Dan Maynard

I started watching but just can't be bothered with the man. It is so arrogant to wander in to a wood and think you know everything about what is going on, but that's what Nigel has done. I would suggest it's not H&S madness, or eco vandalism, but rideside coppicing. Done a fair bit of it myself. Mostly it's the last 50 to 100 years that woods have not been felled regularly, yet the wildlife has evolved to thrive with felling over thousands of years. The prehistoric trackways in the Somerset levels are made from coppiced timber.

Yep, that looks ideal. Was on two ropes today in a spreading walnut, I use two rings on the bridge which is ok until I turn and they are on the wrong sides....

I sometimes say "I don't know who did that but I know how long his ladder was" We wouldn't usually do anything like burning or antifungal on the cuts. The most important thing is location of the cut to make best use of the trees natural response to branch loss. Looks like there is some scope for pruning off stubs, and you might be able to improve the shape a bit. It probably won't die, it is most likely to just sprout back with lots of vertical growth that looks unnnatural, which you then can try to prune into shape over a few years. Doing better cuts now will improve this so I would suggest getting someone who knows what they are doing to tidy it up. Alternative is to finish it off and start again. I usually think it's best not to rush decisions with trees though, see how it goes. Worst case fell it in a few years if it's no good.

I would guy the tree to the side, it doesn't have to be super perpendicular to the hinge, if it's ahead it will slacken slightly as it comes down or behind then it will pull the tree across. This will stop it getting any momentum towards the house. Also I'd go for Paddy's idea of installing the pull line. It's better to put the line in early rather than when it's all cut and all your wedges are banged in and you're out of ideas except wait for the wind to change. Really though it does sound like the kind of tree it's worth getting someone with experience to help with.

There is a place near us that will take in old wood, fencing etc. They're a commercial compost maker but I think that wood goes for biomass.

Makes sense that the Pferd will create correct top plate angle so that will be fine. I would just also follow with a hand file lower down to clear out the gullet, not too critical but just keep chip flow clear.

But Stihl have - my 10 year old 261 has air pre-filtering, the mystery is why they forgot it on the 500i.

Oh yes, I never climb without a silky.

Stripping ivy and wisteria out of a eucalyptus in the freezing fog. Everything covered in a layer of ice at the start. My hands were so cold and numb on the way up the tree I thought about stopping, but once I got going was ok.

Interesting idea, I have to think about this some more. The felling lever is more complicated than it first appears because of the mechanical advantage from the front to the back of the tongue. It needs a higher force at the point of application, but that compound lever gives you that higher force. In the end what matters is the movement of the handle for each degree movement you cause in the stem.

I'm in the 201 camp, but if you've got a good 200 already I would suggest not a lot of point getting one. Now I have a 150 and two battery saws the 201 gets taken out on the later stage of bigger takedowns only. I really like having a battery saw to get rid of pull starting, hot exhaust to manage, better communication when rigging. Things seem to flow just a bit smoother. Also when I used a 150 topping conifer hedges I always found I didn't want to have the saw running all the time when I put it down, but also didn't want to stop/start all the time. Battery saw solves that - just click and cut then put it down. I would seriously consider a battery saw. The choice is pruning saw or takedown saw though, bit like with the petrol ones. Husky 540i is the fastest cutting but heavy, weight is similar to the 540T. Echo 2500T I think is probably the best pruning saw (although I haven't had one in my hand). I went for the Makita system, it is far cheaper and nearly as good, in my opinion. They are the only people currently to make both types of saw that can share the same batteries. Not sure about Echo but certainly the others do hedge cutters etc to share the batteries, that spreads the cost of the charger etc and helps it look better costwise. In the end though -if you do lots of takedowns 540i -if you do lots of pruning and hedges then Echo 2500 if you're feeling rich, Makita DUC254 if you're feeling tight - if you are out sub zero or in pouring rain a lot then petrol 2511 I reckon Makita 254 plus Echo 2511 together would cost about the same as the Echo 2500T plus batteries and charger. I think there was a recent thread Josharb and he went 2511 in the end due to concerns about batteries in the snow, as he's in Sweden. No one best saw for every job, that's the problem.

I've thought this before, felling is risky mostly not because the forces are unpredictable but because the material properties are unpredictable. It is weights and levers.

I would also be interested, as you say topping seems to cause long term issues - on the other hand in a small garden that could mean retaining the tree for a few more years. I've explained all the reasons it's a bad idea, sometimes people take it on board and sometimes they say "yes but it's blocking the satellite signal, cut it in half". What can you do? In the end it's not my tree.

There's talk of the biggest recession in 300 years which if it's right seems like it may affect people's spare cash next year more than Brexit. I haven't seen many jobs being postponed yet but will be interesting to see. I tend to agree that gear and machinery prices are likely to rise, at least in the short term, HoneyBros have already put an email round to this effect.

I think the lack of clarity on whether you require two bridges to avoid single point of failure stems from the lack of clarity about the reasons for two rope working. To me, requiring two ropes for everything is against the principle of risk assessment which we actually need. I believe gear failure to be very rare, it's more anchor point failure that is the risk so the single bridge is fine. I really like that swivel idea, getting the two systems twisted is one of the worst bits of two rope when I've used it, which then requires disconnecting bits when in the tree and opens up a whole load more risks.

There's one on eBay at the moment, at £400 and has a bid. Something around there I guess? Depends if it's knackered of course......

K041 to K095 mount | Outdoor Power Equipment Forum OPEFORUM.COM I got a echo 440evl that uses a K041 mount bar, what tools do i need to convert a K095 bar to work on it? The answer seems to be the oiling is through the spare tensioner hole on K041 so you would need to modify the K095 bar but it can work.

Looks like I was censored. Guess part of the server changeover?

Thought the first one might be Holm oak, not really familiar with sweet chestnut as not a lot of it round here.

I guess the problem is the tree is old so won't really grow wound wood very fast, and the exposed heartwood area will be massive.

The form on a standard M10 X 1.5 tap will be exactly the same, so this can work as a scraper. I've done something similar on a 0.5 pitch on a cycle rear wheel, obviously that was aluminium and not as deep so I could see what I was doing.

I've cut slots into a bolt with angle grinder disk before, works really well for cleaning up rusty internal threads. I guess depends how bad it's mangled up, maybe worth a go?

Yes, you can get the 1/4" parts from RobD at chainsawbars. I found that actually Makita make a 1/4" version and that's the sprocket that Rob sells, you can use panther or apparently possible to fit Stihl bar with slightly different chain length. I think it's an essential conversion as the finer cut is so much better for pruning. Not sure I would say it makes battery last longer, I've only ever used 2 or 3 on conifer hedge whacking so wouldn't have said it was a problem. If I'm dismantling then I use the DUC256 as more capable on bigger stuff.

dolmar 120 super (68cc) chainsaw (watch video of saw running) WWW.EBAY.CO.UK The saw is a genuine low hour saw which starts and runs like it just left the factory. all original, original cylinder piston with tons of compression. it will start 1st pull when warm and go straight into tick-over and ticks-over up-side-down as demonstrated in the video. And would someone please buy this so I don't keep looking at it? Would be @DCS6800i ?@shavey ? He's also selling a 288XP which looks pretty good nick.

Now Husqvarna have stopped the 365 II think Makita EA7900 is the cheapest pro saw that'll run 20" easily, is a bit over your £500 but will go bigger bar too if you need it. I would prefer that to a 441 any day. 461 also a cracking saw, look at the bars and chains on offer as that can add up. I just bought a secondhand saw and actually needed new bar and chains when I got to see it close up - another £100+ out of pocket straight away.