Ben Pinnick

Fwiw I was in the workshop just now and checked my husky lid and no chainsaw, just the en397 mark.

This is a good question I wonder about too - I understand when payments were high for alternative heating sources it made sense - you were getting paid to burn wood to dry wood, but now they're gone whats the benefit of kiln drying from a commercial perspective? Unless its dry packaged in plastic or similar it gains back moisture so fast it will become ordinary barn stored wood %age very quickly, or worse if stored badly by a retailer. Is it just to keep up with ever increasing demand or does it have real end user benefit (if not bought in a sealed pack)?

Don't know but given the prices these departments often pay for off the shelf stuff I'd like the contract to supply it!

I think they're different in the US/Canada. I did check it out and all shots in that market are SugiHaras, and they have a dfferent (although very similar) part code. I would guess supply constraints won out and they had to split the orders. High grade steel is hard to get right now.

I think there may be a difference - the presumption will be (like PRS for music in workplaces) that there's always a need to be registered, rather than notifiable work for electricians where its possible to carry on a business without ever doing a notifiable job on your own (You only need someone to do it for you at the end as I understand it so their could be unlimited sub contract sparkies doing the work with just one ticketed person or a building inspector at the end of the job). PRS operates as guilty until proven innocent, unlike the electrician certs. I suspect Woodsure will take the same approach; if not registered you are likely to be in breach of the regs and pursue as such.

Is it me or is the GB a bad colour match for a husky? At the risk of sounding like a princess, I don't think I could live with it being 2 shades different 🤣🤣 My day job is in an industry where thats really important to our customers and I think I've become conditioned to hate it.

Hmm interesting - that price for 565 must make it more the 365 was but I'm looking at Radmore and Tucker, seems 565 is £747 and 572 is £811, so maybe has changed since you bought yours? Yeah I got mine for a lot less than 747 - it was mid lock downs when everyone was doing very little but supplies were still good. I paid £700 but I got a c85 chain & 5L of Husky bar oil thrown in. So the saw would have been probably £660 on its own? Its handy that Im split between 2 decent dealers and one is Sam Turner so I have a really good price locally to negotiate from. At the time the 572 was a bit higher than right now... in theory. I just checked to see the lay of the land and you can't get a 565 from any of the usual suspects, and only Honey Bros seems to have 572s at £919 for a 20" so its all a bit moot until supply is good again and you can ship around! The £220 difference I mentioned is between RRPs.

This is always the problem. Creeping costs of regulation mean there's going to be favouritism for larger wholesales that are regulated who then pass certified product to the 'retailer'. In an ideal world I think they'd prefer one wholesaler!

Were going to go with a mix, especially around the edges to provide nurse trees for shelter but I suspect the bulk will be Taz. Snow Gum (coccifera) as we're quite far north (Durham/N'land border), exposed to the N Pennine weather with plenty of snow fall here, and quite high up. I understand the coccifera can grow a bit straighter than some others albeit less vigously. Id rather have shorter straight trees than tall twisty ones though. We do have one already on site which I think is a swamp peppermint. Its been here around 10y (Didn't plant it myself) and its done very well despite being just plonked on the edge of a field with no shelter from snow and northerly or easterly winds. Starting with a hectare or so but room to expand if they establish well.

Possibly Eucalyptus... ready for some serious splitting work 💪💪💪

Thats exactly the sort of thinking it seems this needs. It's really easy to set up DD payments now, so sell 3 loads, each 1 month apart (or 2 as you see fit). DD payments each month on the day before delivery. Job done. I don't sell myself but I have so much at the moment I may just do it & more importantly Im just about to be planting some of our land for SRF for firewood so its interesting to hear the issues look at the options.

I was going to say, 365xtorq vs 372xp was something like 30 or 40% cheaper, so a good deal even after sending it for porting. I don't get the 585 though, less than 10% cheaper and more than 10% less power. Yeah the pricing doesn't make much sense sometimes. The 565 is £220 cheaper than a 572xp. That means it's the same price as the 562xp in theory, but with more grunt and much better fuel consumption. You lose a little chain speed and gain a lb but it makes real sense pricewise - do you want less weight or more power basically. Same price you choose. Whereas the 585 is much closer to the price of the 592xp with only £140 between them.

For me it was the other way round. I was thinking about maybe the 550 as I decided the 572 was out of my budget (only a part timer you see) but having already got a decent smaller saw I went bigger again. The 565 has almost the torque of the 572 so if I really wanted to I could run the same size larger bars as a 572 (it's just going to be slower but will still cut most stuff well), was physically smaller and so (slightly) closer to the 550 in use, uses less fuel than a 572 and most importantly was a load cheaper. £200 or so for the same size bar at the time even at the discounted prices. Which put it into the 550xp territory. So for me I sized up and got way more grunt for not much more money. The downside of course is the weight gain, but as I use two saws that's not bothering me much.

