Vedhoggar

Probably result of a lighting strike ... not squirrels and doesn't look like fire damage either.

Grube.eu stock replacement handles for double headed axes (Item No 21-519 90cm €49.90 plus shipping surcharge to UK) I've bought stuff from their shop in Germany as well as had items sent out to UK - sound firm and found them to be very helpful in the past. Also Chrisforestry.co.uk sell a double bit axe with hickory handle so they might be able to supply replacement handles.

woodsmith.co.uk stock various makes and sizes of hickory axe handles - sound company to deal with.

Yeh, I prefer a 13" bar too for felling, snedding smaller dia trees and underwood but on an old MS 240 (18 year old). And agree that there are some good secondhand saw out there but you need to know what you're buying and from a known reliable source ... bought a second-hand MS 460 a few years back which had hardly been used and has never been a problem also bought a second-hand Stihl 450 brush cutter and it runs perfect and never been a problem either also a customer gave me a MS 180 which he said wasn't working and had no more use for, I cleaned the filter, put fresh fuel in and it worked fine, not a saw for me and sold it on to another customer for occasional firewood work and made a profit on it.

For the management of a small area of woodland as described the MS 251 will do the job with a 35 cm (14" bar) as would the more expensive MS 241 professional saw, the MS 261 is suitable for felling small as well as medium sized trees but if you will be working on trees under 38 cm dia as you say then go for a smaller less expensive saw. There is sufficient power in both the MS 251 and MS 241 for the sort of work described, you wouldn't need the more powerful and more expensive MS 261. The MS 241 is the lightest of the three saws (0.5 kg lighter than the MS 261 in fact), has the lowest vibration level and being a professional saw is built to last longer however MS 261 is the way to go though if you intend to fell medium sized trees in future but go for the lightest saw that's going to meet your requirements.

On comment you've read MS 240s are difficult to start that is not my experience, quite the opposite in fact, I use 4 Stihl saws one of which is a MS240 purchased new in May 2006 (£315) so almost 18 years old, it gets quite a lot of use (Stihl logo and MS240 marking completely warn off now) and is my go to saw for felling smaller dia timber with 13" (32cm) bar is easy on the back and great for sending. In 18 years apartment from guide bars, drive components, chains, plugs other replacement parts one air filter has been replaced, maybe two fuel filters (never replaced oil filter yet), fuel pipe (split), and I shock absorbers might have also been replaced. I used to run it on regular petrol but switched a few years back to an ethanol free pre-mixed fuel. When cold the saw usually fires straight away in the cold start position, when warmed up in usually on first pull. Great saw and engine still seems to run as good as when new, I just wished that it had a heated handle at times. May be some operators reporting that MS240s are difficult to start have't been maintaining the machine properly, aren't paying attention to the 4 positions on the starting control lever or maybe at times have winter/summer shutter i wrong position, or have adjusted carburettor setting incorrectly (in 18 years I've never touched the carburettor setting with exception of idle speed screw a couple of times and a Stihl dealer may have tweaked carb settings years ago once.

If it started up and was running properly afterwards it should be okay but I would agree with switch to an alkylate fuel, preferably pre-mixed for 2 stroke engines such as Aspen 2 which is available in Canada.

Definitely a Norwegian Jobu saw of the type manufactured in the 1970s and 1980s depending on the model which were prefixed with a letter “L”. Jobu stopped making saws 41 years ago. Vintage saw/museum piece but someone might be able to get it going.

I thought of buying a larger hemostatic dressing but with 2 x 10 cm x 10 cm used together you could treat a sizeable wound, I have some of those hemostatic granules as well but you need to apply a gauze and bandage on top so not as good in an emergency if up a tree or some distance from another worker ... slipped on spikes once with climbing saw running cutting wrist and one of those 10 cm x 10 cm dressing would have more than covered area had I had one at the time (about 6 cm cut).

The Stein Personal Bleed Control Kit and Plus kit have 1 x 10 cm X 10cm WoundClot dressing, the Medium kit has 1 x 8 cm X 20 cm dressing and the Large 2 x 8 cm x 20 cm dressings. I have the Plus kit but also bought 2 x 10 cm x 10 cm WoundClot dressings from physical-sports.co.uk for £16.25 plus vat. they do work in my experience and they claim to be effective in stopping bleeding for up to 24hrs, there is no manual pressure required once applied like some other makes which is good. When an artery is cut shock will kick in and blood pressure drop quickly, it was over 1.5 hrs before ambulance arrived at the hospital emergency service dept and although I did at first begin with feel myself going I remained conscious probably on account of applying quickly the WoundClot dressing.

Methylated spirit or surgical spirit does the job (methylated spirit is about £2 cheaper for 500 ml bottle), wipe with cloth or if thick of resin work in with nail brush or light pan scourer as well as an old tooth brush in more difficult areas to reach, when clean wipe over with car polish to give it a bit of a shine. Haven't tried that Stihl resin cleaner yet but is a lot more expensive than methylated spirit or surgical spirit

No damage to tendon or nerves but did cut through an artery on thumb side but not the one on the other side of index finger (if both cut then risk go finger dying without surgery within a few hours). Sealed off cut to the artery within a few minutes with a hemostatic gauze dressing (Woundclot 10 cm X 10cm).

