# The Ozzy Redgum tree from hell......



## Stihlman441 (May 2, 2011)

Got on to this big dry Redgum which was on the edge of the creek,leaning towards the creek and cant get around the back of it,probably why it was still there in the to hard basket.

The tree with winch cable attatched











Cant get around the back so made a bore cut which just made it out the back with a 36'' bar so we could put a wedge around there


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## husq2100 (May 2, 2011)

Awesome!!!


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## Nardoo (May 2, 2011)

Man that is a nasty tree, I hope you were wearing a hard hat.


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## Stihlman441 (May 2, 2011)

Have a look at the lean going towards the river,managed to get a wedge around the back.The river was about 15 feet down allmost ended up there a couple of times.











Check out the lean the wrong way


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## Terry Syd (May 2, 2011)

OK, I'm waiting to see how this story turns out.....


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## Stihlman441 (May 2, 2011)

Hanging on trying to get the wedge in the back of the tree.





Did a cut around the back on both side a good pull with the landcruiser and down it came all is good.





Stump





Nice hard dry dusty Redgum


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## imagineero (May 2, 2011)

making a bore cut from the open face of a big dead gum takes some guts - I hope there was something bigger than a hilux on the other end of that winch cable ;-) They sure can get snappy when they're dead, very unpredictable holding in the hinge.

Shaun


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## masculator (May 2, 2011)

Noice, only a little'un but still noice all the same. Even looks fairly solid right through!!! most places now days you aren't allowed to cut them dead standings. Saw one a while back a mate cut athat would have made that look like a twig and even after being standing dead like that for a lot of years, (at least 10) when it was cut the water/moisture still ran like it was still alive.


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## Terry Syd (May 2, 2011)

So, what was the cutting technique that you used to drop the tree? It appears you may have fanned a bore cut into the back of the tree to create a 'back cut' - and used a wedge to keep it from setting back while you worked both sides of the 'back cut'. Tell us how you did it.


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## Stihlman441 (May 2, 2011)

This one has been dead for 8 years at least (thats how long this bloke has been there) there has not long been a flood there so the tree has sucked in some water, so it wasnt to bad as in it held on and wasnt brittle i suppose you could say.


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## Stihlman441 (May 2, 2011)

Terry Syd said:


> So, what was the cutting technique that you used to drop the tree? It appears you may have fanned a bore cut into the back of the tree to create a 'back cut' - and used a wedge to keep it from setting back while you worked both sides of the 'back cut'. Tell us how you did it.


 
Thats how we did it,with the help from a landcruiser and cable a long way back.


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## Terry Syd (May 2, 2011)

That wouldn't have been my Landcruiser at the end of the cable!


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## Stihlman441 (May 2, 2011)

The only problem know is there is a bee hive in a hollow brank,there is a bee keeper coming to take them to his other bee hives.
We are cutting it up tuesday will take more pics as we go,then bringing the splitter down to split it all up.


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## AUSSIE1 (May 2, 2011)

Great job Andrew. 

That will keep a family warm through winter.

That's definitely one redgum you will need a powered logsplitter for.


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## Stihlman441 (May 2, 2011)

Why is that Terry,whats the werst that can happen,tree goes wrong way and pulls cruiser back,cable brakes.


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## mtngun (May 2, 2011)

Impressive pics. I especially enjoyed this one of you using brute strength to push the tree over.


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## 7oaks (May 2, 2011)

Great pictures and thread - this is why I enjoy AS so much!

Can't rep you again so soon. :msp_mad:


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## greg986547 (May 2, 2011)

Nice lookin LC !


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## Terry Syd (May 2, 2011)

Just kidding. Looks like you had the cable well up the tree and the Landcruiser well back from the action.


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## dancan (May 2, 2011)

Nice pics !
Thanks for sharing .


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## CharlieG (May 2, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Have a look at the lean going towards the river,managed to get a wedge around the back.The river was about 15 feet down allmost ended up there a couple of times.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Great work, but get some PPE :cool2:


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## blsnelling (May 2, 2011)

Awesome stuff mate. Great action pics to tell the story. Not sure I would have tried that one. You did good!


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## Stihlman441 (May 2, 2011)

I have been back today to do some more give the 880 a run with 36'' and 50'' bars,more pics and that in awhile.This sort of stuff is what the 880s are made for,and yes it was raining,better than dry and dusty i suppose.:msp_biggrin:
The 36'' bar with a Carlton full comp 3/8 .063 semi chisel and a 8 pin sprocket.
[video=youtube;EaBuhcrfgfc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaBuhcrfgfc&feature=youtu.be[/video]


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## Stihlman441 (May 3, 2011)

MS880 with the 50'' bar made short work of this thing,chain is Carlton 3/8 .063 skip semi chisel.











Still having problems with the bees


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## husq2100 (May 3, 2011)

im guessing those bees are native?if so look after them, they could be the solution to a disease going through the exotic honey bees....


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## Stihlman441 (May 3, 2011)

There is a bee keeper coming to get them latter in the week.:biggrin:


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## husq2100 (May 3, 2011)

:biggrin: good stuff.

great work on the felling, amazing how good the wood is in that one still. And the water inside....weird for a dead tree???


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## Stihlman441 (May 3, 2011)

I was talking to the cocky today and he doesn't know how many years this tree has been dead,he has been there for 8 years so dont know before that.The reason there is so much moisture in this tree is because we have some big floods over the last year or so and it must of sucked it up,you can see in some of the pics how high the last flood was not so long ago,you can see the rubbish in the trees.


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## MCW (May 3, 2011)

Good stuff Andrew and well done on the felling technique you used too. I bet you're glad she was solid the whole way through or it may not have ended up in your favour 



husq2100 said:


> im guessing those bees are native?if so look after them, they could be the solution to a disease going through the exotic honey bees....



No the bees in the picture are not native Serg. Wild but not native. They are exactly the same honeybees as Apiarists run in Almonds etc for pollination. The wild versions always seem to be more aggressive though than their domesticated counterparts. I used to do beehive inspections in the Almond industry and they were tame compared to the wild ones...
Blue Banded Bees are native and look completely different (like mini blue Bumble Bees) but they tend to live in holes underground. Unfortunately they are difficult to rear and extremely difficult to get working properly as far as pollination goes. I was involved in trials on Blue Banded Bees in greenhouse tomatoes and they were a complete failure. Even more so when they found a small tear in the greenhouses' plastic and escaped...

The lady scientist from and Adelaide Agricultural research institute was far from impressed...


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## Hank Chinaski (May 3, 2011)

seems a shame to cut down a tree you obviously "love" so much







:hmm3grin2orange: Just kidding, very nice job on the takedown and thanks for the pics/vid that 880's a beast.

*please use some protection when you're loving your trees


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## Stihlman441 (May 3, 2011)

Ya cheers mate,bloody daughter took that pick,i will love that tree even more when its stacked up at home in the wood pile.
I was trying to get a wedge in the back of the tree without falling in the river.


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## MCW (May 3, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Ya cheers mate,bloody daughter took that pick,i will love that tree even more when its stacked up at home in the wood pile.
> I was trying to get a wedge in the back of the tree without falling in the river.



Lucky you didn't get a WEDGIE in the process.

Unfortunately all you have done here Andrew is provided a propaganda photo for the Australian Green's Party hugging trees like that.

I can read the headline now...

"Environmentalist tries in vain to stop madman cutting down native, protected, endangered, carbon positive Redgum that is just hanging onto life, boldly placing himself in the way of the deadly ravenous chainsaw wielding maniac".

Or something like that...


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## Stihlman441 (May 3, 2011)

Steady on champ i was doing the 'sorry australian natives' thing.
The only carbon positive thing this wood will give off is heat and ash.:msp_biggrin:


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## MCW (May 3, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Steady on champ i was doing the 'sorry australian natives' thing.
> The only carbon positive thing this wood will give off is heat and ash.:msp_biggrin:



Well Andrew you have left a photo open to manipulation 

That heat and ash certainly will be positive once the temps drop a lot  I doubt you'll be getting reimbursed for carbon credits though!
In fact I think I'm WAAAY in the red


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## husq2100 (May 3, 2011)

well if anyone does give you greif, let them know it was an anti-errosion effort......those big dead trees end up going over and removng a hell of alot of the creek/river bank in the process....


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## Stihlman441 (May 3, 2011)

A few more pics of the cut up


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## Stihlman441 (May 4, 2011)

This was the last cut for the day and it was raining,the chain needed a bit of a sort out bye then.
Vid was done on a iphone so not real flash.
The wood being wet has realy shown its colour.

[video=youtube;s_YFXMI8Y9w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_YFXMI8Y9w[/video]


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## pbtree (May 4, 2011)

Thanks for sharing - nice work there!


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## Cedar Ed (May 4, 2011)

Nice job keeping the tree out of the river.I like the picture of the bees and that is some red looking saw dust,wow.


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## Stihlman441 (May 4, 2011)

More pics,are ya gettin sick of them yet ?.


