Muddy42

Go for it. As someone who has recently started milling, I can say its a lot of fun and very rewarding. As said, go easy on the light bar, avoid clamping anywhere near the sprocket tip as you'll damage it (like I did). I'd just add that you have nothing to lose by just cracking on with the kit you have already. Try it out before you go spending lots of extra money. For example: - I bought ripping chain, but have ended up sticking with regular hand sharpened cross cutting chain. - I bought a 36 inch and a longer bar, but found the 36 inch bar was plenty heavy enough to be working on my own with. Good luck.

I buy a online, a couple of 5l bottles of Oregon oil at a time. Chainsaw Chain and Guide Bar Oil, 5 Litre Bottle (90300) https://amzn.eu/d/hd69DoF Yes its probably expensive but I simply like the bottles as they have a narrow spout that is ideal for pouring directly into the saw. I sometimes even refill them from bigger barrels of chain oil I currently dont have a good combi can (I am meaning to rectify this!)

Thanks for the additional photos. I was wondering if there are collectors with larger grass storage capacity rather than cut width, basically a small sileage harvesting setup.

Gosh as I feared that is too frequent. Our grass looks even thicker than that. Maybe there will be someone with a larger capacity machine. I have interest for 2023 from a small farmer that also sells square hay bails. I'm not holding my breath.

Beautiful work! I'll see if anyone nearby has a flail will collector. My concern would be the capacity of the collector and that it would fill too quickly. How often do you find it fills? Yes I am concerned about the build quality. The logic ones are double the price.

I have a big old Honda quad and am thinking of getting a tow behind flail mower. I have a lot of long grass to cut - many acres in total but varied between open areas, banks, under trees, sides of road, overgrown gardens. for the past few years, we have been bringing in a contractor in August with a Avant 640 (small digger with a flail on the front) that cuts it over a few days. This is fine, but the quality of cut is shocking, the grass tends to bounce back and areas get missed. I have OCD and would like to tidy it up myself. It is (or would be) a lot of work to tidy it up with the strimmer. Has anyone any experience of the Kellfri flail mowers (15 - 25 HP) ? Can they cope with long grass? Can the quad go slow enough? Thanks Mower for ATV | Strongest in the Nordic region | Simple to buy online WWW.KELLFRI.CO.UK Heavy duty – strongest ATV mower in the Nordic region. Wide ATV range at Kellfri. Buy today from Kellfri.

It depends on the wood and whether the flue is warm. I find all kinds of techniques work in a stove as long as you have dry seasoned wood. Mostly I use two full sized large logs with nest of newspaper and kindling in between. Sometimes I will then add more paper on top if the flue is cold. A neighbour still reads a daily newspaper so I can use plenty. Firelighters are unnecessary/expensive/un environmentally friendly. I also find 'riddling' a gap in the multi-fuel grate stoves is helpful to promote airflow.

With my limited experience of this brush cutter (4 tanks), I do not feel the need for a mulching blade yet. Compared to smaller brush cutters, that are generally used at the limit of their capacity, it matters much less what attachment the 555rxt has on it - anything in its path is mulched and turned to dust. I have used the grass head (3mm and 4.4mm square line) and flat 3 blade grass cutter pretty much interchangeably. This grass blade destroys brambles, somehow it seems to mulch as it goes, cutting on the forward stroke and mulching on the return stroke (if that makes sense). What guard? No seriously, the brushcutter comes with two guards. One big guard for grass with the razor blade to trim the string. I haven't used this as I like to control the length of string myself and not leave bits everywhere, so I have just used the other, blade guard. This guard should be fine with other blades of the same diameter the same sized center hole. The manual explains how to swap blades.

Just bought a 555rxt, tried it out and was pretty impressed. I usually go for Stihl, but I like the fact this is a simple machine without autotune and much cheaper than the equivalent Stihl. It has masses of power, whatever you cut with it, the engine note barely changes. I have used strimmers without guards before, but I am being pretty cautious with this one (guard, visor and chainsaw trousers) as that power could really chuck a stone at you. Yes it is thirsty, but more fuel = more cut grass !

I have one too, great saw.

Sorry for any confusion, Glad we agree. I guess I am referring to pages 3 and 4 and then the "knackered old stove comments." I was fine with the Defra rules (because they didn't apply to me in the sticks) but these new rules are a bit too intrusive for me. They only stand to benefit stove manufacturers and installers. What will be next, certifying open fires, bonfires, birthday candles?

