Jack.P

I had a similar email .most companies would still post the stuff anyway if they were asked .Personally going off some of the Stihl gear and started looking at alternatives. a “professional” Strimmer less than a year old been disappointed with build quality and warranty repair not great .

Some of it was beech .some privet but they were everywhere jumping out all over me. all I can find is wolly beech aphid on google but they don’t look the same anyway .

Been hedge cutting all day today .this particular hedge full of these small grey coloured flying bugs which were constantly biting takes a few bites then flying off.not seen them before.what are they any ideas ?

From my experience seems as though it’s always the wealthy rich which will try to rip you off or get there money’s worth out of you .this job in question was for a new client with a 20 acre garden / smallholding in sussex so worth a fortune.he has now asked about doing a large laurel trimming job but wants it done within 8 hrs .I should really just say goodIuck finding someone else then .....some people around here will charge £20 -£30 p.h easily then charge waste removed and not be as productive and tit around a bit .had similar thing last year they were not prepared to offer more money so told them in the end not viable for me and working elsewhere now .as it happens It wasn’t great money saving scheme for them in the end paying less to someone with less experience and tools etc .funny thing was she had said they couldn’t afford it next day there brand new land rover turns up lol

Been doing a fairly large conifer hedge reduction this week 25m long and reducing by 6 -7ft and trimming the front afterwards .agreed to work on hourly rate of £15 with all my own tools provided and all waste to be left on the job raked up into pile .anyway 10 hrs later the jobs was done and seemed like the client had got real bargain to me what would most typically charge for this sort of job ?

The Stihl dealer told me on several occasions don’t risk it .

Got several Stihl ones .hs82 ok but personally find it bit heavy so usually only comes out for the thicker stuff ....hs45 ok with good power to weight ratio but downside is bit shaky and fuel tank small so will only run about 20-25minutes .been impressed with the hsa 86 with ap300 battery only downside though can’t be used in the wet but will run for around 3-3.5 hrs when fully charged.probably done around 150 hrs on it still running fine so far .

True probably not ideal job for a nice new chain but the trunk was bit big for an old 15'' chain which was the only worn out one I could find .lesson learnt anyway don't cut anything from below the ground

True .probably obvious this would of happened .looked at it though seemed clean enough and thought it would be probably be alright .was it probably a stone in there which caused the sparks ? Never seen a new chain go that dull in a few seconds

Been helping a neighbor today trying to help them out .spent most the day rotavating which turns out to be hard work .anyway they had pulled out a large apple tree root with there car and told me they had jet washed off any remaining crap said ok I will saw it up for you as it didnt look too dirty .anyway before cutting switched to max oil flow and a few minutes later this is what is left of a new Stihl chain and bar and completely dull ..I'm not sure what was inside the wood but a lot of sparks flew of the chain .looks like waste of a good chain I guess I will know for next time the answer is no

Always bit frustrating to get setbacks like this but it could have been worse and it will soon heal up .someone I was working with last year somehow managed to slice there leg open with a Stihl hs81 hedgetrimmer

Presumably the wait is due to either being very very exceptionally busy or can't be arsed which is more likely.A few years ago I paid them to fix a top handle took it back after realising not fixed they were so useless in the end I took it to another mechanic who said they had Hardly touched it .I guess I will probably have to get funny with them to get the matter resolved

Hi I am having a bit of trouble actually getting a Stihl dealer to repair a brush cutter which is under warranty and was bought from them .at first I was told 2 weeks to fix it so I dropped by 3 weeks later and still not touched it 6 weeks later still no phone call .i had to buy a cheap spare one in the end as I was waiting so long .does anyone know can i take it to another Stihl dealer to fix ? I am tempted to say I will give them two more weeks to get there act together or I will expect a replacement machine .considering how much I have spent with this company I'm surprised I'm not a valued customer

If it's already been over due then I'd give them a reminder invoice with 10 working days to pay or the matter will then go to small claims court .I recently had similar problem with another very wealthy client 6 weeks later cheque arrives £100 short of amount due with some pathetic letter explaining why they chose not to pay the full amount.

