adamelder

Elm sink after 5 years.

My own experience is that oak and water don't mix well. It tends to go black, I think due to tannins in the wood. I've got oak work tops in my kitchen and they need a lot of maintenance with regular oiling to keep them looking half decent. Around the sink the wood gets black staining very quickly. I carved myself a bathroom sink out of elm. Elm doesn't mind water at all. It's still looking great after about 5 years now with very little maintenance. The finish is Danish oil mixed with turpentine. Go for an elm panelled shower!

Spud, I'm no mechanic so don't have the gear to measure compression accurately. I do know that I can pick the saw up by the starter without it pulling out when it's hot. I've checked the coil gap and it's business card sized. I can blow through the breather no problem at all. I'm minded now to admit that the saw is beyond my skills to resurrect or uneconomic to get repaired. Like I said earlier I've enjoyed the learning process of stripping the carb etc and putting it back together without making things worse! Anyone want it?

My thoughts too. Compression is good, spark is fine, piston is unmarked. Or considering just skipping it given that I've probably spent towards £100 on it up to now and that it'll be at least that again if it goes in to the Stihl dealer. Having said that I've enjoyed mucking about with it but there are limits to what I know or to be honest, want to know!

Well now... I've only run it for a couple of hours since it came to life but unfortunately the old problem has come back. Refuses to rev once it gets hot. Then refuses to start. So I changed the carb for a cheapo import. It ran fine for 20 mins and then started playing up again. Then I changed the impulse line. Same problem again. So that's all fuel lines, carb kit changed but the issue persists... if I can get it to start, it'll run on idle, rev fine and high for a few minutes but then gradually start to not want to rev. Then it stops and won't start. I've checked that the fuel tank is breathing. What next?

F***ing bingo! I did what was suggested by you fellas. Gave it three good pulls and it took off like a stabbed rat. And it continues to run fine and dandy. Many thanks for all the help! So when I found it looking very neglected and forlorn, to now - with it's new carb innards, clutch, sprocket, chain, filters and a couple of springs and things - it's back, howling happily in the land of the living.

I'll get on it again tomorrow. It's a pain living in a flat with neighbours. If I do saw stuff at home, at night, I can never fire a saw up for a test!

When I opened the carb up there wasn't a fuel screen in it so I can only assume someone has been there before me. I put a new one in.

No I didn't touch the screws at all. The saw had been running fine and then started not wanting to rev from cold. Then that problem got worse, difficult to start past an initial cough. That's when I asked for thoughts at the start of the post and took the advice to change fuel line and service the carb. But as Spud noted, I didn't unscrew the H&L screws and clean inside these, so that's next. The gaskets and membranes inside the carb looked fine though. However the gasket between the carb and the saw body looked rough so I changed that. I'll see what happens with a more thorough clean of the carb.

I didn't remove the H&L screws, no. Every other screw, needle though. Sprayed the whole lot with carb cleaner and let sit, twice. Looks like I'll be removing the H&L screws then! Cheers Spud!

After a long while I've finally replaced all the gaskets in the carb, cleaned it out, replaced fuel line. The problem still persists. Saw won't rev. It'll start fine and tick over (just) but as soon as I touch the trigger it dies. Anyone got any thoughts what to try next?

I've never done double headed milling but quite often use a 50 inch set up run from a 661. It's not the fastest but it does the job. Key to it is keeping the chain in excellent condition. Most often I'll use a 42 inch GB bar and micro chain. That flies through even the hardest wood but again key to it is keeping the chain in tip top condition.

I agree with everything said so far. Your 260 is a too small for milling. You'll probably kill it pretty quick. Basically, the more CCs the better. Something like a 441 at the very minimum, 661 preferably, 880 ideally - or equivalent from another manufacturer.

Indeed! The saw was in a terrible state when I found it in a chum's garage. Wouldn't start at all. I've got other Stihl saws that are shiny and new-ish so I've got nothing to lose on this one. I've taken it to bits to the best of my ability, replaced worn out parts etc and got it running fine apart from this last glitch.

