Bill C

Being a a non professional user I feel anything over 50cc becomes a bit of a handful after a while of using them. The saw I use for most work is a old and abused Stihl MS180, from everything from hedge trimming up to 18" seasoned Ash/Beech and Oak, and small scale milling of posts etc, waiting for it to blow up but to be honest it just gets stronger. But for looking after a wood I would use my Stihl MS240 with a 15" bar, feels as light and easy as the 180 but in a totally different class when cutting. So my vote would be the Stihl MS241 or the Husky version of it.

A old Devonshire term of Spurtang? is a horse drawn implement to break up hard ground so it might be a local term for using a spade to do the same thing. Only a guess, my mother was a local land girl during the war and she worked the land with Shire horses. Still got part set of Heavy horse harness and horse brass in the attic.

Organic Guy I was working on the hedge in the other field running North to South.

The Devon hedge can be either turfed or stone walled along the sloping sides below the steepers but it's not seen as much now as it's work intensive. The more often seen hedge is just layed along the upper edges and a digger is used to remove soil from the sides and base, this is then placed on the top of the edge between the steepers. This type of hedge also explains why the Devon digging spade is designed like it is, the spade head is like a Spade on a deck of cards and the handle is about 5 foot long which allows the spade to cut into the soil and it's length allows the soil can be thrown on top of the hedge with ease, it's also easy to cut turf with the Devon spade. The soil removed from the base of the edge also becomes a water drainage ditch and adds height to the hedge. It took 50+years and a hedge laying course to make me understand and fit together all those little bits of information that's been bouncing around inside my head since I was a kid!!!! Never to old to learn!

That's the course I was on, working with Adrian on the mixed Hawthorn hedge(just got the last thorn out of the back of my hand) very very good instruction from all the instructors. Your wife worked with Steve on the other hedge, very good day out and well worth the money.

I've just done a Devon style hedge laying course and the section that I was working on had been layed high before about 18" off the ground, so after much cursing and cutting and a lot of instruction we did manage to relay back down to ground level but it took a lot of time and work to get it there.

Spare batteries are the expensive bit of battery saws. I've got Makita LXT battery hand tools so buying a Makita 36volt pole saw was a no brainer as two free batteries were included in the offer. Very impressed with the pole saw so bought the DUC305 chainsaw(12" x 3/8 x 0.043 low profile chain, changed to a Still PMM chain now) to use around the garden. It's on par with the Stihl 170/180 saws for cutting but logs bigger than 8/10" use the battery life in about half a hour. The charger can recharge a pair of 5amp batteries in 35 minutes, I use my Stihl MS180 for almost everything (how its lasted this long I'll never know) but all the horrible little short small bits of fire wood that needed cutting up but is brain numbing with a petrol saw was left in one corner, when I got the battery saw I cut up almost a dumpy bag of crap knoted wood on just over a set of batteries and it was so much easier with the battery saw that I enjoyed doing it. Petrol saws are better in almost all respects but I do find myself using the Makita a lot more now. The battery saw is also better at cutting joints in fence posts etc than a petrol saw so when I have a chance I'll try it at hedge laying as I think it would be ideal at that job aswell.

I've got the Makita DUA301 pole saw and the DUC305 chainsaw and Stihl forest plus chain oil works well in both, to the point that I've turned the oiler down to it's lowest setting on the 305.

Take the starter pulley case off(bit of a fiddle) and check the flywheel isn't loose and see if you can turn the engine by hand.

A friend of mine used to hill climb a full HRC kitted CR500, that was wild to watch, god only knows what it was like to ride, I never got up the nerve to try it.

My brothers got a MS390 with a 25" bar, I like Stihl saws but that thing is just wrong to use, heavy, slow and just not nice. I would rather use a MS 170/180 to be honest.

In the woods for a photo shoot.

I have the same problem in the garden, a tree that has got out of hand, unable to climb and I don't trust it with a ladder so I bought a battery pole saw(mainly for a few other jobs to be honest) The tree in question was at full 3.7mtr extension and various diameter branches from 100mm down to about 8mm, the cuts are not as good as a Silky saw but I was surprised how well it cut even the small branches as long as you remember to take the weight of the pole saw off the chain and let it cut under light pressure and full chain speed (a lot different to having a chainsaw in your hand) and with a chain like the Stihl PMM 3/8" x 0.043" or even a 1/4"( not used a 1/4" chain before so I can't really comment on that) it would be even better.

