kram

The 52mm big bore kit has arrived. I dont really know what to look for in the cylinder, so I got a load of photos to show you. Looks good to me. Couple of lumps at the top of combustion chamber but above the piston.

One problem was the original felling dogs were made of cheese, and came with a spare oversized comedy dogs that reduce the usable length of the bar. I used O1 tool steel and cut some new dogs mostly a copy of the original shape but slightly longer.

That doesnt mean they are not effective just that they are untested. I can say wearing gloves makes a huge difference over not wearing gloves, so it stands that some must be better and worse than others. It would be great if somone did testing and put together a standard for it - but then we might be required to wear them all the time... Hmm. I like the thin cut protection gloves for working/climbing in a tree, but the vibration protection likely non existant. They do resist the silky a bit. For ground work I use thicker leather work gloves - cheap things the council gave out to the hedge team when I worked for them. These seem to be pretty good at vibration and thorn resistance. I dislike my mates newish Stihl 500i as it gives me a sore wrist from starting it! Quite happy with my 020T My worst event of white finger with a saw was from a relatively new McCulloch CS380 using it for hedge trimming for about an hour.

The hose must have been kinked or blocked, thanks for the suggestion. I pulled the hose up into airbox.and blew through it to check it was clear, then it started ok.

Its running perfectly now, starts first pull and idles nice in all positions! It was worth the couple hours of swearing to swap over the tank... I have ordered this. It generally gets good reviews but I will check it over before fitting.. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07Z5VXZMD Last week I hit some hidden wire/nail that was deep in the trunk. Perhaps a bird put it there as it was near the top... Anyway half of the left side, cutters are destroyed and will need to be ground back a long way.. expensive full chisel chain is ruined 🤬 Now I have a cheap 20" bar and loads of cheap £2.70 chains in .325 pitch but I need to modify a clutch drum/sprocket as it seems you cant buy a 22mm bore .325.

From a hand vibration and weight/stress viewpoint I think it would be much better even if the cable needs frequent replacement, it would be worth it. Your right about bad reviews but its the only backpack one I can see. For normal combi tools there are a few brands available but its likely the same chinese kit.

I have used trimmers quite a bit for rail clearance. Would be useful to have a multi head tool for small jobs - I dont plan to be doing any large clearance work. Hate using hedgers as they kill my arms. I've used backpack blowers and hated wearing them, but like the extra power. That has me wondering if a backpack multi tool would be any good, particually as a hedger, it should be much easier on the arms, but bloody awkward up a ladder. This sort of thing - unfortunately I dont see any branded versions. http://www.amazon.co.uk/eSkde-Powerful-Gardening-Backpack-including/dp/B07GLL49DQ What do you think? Is there a reason Stihl/Husq dont make a backpack one? The reviews on the amazon are mixed, as always chinese stuff should be considered a loosely assembled box of parts.

I suppose most experienced climbers will trust using the flip line more. I dont often get to spike up a tree so my confidence in it is a bit low.

Fuel starvation? I dont think the hose is kinked but I will check it tomorrow when I try again. It may be the replacement tank is not allowing air in to replace the fuel consumed. This one has a mesh style vent instead of a hose.

Not that Im aware, I got the 020T in 2023. It was a climbers spare/backup saw and only ever had very light use, original bar and sprocket we think.. He left the industry a while back and when I was looking, he was happy to sell it. Tipped the stale fuel out and it started up no issues. It cleans up like a new saw except for the clutch cover has some burn marks near exhaust.

Many people say that. What made it a great saw? I ask because I have found several annoyances in the design and I did not enjoy todays task of swapping the petrol tank. I have cocked something up as its not running now. Fires on choke and fast idle, then dies unless it gets full throttle. Bogs and dies with any touch of throttle. My Echo 2511 and Still 020T, they are great saws, but I read that they can be a pain to work on. I have not needed to, yet.

Yes, I did. It seems we cant have a sensible discussion about modifying a saw because you dont like where it came from. Big bore kit, yes or no?

As above, however it looks like theres a good distance between the shoots and the topped cut. Id perhaps wait until spring to see if it pops any new buds or shoots nearer the top but if not I would prune the stem back to near the top shoot. Possibly an alternative for next time.. trees take grafting very well. Perhaps a clean cut and proper attempt at grafting would have been better than my attempt below: I had a pigeon land on my cherry tree and snapped the top off. It was a good few hours before I'd seen it but I taped it up with a splint. The leaves havent wilted so they are getting nutrients but Im unsure if theres any good cambium connection left. We got a video of pigeon, it was after the last cherry. This was how I taped it up. I removed most of the leaves to lower the water demand. And how it looks a few weeks later with some tape removed. A couple weeks later now and there is a bud starting just between the damaged stem and the original (shop) top cut, not sure if thats a good thing or a sign that the old top is dead. The snap was about an inch above the original top cut.

