Witterings

This is exactly what I'd started doing but I was speaking with a dealer (bearing in mind they see them coming back in for service / repairs) who was too far away to sell me Aspen on a regular basis and he said it's the only thing he'd use. I've got into the habit if I know I'm going to empty a tank or 2 do exactly as you say and then put a smidge of Aspen in to run it through / store at the end but he didn't seem to approve as he felt Aspen was generally better for running the saw all the time.

Does anybody know what the difference is between using Aspen 2 against petrol mixed with something like the Briggs & Stratton Fuel Stabiliser. If you buy 250ml of stabilser for approx £5 (give or take a few pence) works out at 20p per litre + fuel ... lets round it up and say £1.30 per litre so total £1.50. Multiply it up for 5 liters = £7.50 + 2 stroke at approx £1 = £8.50 ... in essence it's less than 1/2 the cost of Aspen although buying 2 stroke /and stabiliser in larger quantities there'd be greater savings to be had. Does Aspen 2 do anything over and above what normal fuel with stabiliser would and what about using higher RON fuel like 97/98 instead of 95 ... is that good or bad / what effect would it have ??

It's not for commercial use but I do have access to quite a lot of uncut wood so am using the stove more and more and switching off the heating which knocked a huge amount off the bill last year and using it more this year and the rounds are getting bigger. When you're bucking big quantities at a time you want something that just gets the job done quickly .... am looking at either a Sthil 261 or Husky 550XP

Have been looking one of these as seen quite a few positive comments .. .probably weighing that up against the 550XP as I'll probably have / use this for years to come so trying to work out if the 550's worth the extra for my type of usage and what the actual benefits would be.

Is cleaning the carb something I could do myself or I'm guessing it'd have to go to a dealers ... athough as it happened from new and the amout of use it's had I doubt that'd be the issue. I have ordered a spark plug anyway ... for thr sake f a few quid may as well try it in case I happen to have got a dud. I have heard similar before from someone else unless it happened to be you that commented in a thread I started a while back when I bought it and 1st discovered the issues. The number of dealers that recommend them, often people that were arborists themselves .... often over and above the other main names is very high bearing in mind they see the ones that get returned and are servicing them as well so see the regular problems / failings. I wonder if it's a case of overall they are very good but maybe they have more "Friday Afternoon Jobbies" than they should and you're just unlucky if you happen to get one of those ... that said you'd have to be awful unlucky to get 2 unless that bad uns are fairly numerous. I think I'd still like to upgrade though as I didn't realise quite how much I was going to use it when I bought it and would have thought an approx 50cc with at least another kw output would make quite a bit of difference in cut time per round compared to a 34cc. Any other recommendatiosn greatly appreciated 👍

OK ... good point thank you. Yes it has been like it from new, took it in the 1st time after having only cut a dozen rounds .... it's still probably only had about 5 hours use in total now, I kept using it hoping maybe it just needed some running in and might ease up but that's not been the case it seems.

Cheers for those ... don't know why especially as I have a DUC 355Z but I've generally seen Stihl, Husky or Echo as the main contenders for gas but Makita do mean battery stuff.... maybe I've just no experience with any of their petrol tools. The MS 261 and 550XP are both big leaps from what I have and quite a lot more money ... Earlier before seeing this I was looking at the Husky 455, Echo 4510 (someone suggested a 15" bar as opposed to the 18" which would give it more grunt fo wha I'm doing) and the MS 251 ... all of which are probably a 1/2 way house between what I have and your suggested ... unless I've won the lottery tonight in which case I'll try them all 😄

I'll definitely look into that ... only thing is I'd hate to spend the money and find it wasn't a huge improvement, I'd also sell this as it has 2 years warranty left which would help with the re-sale value and swapping parts out would invalidate it. I need the right tool for the job, I don't need top end / pro and would spend what was required within reason as I've bought one that I'll now end up selling and don't want to do the same again. Must admit I wonder why as well ... from the day I've had it I thought it wasn't quite right, I took it into a dealershop and them to check it's tuning ... initially they said yes it doesn't sound right ad tweaked it but it didn't really make any difference. I took it to a 2nd place and they said / did the same. When you 1st start it you can't cut anything without it bogging/ going to stall unless you pull back, 2 / 3 mins in and it's better but it still often boggs on say 8" branches suspended so the round your cutting will fall straight to the ground and the 've weight should help open up the cut like a wedge would. Maybe I should make sure it's cold and take it back into one of the dealers and make them cut some wood with it rather than just rev it in the workshop and then they'd see wha the problem was ... it's been like it out of the box so brand new chain which I've also sharpened to eliminate that as the problem.