Image 11 days after accident/surgery just before stitches removed and before start of physio, meant to include image of finger as now 15 weeks later. Had only cut protect Level C glove on but surgeon thought it probably saved the finger despite cut part way through it, using now Level F the highest cut protection glove.

Last October I put a Gränsfors Bruk 1.5 kg splitting hatch through index finger and when stitches were removed physio said to massage cut 2 or 3 times a day with E45 cream, there is no pain and scaring not that visible now.

Giant at the moment have £500 and £400 off Tough Road SLR 1 & 2 bikes, which are gravel bikes with straight bars, they are a bit like old school mountain bikes, the geometry makes for a comfortable ride, the components used are good, these bikes were selling at £1500 and £1300, the bikes come with a 700 x 50c tyre but going to ride on tarmac a lot 700 x 40/42 or 700 x 45 would be faster tyre, there are more comfortable seats to be had be it’s personal choice. These bike come in S, M, L & XL and as a guide for your leg length it would be M but sit on and if possible try out bikes at a dealer, if you sit on a bike with leg fully extended and foot flat on pedal when in down position it will be about right size but also handle bar reach needs to be considered.

On my stove (not an arrow) a Stovax Stovepipe Thermometer gives same reading on pipe, side of stove (near the top) as well as on the top of stove, I haven't tried the door as it's too narrow but probably the same reading I expect. I have two of those Stovax Stovepipe Thermometers and have had them on the stove at the same time and they give the same reading but the stove pipe is the best place I find on my stove to read it.

You could try the Arboricultural Association website (www.trees.org.uk), go to 'Find a Professional' then 'Find a Registered Consultant'.

Where tree folks below 1.3m you should treat each limb as a separate tree. (ref FC Forest Mensuration Handbook Measurement Conventions).

Try £680 for the 572 over 1 yr old and £690 for 562 under 1 yr old and maybe drop to £600 if need be on both to secure sale otherwise think about keeping them for a while longer.

I have used the Bashlin steel twisted shank spikes for a few years now with velcro padded plus standard 41mm gaffs and find them comfortable, previously had straight shank spikes which I didn't find comfortable. The Bashlin twisted shank spikes I find are a good fit and don't rub my ankle and very secure with velcro pad. However, like most things it will be down to personal preference but I do prefer them myself. Price when I last looked £450 plus vat. They came with a spare set of bottom straps which I have not yet needed. The gaffs screw in so can be replaced if need be.

I would agree and it's worth paying extra to get correct fit. Both Pfanner and Arbortec do short leg (30" and 29.5") and Pfanner do a 35" but Arbortec longest 33" leg. Arbortec do female design trouser too not sure if any others do. If you have a short leg forget Stihl trouser as shortest 31.5". Some of the cheap chainsaw trousers are too bulky and uncomfortable to wear and often don't last as long in my experience.

Arbortec Breatheflex Pro (Type A) very comfortable, well designed and good range of sizes available, a bit more than I would normally pay for trousers but they are well made/designed, best trousers I've ever had and worth the extra cost for professional user. Arbortec Breatheflex Pro Type A £241 plus vat, cheaper version Arbortec Breatheflex Type A £201 plus vat.

We have been using the Docma VF 105 capstan winch for 5 yrs. for taking down hung-up trees, directional felling as well as extraction of some firewood. The machine has been run on ethanol free fuel from the start and have not experienced any problem with starting or running. We have 100m of rope and use the first 50m mostly but do need 100m at times. As not just the pulling power to consider but also friction between ground surface and the load therefore skidding cone we find is very useful and use it when we can (will take up to a 50cm dia log or a bundle of stems). The machine has a 1 tonne straight pull but increase this to 2 tonne with use of snatch block. The only problem is rope getting tangle up if tension on rope during winching suddenly slackens, which is a pain but otherwise machine works well. The 1800 Eder winch is obviously more powerful but more expensive (£800 plus vat more expensive). Pulling speeds Docma VF105 24m/min (at 1000kg pull), Eder 1800 20m/min (at 900kg pull) and Portable Winch Co. PCW5000 12-18m/min (at 1000kg pull) depending on drum size. The PCW5000 is 4-stoke and the other two 2-stoke engines which is useful as you do not need to carry two lots of fuel. Treadlight Forestry is the firm to deal with.

Or tell them options are a fresh cut or dry 1m3 of bulk/loose split logs in a tonne builders bag pointing out that they will get 20% more in weight with fresh cut logs for same price!

For price comparison advise customers to always enquire about the size (dimensions) of builders bags as not all the same size, the average moisture content, size of the logs (length and max/min dia and if possible also have a look at the product. We sell logs based on a min load size of 2m3 loose/bulk but quote prices per loose m3 which if they want a comparison a 2m3 bulk load is about 3-4 average 'builders bags'. We also sell 0.5m boiler wood split billets based on stacked measure per m3 as well as some logs and kindling in nets. In fairness I do point out that there may be a bit more vol in 'builders' bag than measurements might suggest as open top and material can stretch.