Steven P

All depends on time I think. 11pm to 7am is night time so should be quiet, though I haven't got a link for you

would they be similar to the van I saw the other day, "Local tree Sugeon" it said with a mobile number, no company name, no logo on the van, no clue who it was

Yup, a sub £100 saw is for domestic use or for serious refurbishment if it is a higher power, so selling to a bloke down the street they want to know it starts and runs, and doesn't sound too bad (which is why I suggested a video) before they come to buy. I get a feeling that the OP has taken a bit of care with his kit so unlikely to be too knackered... but all good info for us all. Bolted chain connection... again selling to a bloke down the street will see then with the quick adjusters new online, see the bolted connections on a saw and jump to conclusions that an older model will be more problems regardless of the facts, and will want to pay less.

That's fair. The video of them starting and running is good sales tool that not many people use, the buyer has to take it on trust "this works" - see it running and the confidence level rises a lot, more likely to sell it quicker and maybe for a better price.

Cost wise it is similar to hire or get a cheap corded tool, the hire one will be more versatile than what you could get at -our favourite DIY warehouse- and the job will be quicker. For a one off job you will then have a nearly new tool sat in the shed cluttering up space for the next 10 years till you throw it out. Maybe it is my mind and having bought the -warehouse DIY store- cheapest own brand before I would be going for better quality to make my life easier and better quality will generally be at least double the price of a hire. I would agree though that if you are likely to use it more than once over a couple of weekends then buying something wins every time (remember this here is for domestic use, not commercial). So my comment all comes back to what I mentioned in my first comment, is this a one of job, in which case £150 tool or £50 hire, the hire is better, or will it be something you'll use again and again in which case 5 or 6 x £50 hires is a lot more expensive than buying the tool. I suspect that the OP is looking to buy regardless, but it is worth asking the question.

Aww, I was hoping for an update from the OP on this, seeing where he has got with it, whether he did this or has paused the project to save and get someone in to finish the job.. always worth finishing the story off for anyone in the future thinking to do the same they can learn from the experience

For the Stihl, it is the older model with bolts on the chain rather than the quick adjust which might drop its price a bit. I keep an eye out, mine is the MS181, a model up, but share a lot of the same parts, £50 to £75 for that. I guess the other saw is similar use and quality, so a similar price? My thought would be sell them both and get the cash then you have the power to get a brush cutter, cash talks more than swaps, As for buying a second hand saw, I have no problem with that though mine were bought new, the hedge trimmers and blower were both second hand "spares or repair", once started and carb adjusted they work OK. Not everyone can afford brand new and not everyone will have a handy power supply to spend the same on a corded electric model, so it is worth trying and someone will buy them. If you can get them running then pop a video on any online sales page of them running that says a lot more than "this works, honest" - nothing to say you can't start them from warm in the video though.

forgot to ask, do you have a budget for this as well? Cheap corded look to be similar prices to hiring a petrol one for the weekend (sorry to go on about hiring stuff, got to clear the shed this year sometime too, too many toys) (Back to my last comments, the mower only complains at rubble)

Arn't we all There is a 'Tip Sites' section above where you can put your details. Often local tree surgeons will have arrangements for their wood but anyone outside the area working near you might take a look and give you a shout. Some people get a lot, some not a lot. Then just be nosey, walk about your area, I run for fun and can cover more ground but from being out and about I know where 3 or 4 local tree surgeons have their tips - walking is good since they are often out of sight of the road, and you can often smell the fresh timber as you walk - find one and give them a call, all they can do is say no. Mine says no saws on his site, take what I need, getting a very nice cherry tree just now 1 boot full at a time, which reminds me you are only likely to get timber brought to you if it is better than taking it their home tip (so guys working out if their usual area for example, of if the local ones are passing your front door). A morning walk can also be good, chainsaws going at 8:00 means a big tree coming down somewhere.... all you can do is ask!! (I had one earmarked for me last year till the customers friend rolled up and asked his friend if he could have the wood, customers wood, he kept it for his friend) Finally very unlikely you will get it split and dried for free, you'll have to factor in doing all that yourself. The first load of wood I had tipped came in handy 3m lengths and 2 flat back trucks full, would have been shopping for a saw that weekend if I hadn't got one already.