I have an Echo 352 ES and it's a great little saw for the odd job here and there and easy to start but it's not the most powerful and bogs down quite easily which if you're doing a couple of hours worth of cutting at a time becomes quite frustrating so am really looking for something with some more grunt and ideally a quicker cutting speed as well. It's got a 14" bar which for cutting firewood logs is nice and easy / light to use, I don't necessarily need any bigger although if it'd take larger bar for the odd one off job would be useful (but not essential) even if it wasn't the best performer. It is only for cutting up firewood at home not professional use although I've managed to find a reasonable supply of wood so am using the fire more and more as opposed to the heating .. probably about 4 fires a week. If anyone can suggest some recommendations would be much appreciated!

In hindsight what I really should have done ... we live in a semi detached house and are number 2 Silver Birches but so many delivery drivers go to number 1 and drop off goods because they see the name Silver Birches and assume they're there .... this was left in the neighbours porch by mistake which is a 2nd home and they're currently not there. I saw the tracking had switched to delivered so went round to see if that's what'd happened and it was on their doorstep. Could have just claimed it was never delivered and even if they'd taken a photo it'd be of someone else's porch but I'm just too honest!!

Yes I think you're right ... this probably is what I should have done but having sent them the e-mail and they came straight back and said they'd arrange for it to be picked up so it was almost a bit late at that stage.

I bought an X27 a couple of weeks ago and spent a whole afternoon cutting up wood and it's not got a dink in it like this so have arranged for them to pick it up / refund ... I guess my concern is you've no idea what they've hit with it and if it's done any damage that you can't see buy may "weaken" it ....... and as it's meant to be new I can't see any reason I should accept something that's obviously been used at some stage. The box it arrived in had obviously been near water one one edge, I didn't even have to open it the weight of the axe it fell out through one of the corners of it's own accord without it's cover on .. maybe the courier had opened it and used it for something I don't know but that's the sellers issue to sort out with them. I have ordered another for an extra £4 from another seller which should be here in a few days and looking forward to trying it.

It came from CPC Farnell ... I had a look at their reviews on Trustpilot last night and it doesn't make for happy reading. I knew I was going in for a major operation on the 26th of last month and knowing lots of things are selling out due to Covid ordered it on the 25th for deliver this Monday 7th as they'd require photo ID on delivery and wanted to make sure I was out of hospital. I checked the stock levels when I ordered and they confirmed there were 9 in stock and one would definitely be put by for me. I called them last Thursday the 3rd to make sure it was still scheduled for Monday delivery and they confirmed it was. Late Monday afternoon I had a feeling it wasn't going to arrive so called them to see if the had a tracking number, they said there had been a problem with the payment and transferred me to accounts. Accounts processed the payment (without asking me for any more details) whilst I was on the phone to them so they obviously hadn't had a problem at all. I asked when it would arrive as it was now obviously going to be late but also an explanation of why it hadn't been sent in the 1st place, he said he'd look into it and call me back. When he called back he left a message on my voicemail saying they had been out of stock but some had just arrived in that day which was obviously a blatant lie. Absolute joke dealing with these people although I sent them an e-mail last night and they have said they'd arrange to have it collected and could either refund or replace in the future as they were currently out of stock .... the whole reason why I ordered it in advance!!! ☹️

Ordered a Fiskars X25 which arrived today ... interested to see what people' opinion is on the quality of these from new and have attached a few pics??

Thanks again for the comments ... much appreciated 👍

Cheers for that the "File Bible" so to speak ... Ahmen 😄

Cheers guys ... thanks for the replies I won't "sweat it" as they say ... as long as it's not going to do any real damage / cause kickback or anything it's kind of a no-brainer.

Hmmm ... Not sure and I don't know how to tell which it is ????? It came with a Stihl chainsaw I bought about 25 years ago as part of a kit with a file guide / raker gauge ... not sure if they had a "standard" and still use the same or if it's changed in that time.