So, would I be right in thinking: Check fuel filter and line Clean out carb Replace the diaphragms/gaskets in the carb and fuel screen. Found a youtube video that seems to explain it all. What could possibly go wrong?!

Thanks for that Spud. Help me out a wee bit more please. What's the steps to servicing the fuel system? If it's too complex, I'll take it to the Stihl dealer where I live. But I'm reasonably handy and up for a challenge.

Once it revs, it goes absolutely fine. Plenty power.

I've rescued a neglected MS250. Got it running fine except it won't rev when first started from cold. It wants to sit on idle for a good 10 mins before it'll let me rev it up at all. Otherwise, the slightest press of the throttle causes it to die. Anyone got any advice on this?

Well I wish they'd taken it back to Rome with them!

Certainly dulled the edge somewhat on two long chains! Looks like an afternoon on the Granberg grinder for me tomorrow!

I've encountered nails, screws, wires and small stones inside trees being milled but never as much as this. The first slice caught what I thought was a small stone and blunted the chain on a 50 inch bar. I thought that was it so changed chains and went for the next slice 75mm thick. Hit stone again. It was about 3 foot from the bottom of the trunk, right in the centre of a horse chestnut about 250 years old, 44 inches diameter. The "stone" is almost like concrete but seems to be conglomerate of smaller stones that have been compressed together by the tree. I'm pretty sure concrete hadn't been invented 250 years ago. I can only think that the tree maybe grew in two trunks, picked up the stones and some dirt and then the trunks grew together, lifting the stones with it.

I just bought a few acres of woodland. There's some very nice firs in it. Not as big as the ones at Ardkinglas but pretty impressive. Estimate the height on this one at about 130 feet. Girth at breast height is 5.2m.

Thanks gents for the replies. The trees are quite exposed to southerly wind and also do get a lot of sun. There have been a couple of trees to the south of the affected beeches which came down due to age and wind in the last couple of years. The beech have never had ivy covering. I did wonder if the core problem might be caused by an increase in the amount of sun the beech were experiencing from the loss of sheltering neighbours.

Can anyone help with what this is? It's spreading through a stand of mature beech trees in a friend's woodland. The bark falls off and the tree becomes sick, eventually dying.

I've always a had a default setting of negativity. This has sometimes developed into depression. Over time I've learnt to break things down into small chunks. So if a sink full of dirty dishes seems overwhelming, I'll wash one cup. If taking a long walk seems like too much, I'll take a walk around the garden. If I can't face getting out of bed, I'll say to myself, "I'll count to ten then I'll sit up". Then after I've sat up, I'll say to myself, "I'll count to ten and then I'll put my feet on the floor". And so on until I've managed to get dressed, get properly vertical, made a cup of tea. During the day I'll try to do something, anything that makes me feel better. If I'm out with the dog and see a bit of litter, I'll pick it up. Sometimes I'll pick up two bits. Some days I'll put a bag in my pocket and pick up more litter. One thing I find really helpful for making me feel better is to help someone else do something. Anything. So today the cook in my cafe (my day job is running a cafe/deli) was under pressure because she had too much to do. So I asked her if I could prep the veg for the soup. Just chopping carrots, leeks and potatoes. It took me about 20 mins to do enough for 20 litres of soup but it took a wee bit of heat off the cook. I felt good about helping someone and she felt a bit less under pressure. A couple of others have mentioned writing something down at the end of the day, something good that has happened that day. I do that quite often. I get a sheet of paper, split it into two columns. One is "Good Things That I Did". One is "Bad Things That Happened". It's a good sign off to the day, it kind of puts it to bed. Before I try to go to sleep I also like to make a small list of what I'd like to achieve the next day. It's often very basic - something like... 1) Get out of bed 2) Go to shops for bread and milk 3) Sweep floor 4) Take dog out 5) Phone xxx If I do these five things the next day then that day has been a success and anything else I do is a bonus. I do that sort of thing a lot... break things down into manageable chunks. And I try to always keep in mind that any bad feelings will pass.