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## masculator (May 4, 2011)

MCW said:


> Good stuff Andrew and well done on the felling technique you used too. I bet you're glad she was solid the whole way through or it may not have ended up in your favour
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I had a similar experience with a redgum a few years back full of bees, I cut to about an inch of where the hive was without them even seeming to care. The minute I tried to take some of the wax from the outer edge of the hive they just went spastic, had them stuck in my hair stinging my head, others were like strike fighters coming in for the attack got stung more times than I care to count. Guess I should add that I am allergic to the little blighters, so I had a headache for weeks just to get a few slabs. was in a similar spot to your tree there right on the bank of a river, I jumped down the bank about 30 ft with the bees chasing me, they followed me about 30 yards the other side of the river. I let them settle for a couple of hours before I went back for the slabs. It would have looked funny as fark to anyone who was watching....lol


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## masculator (May 4, 2011)

shame you didn't get a few nice benchtop slabs out of that one.


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## MCW (May 4, 2011)

How did your filters hold up Andrew?


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## Stihlman441 (May 4, 2011)

MCW said:


> How did your filters hold up Andrew?


 
I have been meaning to report on this so here goes.
I have had problems with this before so this is what i did.On the 660 i put a little grease along the seal edge and arund the screw hole in the middle of the filter.On the black plastic carb spit back cover (some have a blue foam thingy) i sprayed it with Triflow (teflon lube) which left a oily covering,did this inside and out.The day i dropped the tree the weather was dry but the dust from the tree wasnt to bad because of the floods there was a lot of moister in it.Next day clean saw and filter,the was the usuall cover of crap on the outer felt band filter,blow it and the filter out with air as normal.Got some paper towel and gave the carb spit back cover a wipe and you got it red dust which has gorne *throw* the filters.
On the 880 i put that oiled uni filter over the normal filter and did the same grease and Triflow trick (there is no spit back cover on 880 but an alloy suround a that i oiled )and gave it a good work out as you have seen.Come clean time the uni filter was full on crap as expected,gave the carb alloy suround a wipe and nice no red dust all, is good.
I have seen the new HD filters on the new modle 440 wonder if they are any good ?.


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## MCW (May 4, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> I have been meaning to report on this so here goes.
> I have had problems with this before so this is what i did.On the 660 i put a little grease along the seal edge and arund the screw hole in the middle of the filter.On the black plastic carb spit back cover (some have a blue foam thingy) i sprayed it with Triflow (teflon lube) which left a oily covering,did this inside and out.The day i dropped the tree the weather was dry but the dust from the tree wasnt to bad because of the floods there was a lot of moister in it.Next day clean saw and filter,the was the usuall cover of crap on the outer felt band filter,blow it and the filter out with air as normal.Got some paper towel and gave the carb spit back cover a wipe and you got it red dust which has gorne *throw* the filters.
> On the 880 i put that oiled uni filter over the normal filter and did the same grease and Triflow trick (there is no spit back cover on 880 but an alloy suround a that i oiled )and gave it a good work out as you have seen.Come clean time the uni filter was full on crap as expected,gave the carb alloy suround a wipe and nice no red dust all, is good.
> I have seen the new HD filters on the new modle 440 wonder if they are any good ?.



Yeah thats what I thought mate which is why I asked. The 660 I sent you had the newer HD Filter on it which seemed to be holding up OK however this was only on Casuarina. The dust from Casuarinas is like a house brick compared to Redgum and I honestly doubt the HD filter on that 660 will pass the dead Redgum test. Very few filters do and like you mentioned it just goes straight through. Like you I also give the intake a bit of a squirt with the filter oil as it holds a bit of the dust that gets through and makes it easy to tell if your filter has failed or not. Filter Oil certainly does work but as you've seen makes the filters block up in 1/5th the time


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## Stihlman441 (May 4, 2011)

Ya cheers mate,all my filters are the same as on your 660.


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## Stihlman441 (May 4, 2011)

More for your eye balls to look at.
The boat anchor is going good.

[video=youtube;9HpSx52attc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HpSx52attc[/video]


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## masculator (May 4, 2011)

MCW said:


> Yeah thats what I thought mate which is why I asked. The 660 I sent you had the newer HD Filter on it which seemed to be holding up OK however this was only on Casuarina. The dust from Casuarinas is like a house brick compared to Redgum and I honestly doubt the HD filter on that 660 will pass the dead Redgum test. Very few filters do and like you mentioned it just goes straight through. Like you I also give the intake a bit of a squirt with the filter oil as it holds a bit of the dust that gets through and makes it easy to tell if your filter has failed or not. Filter Oil certainly does work but as you've seen makes the filters block up in 1/5th the time



GEEEZ, that would mean I have to clean em 5 times for every tank of fuel.

have you tried without the airbox cover, just using the nut out of it? If so what did you find? 

it is honestly the only major letdown I find with the 660, that and the way the second muffler ports direction of hot exhaust burning the paint off.


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## MCW (May 4, 2011)

masculator said:


> GEEEZ, that would mean I have to clean em 5 times for every tank of fuel.
> 
> have you tried without the airbox cover, just using the nut out of it? If so what did you find?
> 
> it is honestly the only major letdown I find with the 660, that and the way the second muffler ports direction of hot exhaust burning the paint off.



Ah, good old filter cleaning...
I haven't tried without the airbox cover but one guy I know who had the Extreme Filter setup on his 880 (you can't run the cover with this setup) said it helped a lot. In all honesty the air injected saws suffer big time with the really fine stuff. Air injection is only designed to expel heavier particles like large woodchips and actually makes matters worse with fine stuff. Thats why non air injected saws like the Dolmar 7900 and HD filter kit fair a lot better in conditions like ours than either the pro Huskys or Stihls as they pull air in from the rear of the saw by the switch and rear handle. Not to mention the paper element in the Dolmars is better


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## MCW (May 4, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> More for your eye balls to look at.
> The boat anchor is going good.



You need to sharpen your chain Andrew, I mean look at all the dust 

That has to be some of the reddest Redgum I've ever seen. That is some bloody nice wood there old son. I have a retired farmer I deal with who has a big dollar wood lathe who'd give a left nut for some of that. His lathe will turn up to 800mm.


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## Stihlman441 (May 4, 2011)

Ha dont start at me with this sharpen ya chain bull sh_t ha ha.
The vid was done on a iphone colour may not be spot on but it was raining which brings the colour out.
I will post ya up a bit dia 800 mil by how long ya wont ?.


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## MCW (May 4, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Ha dont start at me with this sharpen ya chain bull sh_t ha ha.
> The vid was done on a iphone colour may not be spot on but it was raining which brings the colour out.
> I will post ya up a bit dia 800 mil by how long ya wont ?.



Hey don't post it mate, Australia Post will break it and charge you $500 for the privelage! If you can keep a bit aside that'd be great, especially if it's got some interesting grain in it. I'll catch up with you at some time and grab it


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## BlackOakTreeServ (May 4, 2011)

Very nice job, glad you sorted things out :msp_biggrin:...keep the vids coming!


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## Stihlman441 (May 5, 2011)

Another vid,done on a iphone so not the best.

[video=youtube;lLrV3piV6xk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLrV3piV6xk[/video]


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## Stihlman441 (May 5, 2011)

MCW said:


> Hey don't post it mate, Australia Post will break it and charge you $500 for the privelage! If you can keep a bit aside that'd be great, especially if it's got some interesting grain in it. I'll catch up with you at some time and grab it


 
No probs champ,ya i think they could brake it without trying haha.


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## MCW (May 5, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> No probs champ,ya i think they could brake it without trying haha.



They'd wreck it faster than you did with that 880


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## Stihlman441 (May 5, 2011)

Ya im happy with the boat anchor its going good,i have been playing with the tune but its a bit hard with that rev limiter,its a bit strange the H screw is allmost full rich but it doesnt really show it.


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## Stihlman441 (May 6, 2011)

MCW said:


> Yeah thats what I thought mate which is why I asked. The 660 I sent you had the newer HD Filter on it which seemed to be holding up OK however this was only on Casuarina. The dust from Casuarinas is like a house brick compared to Redgum and I honestly doubt the HD filter on that 660 will pass the dead Redgum test. Very few filters do and like you mentioned it just goes straight through. Like you I also give the intake a bit of a squirt with the filter oil as it holds a bit of the dust that gets through and makes it easy to tell if your filter has failed or not. Filter Oil certainly does work but as you've seen makes the filters block up in 1/5th the time


 
Ha Matt,i have a plan for the weekend cutting up the rest and another redgum.I found a sheet of foam about 8 mm thick which i cut into a strip (bit like the felt pre filter on the outside) and i sprayed it with filter oil and put it in the inside of the filter,so if any dust goes through the filter it will be trapped by my foam.See what happens anyway.


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## billyj (May 6, 2011)

looks like a nice lot of redgum you have there


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## heimannm (May 6, 2011)

Excellent thread, thanks for all the photo's and details. It is always a good feeling when one like that is on the ground.

Be careful with anything you put inside the filter. 

I was runnning one of my big McCulloch saws on the bench one day with the air filter cover and the air filter off. I noticed foam rubber spit back absorber looked a little loose and the next instant it was sucked into the carburetor.

