Muddy42

Agreed. I have a 14 hp briggs vanguard engine from the 1980s that is still going strong, but Ive got rid of newer ones that were not so good. I have three honda engines on various machines (14-21hp carb and injected) and they have been faultless.

One more thought, is your hydraulic splitter full of oil? When mines gets low on oil it slows down. Also as stated above, I put pieces of wood in it to stop the ram returning, so if the logs are all <18 inches, I set the ram to about 20 inches so I only have to wait for it to move 2 inches. Does that make sense?

As above I've had a few bruises and surprises from kinetic splitters. Some hydraulic splitters are faster than others and sometimes its possible to restrict the travel of the ram (officially or unofficially) to reduce the waiting time?

For boots, I use polish then something called G wax. If you leave the boots in a warm place for a few days before using them again, it really sets hard. People tell me old fashioned dubin rots the threads, but I've now way of knowing this is true. Recently I melted up several old dry polishes and dubins with some linseed oil to use them up. Its great for my second pair of boots or leather that you don't mind going a strange colour!

If you genuinely need more than a 14 inch bar, get a small petrol saw.

Another tip is to split a log before using a moisture tester to get a true measurement of the water still trapped inside. In the uk, if you start early, split very small, stack outside for a bit, then bring undercover for a bit more, but still exposed to sun and wind, you might just season wood enough to burn that winter. But this is hard work if doing it by hand and a longer would always be safer. Also you really tell what your wood is like with an open fire and the hissing, stoves burn any old wood.

I remember that!

The hammers are tougher and better for thick stuff, the Y flails are better for grass.

We've had the same delivery company for years and they have never raised any concerns. But as part of my work I will make the tank look a bit smarter - new sight guage, clean up the cap and a bit of paint.

Im pretty sure the tank is set up correctly as you describe. It just hasnt been cleaned for 40 years and probably has water in it.

Not sure to be honest. The stuff in my heating oil tank is slightly yellow. Recently the boiler has been running badly, filters get clogged up with a black slimey stuff and I ejected a massive plug of the same cr@p out of the oil line. when Ive got the tank a bit emptier, im going to empty it and flush it out. Its a very old metal tank, that we’re not aware of ever being emptied. It sits under cover, but water might have got in when the roof had a leak recently.

I have only had problems with machines left outside and used infrequently. Ive had no problems since I got a bigger shed and I try to periodically run tanks empty and flush them out with petrol and leave to evaporate. seems to work but Im not an expert. i now suspect my heating oil has a bug (kerosene) so Im going to flush it out soon.

Not a combi but I use these Oregon 5l containers, pours well straight from the can and refillable. No spouts or funnels required.

It depends! If I was to spend over a grand on a saw Id expect it to last more than ten years and to always have a resale value. I might use my 50cc saws all day, but the bigger ones only get used for a few cuts and are only carried from the truck, so I really don't care about the weight.

I can see the stump you removed. Are you sure they are not talking about the other stump as well that you didn't remove, shown closer to the path in your photo?