Dan Maynard

I don't remember the exact time but I was paid within a couple of weeks when my trailer went, that was in 2018. This year I think every office process is slower because of people working from home.

I would guess anyone will have to order them in from Makita anyway, which L&S will do. Are you converting your 9010 to Husqvarna bar mount? If you can get access to a lathe you can whip the studs out and machine the flange down to 9mm, saves buying new parts.

They forgot the 6 to turn the thread into a discussion about something else, possibly Landrovers. That would be where you come in.

It's interesting to see how things are pink and blue again, put those sexes back in place. Would have definitely been yellow red and green when my kids were younger.

Don't forget painting - if it moves salute it, if it doesn't move paint it. (another saying from the guy I worked for as a teenager, deaf due to machine gunning in Burma)

I've used two - homebase cheap one which melted around the motor quite quickly, and a Bosch one my dad bought years ago and still uses occasionally for his own cutting. It's a good saw for what it is, and being able to saw firewood in the garage out of the wind and rain and dark is also a great feature. So I would say don't go too cheap or it might melt, but I've not used the Stihl or Husky machines to compare. I don't know what the battery life will be on these new generation saws, I know that of the battery drills I've had over the years it's been batteries dying that meant I got a new drill. I won't mind too much on my climbing saws as they will have earned their money by then, but for a domestic user it seems just extra cost to have to replace the batteries for no real benefit if you are using it on a saw horse.

They are coppicing the ash high at maybe 3 foot in Hayley Wood near us, I believe as a defence against the deer browsing.

I think it's same ballpark as the Greenmech.

Also, although L&S say out of stock they will get parts pretty quickly, even if it's not listed on the page of parts with the diagram for the saw. You can get the parts manual by googling around and then find the part numbers for anything. I've had an oil pump and chain brake handle for my DCS9010 off them recently. I also found they do a mesh air filter rather than the roboflock.

Going against the flow maybe, but I prefer manual every time. The auto knows what I am doing but not what I'm about to do hence always to me feels like it's behind the game. I use the Defender low range for manoeuvring, it's not hard on the clutch. But as others said, it's a personal preference thing.

In a nutshell, nicely put. Depends on your budget and if you have any predisposition to husky or Stihl, or a good dealer nearby.

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.