Peter 1955
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Everything posted by Peter 1955
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The difference between the 251 and the 261 is night and day. Sadly, the price differential reflects this, and blows his budget out of the water. If you were to handle both, you might reassess the budget. A few years ago, I bought a 251. Two months ago, I bought a 261. 'nuff said. As much as I'm a battery fan, you need multiple batteries to get reasonable run times, and by the time you've bought those, the budget's shot to pieces. Also I wouldn't really like to cut 6" plus stems constantly with my Makita. It's a lopping saw, not a felling and logging one. I believe the Stihl with the really big batteries are said to be good, but some folk on here don't rate them, having used them.
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Mine is littered with suffixes. AVSEQ! Go faster stripes as well. 😂 We used to get offcuts from a timber yard, and discussed the appeal of the Magnum offering, same weight, more power. They told us that one of the lads who worked there decided he must have that extra power, so got the Magnum. Apparently, it was a pile of poo. Interestingly, if you read the handbook for the 038, it told you to run so many tanks of fuel through it, then take it back to be retuned for more power. I did just this, and the mechanic told me that he was perfectly happy to do so, but if he didn't touch it at all, it would last forever. Following his excellent advice, so far it has done.
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Which is why I didn't replace my 038 with a 391. Both are/were Farm saws though, and are ( allegedly ) equivalent. From what I was told here, and what I have seen myself, the 391 has been seriously downgraded compared to older Farm saws, much like other equipment from other manufacturers. My 038 is still cutting just fine at over 35 years old I believe, doesn't owe me much.
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As the two chaps above me have said, the 391 ( if in good condition ) will do what you want. I believe it's roughly equivalent to the trusty 038 I recently pensioned off. I agree that the 261 will probably do everything a 391 would, will be far nicer to use, and will handle absolutely anything you throw at it. It's 3 Kw against 3.3, but a full kilo lighter. I know it's a strain on the wallet, but it might be cheaper in the long run.
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New oaks & briars- advice needed
Peter 1955 replied to Mr. Ed's topic in Forestry and Woodland management
As someone often tasked with trimming similar areas to allow saplings to become mighty oaks and the like, I can't stress enough the usefulness of tree guards, and tall marking sticks. Saves a lot of the trees from death by whatever weapon I'm using. Grazon or Glyphosate make life a lot easier too, although I appreciate they're not everyone's choice. I get called in so many times when people plant trees or hedges and expect them to outgrow competition from grass, briar, ferns and all manner of unwelcome vegetation. -
I always was proud of my MF 50E with a toe tip bucket for loading grain into bulkers. Woefully short reach, and absymal cab layout, but I could beat telehandlers, as the grain was tipped exactly where I placed the pivot, rather than telehandlers starting at one side, and spreading it as the bucket edge receded. I just used to cycle the bucket as fast as I could, and go back for another bucket. Since I left, that bucket has been enlarged, and fitted to the telehandlers that replaced my little fergie. In my exceedingly humble opinion, a toe tip bucket is the way forward, whatever loader is under it. .
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I have a towed grass collector that goes behind the Husqvarna rider sometimes. I was asked to pick up the grass from a large, recently cut lawn no more than a mile from me, simple job. Oh no. Couldn't pick it up at all, ended up engaging the mower deck to try to loosen the stuff, with some degree of success, nightmare job. We eventually found out by talking to neighbours that the night before, a band of rain had passed over. At my house, you wouldn't even have put a coat on, it was that light. Halfway between the two, it was seriously heavy. At the job site it had been monsoon like, absolutely plastering the cut grass to the floor!
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That's what came on my 261 and my 400, and I have to say they balance beautifully. As to wear/lifespan, I have no idea yet, but as I don't use them all day every day, I don't foresee a problem.
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A neighbouring farm fitted duals on a tractor in much the same way. Don't know if he had problems with it. Looking at that, I wonder if equivalent flotation type tyres might have worked well? The Agribuggys I used to drive were on Land Rover running gear, with tyres about a foot wide. I really miss my old LDV Convoys, dual rear wheel drive beats the snot out of a front wheel drive Transit, I can tell you!
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How long's a piece of string? Or, how long to trim hedge?