Just wondering Has anyone had any dodgy batch of aspen 2 stroke ? My long reach trimmer usually runs spot on with very little smoke but today having opened a new container of aspen it was very smokey but ran like normal .i was wondering if its likely to be a rich mix of oil as it's premixed or bad quality oil ?( the Aspen was purchased only a few months ago )

I've not used the husky model stated but I did buy a similar one while back which I wasn't very impressed with I used it for about ten minutes then got rid of it .it didn't seem as powerful or well built as Stihl and I couldn't be bothered keeping it .I do have both the 81 and 82 which are good machines but i find them bit heavy where possible I willl use the 45 or the cordless Stihl which I believe Is the best power to weigh ratio trimmer currently on the market and will run for about 2-3hrs with ap300 battery but they can't be used in the rain which is the only downside .

Just been looking at what firewood is on ebay .came across an advert Which made me laugh they are trying to get someone to takedown a tree for free firewood and all brash must also be take away lol .the tree in question is sycamore located next to public road and looks like the tree it's probably council owned so someone could potentially get into some trouble, .with an amateur woodcutter it could easily fall on the house or block the road so not such good money saving from the seller after all .not only would someone have to rig it down .dispose /chip brash and process the firewood then season it what a ridiculous waste of time for a small amount of wood

Been looking at various small chippers for around the 2k range I am looking at medium sized ones which I can get into a van (eliet and camon ones don't look that great) It seems like best options are brand new rock machinery one or jo beau m200 I will mostly only be chipping hedge waste so nothing too big .has anyone had the m200? it looks good machine but bit expensive for a 60mm chipper ...

Got to the woods this morning in good time at the meeting spot ready for a day of hand cutting.Anyway no sign of them I waited over an hour for them didn't return call so decided I'm better off heading back as I'm not waiting all day for them .funny that the bloke in charge said at the start I've got 4 chances if I'm a messer but it's them that's a messer lol what a joke wasting my time

Today went ok on the job -bit cold to start with but warmed up around midday It wasn't very hard work but I'm not sure if it's for me so haven't decided if I'm going back in tomorrow but I'm allowed to go straight into processing tomorrow . It was surprising how much good useable wood with enough length goes into chip pile I guess it all comes down to buyers spec but a waste of money anyway. Main talk with the boys all day is footy so pretty boring work bunch really

I spoken to the geezer in charge again this afternoon.explained I dont want to spend that long just stacking there wood for free but more intrested in actual hands on learning aswell as stacking if I'm too offer my weeks labour for nothing.he doesn't sound that intrested by the sounds of things and reluctant to let me start cutting the wood explaining I won't cut to spec therefore will actually loose them money which is a bit unfair to say considering hasn't seen me working or given me a chance yet.it sounded like I would be stacking for most the week I wonder if I'm just wasting my time with these people

Just bought a new Stihl helmet the expert one but having now assembled it I get the feeling it will have soon have the same problem as the old one where the ear defenders do not fully push in enough to work properly.The new one dosent seem to be able to move the ear defenders in / out with the helmet still on which also isn't that useful.I will have to keep it though as I will be needing it next week but disappointed though in the quality of it .but what helmet is the one everyone is using everyday and can recommend ? (not a climbing type)

Yeah I was hoping I would go straight into felling as it's only cutting to spec which I'm unsure about as it goes into 4 different products I'm not familiar with .I will mention though i want set hourly rate for stacking someone else's wood if I'm learning nothing.if it looks like a joke on day 1 then I won't be hanging around more than a few hours

Hi guys .I've been thinking about a change of scene at work and considering getting into forestry . Anyway I've been offerd a weeks trial next week with just expenses paid i.e. Petrol etc but that's fair enough I guess as I'm a newbie with limited forestry experience -But i have done groundy work and my own tree jobs so not a total beginner and I have my own saws ppe etc and cs30/31 but planning on doing cs32 / first aid within the next 6 months. Anyway I was a bit put off when he said for the first three days I'd just be manually stacking timber .not much to learn from that apart from don't do it again when your back is feeling it and potentially isn't going to give me much of an idea of what is involved in the work so possibly waste of time if I'm just offered donkey work for no financial gain. The work if I decided to go for it is chestnut fencing for the next few months on piece rate .but they will have other work on different sites afterwards.How long will it take to get the hang of this and could it be a viable option ? Week 2 If I stayed on I would expect pay at least equating to minimum wage . maybe I'm better off just waiting for current work load to pick back up.

The whole Christmas thing has become a bit of a over commercialised con in a way but I guess it all depends how you look at it ..all the unnecessary waste generated isn't good though .....I am playing it safe this time with food hampers Still need to buy lots more but due to a lack of intrest I'll probably wait till Monday lol