Peter 1955

The Makita ( 36v) saws are very good, but they're not Pro saws. Hobby/occasional. Can eat batteries for fun if you're logging, they're more for making stuff manageable.

Don't panic Mr Mainwaring! Round here ( twenty miles from Drax ) all the farms are growing Miscanthus to meet the demand for fuel, so we're alright there. Must go now, the Gloucester Old Spots are coming in to land, and they'll need refuelling. 😂

The difference in impact energy between SDS and SDS Max is considerable. So is the weight. Screwfix kit is hard to come a cropper with as their returns policy is normally excellent. A machine like this is a bridge between the standard drill ( which can be found wanting on heavier jobs ) and the three foot tall breakers. I couldn't manage without at least one of each.

Sometimes a TPO can be quick. When I worked on a farm, we had someone cutting a dyke with a vee bucket. In a 150 acre field, along the tree line. Friday afternoon, and there were a few branches in his way. I removed them with my saw, no problem, half an hour job. Monday morning, and the dyke had to be dug far enough away from the trees to avoid branches, as there was now a TPO on them, so I was told. This was over twenty years ago, mind.

With a 16" bar on the 400, you will pick it up before the 461 most days. 😉 You may also smile a lot, when using it. I do. Even with a 20" bar on, it's a handy saw. I don't regret retiring the 038 one tiny little bit. 😂

If I'm absolutely honest, either my 261 is too big, or the 400 is too small. 😉 However, even though I considered a 462 when I got the 400, it's more saw than I need, or can justify. ( I did give it very serious consideration though ). There are very few right or wrong answers in this game, but a lot of valid opinions.

If I knew that Mr Keen but Green lived close to God's County, I might easily have typed that. 😂 I like your style, Sir.

On paper, I'd say you're absolutely correct, only 2" difference in max/min bar sizes, and very little weight difference. The big difference is power, and it's a lot. I'm happy with that pairing, it suits me for what I do, but I believe you're correct that if we start with a 261, then a 461 is a natural partner. Similarly, the case for a 400 with a 661 is logical.

I'd agree totally. I "upgraded" an ancient 023 to a 251 years ago. I never liked it, slow to warm up, lacking in power. I've put up with it till last year, when I bit the bullet and got a 261. The reason why I got the 261, even though the 251 seems to have eventually bedded in, or I've got used to it? On the advice of folk on here who know these things, I bought a 400 to replace an even older 038. After using that, I had to have the 261. They're both a joy to use, I reckon either would suit you, but if you are rarely going to need a 20" bar, the 261 would be my choice. The one thing I would say is be very careful about buying a used chainsaw privately. I'd only do that from a dealer.

I have no idea at all about a 461, but I agree about the 400 with a 20" light bar. It makes the 038 it replaced seem vastly underpowered and hugely overweight. As for the 261, mine thinks it's a 400. 😄 What a saw.

Don't get me started on that one! Years ago, I saw a heap of Makita battery kit in B&Q, at unbelievable prices. I'd have had my trolley filled so full that I'd have struggled to push it, had I not seen the disclaimer in tiny writing " not compatible with Makstar equipment ". You and me ( and probably many others ) both.

As someone whose son is earning a living by going round the country teaching people how to safely and competently use all manner of equipment, I applaud the need for training and certification. As a crotchety Old Git who has been waving a chainsaw about for forty odd years, and has operated lots of other equipment which could be life threatening to himself and others with only a driving licence, shotgun certificate and firearms licence as evidence of his skill and qualification.......................................................................................... 🤐 You can't square this circle. My son was recently instructing at a venue who seemed to need nothing more than a simple maintenance course on the strimmers/mowers they were using, but he felt they actually needed a far more in depth course. Compare and contrast with a friend who ran a haulage yard. Only one member of staff had a forklift certificate to say he was competent to use it, the rest were on what we might call " grandfather rights ". Three guesses who my friend reckoned would be the most likely to seriously harm someone. When I left agriculture, I had " grandfather rights " on huge self propelled sprayers, capable of covering many hundreds of acres a day, but I couldn't legally use a knapsack sprayer to put Glyphosate on a garden. Now that my rights have lapsed, I'm no longer qualified to do the job I did for thirty years. Sorry not to be able to give advice on how to solve the problem outlined originally, it's just that I believe it's actually the tip of an iceberg really.