Nope I bought a pulley for this but never got around to it. However its still more bulk in the way and wouldnt help much with the short prusik situation. I did see a video showing a blakes hitch, can have the tail tied high on the other line to make it tending. Theres no reason the same cant be done without a pulley with a prussik just with an extra cord and accessory biner around the body of the hitch. I found a pic that shows my normal setup. Ignore the cheap white bridge rope, I have swapped it to the proper one.

Perhaps, I also had a new sharp full chisel chain and we were cutting a rotten ganoderma ash so perhaps neither were really under much load. The specs claim 4kW vs 5kW... Either way power is not everything and I prefered the g372xp. I'll be fixing the issues and not wanting to use the 500i again. My wrist is still sore! I would expect the bore, stroke etc to be to the published spec but perhaps the compression may be set lower. It would explain the much easier sstarting Anyway the china bashing is no interest to me. For £159 delivered its a great saw that does what I need/want. Can anyone give me advice on the big bore kit (china or otherwise) and any other tuning options I should do while Im in there? Thanks Mark

I bought this saw in Jan and so far I like it. There are a couple of minor issues but the power is great, to me it feels as powerfull as my buddys Stihl 500i and nicer to use/start. Im using a 20" bar but may get a 28" for the bigger stuff. Im thinking of buying a 52mm big bore kit which will take it from 71cc to 77cc and give slightly more power. Parts are cheap if it goes wrong, and I'd then have the original cylinder as a spare. Good idea? Anything to consider when swapping a big bore kit? Will it need any futher tuning or just a quick carb adjustment? Thanks

What do you use? For me there are two situations, ascending a tree I want a long loop to make quicker progress in each movement, I use the treehog 120cm eye to eye and tie a 4 wrap knut hitch. its about the same length as a standard 60/70cm loop. I am very happy with this, always good friction and easily moves, reliable. Treehog TH1153 Eye To Eye Sling - Radmore & Tucker WWW.RADMORETUCKER.CO.UK The Treehog eye to eye sling is a 10mm diamter hitch which is both grippy and heat resistant which are ideal for prussik cords and friction hitches... That puts me a way from the anchor when I'm working at the top or when blocking down a trunk, is the only annoyance, but I often swap to a 70cm eye to eye for that. Its not ideal, its length means I can just about tie a 2 or 3 wrap knut. Its awful to ascend using it as the throw is tiny. It tends to either lock up tight or slip, rarely giving an ideal amount of friction. Other climber uses Zigzags but I find them bulky in the way, also far from anchor and I havent got used to them, still I am tempted to get one, just a pain that its not attachable and has to be fed through. I also hate rope graps for a flip line, I use a knut hitch for that, and happy with it.

This oak is at a local park. I am interested to know what has caused the decline. Surrounding trees appear healthy. Branch tips all dead but lots of new epicormic growth, very slow to start growth this year compared to the surrounding oaks.

Looks like Pseudoinonotus dryadeus growing at the base which means it has root crown rot, likely from the stones keeping it wet.

The card states roller bearings, it should be smooth. Not got a ziptie or other rubbish stuck in the side of wheel? Dmm are pretty good, suggest you call them, I have found them helpful in the past. https://dmmwales.com/pages/contact-us

It appears many employers on PAYE do it as a day rate, Im unsure the legalities of that and I had a bit of dispute over hours because certain team leaders stated that hours began when we got to site, which meant meeting the team at 6:30am for the long van drive upto London or Kent, and then not allowed to leave site until after 4pm. With traffic I wasnt getting home until 7pm. It really took the piss when they were expecting me to drive the van, too! Even the short days were working out less than minimum wage. I didn't stay there long.

I havent had any success to close up the previous splice, tried again with ratchet strap. Left it in a tub of water for a day and may try again later. I imagine I will need to cut it off and start again. I got some Samson Ice Tail to try, studied the Samson docs and decided on an adjustable 52cm - 1m whoopie with a tuck bury for the fixed eye.

Used Liros Reef. I thought it was going well but I cant close it up, the throat of the splice has gone hard, so I cant milk any slack into it. I briefely tried a ratchet strap between trees, which closed it 1/2" but theres still an inch to go. I used Samsons normal instructions. I see they have another page about used rope, says to soak it in water before splicing. I am guessing that would not help now. 10mm Ocean, much easier than the 8mm, however the result is much stiffer that Idont understand.

3rd is an oak, leaves look similar to a pin oak thats opposite my house, but the Plantnet app on my phone says black oak from your picture, I've not seen enough to know the difference.

I tried some 8mm Ocean. Its a lot nicer to work with than Sirius. I found a better option for pulling the core through, expandable nylon cable sleeving. It took only seconds. Its cheap stuff, I stole a length from my old computer. The top eye done, lower one still to be pulled tight.