The saw didn't even miss a beat, and I never found one scrap of that foam rubber anywhere...

Mark


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## NORMZILLA44 (May 7, 2011)

Very nice! I was really impressed with youre pics, and techniques. I work for the county road dept here in California, and we have alot of giant blue gums I believe. We had a few come down last winter, and I was transferred to a different yard which has alot of them come down. We bring back what we can for firewood. I had never cut or burned eucalyptus, found out that it is tougher than [email protected]#[email protected], and Heavy as hell. Probably the toughest wood I have cut. I wondered if it was worth the extra effort for firewood. After my first winter burning it I can say you better believe it is! Know I love it I hunt for it like gold. Glad I have the 660, and 2101 to handle it! You aussies have always impressed the hell out of me, with youre big tree cutting, and pig hunting with dogs. Those are also two of mt favorite past times! Norm..........


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## AUSSIE1 (May 7, 2011)

NORMZILLA44 said:


> Very nice! I was really impressed with youre pics, and techniques. I work for the county road dept here in California, and we have alot of giant blue gums I believe. We had a few come down last winter, and I was transferred to a different yard which has alot of them come down. We bring back what we can for firewood. I had never cut or burned eucalyptus, found out that it is tougher than [email protected]#[email protected], and Heavy as hell. Probably the toughest wood I have cut. I wondered if it was worth the extra effort for firewood. After my first winter burning it I can say you better believe it is! Know I love it I hunt for it like gold. Glad I have the 660, and 2101 to handle it! You aussies have always impressed the hell out of me, with youre big tree cutting, and pig hunting with dogs. Those are also two of mt favorite past times! Norm..........


 
Good to hear you enjoy that Bluegum Norm. I don't use Bluegum here with the other species available. I hear there is Redgum, as Andrew is cutting here, scattered in various spots around the US amongst other species of Euco's. I have species here that make Bluegum feel like softwood. Redbox, Yellowbox, Greybox etc. A small piece of Greybox for instance feels like you are picking up a brick! Also depends on where some of the species are located of course as far as density. Where Matt (MCW) is located, some of his species can be alot harder/denser than here.


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## NORMZILLA44 (May 7, 2011)

Holy [email protected]#[email protected] harder! Well hats of to you guy's, but thats why they make some big saws like we got for sure. I love it Big saw's and not to forget the big dog's the Bull ARAB'S! Id love to see some more pictures of the big eucs! Norm........


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## AUSSIE1 (May 7, 2011)

Sorry for the highjack Andrew!

The piece out the left is still well attached to give you and idea of the size. Unfortunately there aren't any beasts around here of this size anymore.


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## AUSSIE1 (May 7, 2011)

Yellowbox






Yellowbox






Redbox. Too hard to split by hand!


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## Rudolf73 (May 7, 2011)

That Redbox looks polished Al, I'm sure the chain liked it.


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## AUSSIE1 (May 7, 2011)

Rudolf73 said:


> That Redbox looks polished Al, I'm sure the chain liked it.


 
Wet mate! :msp_thumbup:


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## Rudolf73 (May 7, 2011)

AUSSIE1 said:


> Wet mate! :msp_thumbup:


 
Very nice, looks similar to iron bark which is a slightly darker red and I'm guessing it has a similar hardness.


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## husq2100 (May 7, 2011)

to hard to be split by hand..........limp wristed nissan drivers


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## tdi-rick (May 7, 2011)

IMO Iron Bark is easier to cut than Box, what do you think Al ?


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## tdi-rick (May 7, 2011)

husq2100 said:


> to hard to be split by hand..........limp wristed nissan drivers





Give him heaps Serg :msp_thumbsup:





Except this limp wristed Defender driver ended up with a bad case of tennis elbow trying to split the White Box from hell.

It'd even stall out the 30tonne splitter I have use of unless you really upped the revs to near the governor on the Kubota diesel. :msp_ohmy:


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## o8f150 (May 7, 2011)

mtngun said:


> Impressive pics. I especially enjoyed this one of you using brute strength to push the tree over.


 
thats not brute strength,,, thats called tree sex:msp_biggrin:


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## AUSSIE1 (May 7, 2011)

husq2100 said:


> to hard to be split by hand..........limp wristed nissan drivers



Nah, we don't have to prove ourselves! :hmm3grin2orange:



tdi-rick said:


> IMO Iron Bark is easier to cut than Box, what do you think Al ?



Couldn't say Rick, haven't cut any Ironbark. There is a beaut stand over near Chiltern only 20mins away but I'd get strung up caught in that forest!

I want to plant some at home. Love that tree with the dark bark and pale leaf.


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## o8f150 (May 7, 2011)

that is some neat colored wood


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## NORMZILLA44 (May 7, 2011)

Right on nice pics man!!! Thank for showing them!!


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## tdi-rick (May 7, 2011)

o8f150 said:


> thats not brute strength,,, thats called tree sex:msp_biggrin:



Sometimes a little lovin gets you further than when wielding a big stick


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## AUSSIE1 (May 7, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> Give him heaps Serg :msp_thumbsup:



Hey Rick, that Landy looks stuck.....need the Nissan to come and snatch it?


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## tdi-rick (May 7, 2011)

AUSSIE1 said:


> [snip]
> 
> Couldn't say Rick, haven't cut any Ironbark. There is a beaut stand over near Chiltern only 20mins away but I'd get strung up caught in that forest!
> 
> I want to plant some at home. Love that tree with the dark bark and pale leaf.



There's not a lot around here either, the soils too good but about 30-40km away they're pretty prolific.
A lot of fence posts, etc around here are old Iron Bark, and it's one of the preferred firewood species here.
It seems to predominate in gravelly/iron stone/crappy soils.

Where I was born Iron Barks are a dominant species. I miss the dead straight black trunks and pretty red flowers.
SWMBO isn't that fussed on them though, so i doubt we'll get any in here.
Looks like i might be planting more Red Gums though after I threw a few in and they appear to really take well to deep stem planting. She's decided they look pretty after admiring a few big old ones along the highway and beside the river . :msp_biggrin:


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## tdi-rick (May 7, 2011)

AUSSIE1 said:


> Hey Rick, that Landy looks stuck.....need the Nissan to come and snatch it?



:msp_rolleyes:

Didn't you notice the winch on the front ? :msp_tongue:


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## AUSSIE1 (May 7, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> :msp_rolleyes:
> 
> Didn't you notice the winch on the front ? :msp_tongue:


 
Sorry mate, HAD to go and perc a Lavazza and slice some apple strudel cake! 

Sorry mate couldn't see it.


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## AUSSIE1 (May 7, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> There's not a lot around here either, the soils too good but about 30-40km away they're pretty prolific.
> A lot of fence posts, etc around here are old Iron Bark, and it's one of the preferred firewood species here.
> It seems to predominate in gravelly/iron stone/crappy soils.
> 
> ...


 
Yes the flowers! :msp_thumbup:

Have planted a couple of years back some Red Bloodwood but haven't flowered as yet. I think these are along the same lines but haven't looked into it yet.

http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/26_5499.htm


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## tdi-rick (May 7, 2011)

AUSSIE1 said:


> Sorry mate, HAD to go and perc a Lavazza and slice some apple strudel cake!
> 
> Sorry mate couldn't see it.



Only chit stirring.

There's a Warn low mount on the front but it's been used more for straightening fences and pulling cows out of dams than for recovery


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## AUSSIE1 (May 7, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> Only chit stirring.
> 
> There's a Warn low mount on the front but it's been used more for straightening fences and pulling cows out of dams than for recovery


 
Yeah the high mount on my thing gets used more for log recovery etc. 1001 uses!

Actually, my high lift jack pulls up more star pickets than lift fourby's!


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## NORMZILLA44 (May 8, 2011)

keep em coming fella's. I love the big tree pics, take downs, live ones whatever! I like seeing the country too. You guy's Hunt?


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## Jacob J. (May 8, 2011)

AUSSIE1 said:


> Couldn't say Rick, haven't cut any Ironbark. There is a beaut stand over near Chiltern only 20mins away but I'd get strung up caught in that forest!
> 
> I want to plant some at home. Love that tree with the dark bark and pale leaf.


 
Hey Al-

Is that Redbox too hard for furniture making?


----------



## tdi-rick (May 8, 2011)

Jacob J. said:


> Hey Al-
> 
> Is that Redbox too hard for furniture making?



Sergio would be the one to answer that, he's the chippy here


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## AUSSIE1 (May 8, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> Sergio would be the one to answer that, he's the chippy here


 


Jacob J. said:


> Hey Al-
> 
> Is that Redbox too hard for furniture making?



Yeah Jacob, Serg would know.

I don't think it's so much the hardness but the grain is apparently too short. There is a name for it, but I can't seem to find it.

Redbox was apparently introduced to California and some other states of the US.


----------



## Rudolf73 (May 8, 2011)

AUSSIE1 said:


> Yeah Jacob, Serg would know.
> 
> I don't think it's so much the hardness but the grain is apparently too short. There is a name for it, but I can't seem to find it.
> 
> Redbox was apparently introduced to California and some other states of the US.


