Dan Maynard

To be fair I don't own a 550 so shouldn't really have commented at all, it does seem perfectly reasonable choice. In the meantime I have thought of the last time we went down this route, nearly everyone says the 550 is great but @Gimlet who lays hedges didn't like the one he bought, but then different kind of user maybe? Not sure how to quote from one thread to another without just copy and paste.... """ But, though it's working ok now, I don't like this saw. It bogs down unless it's running at a million rpm and it's a PITA to start. It needs a decomp button and it takes ages to clear it's lungs. Hate this auto-tune crap. Give me a conventional carb so I can leave it warming up on half choke for a few moments so when I hit the trigger it's good to go without stuttering and stumbling. My 365 is a breeze. Two pulls on full choke, it fires. One pull half choke it starts. Leave a minute on high idle, knock the choke off and off you go, running clean as a whistle. No pissing about priming. I can start, restart and operate the choke without taking my gloves off, and it never bogs down ever, just rips through everything you put in front of it. I get the throwaway thing now. This saw was designed to be started from cold once a day, used full throttle and flat out until the tank runs dry, then refuel and repeat, all day every day for 18 months until it's knackered, then chuck it and buy a new one. That's not how I work. No use to me. """

Are they 3M then? Saw in the Stihl blurb they can fit to other 3M compatible helmets, and seems you can buy a visor for those from other safety suppliers (not bought anything from these people myself) https://www.thesafetysupplycompany.co.uk/p/9494311/3m-mesh-faceshield---standard-peak---stainless-steel---black---v4c---3m-7000108160.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwhLKUBhDiARIsAMaTLnGB_nopZ0BJnrClRAFbaA6n9Vd7ylQAsJGqZXj_rpm4z7PlBua8qi4aAnIyEALw_wcB

That's more like it, you can't just have a saw thread where everyone agrees. I think MS400 is a really good prospect for this job, but seem hard to get hold of just now. Also a whack more expensive.

Aphids yes, pretty common on sycamore IME and not usually much of a problem except the sticky dew they drop. The tree doesn't look too bad overall, maybe just drought?

This is a good point, back in my younger days when I was rowing we would do a warm-up run, then stretch, then row, then stretch. I reckon normally all the loading up, going to site and setting up is what we usually do as a warmup. A few years ago in the lull after Christmas I decided good time to prune my own trees, walked out the door and climbed straight up the tree, pulled a shoulder muscle.

It would be pretty unusual to kill an alder or a poplar by snapping the top, they would usually respond by sprouting even if you cut down to ground level. Difficult to say more without more evidence.

Wow not heard of those before.

I've only used synth plus except when subbing and use firms Rotatech. I know what you mean, the Rotatech is goopy and stringy by comparison but all I can say is my bars and chains last just fine on the synth plus so it does the job.

It's well reported in the press, to me not quite the same as well documented. As an engineer I look at this and want someone to have done tests which show results and also explain how changing ethanol content from 5% to 10% can affect engine performance that much. They're not replacing 5% of the petrol with water, which obviously would take away 5% of the energy content - it's replaced with ethanol which has 2/3 of the energy content of petrol. Put another way, going from 0% to 10% ethanol means you lose 1/3 of the energy of 10%, so about 3% overall. The latest change is half that. This is the official line in the US where they've been using more ethanol for longer: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) WWW.EIA.GOV

Looks like you need to get started on the second one, full already!

It's great for reductions, and I've done a fair bit of hedge work with mine. Anything heavier get the 36v one out.

... and all that valuable firewood of course!

And it's ironically at just the time Makita planned the stop on producing petrol saws, so not many of those around either.

Pump white is now B7, that is up to 7% biodiesel. Can't immediately see how that would increase consumption 50%. To be honest I don't really follow how going from 5 to 10 % ethanol will make a noticeable difference either, but I don't regularly drive a petrol car any more so no direct experience.

We have patches in the village which the parish council mow but are owned by county council, one had a dead sycamore on it and PC said county would deal. I kept looking at it thinking I would just dismantle it before it fell on the road but eventually the county tree team came and did the job. Sounds like that tree is outside the village though so definitely not PC. Only ones like this I have done have been in the hedge line so seem to be clearly the landowner responsibility.

Personally I don't think it would be, because the guidelines aren't that black and white. The prosecutions that I've seen published are usually a whole step worse in terms of working practices - as in no rope at all, ladder from back of pickup, no helmet, log splitter modified to one hand use, etc. But don't take that as legal advice of course.....

I tip chip locally, rumour is it gets sold on for £20 a ton but I don't ask as none of my business - might also have changed due to fuel prices. We are lucky to have a reasonable size compost/biomass business fairly close, as with all these things the transport cost can easily outweigh the product value.

I never did get a price for new cables for my M500 from Global, but changed out the forward/reverse control cables using tandem rear brake cable which came from Wiggle - son's idea of how to get super long ones.

Ive a 110 but HD, think my manual says 48psi in the rears but that is really bouncy so I drop that down a bit. 80 is miles too much. That should have been a factory size on later Defender? So LR would have a spec for that too?

Interesting question, my take is in general don't climb on anything you aren't 100% confident of. I personally wouldn't be so confident of that, so I would bin them.

Taste of almonds? Never really got an answer to how poisonous they are, just not to sit in the chip box with it.

There's nothing in NPTC qualification to test you can tell what species of tree you're climbing, and only a vague reference to factors affecting selection of anchor point including species, time of year. Not enough detail at all in my opinion. There's also no conifer hedge topping.

I was going to post the other day about AFAG 401 being superseded, can't see any evidence of that on the HSE website. The working at height case studies include one where the climber got his lines tangled in the top being felled, a couple with people on ladders with no rope at all, one bloke who set a fire at the base of a conifer which spread... There are two which could be anchor point failure, one had all the ropes come out of the tree with a rigged piece. This isn't solved by two anchors either. There is one which seems to be simple anchor point failure, but we know nothing about what they anchored in to so really not evidence that putting more crap anchors in will help.

That is an extraordinary pair! (there are two ducks)

I think it's cost of living, and the fact that travel has opened up so people who haven't had a holiday in two years will spend on going abroad.