Plus this on the Hetas website: Installation of second hand appliances after Ecodesign WWW.HETAS.CO.UK This article is a reproduction from HETAS Technical Bulletin #22. Click here to access the Bulletin in the Technical Area of the HETAS website (password There is a lot of negative posts here about pre-ecodesign stoves. Maybe they are stove installers, trying to sell new 'safe' stoves, just maybe??. The idea that thousands of stoves instantly became dangerous on the 1st of January 2022 as a result of a new regulation is frankly ridiculous. Talk to your installer and home insurance, if they aren't happy with the installation that will be the clincher. Someone also mentioned a warranty, personally I think the likelihood that I would ever claim is pretty low. The way I see it a stove is a metal box with a bunch of easy-to-replace wear parts (glass, rope, bricks). Even then the manufacturer could always claim I had burned the wrong wood or too hot. Some of my wood is certified but some is DIY, so hard to prove this.

Other things I've learned: - Leave the lids off when not in use to prevent flask going musty - Warm everything up with boiling water first. This makes even poor quality cheap flasks stay hot. - Have dedicated separate tea and soup/Bovril flasks - keep milk separate from tea until ready to drink. Sounds naff, but I was given a 200ml flask that is ideal for storing the milk.

I use a sterlilizer called Milton, designed for cleaning baby bottles! It removes stains and smells a treat. failing that weak bleach, as long as you rinse it well afterwards. If you are obsessive about tea like me, you can even soak and rinse it out with tea (using a second hand tea bag) to restore the tea flavour. and stanley flasks are the best!

Thanks.

For me it depends. If the logs are easy to split, I will split them where they are - on the ground, logs on their side, in a loose pile, whatever. This reduces double handling. Logs are easier to split when green, without knots or small. I will use a narrower axe. Very quick and hell of a workout. If the logs are medium hard, I will use a block and a maul. If the logs are very tough I will use a sledge hammer and wedges. If there are lots of them (OK double figures) I will block them up with a chainsaw. This can work well when combined with the wedges to finish off the cut. I don't have a mechanical splitter at the moment, last one broke, but its good for large volumes too.

Arbtalk Iphone app not working Dear @admin I downloaded the Arbtalk app on itunes a while back: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/arbtalk/id596340923 It used to work fine, but now just says "no topics". I have tried re-installing etc. Can you provide any advice? Is there some other host app that works better. Thanks

Great, that's good to hear!

Sorry to be an @rse, but I always understood that dogs are really for felling big trees, when cross-cutting , the weight of the saw and sharp chain should do the work. Lots of people remove the dogs completely. I get it though, you may want some metal there to protect the saw/muffler etc.

The cynical side in me would say surely its quite hard to scientifically prove what and when has caused the fuel line damage in a 20 year old saw that has had hundreds or tanks through it, multiple owners and hours of work and abuse? Yes, you can prove that ethanol damages rubber now, but also rubber, gaskets and plastic can degrade over time, or the saw overheated or something else caused the damage. Anyway, personally I still think it is worth switching old saws to Alkaylate now. If your fuel system has damage or letting in air you should get that sorted anyway to avoid lean mix etc. Luckily my two 20 year old saws seem OK having switched to Alkayalte.

Thanks all. I will give a shorter bar a go, this is definitely just for occasional use. I will stick with .404 chain and sprocket, I am trying to reduce the number of chain permutations (pitch, files, sprockets) rather than increase them!

Cheers, how do you find using a 120cc 10kg saw for crosscutting?

I currently have two working saws: 1) Stihl 028 Wood Boss, 47cc with a 16 inch bar. 2) Stihl 088, with a 36 inch bar or 48 inch bar. [Note incompatible bar mounts] I love the 088, its a beast which is amazing in the alaksan mill. In terms of the saw work I do, it is mostly cleaning up windblow. I really like the 028 for small windblow, it runs fine and I can use it all day. The 028 is fine for any felling I do. But... there is the odd occasion where I am logging up big trees and I need something else, a bar length in the 21/25 inch range to deal with a big trunk. I have used the 088 and 36 inch bar before but I do find that length of bar too long and unwieldy when its not buried in wood (and frankly a bit scary!). - I don't want to buy a longer bar for the small saw, I hate small saws with long bars. - Does anyone use an 088 with a shorter 21/25inch bar? I can get an Oregon bar and 404 chain for £100 on ebay. Am I mad for considering, would it still be unwieldy? - If so, I guess I would consider getting a used MS460 for a few hundred quid. Any advice appreciated

Agreed, someone once told me you cant have to much chain oil. I suppose this makes sense when you think of all the stress and heat endured by the bar and chain.

I do find saws will make more oil mess when run without cutting wood (for example when tuning) Does the saw make a mess when cutting wood, bar buried to the tip?