Peter 1955

Ooh no, Mr Dempsey, no. Merely someone who can't understand why we're all telling him to spend thousands of pounds on Professional gear, or get the professionals in. That's because he hasn't yet been there, done that, and got the T- Shirt, like we all have. Someone in another sphere once asked me how I knew all the things NOT to do? That would be Experience.

Right Jimmy, first of all, put out a request on Facebook or use Google. You are looking for lads who advertise " Garden Clearance". Try to pick a reputable one, that won't tip the resultant waste three streets away as they leave. Let me tell you a story about machinery, and a man with a lot to learn. Once upon a time, I was made redundant, and having set aside a sum of money for the purpose, I went to a reputable Stihl dealer to buy a Kombi unit. Negotiations went well, until the salesman asked me what I intended to do with the machine. " Why, earn money of course "says I. Salesman immediately refuses to sell me the machine. Informs me that despite bearing the legend of a Professional brand, this is the Domestic model, and not designed for me to beat the living daylights out of it in a concerted fashion. I will thus break it quickly, and come back and yell at him for selling me something unfit for purpose. He then sold me the Pro model, for £100 more, but he was totally and absolutely right. Thus began a relationship with that dealer still going today. Hawksmoor, Titan and other brands sold by Screwfix, Toolstation, B&Q and the rest are one of two things. 1) A lottery. A good one will last far longer than it has a right to do, and repay you well. I had a £20 9" angle grinder which endured years of abuse until I got a Stihlsaw. A bad one will refuse to start out of the box/second time you use it. The reviews on the sites will reflect this. 2) Disposable. Bought for one off jobs which you will never do again, and as long as it last long enough to finish the task, you've saved hundreds of pounds over hiring a professional, or buying an expensive piece of kit. Tears come to my eyes when I realise that one of my Kombi tools has cost me a thousand, yes a thousand pounds. Love it to bits though. ( And for those who haven't done the sums yet, in round numbers, just short of £500 for the big battery Kombi, £350 for the battery in it, and £150 for the bit you then screwed into it ). Believe me, if I could get away with £150 from Toolstation, I would do. Draw your own conclusions.

As others have said, you're best forgetting the little battery machine for this job. The Hawksmoor is the type of machine you need, but if it could be regarded as " disposable". If it managed this one job, that would be a result. Again, as already mentioned on here, the blade has to be a mulching blade, of the style of this one and vitally important above all, is to use an up and down motion, not side to side. That will result in the material being pulverised. If you go side to side, it will simply cut it in long and hard to handle lengths. In all honesty, for the money you'd spend on suitable gear, it should be more cost effective to get someone in with the correct gear, and the required knowledge. Also, it's the most mind numbingly boring job I know of.

Obviously I haven't handled the Makita, but from what I can see, the specs are virtually identical to the MSA 300. That might make it attractive to folk like my son, who is on the 40v Makita platform for power tools.

Is this the point at which I tell him he needs a 251, and I just happen to have a lovingly cared for immaculate example, one careful owner? 🤔 If your pockets are deep enough, you can't go wrong with a 261, cracking saw. List price of that is within £10 of a 391, and I know which one I'd rather have.

Said it before, I will doubtless say it again. " I disagree totally with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it". If an admin shuts something down, they're a censor. If they don't, they're not doing their job. Damned if you do.............................................

Dayton Albatross. My brother got that Villiers engine from said scooter, and nearly got it fitted into something I forget what. Mine had elements of a 14/4, but it didn't start life as that. It was somewhat of a Frankenstein, I seem to remember.

Good luck on that with my first bike. A BSA Bantam, of indeterminate parentage. My, but it was definitely “ entry level “ motorcycling. 😆

Agreed. I must say that for a forum I respect, and use as an information gathering utility, I regard the antics of many folks on the subjects not dealing with timber related issues as very disappointing indeed. I don’t have any problem with banter ( which is often very amusing) but name calling and insults really lower the tone. I’m by no means a snowflake, but I have standards. As a moderator on an unrelated forum, I appreciate the fine line trodden by those folks trying to keep us all in check.

I don't really have an answer as to how to find the fault, but I may have a solution. Why not simply buy a £10 battery isolator switch, and cut all possibility of current leakage when you're not using it? Simple but effective.

" When you make something idiot proof, they build a better class of idiot "

If you're not going to mulch it, then to me, the only way forward is a trailer to get it home in bundles, and a proper sawbench to log it. Been there.................

Thanks for all the thoughts chaps, much appreciated. Seems that hire companies vary in what they expect a hirer to do before returning an item. Let's have a go at replying to all without quotes: Mick: True, but are their charges fair was the question. Joe: A similar point of view to me. MesterH, NJA: It looks awfully like a generic safety cut out fitted to all manner of equipment,and I'd expect them to have a boxful in the workshop. Hire insurance would obviously be an idea, but it was never offered, or mentioned. David: Agreed, but I wasn't notified of any terms on hiring. Yes, my mistake, but I'm a trusting little soul. Doobin,Oldfeller: : Agreed. Thanks again chaps, not the end of the world, but safe to say I/we won't be dealing with them in the future.