My Father's car insurance just renewed with the same percentage increase as you quoted. I used Go Confuse a Meerkat with a Wombat as we had before, and guess what? Damn good quote! Whereas before, we had cut his premium and increased his cover by using them, we couldn't improve on the renewal quote from RAC. Wife's is due in a fortnight. Same percentage. Seems 50% is an across the board rise in policies. Agree with recommending NFU where possible, service is just better than other companies. Dealing with my Father's home insurers after a flood was a nightmare.

I'll just go and sit quietly in the corner, then eh? 🤐 I remember helping a very experienced mechanic on a 5000 with a water leak. Head off, pistons out, fill it up with warm water, and watch the fountain of water go into number 3 cylinder. Fortunately, a new block cured it. Really annoying when the amount of work done on yours didn't cure the problem.

If I remember right, they were wet liners, with seals at the bottom. Often a cause of fluids mixing.

No claims, no changes. He is in his mid/late eighties, and as I said, the comparison site basically found prices starting at that figure, and rising. Couple of years ago, we had a choice of a dozen lower than his renewal quote. My wife is a named driver on his policy, I'd hope that helps a bit.

Just renewed my Father's car insurance. Renewal quote with RAC went from £600 to £1,000. We've always got his from comparison sites, and have been known to save serious money this way. Best quote obtained? £950. Sticking with RAC.

“Murder was in fact a fairly uncommon event in Ankh-Morpork, but there were a lot of suicides. Walking in the night-time alleyways of The Shades was suicide. Asking for a short in a dwarf bar was suicide. Saying 'Got rocks in your head?' to a troll was suicide. You could commit suicide very easily, if you weren't careful.”

We once put up posts and 6ft gravel boards for a client to fit his own deluxe panels later. Turns out the deluxe panels were 1.8m wide, not 6ft! Client had to fit a piece of roof lath at each end of each panel.

I'd agree about the 261, it's a manageable saw, but it thinks it's a 400. I have a 251, and a bit of trimming for the chipper is about its limit. That's why I now have a 261, should never have bought the 251, which replaced a 25 year old 023. It was supposed to be an upgrade, but it certainly wasn't. I have an ear to ear grin when using the 400. Re your remark about weight, my 400 replaced an 038, which is definitely not light.

Indeed. We had a customer, nice bloke to work for, lovely fella. We went to trim some shrubbery for him, and remove some dead stumps. Long story short, seems he didn't get on with most of his neighbours for whatever reason. The last part of the job was to trim some ivy and crap from his side that was invading on one neighbours garden. It wasn't easy to do, hanging upside down from his garden shed roof! As we were leaving, we noticed signs of life next door, so politely knocked on the door, explained why, and said that we would like access from her side, it would benefit her immensely, and we could do the job easily, and be gone in minutes. Her reply? Verbatim: " I wouldn't p**s on him if he were on fire". We took that as a refusal, and went home. 😉

My understanding is that it's the agitation of the chain that does it, not the pump. My son uses Synthplus as well, his boss prefers something else. As far as I'm concerned, it works in every saw I own, so " if it ain't broke, don't fix it". 😂

I have a 36v DUC makita, and have had no problems whatsoever with Synthplus. I'm led to believe that it thickens up with agitation. ( There's a word for that, I've seen someone use it on here ). It certainly pours much more nicely than the stuff we used to get years ago that seemed to be like glue!

I guess that too, though I've never used one. I think they may be more attractive to those who haven't lived with one, perhaps.

Thank you, much appreciated.