback situation (kickback can occur regardless of how many hands you have on the saw and of course if it happens you have more control with 2 hands but it's kinda closing the stable door after the horse has bolted). Secondly there are other factors that could cause an operator to sustain a kickback injury or even just a cut injury or cutting through a climbing line causing a fall etc, even when starting to cut 2 handed, something causing them to have to take one hand off the saw while making a cut, a slip, spike coming out causing loss of balance etc? Is it reasonable to suggest that a guy making a deliberate one handed cut is less likely to sustain a kickback or accidental cutting of climbing lines than a guy making a 2 handed cut and then needing to instinctively take a hand off the saw mid cut to steady himself due to some other problem? There's a difference between cutting one handed by choice compared to ending up unexpectedly with only one hand on a running saw mid cut. One is predetermined and one unexpected, I know which one I'd put money on as being the most dangerous situation.

Just watched (most of) the video but I still feel that it isn't as simple as 2 hands good/1 hand bad. There seem to be 2 schools of thought not counting the actual treeworkers themselves, you have the manufacturers who clearly designed the saw to be suitable for one handed use and the industry who when faced with injuries resulting from (an assumed?) one handed use have tried to come up with a solution and have opted for the easiest approach. If one handed use of a chainsaw (top handle) is the root cause of the problem then you'd expect that there would be zero injuries sustained on the ground when the operator has been using 2 hands on a regular saw but obviously this isn't the case. In the case of unexpected kickback the problem seems to me to be related to a lack of awareness of where you're making the cut rather than how many hands are holding the saw. It could be argued that a general lack of awareness when using a chainsaw whether aerial or on the ground, top or rear handle or one handed or two handed is the root cause of the injuries issue. Just a thought as I don't really know where I stand on the issue but I'd certainly be reluctant to say one approach is right and one is wrong, I'll leave that to someone else.

Looks similar shape/configuration to mine, does what I need it to do no problem

Nice, I was using my Rock one yesterday to chip up a load of Leylandii up to about 3" (had taken 7-8' off a hedge) I discovered that I can in fact load it onto my IW LM85 by myself, I'd never tried before. Anyway hope your new chipper does the job for you

If you're happy that's all that matters

Nice, bet you can't wait to try it all, love the saw, I'm almost jealous

I use one of these, Heavy Duty Chainsaw Combi Can No problems with it and I've fitted an Oregon Anti Spill Spout to the Fuel side. Oregon Anti Spill Spout The small regular spout that came with the jar is fitted on the oil side.

Got to agree, I can't think of anything I like less when cutting hedges, Hawthorne, Blackthorn even brambles are less trouble.

You said he was selfish as he was old, the suggestion being he wouldn't be around where a younger father would. As for whether Jagger is selfish or not or what the general public would say if it had been an older mother I don't have an opinion as I couldn't care less to be honest.

Gave the chain it's 1st sharpen but haven't tried it yet. Sharpening seemed fine, it didn't feel as if the cutters were any harder than the Oregon chain I had on. Still not sure about the amount of stretch but next time it's off the saw I'll compare against the unused one and also against the previously fitted Oregon which has had about 7 months use, never been on a grinder and sharpened to the witness marks.

Just because the father is young doesn't mean he'll be around or that the kid will even know who his father is. Don't think you really thought that one through to be honest.

I thought this might be of interest to someone looking for something similar but cheaper than the Petzl. Alpkit products generally do quite well in group test in outdoors magazines etc. https://www.alpkit.com/products/qark

Fantastic job, It must be nice to get that kind of work every so often.