I've got a Makita 355Z which takes an Oregon 90PX052 chain that supposedly needs a 4.5mm file but all my other saws take 4mm and is easier to have one for all .... I have a normal guide I can use the 4.5mm file in but prefer to use the Pferd 2 in 1 sharpener which literally cuts my sharpening time down to a 1/3 and you can't get them with 4.5mm files. I spoke to a retailer ..... Stihl do sell a Micro Mini chain that uses a 4mm file that will fit but he says it won't last that long in comparison and doesn't cut as well and he'd just use a 4mm file on the Oregon instead ... He also mentioned that the Oregon is really "tight" fit for a 4.5mm file when it's new and diffucult to use .... this is true as I tried it this weekend, it was difficult to get in and really hard to take the intial strokes until you'd done a few (worn away some of the metal) and then it eased up. Is there any downside to using the smaller file size on the Oregon chain or anything else I should be aware of??

A man after my own heart. I've got a box of old edge tools, mainly Bill Hooks of various shapes and sizes. They don't make them like they used to do they?! If I was going to try and get a half decent Bill Hook ... any idea what I should get ... as I said earlier in teh thread the neighbours just went through the Xmas treee like butter and whilst I do have a really cheap one that I nearly threw away as it was so blunt (not now) but even that I found was way better at chopping smallish very dry logs into kindling sizes than my small axe. That coupled with when I commented on how good the neighbiurs was he said it has a lot to do with each individual one and you really want one of the older ones ... he's a real tool geek. Just as a passing comment re sharpening tools as well, I thought my file was shot and was looking for a new one when I saw links to file cards which I'd never heard of before. I had an unused BBQ wire brush to hand so tried using that and it totally transformed my file to virtually as new.

Sounds like a bit of Axe envy going on here 😄 Yes I did ... your comment has just made me re-read it as I wondered if I misunderstood what you were saying Not being that familiar with angle grinders and the various attachments you can get for them I read it as angle grinder 1st (and thought you meant with a normal disc / blade they come with and which would cause the metal to get hot) and then a ceramic sanding disc on a backing pad as a separate tool but I think I've now realised it's an attachment that goes on the grinder???????? In which case could be an option as I have a small angle grinder so would just need the sanding disc I guess.

For an axe this is probably a good point as well but yesterday I'd sharpened one with a file and then thought I'd try and put a better edge on it with the puck but instead seemed to be making it worse rather than better ... I'd rather have something I know's reliably doing the job rather than almost taking pot luck and finding I#m going backwards. Re putting a really decent edge on .... last year after Xmas the neighbour was having a bonfire and said bring the Xmas tree round and stick on it to get rid of it ... I took it round and he had a Bill Hook - he took 1 effortless swipe and it went through a thickish part of the tree like it was butter .... I felt the edge and it was razor sharp and made me re-think how beneficial a decent edge was on any cutting tool.

OK ... these both make absolute sense ... maybe I should look at something powered that I could use for other things as well.

This isn't a criticism at all in case anybody takes it the wrong was but instead is me trying to learn but wouldn't all of these create heat which then softens the metal / tempering so it's not so strong in the future??? Certainly something power driven that doesn't weaken a blade for the future would probably be my preferred.

I already had a bastard file for getting rid of nicks / rough edges and recently bought a Lansky puck hoping to get a slightly better edge but I can't say I get on with it .... it may be that I haven't clamped down the head so I'm not getting enough pressure but I've been left pretty underwhelmed but that may be down to my technique. A while back I bought a decent Whetstone for my kitchen knives and I've never had them so sharp, I'm tempted just to buy another cheaper Whetsone (wouldn't use and expensive'ish kitchen knife one for axes) but thought I'd see what others use / prefer before I did. Alternatives I'm looking at .... some cheapish diamond stones as an axe doesn't need quite the refined edge a kitchen knife does and they tend to cut / get the job done quicker. Have never tried one but have seen loads of great reviews of the Fallkniven sharpeners for knives so was looking at the Fallkniven DC4 for axes. If you google best axe sharpeners the Work Sharp cpmes up repeatedly Lastly the one that's possibly the simplest to use the Fiskars XSharp although I've always been quite hesitant about the "pull through" type sharpeners as they eat metal ... although this claims as it's ceramic rather than metal rollers it doesn't. Be good to hear what others get on with although I think I'm awful tempted with just getting a Whetstone as they've worked so well for me with knives.