Paddy1000111

?*Desperately starts lubricating butterfly pinions*

I know what you mean about lemons. I have a Volvo that's cost thousands in repairs and his been nothing but a PITA!

Sounds like you've had a bad time... It's all personal experience at the end of the day. So far my MS261c-m hasn't given me any trouble in 3 years ownership. Updated the M-tronic system myself for £13 with a new fuel solenoid, filter etc etc. Say you have a 201T and the mtronic fails and there's an issue then a full kit from stihl is under £50 for a new flywheel, carb and ignition unit. Mtronic isn't the super brainbox that everyone made it out to be and it's worked well for me so far. I have a powerful saw that basically cares for itself. On the front of Stihl repairs I don't have any experience with it. I went in with my 200t and they fixed it FOC, never needed it outside of that. On the other hand I have repaired a Makita blower for someone that took over £70 of parts and I had to hunt around as parts availability was nil. I'm not dissing makita, it's horses for courses... I know what I like and where my loyalties lie from my experience. When I went to buy a Makita there was less support and it's not as easy getting parts. They just seemed like a compromise to me, not a cheapo saw but not the high spec I expect of a pro saw. Anyway, this guy wanted advice on what to get, I would go with the Makita

Well, then I live in ignorance. Like I said, apart from picking one up in the store, finding it plasticy and putting it back, I don't have any experience with them. I don't take which are the no.1 selling chainsaws into consideration personally. If you type in UK no.1 selling chainsaw they try and sell you a 1.3kw Einhell followed by a bosch plug in. Other websites suggest a P1PE, a no name 50cc chainsaw or a hyundai. Doesn't mean I'm going to buy a load of extension leads or my carb adjustment screwdriver set for those weird Chinese carbs before heading up a tree. I'm not saying Makita/Dolmar aren't any good at all. I'm sure they're fantastic saws. I'm just saying that if I'm buying something to make money from I'm going to buy a Stihl or Husky just because their pro range is tried and tested, they're well designed with there's loads of info online, massive parts availability, loads of tech support so I can just take it into a shop and have it fixed and a good resell value if I need it gone... When you compare a 6100 with a stihl Ms362 (same CC class, the makita being 2cc more) the MS362 is more powerful, Weighs less, it's quieter and it has considerably lower vibration levels (which matters if this is your career). I'm sure they're great saws but being the best selling in Germany doesn't make them the best on the market.

Hence why I've never been a Makita man. I'm sure they are great saws but they look a bit plasticy and the on/off switch, fuel caps etc all look and feel very home-owner. I'm also not a fan of the anti-theft green on a saw, that being said I have a complete range of makita LXT tools (including their battery chainsaw) and they're awesome. Like I said, I'm sure they're great saws but they don't give me "the fizz" that Stihl do...

Dcs6800i has a better suggestion to be honest. The Makita range aren't my forté

Or in a pinch, a 261cm with a 24" bar and full skip chain? Budget friendly and will do all the other fire wood you ask it to?

And using my high level photoshop skill.... Remove the red, thin the yellow?

This oak looks heavily weighted over the clients house from the photos... Can't you cut a good amount off and thin what's left? Leave it a few years and rinse and repeat? If you take some height off as it looks a lot taller on the right than the left and then remove 3 d's and thin out what's left then you're doing the best of both worlds? Keeps the council happy as you have left a visually balanced tree and you leave the customer with a lot more of an airy tree that not just lets more light in but is less likely to dump a branch in his garden?

Here comes the oil debate... ? Castor oil was always used for racing because it left a waxy deposit so when the engine was on rundown with the throttle closed during corners etc it was still protected. Only thing is that deposit left the engines very dirty which wasn't an issue for engines stripped all the time in karting and stuff. Chainsaws are either idle or flat out so don't need that run down protection. Anyway, back to the 661... I'm looking at buying one soon as I need a big saw hence I'm interested to see how the mtronic system update goes

Interesting, I borescoped my 261c-m last week and the bore was very clean after <50+ hours use!

A few people have mentioned Stihl Ultra. Without hi-jacking this thread into a OPE forum oil debate, are people having issues with it?

