Muddy42

Likewise, I am always really impressed with the quality of woodland management across France. They seem to continuously crop or open up small clearings and keep the species mix diverse. I have adopted a 'french pruning' technique on oaks that works really well to revive ugly multi-stemmed trees as they emerge from the tube guards. Basically in July you remove any competing leaders and brash off about a third from every branch. This sends the sap up to the leader and the resulting fresh leader growth is phenomenal. We also have a lot to learn about conifers - compare the alps to the UK's approach of planting non-native sitka spruce in plowed furrows lines - FUGLY!

My Stihl MS 460 has been having minor oiling mysteries. After 20/30 minutes of use the nose sprocket seizes up. Its a fairly new (first chain) 20 inch Stihl rollermatic bar 3/8ths pitch. On inspection the chain feels dry and I simply clean out the groove and free up the nose sprocket with wd40 and a screwdriver then regrease with my fingers. This happened twice last Saturday. BUT during the time I used a tank of fuel, the bar oil tank nearly empties so oil is going somewhere. The adjustable oiler is at max. Back at the workshop I did some further checking. The oil pump area was still clean and the lines didn't have cracks, but there was masses oil on the inside of the bar and on the case below the bar. I cleaned the saw up and ran it again. I couldn't get oil to flick off the end of the bar and the same mess emerged on the bar. I ran it without the bar, chain and inner guide plate - oil is emerging out of the oiler. My current thinking is that oil is pumped out of the saw but is somehow not reaching the bar's oil hole. Recently I replaced the worm gear, oil pump and flushed out the oil tank with petrol. Current thinking: 1) The inner guide plate is pretty smashed up and bent, maybe this is causing the issue. I have ordered a replacement (1128 664 1001) but have just found out there are two alternatives. See below, is 1128 664 1002 any good? 2) I've read that some people open up the oil hole on bars. This seems a bit drastic. Does anyone have any experience of this? Thanks

As above, a flails needs a large hydraulic pump and pressure. Think of the large tractors you see flail hedges crawling along at high revs. You need to match the spec (generally two numbers as a range of l/min) of your digger to the same for the flail. Best to have a range that is a close match rather than push it.

Lack of two stroke oil, not warming up the saw, operator pushing too hard, fins/fuel filter/air filter/carb clogged. Broken ring or metal in the cylinder? The intake side of the cylinder also looks bad - so debris could have got in there. Who knows. Pressure and Vac test is a must. Put the cylinder back on, clean the saw and do it now, before you waste money on parts. And watch out for debris falling into the bottom end (one of your photos shows this).

Amazing. I’ve always preferred a squirt of mixed fuel with two stroke oil, to raw carb cleaner etc. Spray behind the air filter, pull over and repeat until you are sure fuel is getting the plug wet. No drama if you flood it. otherwise check for the usual air leaks in rubber parts. It would be a real shame to damage it.

I tried ripping chain but didnt get on with it. I mostly cut oak and found ripping chain less good at coping with knotty, change of direction grainy bits. But maybe it was just me. Good sharpening practice, not forcing the saw and avoiding ‘sawing’ the bar side to side, helps keep the cut smooth.

looks like one of those automatic filters. I do like these older 70 ish cc stihl saws 044,046,460,461 real power houses.

Yes, id use normal crosscutting chain. If the wood is clean and metal free it’ll be fine. sharpen as needed.

They have also pinched the name of a beer belonging to smaller brewery: Booze sorry now? BrewDog in legal row over rival beer's name WWW.DAILYMAIL.CO.UK A small Scottish brewery is taking the global drinks brand BrewDog to court, accusing...

Pleas think twice about drinking Brewdog. They have bought estates in Scotland, sacked the staff and keepers all in the name of rewidling.

Yes there are delays in issuing certificates and variations, but the total number of issued FACs has remained at about 150,000 for the past 10 years. Yes some of the bigger public or semi public landowners pay for deer control, but cynically they love p1ssing away money anyway. Privately rates vary, but £750 per annum for stalking over say 400,000 acres and a target to shoot 10-20 deer would be pretty normal. Its more in the South east and near London. Some south east stalking syndicates pay thousands.

T, No disrespect and I wish you all the luck with this. You may be lucky and have older permissions to shoot deer at zero charge, but I think landowners and agents have woken up to the popularity of stalking and the ability to charge stalkers a rent to enjoy their hobby. Rates vary depending on species, terrain and whether the landowner really wants the job done in terms of the harder task of shooting sufficient breeding female deer in the depths of winter.

Anyone who says they havn't tried to start a machine when it is in the off position is either lying or so new they only have the new kit that automatically returns to run.

I don't have any experience with ponderosa or radiata, which I have not seen planted commercially on scale, more species trees. Logepole pile used to get planted in commercial blocks as windbreaks. The timber was never amazing - slow growing so small by time of harvest and not very straight. Scots pine and particularly the heartwood is great stuff and very durable. And yes I agree much better than spruce and very similar to larch in the same condition. Of course small sappy pieces of either species with the bark left on will be rubbish.

I just put the gap in the Stihl OEM circlips to the top (on the same saw this thread refers to). I always though that was the right way to do it. But surely the main thing is that the clips are in properly and not stressed or bent.