I've got a MS240 and run both a 16" and 15" bar with Stihl 3/8" x 0.063 chain it's really nice on a 15" bar but I think it's on the limit on a 16". But saying that I did cut up a 39" Ash with it( in a bit of a tight spot and didn't feel like using the 036) and it cut it really well with the 16". A 0.050" chain/bar combo might help on a 18".

Hope he likes it, I run both a 15" & 16" x 0.325 x 0.63 Stihl chain/bar combo, the 16" is the limit on that size chain but the 15" suits it very well. I suspect a 16" x 0.325 x 0.050 chain/bar would suit it very well.

Thanks for that information, I always said that I would avoid MP trees if I could, you've just reminded me why.👍

So by the sounds of it if the tree is in good condition and not rotten, and you have a spare suit of armour handy it might be worth milling some wood if any becomes available. Might look out for some if that's the case.

Stihl 3670 000 0064 Chainsaw Chain – Stihl Picco Micro Comfort 3 – PMC3 – 64 Drive Links 1/4" x 0.043" needs a 3.2mm file. The 1 on the drive link is the 0.043 gauge, the 7 on the cutter is the chain type and the 64x is the number of drive links. The first four digits of the bar number is small bar mount spacing.

I don't know if it'll be of help, Amazon were selling Oregon Sarawak class 1 boots very cheap a month ago, I've got a damaged foot and have real trouble getting boots/shoes to fit, the Oregon ones though difficult to bed in the tongue have not rubbed or hurt my foot in anyway and I've even taken to walking the dogs in them because of the comfort and grip. Might be worth a look. Trousers sorry can't help there.

I've enjoyed this thread, I thought it was me being a wuss when the wife asked me to move a seven foot tree, decided that I would rather remove and refit a barbed wire fence. Thick leather jackets and gloves help but you still get spiked. I can see why people use them as a fence to stop people getting on to the property. By the replies in the above thread it makes a mess of your clothes and the saws, but what is it like as a timber, to mill or work with, I've never talked to anyone that has used it, so I though that maybe someone on here is either brave(or daft) enough to have tried(one volunteer being worth hundred pressed men😁 as they say)

The bottom of the Stihl pro range is the MS024/240/241 range, I've got a MS240 and I think it's way better than it's 41cc should be, but getting a good secondhand one is almost impossible for sensible money. I don't know what the Husky version is but the Husky Rancher series gets good reviews if a bit on the heavy side.

Herby1 I know what you mean by stretch and I also get rather p****d of with the wrong terms being used but back to your original problem of the chain working loose. The only way it can become loose is a list to check through, bar working loose, ie adjuster fault or the bar not being clamped correctly, incorrect bar/chain/sprocket combination, worn bar/sprockets or overheating which is any of the above or lack of oil. If all of the above seems to be in order get a new GOOD chain Oregon,Stihl etc. Someone already said go on to the chainsawbar web site, well worth spending a while reading through the site it's full of good information. Then order a chain from him, good service and parts. I think the chain is a 3/8" x 0.050" x 52 link low pro anti kick back chain like the Stihl PMC3 chain. (I use Stihl and can read their markings but some times i struggle with Oregon)

I run a old Stihl MS180 with a Stihl 14" bar and the Pico micro 3/8" x 0.043" low pro chain if kept sharp!! it cuts very well. On a MS181 I suspect it would be even better, the 180 is a light easy to handle saw, parts and running costs are cheap.

Eberspacher and Webasto night heaters are the best but will set you back at least £850 for the kit plus fitting. I'm just fitting a Chinese night heater, seems ok build wise and everything is in the kit including a small fuel tank, when I've finished fitting it we'll see how good it is(a friend fitted one to his camper and it never gave any problems). Fitting to a Land Rover should be easy, seven holes in the floor for 4 mounting bolts, fuel pipe and inlet and exhaust pipes, fused feed off the battery and some were to put the 3ltr tank. As for the battery it should be ok the ones fitted to trucks never flatten the batteries(but they draw less amps as it's 24volts).

I wouldn't ride the motorbike with out the gear on so I try to wear the PPE at all times but like most people short cuts do happen if the job is only just a minute or so to do. Even with the PPE, accidents still happen (trips to A&E to prove it) some caused by just bad luck others by mistreated equipment which is one reason I almost never lend out power tools anymore and if it's work supplied tools I check them before I use them, or other peoples bad work practices (can't cure or protect yourself against stupid people I'm afraid).