I really wish I deleted the base gasket on my 200t but now its up and running perfectly I don't want to ?? I'm going to install a threaded insert designed for thermoplastics. 6mm course thread on the outside, M4 in the centre then just use the M4 screw fittings. I don't want to install a bigger thread and go through the same garbage again!

Interesting with the difference with the hose. I installed the genuine buffers today and it feels a lot smoother. The non genuine mounts are almost like car tyre rubber, the Stihl mounts are far far softer. One annoying thing happened though. I had to take the fan cover off to do the bottom mount and when I put it back on again one of the course thread screws that goes into the fuel tank threaded out. I'm so careful with them too, I turn them counterclockwise and feel for the thread and then torque them down to the spec from the manual with a calibrated torque wrench. I'm going to drill the holes out in the tank and then install some threaded inserts and install some m4 screws to match the front so I can take the fan cover on and off as much as I want without issue.

This one has a valve on the end of the hose and in the gauge unit. I think the gauge is a mile off though. I'll get it hooked up to a compressor and see what it says!

I should have the oem buffers tomorrow. The company I use didn't have the genuine stuff in stock so I got a cheapo set to fill a gap a few weeks back. You know what the funny thing is, I thought I knew how to tune a carb... I don't have a EDT tool (I now have an EDT 9 on its way as LS Engineers have them for a reasonable price) so I was setting the idle too low. It sounds like the idle is fast to me now but I am used to bigger engines I suppose. The H jet wasn't far out at all, I was just playing it safe, it screams now whilst still 4 stroking at the "limit". I was also shy to have it screaming to adjust considering it was a new piston and cylinder. All of my issues were caused by me expecting to have a lower sounding idle. Hopefully with the EDT I have a reference and I can confirm what I think sounds right! I think the compression tester is a waste of time. I am going to jerry rig it up to my compressor and calibrate it on a gauge I know to be accurate to make sure it's reading right first and then try it on my 261 as a reference. I do wonder if the small stroke doesn't help with these bigger testers though.

Well, I went to the stealership today. I'm going to stop calling them that now because they were very helpful and had a tech tune it with an EDT for free. It was all me being useless... I had the LA set too low and subsequently the idle set too low so the saw didn't have enough air on idle meaning that although the screws were in factory position it wasn't getting enough air hence it was flooding, giving the change in rpm when it was at an angle. The guy upped the LA and idle speed to where it should be and set the L jet then set the H screw which was too rich because I'm a wimp and didn't want to run it too lean. It now also doesn't bog when cold and starts faster too. He did say that the saw vibrated more than he liked on the handle which reminded me that the only non-genuine part on the whole saw was the AV rubbers as there weren't any in stock when I was re-assembling. I have now ordered some genuine ones. Hopefully this helps anyone with similar problems to me and stumbles across this thread!

Sisal rope is a good shout. Cheap and wouldn't look tacky!

I thought about a career in politics. I was thinking having experience with having the same old issues and still not being able to identify or remedy them could put me in good stead ? That's one hell of a post bmp01! I can't say that it is 150psi for sure as I am only using a cheapo chinese compression tester that's not remotely reliable. All I know is that the crank bearings are new, the big end bearing has no play and the knuckle bearing is new. The cylinder and piston are a brand new pair from Stihl and the base gasket is also a new genuine one torqued down to 10Nm. Apart from deleting the base gasket and replacing it with something like hylomar I can't see how to improve the compression at all. The old carb was a C1Q-S61A and I replaced it with a C1Q-S126A again, genuine new one from Stihl. I've checked the spark and it's very healthy! Spudlike- Impulse line is connected properly I've tried opening H&L screws but it doesn't change. Just makes it run rich, smoke a lot, spit oil out the exhaust and bog a lot when the saw is held nose down. New fuel lines, filter and breather valve. Tested and checked, All okay. I didn't need to hone the cylinder, it was a new piston and cylinder pair from stihl coil flywheel gap set to .25mm as per manual I'm having some slight tuning issues too. I can't seem to get it to idle correctly, when hung nose down the rpm drops slightly, same when it's on it's side. I think I'm going in circles with tuning though. I set the idle and ran 2 tanks though it yesterday cutting cookies and running in. I fully buried the bar in some big bits and it cuts well. Just has some odd quirks. I'm thinking of going to the stealership today and asking them to tune it for me as I feel like I am being my own worst enemy. If they can't tune it then it's either carb or compression. Hopefully they will have a decent compression tester. I think as bmp01 has said, it's compression, but I don't understand why a new piston, cylinder, base gasket combo would be low on compression? The saw is basically as it would come out of the factory so why is it "off"?