There is a for sale section yes - Arbtrader. Looking at 15, 16 or 18 will be cover whats available (rather than just 16). What are you wanting it for?

Yeah exactly my point earlier. I was not surprised but was still surprised by the loss in size if you see what I mean... I moved what I thought was a (Wood)shed load of logs. Turned out it was more like 2/3rds of a shed load. The problem with weight sales is you need to factor in MC. Hence why a burn value would be better. It could be tweaked to account for MC such that it eliminates the variability of the weight through MC. Higher MC wood would have a lower rating, so it would cancel out the additional weight. Each species of wood could get its own variable rate of decline in its burn rating, such that it accounts for the amount of weight that species gains as it gets wet. Different species get different rating start points based on their output. It wouldn't be that complicated, a system to allow you to input the weight and wood mix, plus average MC, and out you get a burn rating. Of course its still cheatable. But assuming woodfuel suppliers did it for themselves as a coop rather than via a 3rd party, it wouldn't cost too much to administer/certify.

I cant tell you why they do it per se, but at the top end there's a fair price difference (although when you account for the bar difference its not so big), and the XPs are bigger/bulkier (to offer more cooling / air flow) higher strung and so may need some higher spec moving parts, and I read somewhere the torque difference isn't that huge either. I went for the 565 for exactly that reason - It's smaller and a bit more mellow shall we say. Still cuts with the 20" bar like there's nothing there.

That's a good point, but it doesn't have to be a specific btu or kWh. As long as it's standardised. Your buying 200 KG of 30% birch 70% ash at a stored MC of 17% predelivery so thats 300 Ben's Thermal Units... As an example. It would never be totally accurate but could be manageable I'd think. One of the reasons I got into chopping down trees is because I was buying such variable wood (often the same supplier).

I own 4 and 5 series Huskys and other than the power there's not much to choose between them (Despite the 5 series' pro tag). The crank casings etc. tend to be higher spec but I use my 4 series saw a lot without a hitch and it starts beautifully, and cuts really well. So I wouldn't disregard the 450II vs the 550XP if its a part time saw. You do lose power vs the 550 but its still got plenty of grunt for a 15" bar and you could save a reasonable chunk if you can find a good deal.

I just this week moved 2 loose stacks from my field to the wood shed by my house. In the field it looked 2 big piles. In the ATV trailer it looked enormous (just thrown in loose). Properly tightly stacked into the wood shed it looks like I need to go get another load 😂 There must be a better way to rate wood. If as stated FB off book sales are killing the trade surely it could be sold by some kind of BTU type rating? I know it would be a pain to start but it would mean the legit sellers would have the advantage over the random FB stuff.

How are you finding the xtough light bars? I was thinking of getting one for my 565. Thanks!

I did look at the GB bars but they're stihl orange.... Not sure the colour OCD could cope! I guess it will all rub off anyway mind. The Huskymura is only £7 more than the GB so the saving isn't massive. I will take a second look though. Thanks.

£18Bn for me, £18bn for you, and £1bn for the consultants to take the blame right?

Also if you are going to get some 'new' chickens I would recommend Amber's. They are super friendly and very good layers. We even had one that consistently laid up to 100g double yokers for nearly a year. They're also super friendly, the sit on your lap of their own choice kind of chicken. Unfortunately someone walking a footpath on our land let their dog run into the same field as our super layer was foraging in and she was no more We have a mixed flock at the moment but if we do replace/add it will be more Ambers.

Never worked out the cost before, but we only pay £8 a bag for Farmgate layers pellets (20Kg) bag from either of our local stores (One farm foods/supplies the other pets). I mix in some Vermx too and thats a bit more at around £12 I think. So average is probably £9 per 20kg. One bag feeds our 7 for probably a month when they're allowed to fully forage (ours are normally 100% free range with the option to range over 5 acres, but they rarely go more than 30m from the coop/house) but its more right now where they're trapped in all day. I read somewhere allowing roughly 1kg per week per bird is roughly correct and would seem about right for our hens right now, so that works out around 45p a week in food. Bedding cost etc. is so minimal that its only going to add a few p, so say 50p per bird per week if you ignore capital costs. Given you get probably 5 eggs per week average over a year if you keep a mixed flock of fancy (read awkward) chickens and good layers, you have roughly 10p per egg costs.

I've had 3 huskys and this is the first where I've had a problem with the bar so they've been fine but I'm not a heavy user. As it's on my big saw I figured saving a few g off the bar would help my feeble arms, so I'll probably get the huskymura bar I expect. Unless anyone has some really good reason not too! Edit: thanks MattyF - if I said there's only a £30 price difference from husky X force laminated to the Tsumura would that change your opinion?