Muddy42

i agree with the muppet bit. This person trots out all the old wives tales - that you can burn ash/cypress green or its fine if you get the fire hot, that he has found a patch of standing dead wood etc.

Its all about the fuel. One of the dirtiest smoke clouds I have seen was when a neighbour decided to burn some green wood fresh wet from his garden. Yes it was still dirty after burning for an hour, yes it was a modern ecodesign efficient stove.

There is a theory that 50:1 was implemented for environmental reasons in the US. Anecdotally most serious users I come across seam to favour a richer mix. Its very hard to test, the debate continues!

The problem with a government that doesn't have any money is they have to justify their existence by making rules and regulations. Dirty smoke is caused by poor fuel (insufficient seasoning time for wood) and has nothing to do with the device burning it or its 'efficiency'. If you put wet fuel on an open fire or a ecodesign stove both will produce dirty smoke.

You can get or make a device to protect the tree and direct the spray elsewhere. Personally I wouldn't bother and just wait and see what happens. Yes, grass can slow down growth but it generally doesn't grow high enough to cover the guards or kill them like bracken.

Its in all fuel, E5 and E10 to varying degrees. The ethanol is added by the refinery (allegedly at the last minute to avoid the ethanol messing up their systems or attracting water, oh the irony!) and each brand adds their own additives. It would be great if there was more testing and transparency in the UK. Finally its amazing that hydrocarbons retain their usefulness for millions of years underground and humans manage to refine it and add stuff that make it go stale after a few months!

I thought ethanol was the problem in both situations - attracting water but also softening and attacking "rubber" (or what we think of as rubber) flexible parts in carbs and fuel lines. The other junk additives (corrosion inhibitors, de-activators, and stabilizers) can settle in the carb as the rest of the fuel evaporates which causes gumminess and blockages. I'm really tempted to try and separate out ethanol one day to see how pure petrol performs and smells. there are lots of vidoes online about this.

My understanding is that newer twos strokes have better "rubber" or engineered plastics that can cope with ethanol, hence why the manuals say its ok to use ethanol fuel. I'm not saying they pump fuel doesn't cause other issues - water attraction, additives gumming up etc., carbon build up etc, but that carbs and lines are better able to cope with ethanol. I still try and check them for cracks or issues though.

I don't blame you. I can only do this to strimmers that have will definitely be idle between October and May. did you inspected the pistons before? Is it just scoring or have the rings melted, is it just the exhaust side or is there damage to the intake side? post some pics I feel stupid asking, but have you ruled out a mix error? Have you compared the colour of the mix that caused the issue with fresh fuel?

I run any two stroke that doesn't get used often 100% on aspen. When I store my strimmer over winter I run it dry and then refill with aspen, purge pump and run it again for 5 mins. My go-to chainsaw gets used constantly on pump mix and never seems to be inactive for long enough to have problems. 135s are pretty much disposable chainsaws, what model are the others?

or bore cut or plunge cut?

Yes, it sounds like these are already dying. I just cut the stumps as low as possible with a chainsaw and then if I want to be really tidy, I hire a stump grinder..

As described Id thoroughly recommend the balance XT. I've used it on all kinds of strimmers and long reach headgecutters and long reach chainsaws.

The Husqvarna balance XT is amazing. Its what Husqvarna supply for the heaviest brushcutters, so it spreads the weight well and is very comfortable. It adjusts for people of different height.

With practice I can cut grass neatly with a massive cc engine. For small areas you can use half revs but its not great for the engine long term. Try thinner string. With the bump head, try having the bump bit rubbing on the ground as a guide, but not too hard so more string comes out.

Bubble Wrap, Cellophane, Crock-Pot, Escalator, Frisbee, Hoover, Jacuzzi, Kleenex, Post-it Note, Styrofoam, Thermos, Tupperware

You are right to watch out for sharks like woodlands.co.uk Sometimes the ownership rights these people offer is very sketchy and your "plot" is in the middle of a much larger woodland block with no access. The price can vary hugely - £10k an acre used to be the rule, but commercial blocks or planning potential can boost the price. Plus proximity to towns and wealthy areas and good access will boost the amenity value for people like you. I think technically there is a limit on the number of night for a private campsite (60 days?) which should be plenty. It would be unusual but check for a restrictive covenant against overnight stays. There is a lot of discretionary costs that you can make - pruning, thinning, replanting etc. Compulsory costs would probably be limited to fencing and branches falling through fences, especially where the neighbours are livestock farmers. If access is shared there may be road repair costs. If the woodland is part of a grant scheme or accreditation, this will come with conditions. You'd want public liability insurance.

Thats what I think yes - speed and torque. The extra friction caused by pulling the chain round the extra 2 inches out and 2 inches on the return. Plus Im sure there are other factors. Heavier chain. Chain tension generally increases with longer bars to keep the chain tight, so more friction on the tip.

Also is the cable routing slack enough to handle going round corners? but not too slack that it catches on things?

If you have a multimeter, remove and test the glow plugs for resistance. Id check the fuel filter first and maybe flush it with solvent. If it needs replacing, whack a hole through it temporarily with a screw driver and carry on testing while you wait for a replacement. if you disconnect the fuel lines at various points, you should get decent squirts when you the engine is turned over.

Have you tested voltage and load on the battery? Are the battery connections clean? have you bled the fuel system to see if air is getting in or if fuel is reaching the injectors? Replace fuel filters? Id ohm test the glow plugs to see if they are working (should be low resistance). I presume you are pre-heating the glow plugs?

Its slow growing and dense, so lots of energy per volume. Its a great firewood once dry. However to your question, it doesn't split or dry quickly.

Great. Personally having used a few pro battery saws, I don't find them equivalent in power to a 50cc petrol saw, in spite of the fact this is what they claim.

50 cc saw (stihl ms261) and 13 inch bar for most of the work I do - storm clearance. 70cc for felling larger trees, logging or when I get the first saw stuck! 120cc for blocking up "unsplittable" logs on the ground

Hot fire or not, every stove manual ever written will tell you not to burn wet wood. A neighbour of mine managed to totally block his new cowl and flue in one season, requiring replacement at some cost. Chimney fires can destroy your flue liner, chimney pot etc or even worse case burn your house down. Its simply not worth gambling here!