I felled some regrowth thorns for a customer, and burning them onsite wasn't possible. They were in a paddock belonging to someone else, I'd felled them from the dyke bank. Having decided that removing them with a trailer was going to take a long time, and be very unpleasant, so client and I decided to hire a chipper. At my suggestion, one was hired from a local company who he had an account with, due to them having taken over the clients from a company who were no longer trading. We got a Timberwolf 190 with a diesel engine, and it performed far better than the Greenmech Quadchip 160 we had used on a job for another client. So far, so good. Only problem was, when feeding it, a branch whipped round, and knocked the emergency stop button off the intake hopper. When I returned it, I told them immediately, and was told " oh that's no problem at all". Customer rang me today, and isn't happy. He's had a repair bill. £3.50 for the oil the engine used, ( in less than four hours ) £3 for a cartridge of grease to regrease the machine. Now the dubious bits- £100 for the stop switch, and £90 labour. Customer now faces a £200 bill on top of the hire charge, and is not a happy bunny. I am not flavour of the month either, as you might guess. Have we been turned over, or is it par for the course? No contract was shown before hiring. The company is a big agricultural dealer, but the hire side is growing so fast that it appears to be run by a sort of " arms length " company. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Absolutely. " I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death, your right to say it".

There are people on here with way more knowledge than me about such matters, but from those pictures, I would have been firing up a saw immediately. They're some of the ugliest specimens I have seen, and at that size, I wouldn't have any qualms about removing them. When I worked for a builder friend, the building control officer in one area was absolutely petrified of Leylandii. If he saw one anywhere near, the footings had to be bigger/deeper. Once upon a time, a neighbour rang and asked me to fell the oak tree near his mother's house, as it had been deemed responsible for cracking/subsidence. I refused, and told him that the oak tree wasn't the culprit. He replied that he knew it was the big Willow, I knew it was the willow, but the insurance man said it was the oak, and it needed to be felled for the payout.

Understandable. In another life, I've met people whose real names meant nothing to me, but once I matched up their Forum name to them, I knew all about them.

My nephew's garage was done, and before he replaced the kit, he thought that the insurance cover he had was way over the top. When he started replacing kit, and he realised that like most of us, he'd often bought kit when it was on special offer, he basically hit the limit of the insurance quite quickly.

What do I hope to gain? Peace of mind, and long bar life. So far, so good. Re unit cost, I know that bulk buying saves money, but while I certainly use more than a couple of litres a year, I don't use so much that saving money on chain oil is vitally important, especially if: it leads me to have issues with oiling, or incur repair/early replacement costs. Like I said, if it ain't broke...........

OK, lighting blue touchpaper and retiring: I went into a local branch of my regular suppliers, and asked for 5l of Synth plus. They only had Forest Plus in 5l. Was I right to walk out without purchasing any? It's not urgent, I just happened to be passing. I subscribe to the doctrine of " if it ain't broke, don't fix it ", and Synth Plus has worked well for me. Sorry for re-igniting the debate.

Don't forget that you need a licence to be a waste carrier. 😉 Luckily, I only bring home valuable fuel for my logburner. Must go, the Gloucester Old Spots are coming in to land and refuel. 😂

Usually legs, I reckon ( I have no figures to back this up of course ) or in extreme cases, throats. Unless you're using a top handle ( in which case you're either a trained professional, or have a cavalier attitude to safety ) you can't cut your fingers, because they're on the saw handles. Anything at al which can be operated single handed increases the risk immensely.

So is the Stihl battery one, I just love it to bits. There's still a place for the petrol ones, but I always reach for the battery one first.

It's also an option for branches with the blade I indicated. A couple of folk have been grateful for that suggestion. I've just cleared what felt like half a mile of eight year old mainly volunteer thorn regrowth from a dyke bank with that outfit. I did use it with the blade in the air at times, and not on the floor. Don't know if that breaks safety guidelines. Re damage, that blade, while not indestructible, is very resistant to damage, and basically only needs a round file to give it a quick sharpen. I've never had problems with wire, as it cuts straight through every one I've ever met. Re Kombi tools, you are undoubtedly correct that a dedicated machine will be better, but will also be far costlier, and my pockets are shallow. To press, I've never damaged a drive system on one, except the bevel gears on a hedgecutter.

Alternatively, you can do it the easy way, with this blade on a Kombi tool. Faster than any saw on branches less than 75mm diameter, and doesn't have a chain flying off on fluffy bits.