Well, patience is a virtue. Checked today and scored them on ebay for £40. ?

So I rebuilt my 200T and I'm having an odd issue. I did a full rebuild using all genuine stihl parts. New piston, new carb (origional one had the hi jet issue where the one way valve lets air in so it always bogged on throttle), seals etc etc... The crankcase passes the pressure/vacuum tests in the service manual and compression is >150psi. When started for the first 4 seconds it bogs when the given any throttle, after it warms up it runs fine. So far I've tried a new spark plug just in case, I've tried giving it throttle with the L screw open 1.5 turns and closed to around 0.75 turns. same thing... Any ideas?

Depends what you're doing with it? If you're not in the saddle a lot then the treehogs are fine. Good quality and get the job done. They don't have a lot of storage or configurations and if you're in the harness a lot then I found the TH5000 to dig in on the legs and not be comfortable if you have to wait for anything or sit in the harness for anything more than a few minutes. I just got a Treemotion EVO and it's night and day, however, so is the price. Only thing you need to look at is getting one with hip d's as well as waist d's if you have to conform to the new double rope standards as the waist D's don't class as a tie in point unless you're on spikes. Also the TH5000 is sold under a load of different names. Here it's about £80 cheaper but minus one attachment ring which you could add two large DMM rings for £18 odd quid which will give you more room Tree Climbing Harness with Quick Release Buckles | TF-TH-30 | SafetyLiftinGear WWW.SAFETYLIFTINGEAR.COM Buy Tree Climbing Harness with Quick Release Buckles On SafetyLiftinGear From £116.22

As others said try before you buy! If you are getting in to tree surgery then definitely buy type C. I use SIP Canopy W-Air. I would look at those (I've seen female arborist on YouTube review them) and I would also look at Arbortecs range of trousers too as they have women's specific ones. You might find that most regular chainsaw trousers aren't that nice of a fit as they are more designed for men even though they are "unisex". Also try and do some odd leg manoeuvres when trying them. A pair of trousers feels complete ly different in the air than on the ground!

I don't get it? No-one's overly politically correct here. You're obviously just hurt that the person who owns the forest has money and you lost your job which has bought out a whole robin hood thing of "The rich are selfish assholes and should give everything for free". I take it you have asked the landowners permission and he said "Get off my land you peasant" like the Nottingham sherrif or something? I just don't get why you don't just ask his/their permission. Worst case they say no and then you can go in illegally and deal with the consequence as you obviously think the world owes you everything. Best case they say "Yea no worries" as most landowners wouldn't mind having someone in there for free, cleaning up. Just go to them, BE POLITE and say that you love the wood they have and you saw whilst walking past (or walking through if theirs a footpath) and you noticed there was a load of windfall logs and trees on the ground and you wondered if they would let you take any deadwood for your fire at home? They will probably appreciate the fact that you asked permission and respect their opinion and say yes. Either way, this whole "The world is against me and I'm going to do whatever I want anyway. You're just a bunch of entitled, overly PC greenist, middle income wankers" attitude doesn't really stand you in good stead. At the end of the day everyone on here has at some point lost their jobs or had an issue with income. I went one part of my life where I didn't have any money come in for nearly a year. Having the attitude that anyone who makes money and has money are entitled assholes isn't going to put you in good stead in the job market, you're going to be working for one of those entitled people... At the end of the day you came to a site to ask a group of certificated professionals what the legal standpoint is of you going and picking up dead wood and we told you what the law says? I don't know what you expected?

What saw do you have at the moment? If you have something like a ms261 then you can swap the sprocket for a 3/8 and put a 24" bar with a skip tooth on it. Cut slow. I've cut 30" with the 18" bar on my 261cm without an issue just cut through them and meet in the middle like they taught you on your cs32.