 
Yeah I know what you mean about the short grain - The wood seems to chip easily when you are doing fine edges, etc. I have made a few things for the house out of 'hard' hard woods and traditional wood working tools have a tough time. A hand plane has to be really sharp or it just won't cut properly, I tried an electric plane and it shuddered quite a bit. I also tried turning some iron bark on the lathe but it burnt out the motor...

But there are people who make furniture out of this hard wood and have adapted their tools accordingly. Tungsten tips are important and high speed seems to help.


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## husq2100 (May 8, 2011)

Jacob J. said:


> Hey Al-
> 
> Is that Redbox too hard for furniture making?


 
depends...................

back in the settlement days, not that long ago here, there wasnt alot of money and they would have made do with what they had, simple rough furniture.....learning as they went what worked easy/r and did the job. With the inflow of familes and money furniture makers would have looked for timbers that had similar characteristics to what they had back home(uk) Alot of the old homes in Queensland used hardwoods like ironbark for bearers and joists, Hoop pine for flooring, VJ (vertical Joint) boards that lined the rooms, skirtings architraves, rafters. Silky Oak was used for window and door joinery. Im not quite sure of the southern states....I have an old Qld Red Ceder chest of draws or i think you call them tall boys, its about 4 1/2 foot wide, 5 foot high and 1 1/12 foot deep, baley twists up the sides and maybe maple nobs....beautiful piece. Blackwood was used extensively in furniture. Silky oak was very widely used in furniture, from basic pieces to more ornate....im thinking maybe our version of shaker style?????

im no expert by a loooooooooonnnnnnnngggggg way, just a chippie and only youngish...im guessing Bobl would be VERY knowledgeable on this stuff

as for these days, alot of turners use the knarly stuff to make use of its uniqueness. Im sure people have made use of it for use sake, ive seen some big slab furinture, not my cup of tea, not 100% sure on its use in high end fine furniture. I can tell you that sharpening angles get steeper on chisel's and hand planes. The thin kerf blades that are now near all you can by for contractor saws, dont like it, heat up and warp....elec planers can be used but must be 100% sharp, only remove small depth and if useing a hand held, make sure to keep good slow pressure....

as for aged timber.....I layed some new hoop pine flooring, 19mm thick over an exsisting floor, also 19mm thick in an old Qld'r home, used 65x2.8mm bullet head bright nails, predrilled with a 2.5mm bit
and hand drove.....still had some that would get 85% in and bend, or others that would flush set then when punched drift sideways...


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## Stihlman441 (May 10, 2011)

NORMZILLA44 said:


> keep em coming fella's. I love the big tree pics, take downs, live ones whatever! I like seeing the country too. You guy's Hunt?


 
Cheers mate i will put some more pics up soon and yar i do a lot of hunting,rabbits,foxes,hoppers,pigs,deer,buffalo,goats and ducks.


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## Stihlman441 (May 10, 2011)

Hi guys stihl havn't got this redgum dust thing sorted out,i tried the filter oiled foam inside the filter but i think it restricted the air flow to much and choked the 660 up and i would not run any good.So for know i have sprayed the spit back cover in and out with filter oil to catch most of the dust that gets through the filter.
This is the set up i tried.


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## Stihlman441 (May 10, 2011)

The last few days gust been noodle ling these blokes up ready for the splitter, splitting,loading and bringing home the rewords.






These blocks were huge 





This splitter is or sum nothing stops it.


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## Stihlman441 (May 10, 2011)

I have worked out we have got about 16 tonne from this one tree and there is another about the same size up next.


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## Stihlman441 (May 10, 2011)

This is the second Red gum to be felled,had to get rid of some boxthords (ozzy weed not very friendly) first,had a bit of trouble as you will see,falling into river was out.Used the 880 with 50'' bar to do the job.I think there is about 10 ton of wood in this one,wonted to slab some of this one but cooky (farmer) and mate wont there bit and the center was rotten.

[video=youtube;KWJpIi7e03w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWJpIi7e03w[/video]


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## MCW (May 10, 2011)

So the good old dead Redgum and filter predicament continues eh? You may have to get a Dolmar Andrew with the HD filter 
Good job on the trees 
I may be mistaken but your 880 sounds like it's running very rich. Not sure what your thoughts are but it sounds like it's 4 stroking way too much. I'd never noticed that in any of your other 880 vids?
Your mate on the camera in that last video was lucky not to get speared by a flying Redgum branch either  I've seen dead gums throw branches out the canopy like javelins when they hit the deck. I've even worn a few from a dead Pink Gum while standing back at the stump end - they sprang back out of the canopy when it hit the deck. One off the helmet and one in the shoulder


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## masculator (May 10, 2011)

looks like you are only running the standard hd filter have you tried the hd 2 extreme condition filter? I find it makes a difference if you run the tag thing to the top side of the filter too cause if you look under the elastic the ends of the felt do not meet and the fine dust can get through the less able to filter elastic. perhaps try running a bit of fine cloth under this section of the filter. Do you find the same issue with the 880? I would expect that you would be. also how often are you cleaning the filter? I find I have to clean mine EVERY tank of fuel or it will clog and then it has to suck the really fine crud through the filter felt. I am going to try without the air box on my next trip out, just the filter and sealing nut.


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## Stihlman441 (May 10, 2011)

MCW said:


> So the good old dead Redgum and filter predicament continues eh? You may have to get a Dolmar Andrew with the HD filter
> Good job on the trees
> I may be mistaken but your 880 sounds like it's running very rich. Not sure what your thoughts are but it sounds like it's 4 stroking way too much. I'd never noticed that in any of your other 880 vids?
> Your mate on the camera in that last video was lucky not to get speared by a flying Redgum branch either  I've seen dead gums throw branches out the canopy like javelins when they hit the deck. I've even worn a few from a dead Pink Gum while standing back at the stump end - they sprang back out of the canopy when it hit the deck. One off the helmet and one in the shoulder


 
Ha Matt dont send a Dolmar down what ever you do.The 880 is a wisker rich but its that rev limitter coil and without much load it sounds 4 stroky or not at full throttle.When she is loaded up and at full noise shes going great.


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## Stihlman441 (May 10, 2011)

masculator said:


> looks like you are only running the standard hd filter have you tried the hd 2 extreme condition filter? I find it makes a difference if you run the tag thing to the top side of the filter too cause if you look under the elastic the ends of the felt do not meet and the fine dust can get through the less able to filter elastic. perhaps try running a bit of fine cloth under this section of the filter. Do you find the same issue with the 880? I would expect that you would be. also how often are you cleaning the filter? I find I have to clean mine EVERY tank of fuel or it will clog and then it has to suck the really fine crud through the filter felt. I am going to try without the air box on my next trip out, just the filter and sealing nut.


 
Thanks for your input,have not seen a hd 2 filter have you got a pic.
On the 880 im using a uni filter and have no probs there.


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## NORMZILLA44 (May 11, 2011)

All this time I thought was being anal, and was the only one who put the stihl tag on the outer cover up, because sucks more chips at the bottom. Im glad somebody else noticed!! LOL!! And thats what I would suggest maybe the foam uni filters the max flo oil type. Never used one on a saw used to on dirt bikes they worked good. But I hear it keeps the carb pristine.


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## tdi-rick (May 11, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Ha Matt dont send a Dolmar down what ever you do.
> [snip]



I don't blame you. 

It just wouldn't be right showing up the 460 and be right on the heels of the 660 with a lighter, less vibey saw :hmm3grin2orange:


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## Stihlman441 (May 11, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> I don't blame you.
> 
> It just wouldn't be right showing up the 460 and be right on the heels of the 660 with a lighter, less vibey saw :hmm3grin2orange:


 
He can send one down no probs but joke is the last thing Matt sent down got broken.


----------



## billyj (May 11, 2011)

just a thought on the dust issues, have you considered using something like this, there very common among dirt bikers particularlly in very dusty conditions


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## MCW (May 11, 2011)

masculator said:


> looks like you are only running the standard hd filter have you tried the hd 2 extreme condition filter? I find it makes a difference if you run the tag thing to the top side of the filter too cause if you look under the elastic the ends of the felt do not meet and the fine dust can get through the less able to filter elastic. perhaps try running a bit of fine cloth under this section of the filter. Do you find the same issue with the 880? I would expect that you would be. also how often are you cleaning the filter? I find I have to clean mine EVERY tank of fuel or it will clog and then it has to suck the really fine crud through the filter felt. I am going to try without the air box on my next trip out, just the filter and sealing nut.



I found my 660 with the HD filter was even letting small amounts of Casuarina dust through. Less than a standard unoiled Husky filter but the same nonetheless. You'll find a big improvement on dust by not running the filter cover as this basically takes the air-injection out of the equation which is good on large chips but makes matters worse on finer particulates.



billyj said:


> just a thought on the dust issues, have you considered using something like this, there very common among dirt bikers particularlly in very dusty conditions



I think you'll find those particular covers are really good on larger particles like sand but haven't got a hope on fine dust particles like we see in our hardwoods. When an advertisement states it will stop 90% of sand that means it definately won't stop 100% of Redgum dust


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## MCW (May 11, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> I don't blame you.
> 
> It just wouldn't be right showing up the 460 and be right on the heels of the 660 with a lighter, less vibey saw :hmm3grin2orange:


 
If it's the modded 7900 it will be well past the heels of a stock 660 mate 

Well past...


