Dan Maynard

I agree trailer is best for capacity and as my chipper is only 300kg and trailer rated to 2.7t I reckon to put about 1.6t in legally. I just think it can be tricky to manoeuvre in town. On the other hand, I can fit a pretty big tree on one load so I never have to run out half way through to tip off. That would be a real pain working on my own whereas when I'm subbing on say 3 man jobs it's quite common. Option 3.

I wonder what it weighs? I use a small gravity fed chipper which uses 300kg of my payload leaving plenty for chip and wood. Wouldn't want a heavy tracked chipper but sometimes a roller feed would be good, this might just do it.

I run landrover and trailer, when I have to work in town sometimes it is tight so I would probably cross off conf 3 based on what you say.

I've tried different gloves, some of the cheap 'site' thinner ones (dextrogrip) left my hands tingling after less than an hour on the 261 (ie not even big saw). I now wear Showa 310's climbing and sawing, they're a bit thicker and that seems to be enough to avoid tingling. Grip is good so no need to grasp tight, seem to last pretty well also. Toolstation £3 a pair free delivery at the moment, I buy black to appear less like a builder.

I like the discussion, it's interesting to think about how different cuts make a difference to efficiency. Looking forward to the clear up video, agree I wouldn't want to have to untangle that and feed it into a 6" chipper but that is not what is planned.

I would be careful about 'like a cherrypicker', I've worked on a couple of farms, one had a proper basket for the telehandler (which I didn't mind) and the other just wanted me to stand in a huge scoop which seemed completely dodgy. I threw a rope up the tree while he was at lunch.

I've got an old Dolmar 112 which is 50cc and has always had 3/8 chain so it is possible on 50cc BUT it's a different saw completely to the 261 - slow, torquey. Came with 8 tooth sprocket on.

I have a 365 and it cuts well on an 18" bar so I mainly use it for ringing up 16-20" stems. Not sure I'd have it as my only saw though, bit heavy for stuff like crown breakdown. Depends what sort of firewood you are going to cut of course.

I am still running my M500, I think having hp is important. Small and medium jobs just fine, bit more snedding up but then I usually get to park right next to the tree so no dragging. Bigger dismantles then I hire in. It is important to keep the blades razor sharp and be fussy to keep everything clean going through, sharp blades are the secret to having them feed well.

I still haven't figured out why the bloke couldn't ride a pushbike 2 miles, it's not far.

I think it's less likely you damage the tyre than damage your leg as the tyre lever slips. Done it with landy tyre once, not rushing to do it again. I can see with practice you could get better but I just have too much else to do.

As far as I understand though, .325 on the 261 will cut smoother and faster especially on smaller limbs. Smaller kerf takes less power. 3/8 chain is stronger and the bigger kerf is better for chip ejection so suits longer bars/bigger engines. Putting .325 chain on a MS500i strikes me like buying a fast car and putting cheap tyres on it, can't use the performance you've paid for.

Very ingenious, and obviously worked. The only thing I can see is the tree has to slide along the cable as it comes upright, so this implies there must be a side load on the hinge which is not immediately obvious. I'd be interested to hear opinions from those who have done more winching.

It is commercial waste but as long as you stick to transporting material which is arisings from your own work then as nepia said registering is free. Depends where you are, tip site directory may be your friend or you might need to ring around. Near us the options are green waste with Amey Cespa where they weigh the load and charge a commercial rate or else there are a couple of commercial compost producers who like the wood fibre and so do loads for a lower flat rate. Taking it back to the yard and burning it has had its day, you should not do that any more.

They start well and cut well, no problems with stale fuel or any of that rubbish. I haven't done a comparison test really. I was recommended Super or Ultra for my Kombi engine as the valves less likely to foul up. Stihl have a little chart showing it should mean more power and engine life which is sort of what I'm trusting in, on the basis oil is cheaper than replacing saws.

Thanks for this, this is exactly the kind of thing I was thinking of. I knew MDF dust was dangerous but not really other sawdust?

We've had quite a few pet rabbits, some don't dig but when you get one that has the urge they are quite hard to stop, chicken wire all across the bottom periodically renewed is where I ended up. We never really seemed to have a problem with rats, though they were about at some times we would see they'd been stealing food from the chickens. Overall plan sounds great though, rabbits will love it.

I use Ultra, it is more expensive per litre than super. FR Jones have started doing 5l cans at 65+vat that mixes with 250 litres of petrol so about 26p+vat on top of petrol cost per litre doesn't sound too bad - still a lot less than Motomix/Aspen.

I believe it is, I went for Radmore and Tucker as basically same price, I wanted 60cm, and I thought they were more likely to be helpful if there are any issues. They were helpful when I rang up with a question and also did next day delivery so no complaints.

I absolutely respect anybody's choice to use Aspen, for me at the moment cost and the thought of stripping all the carbs is putting me off changing. I guess if I seriously thought the pump fuel was going to give me cancer I would change tomorrow, same as I don't smoke, so its an important question. Bacon, toast, pvc are carcinogenic but we tolerate those risks. What I am trying to do is scratch the surface of the manufacturers claims and see what evidence is there. My dad worked with asbestos as a marine engineer, his lungs aren't great but the guys who were pipe laggers working full time with the stuff died young. Likewise miners lung was terrible, none made old age. The reason I mentioned smoking is that a good proportion of the working population would have smoked at work so it may be difficult to point at exactly what caused any lung problems which now exist, if the benzene risk is low then it may be masked. Even smoking was argued about a great deal before mainstream acceptance that it was harmful, not sure where we are with benzene. Ideally perhaps we could check this out in medical journals but just thought we might have enough people on here who are or know old cutters that could share experiences.

I think others have had similar experiences with Makita UK being a bit useless. If you compare specs you can see the hedge trimmers on the Makita page are the same as the ones on dolmar.de , description points are more or less direct translation across. EH6000W and HT2360D for example.

Not just the young uns, mine are 13, wouldn't say I've noticed any change over the years. I always say big feet ..... big shoes.

I was thinking this, probably forestry cutters most at risk due to constant exposure? Are there any stats or were they all smoking rollups anyway so difficult to isolate a cause of lung damage?

Hitchclimber is ok on any rope, it's really about what friction cord you match up. Personally I climb on 13mm because I have big hands and find it easier to grip.

I bought some a couple of months ago from Radmore and Tucker £250+vat, cost a little more than the cheaper Stihls but vibration levels much lower which I like. So far so good, agree with the comment it's a lightweight trimmer rather than heavy rough cutter but those are much more expensive and heavy.