Dan Maynard

The pitch and gauge are right so sprocket and bar are fine, it's a question of whether the tensioner and slots have range to allow it to fit on - give it a try. Saying that 68 is only one more than standard for 16" so seems short for 18"

I tend to agree with onetruth, you've got to consider the roots and whether they were planted properly in the first place if they didn't grow properly for a decade. If they have poor root structure then they will just get taller and fall over at some point, the taller they get in the meantime the worse the hazard.

Well thanks for that guys, generally positive about the narrow kerf so I'm going to try it out but you saved me buying the Oregon bar and wishing I had the Sugi.

Beat me to it there, I also bought 10 from them as they were listed on eBay. I don't see them at the moment but that might be because selling a few at at a time to the public is a pain, if you want bulk then make them an offer as they have to scrap the cages after emptying the bottle. There were hundreds in the yard.

Evening all. Anyone using the Oregon speedcut narrow kerf? I have a MS261, reading the hype about speedcut it seems like an aluminium centre and lower cutting force would make it ideal for an 18" climbing saw, nice and light. The only thread I could find was someone a while ago saying it cut like a banana and Oregon were going to take it back...

I'm sure when I did my CS31 there was a guy doing a refresher, he was only there for the last day. I guess if his employer was happy with one day then it covers the requirement from their point of view.

I don't know what the chain is exactly but my Stihl Kombi pole saw has bumper links between the teeth - won't cut on the tip of the bar at all so doesn't kick back, you can't bore. That's 3/8" narrow kerf so may fit the MSA120?

I wouldn't buy too much kit before the course, ask loads of questions once on the course. I have size 13 feet so had to buy boots before mine. Absolutely the best advice I was given was to go to an arb show and try lots of harnesses before you buy - it is worth paying for one that is comfortable. I did not come away with the one I would have chosen on the internet or from reviews etc but am very happy with the choice.

I hired a Timberwolf 13/75 when thinking about chippers, and echoing others comments I found 3 problems: heavy machine means hard to move around and get on a trailer, small chute which narrows makes it a pain to feed stuff in, and as a 3" chipper it is actually only happy to chip 1 1/2 to 2" without being really careful. My solution - JoBeau M500. Self propelled so drives itself onto the trailer, 24hp engine will chip up to 5" diameter, infeed chute is 50cm wide by 15cm tall so you can shove branches in and let the chipper do the work - I never use loppers to feed this. Above 3" is firewood and it will eat anything smaller with ease as the chute is so wide. Stuff like poplar you can hardly feed in as fast as it eats it. I believe the degree to which the chipper self feeds is the key to productivity - if you can throw a stick in and let go then you are picking up the next piece ready while it chips. This means it needs to grab in, but also be powerful enough to chip and eject without slowing and blocking. As a test I would suggest scots pine or leylandii. The only problem with the M500 is there aren't many second hand ones around, but I paid just under £3k for mine and I know the bloke I bought if off didn't pay much more 2 years earlier. It's about 8 years old - built solid and to last. I looked at CS100, the chute looks narrow to me which would mean hard work to feed unless straight sticks. My second choice was Haeksler, they have a 40cm wide chute machine but having bought a JoBeau I would also look at the M400.