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## billyj (May 11, 2011)

MCW said:


> I think you'll find those particular covers are really good on larger particles like sand but haven't got a hope on fine dust particles like we see in our hardwoods. When an advertisement states it will stop 90% of sand that means it definately won't stop 100% of Redgum dust


 
guess the only option left is a dolmar/makita with hd filter then:msp_tongue:


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## tdi-rick (May 11, 2011)

billyj said:


> just a thought on the dust issues, have you considered using something like this, there very common among dirt bikers particularlly in very dusty conditions



It looks like they work like a helmet visor tearoff, you just pull the string to remove when they get clogged up.
A disposable pre-cleaner.


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## billyj (May 11, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> It looks like they work like a helmet visor tearoff, you just pull the string to remove when they get clogged up.
> A disposable pre-cleaner.


 
they pretty much are except you wash, oil and reuse them


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## Stihlman441 (May 11, 2011)

MCW said:


> You need to sharpen your chain Andrew, I mean look at all the dust
> 
> That has to be some of the reddest Redgum I've ever seen. That is some bloody nice wood there old son. I have a retired farmer I deal with who has a big dollar wood lathe who'd give a left nut for some of that. His lathe will turn up to 800mm.


 
Out of that tree there was not a large block that didnt have a little bit rot in it,but i cut up some green soild blocks about 500 mil in dia.I i dont wont his left or his right nut,maybe a nice timber cutting board would be good.Do ya wont the ends painted or anything ?.


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## MCW (May 11, 2011)

billyj said:


> guess the only option left is a dolmar/makita with hd filter then:msp_tongue:



Exactly right 



Stihlman441 said:


> Out of that tree there was not a large block that didnt have a little bit rot in it,but i cut up some green soild blocks about 500 mil in dia.I i dont wont his left or his right nut,maybe a nice timber cutting board would be good.Do ya wont the ends painted or anything ?.



He's old so they'd be saggy nuts mate  Nah use it for firewood mate. I have access to a fair bit of Redgum if I need it in SW New South Wales but the river flat areas have been or still are under water.


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## NORMZILLA44 (May 11, 2011)

Is it just the red gum or other Euacs too? Last year is the first I have ever cut Euac, it was big, and alot of it blue gum. Dindt have a problem. I cut almost all hard wood, and have never had a problem, but if I stop for a break from time to time I will shake the filter out. Mid day maybe. Im just wondering if its just mainly the red gum or other wood too? What about the round k&n filters? Have a good friend of mine who is a oregon faller, and has good luck with em. I have never tried the max flo type, but seems like a good theory. Like I said before use to run em on my dirt bikes, and we were always in that fine powder, and nothing but dust on logging roads they worked good. I realize you dont get saw chips while riding, but that dust is as fine as it gets, and a ton of it!! I think I would look hard at the K&N I know they make alot of specialty filters, and for a good reason. Ive seen there diesel filters too, and was very impressed, and as you guys know disels dont like dust either. I think this filter thing will be a good learning curve for all Its got my curiosity. Good luck Norm...................


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## Stihlman441 (May 11, 2011)

The uni filter that i use on the 880 works a treat, it can be used on the 660 but it is a pain in the ass to get under the filter cover.Yes for me the only probs i have is with dry redgum,which i suppose i don't cut it all the often so what am i going on about.


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## MCW (May 12, 2011)

NORMZILLA44 said:


> Is it just the red gum or other Euacs too? Last year is the first I have ever cut Euac, it was big, and alot of it blue gum. Dindt have a problem. I cut almost all hard wood, and have never had a problem, but if I stop for a break from time to time I will shake the filter out. Mid day maybe. Im just wondering if its just mainly the red gum or other wood too? What about the round k&n filters? Have a good friend of mine who is a oregon faller, and has good luck with em. I have never tried the max flo type, but seems like a good theory. Like I said before use to run em on my dirt bikes, and we were always in that fine powder, and nothing but dust on logging roads they worked good. I realize you dont get saw chips while riding, but that dust is as fine as it gets, and a ton of it!! I think I would look hard at the K&N I know they make alot of specialty filters, and for a good reason. Ive seen there diesel filters too, and was very impressed, and as you guys know disels dont like dust either. I think this filter thing will be a good learning curve for all Its got my curiosity. Good luck Norm...................


 
Red Gum probably has the worst reputation but there are other species just as bad such as Pink Gum etc.
The other things that make a massive difference to the hardness of certain species is the environment they are grown in. In higher rainfall areas less dust is produced and the trees tend to be softer and easier to cut.
For example I've cut Blue Gum in Tasmania in an area probably bordering on a 30" annual rainfall with no issues. The same species in my area with a 10-11" annual rainfall is like cutting concrete with lots of finer dust.
The finer dust that is getting through most filters here is so fine it is impossible to differentiate between individual particles with the naked eye. In a saw's intake tract it basically forms a non gritty paste


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## Stihlman441 (May 12, 2011)

Spot on about the dust Matt,if you had a dry non oily inside of the filter you would not know what was going on.Thats why i use spray filter oil in and on the spit back cover to catch this very fine dust.The filter oil is green but latter you wipe it with paper towel thats when ya see whats going on.:msp_w00t:


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## MCW (May 12, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Spot on about the dust Matt,if you had a dry non oily inside of the filter you would not know what was going on.Thats why i use spray filter oil in and on the spit back cover* to catch this very fine dust*.The filter oil is green but latter you wipe it with paper towel thats when ya see whats going on.:msp_w00t:



Catch _some of it_ you mean 

We'd all pee our pants if they made intakes from white plastic


----------



## NORMZILLA44 (May 13, 2011)

Thanks fella's good info. So do you burn up saws, or just constantly clean filters? Im just curious how much, and often it get's through? Also has anyone tried the K&N type I mentioned before, just curious how they perform? Thanks Norm..........


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## Stihlman441 (May 13, 2011)

For me i dont get dry redgum very often (like trying to find hens teeth) but so far the uni filter on the 880 works good (pic earlyer in thread) have been taking a spare filter and spray on oil filter oil,paper towel and change and clean often.


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## tdi-rick (May 13, 2011)

NORMZILLA44 said:


> Thanks fella's good info. So do you burn up saws, or just constantly clean filters? Im just curious how much, and often it get's through? Also has anyone tried the K&N type I mentioned before, just curious how they perform? Thanks Norm..........


 

K&N's are pretty ordinary in terms of filtration Norm.

I can't vouch for them compared to an average saw filter (and most of those are very average) but compared to a normal car/truck paper element (what the filtration engineers call cellulose fibre ) they are very ordinary. 

Husq2100 and I know a bloke on another forum that is a bona fide filtration engineer.

To see how a K&N performed against a standard 4WD type and Donaldson paper elements I sent him a K&N and two different brand paper filters one OE, one Donaldson) and he tested them in the lab equipment at work (He's a university professor involved in filtration research, and has done work for Cummins Filtration/Fleetgaurd and is currently doing work for Mann-Hummel. Mann, Cummins and Donaldson's R&D budgets probably exceed K&N's total sales ) 

Anyway, the K&N didn't do so well against the paper filters in what it caught, a lot went straight through, right in the size ranges that cause a lot of wear.


----------



## masculator (May 13, 2011)

billyj said:


> guess the only option left is a dolmar/makita with hd filter then:msp_tongue:



or a standard shindaiwa 757...lol, maybe a modded solo 681, personally by what I have seen of the dolmars/makitas they are good but still not the be all and end all. and when you buy one local you are looking about $1200 plus another $260 for the hd filter plus what ever it costs to get the modding done which brings their cost up to similar or more than what a ms 660 costs. And they will not last as long, regardless of how good their hd filter is. In fact guys I know that cut redgum regularly that have had them will not even look at them again.


----------



## masculator (May 13, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> K&N's are pretty ordinary in terms of filtration Norm.
> 
> I can't vouch for them compared to an average saw filter (and most of those are very average) but compared to a normal car/truck paper element (what the filtration engineers call cellulose fibre ) they are very ordinary.
> 
> ...



only gotta look at a k&n to see how good it isn't. if you can see through a filter the dust gets through, and every k&n I have seen you could read a newspaper through.