They colour garden machinery cables red or orange so you can target them so much easier with the mower.

how many brambles by the way? A one off job and you'll keep on top of it afterwards or a lot of jobs all the time with constant use of the brush cutter? The reason I ask is I am cutting a new path through the woods, 20m long or so, all brambles and nettles, a one off job that will get mown a couple of times a year, did it with the hedge trimmer but started with garden sheers (I had the hedge trimmers for other jobs in the woods that day) and will get the mower over it next weekend to finish it off. Anyway the reason I mention this is that the paths I have cut the same way, sheers and a mower, are all tame now with no brush cutter. Might be you don't need to buy new kit if the job is a small one or a one off - suspect it might be when you say that there's a power supply near the brambles. or might be hiring one rather than buying and storing one. Second comment comes down to time, for a small job it might be quicker just to get out and do it with what you have, rather than an hour here or there researching what to get, asking on forums (internets steal time as we all know), an hour to go to the shops and back, an hour fiddling with new toys and showing it off (we all do that too) and then an hour to do the job, half a days work so far and sheers + mower, no extra cost? done in half the time? As it happens, my mower that eats up anything I have thrown at it is nothing special a £99 job from our favourite warehouse DIY store (now they are about £150, that's how old mine is now). A couple of bits of plastic are missing now but it will chimble up most of the sticks on the wood paths, brambles, nettles, weeds, bark, shred the autumn leaves for composting, and when I get time will even cut my lawns too. Tend to leave the grass collector off it in the woods just because of the volume of cutting.. but wear long trousers and tall boots, the mower also does a mean ankle height stone throw!

I wasn't convinced by them, I got a Stihl sharpening set years ago and the instructions were to use the round file and sharpen from the underside of the tooth upwards and inwards, from the chain manufacturer on how to sharpen a chainsaw blade, so that is what I do. The chain sharpeners go from top down, the opposite direction, Not sure these will also lower the rakers to match the teeth so eventually you'd have to go and do them manually. However I can see perhaps that in the middle of a job a quick sharpen with one of these might work and work well, but I think you'd still need to do the chain manually next time. Not to be used though for every sharpen, just for a quick fettle as you are working perhaps?

Plastic grass, all I'll say is take your shoes and socks off and walk on it.. then walk on proper grass, massive difference and much nicer with real grass. There might be a place for it if the outdoor space is the size of a stamp but if it is a family house - like many of the photos - then I have to be convinced it is an improvement

Nearly had me there till you mentioned Bill Gates, but I guess that is so he cam inject microchips into us with every injection?

however compared to some batteries, £25 is cheap enough to buy a few over time, might get to 20 minutes use worth? I reckon the saw itself will be on ebay cheap enough to get extra new batteries and a charger?

That's what I have tended to do really, used boxes from the groceries - but this plan was to do something different than that

Many ways to sharpen a chain, and everyone has a preference based on their set up. Some will have the workshop set up, electric grinders, some a vice in the workshop or one to hammer into a stump. Not seen the spare bar one yet though, that is new to me. My preference - for occasional domestic use - will be in the living room watching QI on Dave when the family are in bed, with the saw on my knee - never going to be the sharpest but it does what I need. My work bench is full of other little projects at the moment, trickier to do it in there, but one day, first I just need to finish this and that to make space. As far as I can tell though clamping the bar in a vice, if you want you can use the saws chain lock, but hold the chain with your other hand and all is good like that

I'd go with Openspaceman, if you are cooling the flue with a forced air system rather than natural ventilation you will have to consider whether this will cool the flue too much, the gasses condense and you'll get creosote in the chimney above what is normal. You might not know if you do until you put in a fan and the sweep tells you it is, get the chimney swept more often (once more each year?). As for blowing air around the flue... we all have stove top fans which is pretty much the same thing, though these start when the stove top is up to temperature. Might be you reconfigure one of these to provide the air supply, it starts when it is warm, might not cool it too much.

I can never manage to get it in the fire without some spillage!! (which is what I was wanting to do). (as an update, my experiments have paused at the moment for sawdust burning, last one was a stack of 3 bean tins for The Boys to play with, lower one has air vents at the base, drop twigs in the top, it burns OK for them but has no use otherwise - too top heavy to put a mug on, too small to heat any real area, but for the boys playing it does OK.))

Its iron or steel, they rust. This rust will be just a light surface rust and nothing to worry about. If you get some stove or grate polish that should cure it - it stinks as it dries with the stove on, and you might want to wear disposable gloves too and a disposable cloth else you polish your fingers of course. Polish it every now and then to keep it looking shiny and nice The polish is available in some local stores (mine was in local "Home store" or something like that), and available online, possibly also at Screwfix but not the nations favourite DIY warehouse apparently according to their website

swap houses? could do with a living room like that when it's finished

Just a point to note that the electric cable behind the fan? is probably rated for 70 deg C, might be getting too hot.

smoothie pen?

Think the conclusion is heading towards "no one knows... yet"

So casually following this thread, 2 mature trees the other evening 15m apart, one covered in ivy with no leaves and the other with no ivy and quite a few leaves. The one with ivy had access to more light in the wood. But which came first? The dying tree or the ivy? Made me think you see, since both trees are a similar age, both with the same growing conditions, you'd expect them both to be as healthy as each other. Since it is a long term issue, you don't get a poorly tree covered in ivy overnight, you'd need some research to work out the cause and effect, which way around is it, and that would take years to do I reckon. One thing this forum might have experience and knowledge of is what happens if you strip the ivy from a tree, does the tree recover or do you just get a more attractive dead tree (in my view). That might give a clue of cause and effect. If a cleared tree recovers then the ivy was the problem