Peter 1955

It's rare that I disagree with the more eminent folk on here, but I disagree with your disdain for the 261, Sir. It's a little powerhouse, light as a feather ( relatively ) and sooo close to the 400 in performance that I sometimes wonder if I should have bought a 462 or 500 instead. You are however absolutely correct about the 400, it is awesome.

I'm sorry, but I just can't see the point of the 241. The 261 is only 10% heavier, for a 25% power increase. Of course, if you were looking for a lovingly cared for 251, I'd have exactly what you needed. 😂

Once helped to replace universal joints in a huge sugar beet harvester drive wheel. When we put it back together, we could barely turn it by hand, I was worried. Fortunately, one of us was a very experienced agricultural fitter, who performed exactly the procedure described, and it then spun like a dream. I'd never seen this before, I was very impressed.

You know folks, I joined this forum to learn from experts, and I fully expected some jovial good natured banter between seasoned professionals. Par for the course, and very amusing at times. However, I should have remembered that this is still the internet, and filters are required to sort the wheat from the chaff. 😟

Indeed yes, but perhaps very different horsepower. The 261 is really really lively and rapid, but I'd say the 038 had more " grunt ". We had two tractors at work years ago, different models, but seemingly almost the same. Different fuel systems, one was eager and lively, great on trailers, but no guts at all. The other would just lug and lug.

Sods Law decrees that on two of the best days for work this week, I have a funeral and a social engagement booked last winter. Yesterday, when I had got geared up to finish a job so I can invoice for it, guess what? Heavy rain, just for a change. Why didn't I get a nice office job? 🤔 ( Rhetorical question, by the way. On Monday, felling small nuisance trees, it was a pleasure to be outside.

Vaguely related to this thread, I've just got a new chain for my MS 261, as I damaged a drive link or two when it came off a day or two ago. I run a 14" bar on it, basically it's the one for the MSA 300 and while looking, I found out that it's a full chisel. ( Apparently ). Seems odd to me, I hope I can just sharpen it normally as I would a semi chisel, normal round files. Any thoughts or advice on this gratefully received as always.

Personally, I would hack it off with an angle grinder, and replace it with something like this which would allow you to fit it without first disassembling it.

Years ago when we were laying a patio/path round a farm cottage, the farm hand was cutting the low garden hedges. He thought it was silly that he could cut the three sides that were classified as Garden hedges, but he had to wait September to cut the one classified as a field hedge. We agreed.

Whatever you do then, don't pick up a 400! 😂 Seriously, on paper, the 441 has the edge on power, and can run a bigger bar.

251 here. Been a disappointment from the moment I started it up. 😟 I want another Hedge trimmer, Kombi power unit, and an Auger, I know whereof you speak. Ooh, that's a mighty close run thing. 441 or 400? Make the choice easier, get a 500. 😂 😂

I think they provide seatbelts nowadays, you don't have to take your own. 🤔

As I said, I don't climb, so that's educating me. I'd never considered that, thanks, and thanks to Joe earlier. Perhaps I aren't as far out of line as I thought. Thanks.

Now we're getting somewhere. Surely every saw has an optimum bar for comfort, and I don't expect that to be the biggest one you can physically bolt on it.

Now you see, that's the sort of answer to show me what I may be missing. I take that on board, as I don't climb. However, as a general rule, trees and limbs get bigger as you get lower. Don't you therefore start with a small saw, short bar at the top, go up a size part way down, and break out the big guns near the bottom? My work is all on the floor, so I want the handiest saw I can get for the main part of my work. I'll go bigger only when the job dictates. Edit: You said " bar length within reason". Does that mean not exceeding manufacturers recommendations? This is what I'm trying to get my head round.

Far be it from me to point out that I have one Kombi shaft with two different sizes of line available, one with guard for metal shredder knife and the like, and one with no guard with the blade badged by some as chisel tooth ( the one that looks like a chainsaw tooth ) all swapped merely by turning the locking shaft knob on the power unity. That could be construed as being a smug git, so I definitely won't do that. Seriously, for years, I've looked at buying a big strimmer/clearing saw, but having gone down the Kombi route years ago, there's no way I can justify that. I can't even justify the short reach HL 92K hedgecutter, even though I desperately need one. The miserable swines at Stihl purposely made it so that I can't build one out of retired machines, as the drive shafts are all differing lengths and fittings, grr!

When I see Youtube videos, particularly of our American cousins, they all seem to have bars about four feet long on 30cc saws. 🤔 ( Slight exaggeration, I know, but you get the idea ). On here recently, I've recently seen people recommending 20" bars on an MS 261 for instance. To me, for efficient use, that's 400 territory. I always start with the smallest bar specified for the saw as the default, and the biggest for when you need it. The small bar makes it nice to use. My 251 had a 13" bar on it, and I always felt that was too big for the cursed thing. The 261 has a 14", which it laughs at, but 20"? My 400 with a 20" bar on is a vastly different animal to when it has a 16" bar on. Is it just me? Am I ridiculously heavy handed? Are people fitting razor sharp chains that I don't know about? I'm genuinely interested to hear the views of some of the experts on here.

I'm really not up on the theory/details, all I can say is that the fact that the 4-mix engines run on exactly the same fuel as I put in my chainsaws means no risk of mis-fuelling. For me the big plus is that the 4-mix are very economical, and in my humble opinion, powerful. Against, the valve gear requires regular maintenance, to ensure reliable operation. I know many people said they preferred the power delivery from the 2 strokes, and I told my dealer that I felt the 4-mix engines didn't seem to run at as high revs, which made the strimmer lines less efficient. I once used a big Husky 2 stroke strimmer, which was woefully underpowered, and had a raging thirst, so I'm in no hurry to change from my 4-mix ones. Other people's views may differ. Edit: My son's views differ. He gave me his old 2 stroke Kombi, he's gone battery powered. 😂

Didn't last a morning here. 😟Started lashing it down just when I'd considered putting the mower in the van and cutting some grass.

The Kombi systems were some of the first to go 4-mix, I believe. My dealer was initially sceptical, when I enquired about them, but now they're commonplace, and I'm more than happy with mine.

As William says, the great beauty of battery/mains saws is the immediate motor stop when the trigger is released, yet it's always ready to cut instantly. Also, the low noise. For me, the battery saw is only to make them small enough to carry to the mains one in the yard. It cuts 12" without batting an eyelid, and keeps going all day.

Define sensible, and define boot! 😉 The boot on my Transit would need more than one set of batteries.😂 My Makita is over two years old, and I'd say it's had more than light use. Still going well.

I've filled a 12ft Ifor trailer on one set of batteries before now. Very large willow branches fallen into a crop, cut into manageable lengths. I would never try to cut anything over a couple of inches diameter into logs with it, that's what the mains one at home is for. Bigger diameters and constant cutting kills batteries. I haven't used the 18v model, so can't comment on how much lighter/easier that is, but I find the 36v one to be a joy to use for trimming.

Posted @withregram • @chain_wood 😆💯👍@perry_trees Unfortunately we’ve... WWW.FACEBOOK.COM Posted @withregram • @chain_wood 😆💯👍@perry_trees Unfortunately we’ve had to part ways with Tarquin. (He’s sacked) It seems he lied on the job application. #stihl #fail... 😂

Snap. Mine's a little bit like Trigger's broom. New engine and new deck. Don't forget the strimmer too, for fiddly bits.