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## porky616 (May 13, 2011)

ive given up trying to fight with the dust ive put rebuilds on the same list as bars and chains. the time and money ive wasted trying to stop it would have payed for a couple of rebuilds all ready. when they stop making spares for my 66 then i will worry bout the wear and tear. 
just my 10 cents worth


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## masculator (May 13, 2011)

NORMZILLA44 said:


> Is it just the red gum or other Euacs too? Last year is the first I have ever cut Euac, it was big, and alot of it blue gum. Dindt have a problem. I cut almost all hard wood, and have never had a problem, but if I stop for a break from time to time I will shake the filter out. Mid day maybe. Im just wondering if its just mainly the red gum or other wood too? What about the round k&n filters? Have a good friend of mine who is a oregon faller, and has good luck with em. I have never tried the max flo type, but seems like a good theory. Like I said before use to run em on my dirt bikes, and we were always in that fine powder, and nothing but dust on logging roads they worked good. I realize you dont get saw chips while riding, but that dust is as fine as it gets, and a ton of it!! I think I would look hard at the K&N I know they make alot of specialty filters, and for a good reason. Ive seen there diesel filters too, and was very impressed, and as you guys know disels dont like dust either. I think this filter thing will be a good learning curve for all Its got my curiosity. Good luck Norm...................



Aussie hardwoods are nothing like the american timbers. Even the american hardwoods cut chips or shavings, Our timbers even the softer ones tend to form a lot of very powdery almost dry looking dust, of these the red/dark pink coloured timbers seem to be the worst, although some of the yellow coloured ones can be harder to cut (central nsw yellow box for example.) Even with very sharp chains redgum will powder like a blunt chain in american hardwood.

Also the question was asked if I had a pic of the hd2 extreme duty filter, if you have your manual it is in there, or look up stihl or ask your dealer for one.


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## tdi-rick (May 13, 2011)

masculator said:


> or a standard shindaiwa 757...lol, maybe a modded solo 681, personally by what I have seen of the dolmars/makitas they are good but still not the be all and end all. and when you buy one local you are looking about $1200 plus another $260 for the hd filter plus what ever it costs to get the modding done which brings their cost up to similar or more than what a ms 660 costs. And they will not last as long, regardless of how good their hd filter is. In fact guys I know that cut redgum regularly that have had them will not even look at them again.



The 681 filter won't hold up in that sort of use, it only has a little more surface area than a standard 7900 flocked filter and the dust will go straight through.
If you're prepared to have three or four, filter oil them and swap during the day they'll be OK, but last time I enquired the 681 filters were a silly price here too. ($60 each or so ??, i really can't remember, but i got a shock)

I don't know how many are running the HD Dolmar filter here, Makita only started bringing them into the country at the end of '09, beginning of '10 and they brought very few in.
Hell, even the local dealer didn't know about them and their pricing as you pointed out is insane.
$70 + freight from the US is a no brainer and it puts the saw well in front of Stihl or Huskies filtration in the larger saws.


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## NORMZILLA44 (May 14, 2011)

Good info Tdi Rick, and Masculator. Thats good to know about K&N Never used one now I never will. Be good to pick the brain of the saw engineers, and see what they could design maybe something better.


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## buzz sawyer (May 14, 2011)

mtngun said:


> Impressive pics. I especially enjoyed this one of you using brute strength to push the tree over.


 
Here he is with the butt log at 7oaks gtg -getting ready to set it down for some cookies.

Stihlman, you are one strong bloke!


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## 7oaks (May 14, 2011)

:msp_ohmy:


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## MCW (May 14, 2011)

masculator said:


> or a standard shindaiwa 757...lol, maybe a modded solo 681, personally by what I have seen of the dolmars/makitas they are good but still not the be all and end all. and when you buy one local you are looking about $1200 plus another $260 for the hd filter plus what ever it costs to get the modding done which brings their cost up to similar or more than what a ms 660 costs. *And they will not last as long, regardless of how good their hd filter is.* In fact guys I know that cut redgum regularly that have had them will not even look at them again.



I sold two 660's and kept my modded Dolmars. The pricing you've used being Australian is relevant to some extent but anybody that bought a Makita 7901 is getting shafted big time, just like anybody that buys saws in Australia, even if they don't realise it. A well modded 7900 will pump a stock 660 in many areas but I'm not questioning the toughness of 660's at all.
Also why won't they last as long? Have you blown a few Dolmars up? This is a common thought yet I'm yet to hear of a 7900 wearing out.
There have been issues with AV mounts when being abused but that can happen with any saws that are being abused.


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## tdi-rick (May 14, 2011)

MCW said:


> [snip]
> There have been issues with AV mounts when being abused but that can happen with any saws that are being abused.



and that was fixed when the overtravel limiter was introduced on the handle AV spring.


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## David (saltas) (May 14, 2011)

*Home made filters*

Oiled Foam filters work
Yes the get dirty
Yess you may need a couple.
That might seem expensive (really cheap engine insurance though)
Maybe you might like to make your own 
You can make a foam filter for a fraction of the price at home.

Go to super cheap or US equivalent walmart? and buy the largest after-market foam filter for a car.

In the motorcycle workshop we used to go and buy a valiant (Chrysler) filter for about $7.50 and cut it up and glue it to gether with contact cement. Mostly this was for bikes that were unpopular and there were no filters in stock in town. 
we made them to look like a UNIFILTER product 

Unifilter Australia Foam Air Filters for Economy and Performance

The bikes got serviced same day and not waiting on a back-ordered filter out of japan.

Tip don't let the misses catch you with here expensive dress making scissors near anything "dirty" or next to the glue :msp_scared:


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## AUSSIE1 (May 14, 2011)

saltas said:


> Oiled Foam filters work
> Yes the get dirty
> Yess you may need a couple.
> That might seem expensive (really cheap engine insurance though)
> ...


 
That's the way mate, have done the same with "other" filters.

I reckon I could get away with the scissors on the filter as it would be less aggravating than cutting my toe nails when my side cutters are locked in the shed!


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## tdi-rick (May 14, 2011)

Oiled foam is better than oiled cotton gauze (and better than most saw filters too) but ultimately it's still not a patch on a good paper filter filter from the testing I've seen.

There are even better media's available now, but are exxy.
The big three (Donaldson, Cummins and Mann-Hummel) hold most of the patents on nano-fibre filters.
They flow as well or better than a K&N, but filter better than paper with a longer service life.


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## MCW (May 15, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> and that was fixed when the overtravel limiter was introduced on the handle AV spring.



Ah ha!



tdi-rick said:


> Oiled foam is better than oiled cotton gauze (and better than most saw filters too) but ultimately it's still not a patch on a good paper filter filter from the testing I've seen.
> 
> There are even better media's available now, but are exxy.
> The big three (Donaldson, Cummins and Mann-Hummel) hold most of the patents on nano-fibre filters.
> They flow as well or better than a K&N, but filter better than paper with a longer service life.



Me thinks you need to talk to your filter mate and grab some nano-fibre (steal some) for chainsaw testing...


----------



## Stihlman441 (May 15, 2011)

buzz sawyer said:


> Here he is with the butt log at 7oaks gtg -getting ready to set it down for some cookies.
> 
> Stihlman, you are one strong bloke!


 
Ya nice haha,dont f_ck with me or i will take your trees away.:msp_biggrin:


----------



## masculator (May 15, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> Oiled foam is better than oiled cotton gauze (and better than most saw filters too) but ultimately it's still not a patch on a good paper filter filter from the testing I've seen.
> 
> There are even better media's available now, but are exxy.
> The big three (Donaldson, Cummins and Mann-Hummel) hold most of the patents on nano-fibre filters.
> They flow as well or better than a K&N, but filter better than paper with a longer service life.



Well why not try the stihl HD2 extreme condition filter? by what I understand (i haven't actually seen one) they are a pleated fabric/paper filter, and offer much better protection than the standard and I can guarantee they would be less than the $260 for the makita/ dolmar hd filter.


----------



## tdi-rick (May 15, 2011)

MCW said:


> Me thinks you need to talk to your filter mate and grab some nano-fibre (steal some) for chainsaw testing...



He was going to make one for his 357XP 'till he fried it.

I think Sergio has it ATM for repairs.


----------



## tdi-rick (May 15, 2011)

masculator said:


> Well why not try the stihl HD2 extreme condition filter? by what I understand (i haven't actually seen one) they are a pleated fabric/paper filter, and offer much better protection than the standard and I can guarantee they would be less than the $260 for the makita/ dolmar hd filter.



Are they even available anymore ?

Didn't Andrew post in his Stihl HD filter thread that Stihl Australia are supplying the Unifilter now as Stihl Germany discontinued the HD filter ?

Or am I getting my threads and topics mixed up ?

And as I keep saying, the Dolmar/Makita HD filter, including new filter base, carby adapter and top cover is US$70 + postage from the US. 
It's here in under a week.


----------



## Stihlman441 (May 16, 2011)

That uni filter i got from the stihl dealer,thats there fix.


----------



## MCW (May 16, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Ya nice haha,dont f_ck with me or i will take your trees away.:msp_biggrin:



Bob Brown would hate your guts Andrew...


----------



## Stihlman441 (May 16, 2011)

Say what ? you have lost me.


----------



## MCW (May 16, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Say what ? you have lost me.


 
Bob Brown, head of the Australian Green's Party.

He'd hate your guts if you could just uproot and carry his trees away


----------



## Stihlman441 (May 16, 2011)

Ok sorry im not very edgamakated.
I could carry them away and hide them so they cant see me um up.


----------



## MCW (May 16, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Ok sorry im not very edgamakated.
> I could carry them away and hide them so they cant see me um up.



