Craig Howe

Qualified LOLER inspector based in Somerset, either drop your kits with me or I can come to you for a small fee. Overnight and Weekend inspections available. Call Craig on 07841202304

Howe Tree Surgery ltd are looking for a groundie or climber for the 22nd, 23rd and 24th August for a job based in Yeovil, Somerset BA21

This opportunity will lead to further work.

Feel free to contact me on 07841202304

Craig Howe

Self employed groundies and climbers needed for expanding tree surgery business based between Yeovil and Taunton in Somerset.

We cover most of South Somerset, West Dorset and East Devon, sometimes a little bit further afield.

Craig

Howe Tree Surgery

07841202304

I’m looking to get a new chipper, either the Timberwolf 230 or the Forst ST6, I’ve used both but not long term, what’s your experience with them and which would you recommend? Both have their pros and cons.

Looking for a self employed groundie for a day next week, either 8th or 9th May, could potentially lead to further work.

Job is in Lyme Regis, Devon

07841202304

So peoples, what methods/ products have you found to be best for removing sap off the paint of your trucks? I chipped some horse chestnut on a rainy morning and it’s really stuck to the paint on my truck.

I’ve just had a renewal quote for £950 for my trade insurance, I know in our industry it’s not cheap, but I’m going to shop around for an other quote, can anyone recommend who to try for a quote?

On 11/03/2018 at 19:53, bmp01 said:

Easy, quick job - assuming the springs are just weak, and no subsequent damage to fix broken pieces. There are different spring arrangements from different manufacturers - for the MS260 there are 3 little springs holding the 3 weights together. It'll be quite obvious once you've taken the clutch drum off, so, chain cover off,  bar and chain off, ping the circlip off the crank, remove washer and clutch drum and the bearing. Don't lose that circlip.

Remove and replace each spring in turn,  you do need to do all three. Long noise pliers or even better rounded noise pliers to avoid scratching the spring ... but they are pretty tough little beggars so just go for it. 

HTH.

Thanks bmp ??

On 07/03/2018 at 20:49, spudulike said:

So it needs new clutch springs to get over the chain running at idle and 026/MS260s suffer with the piston skirts wearing. Fit a decent piston and new springs, worth checking the plating especially if it has an earlier wire mesh air filter but seems like and easy refurb to me!

Thanks Spud and guys for recommending the spring. I Haven’t replaced a clutch spring before, is it fairly straight forward?

11 hours ago, Wonkydonkey said:

Have you had the plug out, looked at the colour and checked the gap.

Sounds like you got a clutch prob as well, if the tick over is low and chain runs.

 

i'm sure there's many possibilities of reasons as to why. But as said before simple to take exhaust off and look at rings/piston (are they gummed etc,) take a pic if your not sure. While the exhaust is off you can look into the spark plug hole and observe  other places within the cylinder.

thats my 2p worth.

 

cheers

 

I replaced the spark plug, colour was just the usual light brown. Still not running well after. Sounds like it’ll be easier to get a new saw at this rate if clutch is gone as well!

17 hours ago, EricBradley said:

If you tell us the running issues your saws having we may be able to point you in the right direction

It takes a fair few pulls before it starts, idle is low but chain runs on tick over, the chain is sufficiently tight, it gets up to revs ok but as soon as i cut with it, it looses power. Occasionally stalls. 

21 hours ago, Stretchsaws said:

Agree with above. First and easiest job is to pop off the muffler and have a gander. Work the piston up and down and give the ring a gentle prod with a small screwdriver to check that it does flex. 

Unfortunately some workshops don't have a clue or aren't interested enough to work on small 2 stroke equipment, so they fudge it off by saying 'not economical to repair.' I know because I've had to do it, it's down to my service manager, not me personally. 

If the top end looks naffed, then give it a go replacing, but should only be done after finding the cause of the damage. Try to find a local shop/person that actually know what they're doing, or if you're in Suffolk, come and see me! ☺

Yes I’ve had the ‘not economical to repair’ fob off before in the past, thanks for the advise, I’m afraid I’m in Somerset but thanks for the offer ??

22 hours ago, bmp01 said:

As Eric suggests not likely to be a worn cylinder, the metal plating on the inside of the cylinder is very hard wearing.  Usually any wear is limited to the piston rings and piston. Probably the test they did in the shop was a compression test - it just tells you how much gas leaks part the piston assembly. From the outside there's  no way of knowing which aspect of the piston assembly is responsible. Could be just the piston rings stuck ring grooves though to piston assy and cylinder repacement if its been seized...

If the shop pulled the exhaust off (to inspect the piston through the exhaust port) then maybe they diagnosed a seized piston but usually that results in an engine that doesn't run at all, not running problems. 

Take the exhaust off have a look for your self.... just 2 torx screws and 5 mins.

 

 

Thanks, I’ll take a look

46 minutes ago, EricBradley said:

• I'm guessing you've not removed it yet, how do you know its worn?

It has running issues, I thought maybe carb, I dropped it into my local machinery shop, they diagnosed warn cylinder 

50 minutes ago, billpierce said:

Straight swap. You may want a new gasket in case your old one breaks. Worth finding the cause of the seizure.

Some good in-depth vids on YouTube. Donnyboy is pretty good.

Make sure piston is correct way and be careful with piston rings when placing cylinder over.

Meteor are decent non original parts.

Thanks bill ??

My trusty Stihl MS 260 has a warn cylinder, I do most work on my saws myself but having never replaced a pot and piston, is there anything technical I need to know about? Is it a straight swap or do I need to set anything?

cheers

So, I’m looking at tippers, chances are all I can afford that the moment is a second hand transit tipper.  I know a lot of guys who swear by their trusty steeds, what is the general consensus on them? Are they reliable work horses or money pits? Is there anything that goes wrong with them that I should look out for when looking to buy?  How do they compare to a Nissan Cabstar apart from the obvious fact that the transits usually have a larger capacity, these are an other option.

I’m looking for a groundsman with their own chipper and tipper who’s interested in occasional work in South Somerset, Somerset/Dorset/Devon boarder area.

Most of the tree work I do is subbing for other firms, occasionally I get my own jobs where I’m equipped to dismantle but not equipped to remove the chip and wood.

It usually works out a few days a month.

If anyone could do with the extra bit of work let me know.