Peter 1955 replied to sloth's topic in General chat
The Stihl Kombi is my weapon of choice for this type of job. Either the pole pruner with a longer bar ( a 16" one from my old 023 ) or this blade on the brushcutter for the sides. Wouldn't be the first, or the last time I'd underestimated the amount of waste on a job. -
Now that really is interesting. As I said, in that video, the battery saw looked very impressive. I had a couple of hours felling some multi stemmed Leylandii yesterday, and I have to say, I'm absolutely blown away with the 261. Now I've only got a 14" bar on it, which is probably too short to tax it unduly, but it's perfect for what I want it to do. I buried that bar, and couldn't realistically make it struggle. As others have said, once you buy into any battery system, you're effectively tied to that make/voltage. I'm Makita in the day job, and I'm slightly peeved that they haven't made the new 40v stuff backwards compatible with the 18v ( even though some of the batteries have identical numbers of cells inside, just wired differently ). That's why I have a battery Makita chainsaw, and for trimming/pruning/ of anything under around 4", it's perfect.
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I just watched a video last night comparing it to my new favourite saw, my MS 261. Not saying it blew the petrol saw away, but in the tests shown, it outperformed it. Now as to battery life and cost, I suspect that the fact that I could never afford or justify it, makes me confident that I made the only possible choice. From the video though, it's a beast.
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Here in East Yorkshire, in the severe frosts of a few years ago, every Eucalyptus I knew of, bar one in a very sheltered location, turned their toes up. As to other reasons for its demise, I can't offer any help.
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A few years ago, I got a 251 to replace a twenty year old 023, which had been my go to saw. I thought it would be a big step up, similar weight, and power upgrade. Boy, was I wrong! It actually seemed to have less power, and wasn't as nice to use. Getting a 400 caused me to realise that a 261 was the saw I should have bought, I've done very little with it, but love it already.
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Re the 36v Makita saws, they're not logging saws, and will eat 6amp batteries when used this way. As limbing saws, I've cleared big fallen branches on one pair of half charged batteries, just cutting them into manageable lumps. Mine is invaluable for this kind of thing, and for garden type tree pruning. The bare saw isn't overly expensive, just get the shortest bar you can get away with.
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When I broke mine, I was told that it was a once in a blue moon occurrence, and only me and a bloke in the highlands of Scotland had managed to break one. I think I was perhaps misled. I too used the jubilee clip method as a temporary repair, it's surprisingly effective. There's a definite design weakness.
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Although I have done very little with it so far, just got a 261 and already fallen in love with it. 14" bar on mine, as I have just got my other true love a 400 for bigger jobs. I suspect that once you factor in batteries and chargers, the cost differential will be minimal.
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After taking notice of some very good advice on here, I went for a 400 to replace my trusty 038. It's just an awesome piece of kit, very responsive, and the best description I can say is it's " eager". I love it.
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Indeed it does look awful, and what a price! Although the Milwaukee is undoubtedly a better and more useful design, the last thing I want to do is introduce another battery platform, considering that every battery tool I currently have fits every battery I currently have. Hence the appeal of the Ebay Specials at £50.
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And yet the cheapest Makita bare riveter is over £500! Although I'm all Makita, it actually seems to be more sensible to buy a Milwaukee riveter with two batteries and a charger for just over £200 than a bare Makita! ( And the Milwaukee is more compact for tight spaces). The tight git in me wonders if a £50 Ebay special to accept Makita batteries is the best option of all?
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That fits in with my experience. I went from 1.1 to 1.3 and the difference for my job was night and day.
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This was quite a while ago. I was under the impression that the original chain was 1/4". The 3/8" I fitted was certainly much more robust, and stayed in place far better. This was for absolutely attacking thorn hedges, and lowering them savagely. Ah. I think I've spotted the confusion, and it's probably my fault, oops. Mine is the Kombi attachment, and was probably a lighter rig than the dedicated pruners.
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Now I'm not up on the numbers like other people are, but I used my pole pruner for trimming hawthorn hedges with its original bar and chain. It was prone to throwing the chain off. I swapped bar and chain for a 16" one for my 023, knowing that if it was not a success, I could use it on that. It's still on the pruner, and it has been a huge improvement with regards to staying put. The second suggestion from Jack is that profile I believe.
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That rings a bell. I remember noticing that the ones I saw on roadworks gangs had fixed brackets, not three point hitch. They used to be very popular with them at one time. I suspect you could replace the missing linkage once the brackets are off, but bear in mind you'll need a counterweight to compensate for the compressor removal. Awful cab and transmission controls for use with the loader at max height and toe tip bucket though.
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We used to have a 50E where I worked, if I remember the letters correctly. It came with a 3 point hitch, and an empty weight box on the back. Filled it with concrete, and ballasted the tyres, I think. It was a 4WD, shuttle gearbox ( pile of crap compared to the 50B one, with pedals for direction ) and we added third function for toe tip bucket. My but I loaded some grain with that old girl.