Don't worry, Bob Brown is probably even less edgamakated than you are and he's running a whole party. In fact he probably runs a few "hole" parties too


----------



## billyj (May 16, 2011)

i thought julia was just bob browns puppet, i mean as if a polly from melbournes western subs could really run a country....


----------



## MCW (May 16, 2011)

billyj said:


> i thought julia was just bob browns puppet, i mean as if a polly from melbournes western subs could really run a country....



Me thinks you'd be right  Probably far from the first person he's had his hand stuck up...


----------



## billyj (May 16, 2011)

MCW said:


> Me thinks you'd be right  Probably far from the first person he's had his hand stuck up...



thanks matt i dont really want to think about where bob browns hand has been or whats been up julia (shes ulgier in realy life met her a couple of time as sadly shes my local mp) but i definetly wouldnt kick her step daughter out of bed for farting


----------



## David (saltas) (May 16, 2011)

*puppetry*

Puppetry of the Penis: The Ancient Art of Genital Origami DVD


----------



## masculator (May 17, 2011)

billyj said:


> thanks matt i dont really want to think about where bob browns hand has been or whats been up julia (shes ulgier in realy life met her a couple of time as sadly shes my local mp) but i definetly wouldnt kick her step daughter out of bed for farting



Dunno I saw her zoo shoot and honestly I don't think she was much better looking than julia!!!


----------



## MCW (May 17, 2011)

masculator said:


> Dunno I saw her zoo shoot and honestly I don't think she was much better looking than julia!!!



Nasty. Lucky I didn't see it then


----------



## billyj (May 17, 2011)

for the purpose of comparing to julia only....


----------



## Stihlman441 (May 17, 2011)

Nice rose.


----------



## MCW (May 17, 2011)

billyj said:


> for the purpose of comparing to julia only....



*AAAH MY EYES...*

Damn you, I only had laser surgery a year ago...

She is fit though.


----------



## David (saltas) (May 17, 2011)

MCW said:


> *AAAH MY EYES...*
> 
> Damn you, I only had laser surgery a year ago...
> 
> She is fit though.



I had forgotten that I had seen that image befor.

I recommend an immediate application of alcohol.

You could even try drinking some


----------



## MCW (May 17, 2011)

saltas said:


> I recommend an immediate application of alcohol.



I may even apply a naked flame after applying said alcohol...


----------



## rob066 (May 17, 2011)

Nice thanks for sharing. Awesome photos.


----------



## Stihlman441 (May 17, 2011)

Thanks rob066,there will be more when the weather improves.


----------



## buzz sawyer (May 17, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Thanks rob066,there will be more when the weather improves.


 
Just what I need - more subject matter.:hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:


----------



## Stihlman441 (May 21, 2011)

Ok guys got into the second redgum with the 880 and 50'' again can get 8 cuts per tank of fuel .


----------



## Stihlman441 (May 21, 2011)

A couple more


----------



## masculator (May 22, 2011)

you must spit and polish that 880 every cut I reckon!!! I keep my saws clean but that looks like you just bought it and taken it out for its first run.


----------



## porky616 (May 22, 2011)

masculator said:


> you must spit and polish that 880 every cut I reckon!!! I keep my saws clean but that looks like you just bought it and taken it out for its first run.


 
ya gotta treat them 880s real nice or they quit on ya:hmm3grin2orange:


----------



## Stihlman441 (May 22, 2011)

If ya look after them they will look after you


----------



## Stihlman441 (May 22, 2011)

porky616 said:


> ya gotta treat them 880s real nice or they quit on ya:hmm3grin2orange:


 
Yar porky its a resale thing got to keep it nice looking may need to sell it latter on.:msp_rolleyes:


----------



## Stihlman441 (May 24, 2011)

I found another vid i didnt know i had,it was done with an iphone so not the best anyway it was raining which brings out the colour of the redgum when wet.

[video=youtube;TQ8ZSYWGcTY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ8ZSYWGcTY[/video]


----------



## buzz sawyer (May 24, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> I found another vid i didnt know i had,it was done with an iphone so not the best anyway it was raining which brings out the colour of the redgum when wet.


 
I'll say it's red. That 880 really throws the chips!


----------



## 7oaks (May 24, 2011)

buzz sawyer said:


> I'll say it's red. That 880 really throws the chips!


 
:agree2:


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 9, 2011)

A couple of pics from today cutting up the second redgum.


----------



## rburg (Jun 9, 2011)

Is the redgum a good firewood? How hard is it to split? The only gum I cut is sweetgum which is only fair as a firewood and a real pain to split.


----------



## jra1100 (Jun 9, 2011)

Those are some great pic's, it sure is beautiful wood. I know nothing about redgum, is it a hard wood or soft. It looks like it would make beautiful furniture, is it often used for that? I assume that by the way your cutting these trees that they are going to be used for firewood. Is Redgum good firewood, or just plentiful. As I said I know nothing about it other than it is beautiful. JR


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 9, 2011)

Redgum is one of the best firewoods in Ozz,when its dry it is very very hard to cut and split.:msp_rolleyes:
Not good on saws aswell very fine dust gets everywhere and goes through filters.


----------



## tdi-rick (Jun 9, 2011)

rburg said:


> Is the redgum a good firewood? How hard is it to split? The only gum I cut is sweetgum which is only fair as a firewood and a real pain to split.


 


jra1100 said:


> Those are some great pic's, it sure is beautiful wood. I know nothing about redgum, is it a hard wood or soft. It looks like it would make beautiful furniture, is it often used for that? I assume that by the way your cutting these trees that they are going to be used for firewood. Is Redgum good firewood, or just plentiful. As I said I know nothing about it other than it is beautiful. JR


 
River Red Gum is a Eucalypt, _eucalyptus carmaldulensis_

To give you some idea compared to a North American hardwood, it's somewhere between Black Locust and Osage Orange on the Janka scale of timber hardness.

It burns beautifully, very clean and is a lot easier on the saw and operator than some of the other Eucs we routinely use as firewood such as White, Yellow or Grey Box, Blakely's Red Gum, Red Box, etc.
Contrary to what a few in the US think, Eucalyptus isn't one species, there are over 700 of them.


----------



## 2dogs (Jun 9, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Hanging on trying to get the wedge in the back of the tree.


 
I admire the work you guys do just to get firewood. As I've stated here before our eucs which some people call Blue Gum are generally very soft and easy to cut when green though they are heavy as heck. Dry is a different story. Same thing when I move south and inland the wood is much harder. What I don't get is why you guys wear slip-on ballet shoes. Are there no boots (ya know, manly footwear) in Oz? We wear slip on Romeos on the way to the woods and then back home (and cowboy boots of course). Just curious.


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 9, 2011)

The boots thing,for me and many others these boots have steel caps in them and are work issue safety boots, in most cases are free from work,easy on and off.:msp_smile:


----------



## jra1100 (Jun 9, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> River Red Gum is a Eucalypt, _eucalyptus carmaldulensis_
> 
> To give you some idea compared to a North American hardwood, it's somewhere between Black Locust and Osage Orange on the Janka scale of timber hardness.
> 
> ...


 
Somewhere between Locust and Osage Orange!!! Wow that is some hard wood. Another misconception I'm sure, but I thought that it was always warm down there and that there wouldn't be much need for firewood, obviously that is incorrect, but where in Ozz are you located, and what is the average winter and summer temp? I have been fortunate enough to see a good part of the world, but haven't seen Au. or NZ, sure would like to though. Thanks for the education. JR


----------



## tdi-rick (Jun 9, 2011)

That is our manly foorwear 

Almost all of us wear elastic sided work boots, or elastic sided riding boots when doing stock work, although roper style boots are popular for cattle work too.

As Andrew said, easy on, easy off so why use bloody laces ?

yes, we are all lazy 

BTW 2dogs, found out the only Oregon CLX/CJX we can get here is 058 and 063, so 058 is available in square


----------



## 2dogs (Jun 9, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> That is our manly foorwear
> 
> Almost all of us wear elastic sided work boots, or elastic sided riding boots when doing stock work, although roper style boots are popular for cattle work too.
> 
> ...


 
Got it. Thanks.

Do your slip-ons work on steep ground or do you wear something else?


----------



## tdi-rick (Jun 9, 2011)

jra1100 said:


> Somewhere between Locust and Osage Orange!!! Wow that is some hard wood. Another misconception I'm sure, but I thought that it was always warm down there and that there wouldn't be much need for firewood, obviously that is incorrect, but where in Ozz are you located, and what is the average winter and summer temp? I have been fortunate enough to see a good part of the world, but haven't seen Au. or NZ, sure would like to though. Thanks for the education. JR



Well, I'm about 1100km north of Stihlman441 so getting closer to the equator (so it should be getting warmer) and it snows in winter where I am (sometimes) 

Oz has some pretty big ski fields, they just aren't that high so we have to dodge trees.
It's a big place, only a touch smaller than the continental US.

NZ is stunning, totally different geology/geography to here (much much younger land mass) and don't let them know I said this but the Kiwi's are bloody good people too.
You see, when it becomes competitive the Kiwis like nothing more than beating Aussies, sort of like the little brother syndrome


----------



## tdi-rick (Jun 9, 2011)

2dogs said:


> Got it. Thanks.
> 
> Do your slip-ons work on steep ground or do you wear something else?



