MisterBoy

Sorry if this is the wrong place, i couldn't seea sub forum for website issues (?) I use Tapatalk quite a bit but for some reason everyone I come here, I have to log back in through the app even if I was here a couple of hours back. Every other forum seems to retain my login. Anyone know if this is a setting I could change, or something arbtalk is controlling and that's just the way it is? Ta

Ah, I see. Good to understand the principle behind it... Thanks!

It was really only the "resin eating" thing that got me thinking... if people who use their tools a lot don't find resin to be an issue I'll go the WD-40 route too, I guess. I have used compressed air to clean off blades first before but I'm not sure it achieves much

Bar oil because it's particularly good, or simply because you always have it with you and you don't want to carry another bottle?

Stihl do this which they recommend for their hedge trimmers in particular, but do you pros use it or anything else for that matter? It doesn't seem the cheapest however I have no idea how long a bottle lasts. They tout the resin-dissolving feature in particular but is the Stihl one anything special over regular isopropyl or whatever - how do you guys look after your trimmers? Resin solvent WWW.STIHL.CO.UK Resin solvent

Thanks to all those who offered advice by the way.

Not got it yet but looking forward to it. Good tools are so much better!

Tell me about it. But my local dealer was as cheap as anywhere online and I figure every time I use it, that's money I'm not paying one of you guys Going for pro kit it's an investment I expect to last a long time... Actually what is the Stihl warranty deal? Do I need to register my kit online somewhere?

Just in case anyone cared I went for Stihl: HTA 85 HLA 85 AP200 AL300 charger

One thing I was really impressed with the Stihl battery kit was the backpack batteries. I doubt if ever need one but are batteries and tools and harnesses all cross compatible?

Although, how much does something like that cost? Close to a grand? I'm still interested, if my Stihl dealer can't match an online supplier, what are the pros and cons? I assume a dealer can assemble everything, etc?

Anyway I looked into the kombi system and while it looks nice, I don't think it's the best fit for me. I'd have to get two extension poles to match the HLA/HLT 85 which isn't recommended, I reckon I'd be best with proper dedicated kit that should last. I saw reviews saying even 6.5Kg was tiring for operators, so is that a clear-cut "Echo is too heavy" at double this? One or two people did point out that a decent hedge trimmer is fundamentally heavy and putting it 3m up a pole is just hard work, so maybe that's the issue more than the overall weight. I'm just a bit nervous that the HTA 85 trimmer is 3.3m, I assume that includes the length of the trimmer as well, and this isn't that high. Whereas the Echo extends to I think 3.7m before you add the trimmer. One other question, sorry... would you guys particularly recommend buying kit like this from your local dealer, or just wherever you can? My Stihl dealer is a good 30min drive away and I work, they like to say I'd get better service for kit I bought from them in case of a problem but is that just a sales tactic?

Looking on the Stihl site, the battery 'engine' is presented as just another kombi-engine option, there are a whole bunch but only one battery. So on that basis it makes a lot of sense to retain compatibility, someone with £2k of kit isn't going to ditch it all for battery but they might upgrade the engine for £400. And of course it costs Stihl a fortune to re-tool and design everything again.

Those things are pretty amazing. Only discovered then last year when an old fashioned gardener (all hand tools) showed me

I wonder if that's the same with the dedicated pole saws? It would make sense a multi system has the motor in the base unit but you'd get greater efficiency without a shaft. That would explain the mistake of the using the pro tools?