Mostly they have pretty aggressive soles, I'll take a pic of mine later.

Having said that, my hiking boots are Danner, best damned boots I've ever worn


----------



## jra1100 (Jun 9, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> Well, I'm about 1100km north of Stihlman441 so getting closer to the equator (so it should be getting warmer) and it snows in winter where I am (sometimes)
> 
> Oz has some pretty big ski fields, they just aren't that high so we have to dodge trees.
> It's a big place, only a touch smaller than the continental US.
> ...


 
I'm just guessing, somewhere around Moree? Thanks for the information. JR


----------



## pgg (Jun 9, 2011)

Red gum is good firewood alright, takes damn near two years to dry out properly though. Solid as steel, any knotted red gum is murder to split even when green. When dry you may as well just flail at the stuff with a blunt rubber stick for all the actual splitting that gets done. Dry, it's easier to just block it up to size with your chainsaw. Splits easy enough when straight-grained and green, but it's still like swinging and pounding your splitter into a rock. The Aussie Blundstone "slip-on" boots are OK on the flat or easy country but get down into wet steep slippery gullies and they're not the best (putting it mildly hehe)


----------



## tdi-rick (Jun 10, 2011)

pgg said:


> [snip]
> The Aussie Blundstone "slip-on" boots are OK on the flat or easy country but get down into wet steep slippery gullies and they're not the best (putting it mildly hehe)


 

FWIW I gave up on Blundies nearly twenty years ago.
Soles splitting, elastic dying, etc.

Went through quite a few local brands and have settled on 'Mongrels'.
Cushioned sole, wear well and very comfy.

Our Bushfire fighting boots are 8" tall Taipan's but I find they get my achilles really badly, just the wrong shape for me.


----------



## tdi-rick (Jun 10, 2011)

jra1100 said:


> I'm just guessing, somewhere around Moree? Thanks for the information. JR



Naa, couple of hundred km south east of there.
Moree is big sky country out there, dead flat for as far as the eye can see and bloody hot in summer, I'm back in the hills.


----------



## young (Jun 10, 2011)

@Stihlman441

what chain were you using on the redgum with the 880?


----------



## David (saltas) (Jun 10, 2011)

Work boots







Steep gullies some but most of oz is flat and half of it is desert

I'm along way from the cold country no need for fire wood up here same latitude as Cuba.

There are no more trees in south australia because MCW cut them all down and they now have to make Stobie poles to run the electricity


----------



## tdi-rick (Jun 10, 2011)

saltas said:


> [snip]
> 
> There are no more trees in south australia because MCW cut them all down and they now have to make Stobie poles to run the electricity



So _that's_ who got to them all....:hmm3grin2orange:


----------



## MCW (Jun 10, 2011)

jra1100 said:


> , obviously that is incorrect, but where in Ozz are you located, and what is the average winter and summer temp? I have been fortunate enough to see a good part of the world, but haven't seen Au. or NZ, sure would like to though. Thanks for the education. JR



Temperature ranges vary a lot in Australia. For example where I live in the last 5 years has recorded temperatures between -11°c and 48.1°c. In southern Australia where I live there is a large temperature variation, unlike tropical Australia up north.



saltas said:


> There are no more trees in south australia because MCW cut them all down and they now have to make Stobie poles to run the electricity[/IMG]



Did not...



tdi-rick said:


> So _that's_ who got to them all....:hmm3grin2orange:



Did not again...

I get blamed for everything


----------



## David (saltas) (Jun 10, 2011)

MCW said:


> Temperature ranges vary a lot in Australia. For example where I live in the last 5 years has recorded temperatures between -11°c and 48.1°c. In southern Australia where I live there is a large temperature variation, unlike tropical Australia up north.


 
Yup it is middle of winter and I am wearing shorts thongs and a tee shirt at 11pm out in the shed.

We get two seasons wet and dry...... supposed to be dry now 






doh the radar has updated, did not expect that, I was pissing down when I posted it


----------



## tdi-rick (Jun 10, 2011)

saltas said:


> Yup it is middle of winter and *I am wearing * shorts *thongs* and a tee shirt at 11pm out in the shed.
> 
> We get two seasons wet and dry...... supposed to be dry now



For our overseas readers, Saltas isn't a crossdresser, he is referring to the Australian name for Flip Flops, Jandals, or whatever the hell that basic form of footwear is called in your part of the world.
What is known a s 'thong' in other parts is a 'G String' here.

Just thought I'd clear that up in case the poor bugger got some hate mail.

Or solicitations.

Or worse.


----------



## Rudolf73 (Jun 10, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> For our overseas readers, Saltas isn't a crossdresser, he is referring to the Australian name for Flip Flops, Jandals, or whatever the hell that basic form of footwear is called in your part of the world.
> What is known a s 'thong' in other parts is a 'G String' here.
> 
> Just thought I'd clear that up in case the poor bugger got some hate mail.
> ...


 
Haha good work Rick, we can't have g-strings confused with chinese riding boots. Our overseas friends might get the wrong idea...


----------



## Terry Syd (Jun 10, 2011)

"Chinese riding boots" - hadn't heard that one before, gonna use it, thanks.


----------



## Rudolf73 (Jun 10, 2011)

Terry Syd said:


> "Chinese riding boots" - hadn't heard that one before, gonna use it, thanks.


 
Lol, no worries Terry


----------



## masculator (Jun 11, 2011)

saltas said:


> Work boots
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
Ok OK I must settle this now I can ashamedly say it was my forebears who were actually responsible for a vast amount of the clearing that happened in south australia!! 


Which is why I have moved to victoria to try to continue the tradition!!!!!....lol


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 13, 2011)

young said:


> @Stihlman441
> 
> what chain were you using on the redgum with the 880?


 
On the 880 with a 50'' bar i use Carlton 3/8 .063 skip semi chisel chain and sometimes with a 36'' bar 3/8 .063 full comp semi chisel chains.

On the 660s with 36'' bars we use again Carlton 3/80.063 skip semi chisel and on a 25'' full comp semi chisel chains.


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 13, 2011)

A couple more pics from my phone.


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 13, 2011)

And a vid from my phone.

[video=youtube;boCQP6cpCdY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boCQP6cpCdY[/video]


----------



## Rudolf73 (Jun 13, 2011)

Nice video Andrew, is that your stock 660? Those wedges are pretty handy also :msp_thumbup:


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 13, 2011)

Thats my mates stock 660 he has got three of them two Ozzy ones (dual port) and a USA one (very small single port muff).
I have a new Snellerized (Brads) 660 but i havn't had time to use it yet,don't wont to get i covered in red dust just yet.


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 13, 2011)

Sneak look at the new Snellerized 660


----------



## Bounty Hunter (Jun 13, 2011)

AWESOME JOB Stihlman442!

I just caught this thread, and wanted to chime in with a great job you did dropping that nasty snag, and the follow-up pics and vids were A+++++!

Love the 880...they are born for just that kinda work...

And the Snellerized 660? It's beautiful! Go get it dirty already tho mate, a new saw don't look right sitting next to a woodstack...
You might want to check out an "oversized" clutch cover for it, it covers the chain farther down, and has a rubber "mudflap" like an 880...it helps to keep the chips outta your eyes. You already have the factory "Big Dawgs" and can run a roller chain catcher if you want. 

Yer gonna love that Snellerized saw...Brad Snellerized our 880 and it kick-azz rips...ported with an unlimited coil...gotta love that...

Thanks for the great story, pics, and sharing info...GREAT JOB Brother! :msp_thumbup:


----------



## young (Jun 13, 2011)

cant wait to see a video of your new 660. upgrade the chain catcher to roller catcher and air filter to the hd2 verison unless you have already done so.


----------



## Rudolf73 (Jun 13, 2011)

That is one sweet looking saw man! How did Brad mod the muffler and is it a woods port or serious port job with pop piston etc?

Oh and get it into some wood already, its way to shiny


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 14, 2011)

Its a work saw so maybe that is why he didnt do a dual port muff,its got a popup piston and ceramic coated piston crown,upper cylinder and exhaust port,woods port,cylinder base turned i have only ran it a little bit but seems happy at 14000 w/o rpm.I have a big sugar gum lined up in the next few days to give it a good run in so hang on a bit.


----------



## Rudolf73 (Jun 14, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Its a work saw so maybe that is why he didnt do a dual port muff,its got a popup piston and ceramic coated piston crown,upper cylinder and exhaust port,i have only ran it a little bit but seems happy at 14000 w/o rpm.I have a big sugar gum lined up in the next few days to give it a good run in so hang on a bit.


 
Sounds good!


----------



## isuzurover (Jun 14, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> To give you some idea compared to a North American hardwood, it's somewhere between Black Locust and Osage Orange on the Janka scale of timber hardness.
> 
> Contrary to what a few in the US think, Eucalyptus isn't one species, there are over 700 of them.



Indeed! Over on the west coast of Oz, the two main firewood species are Jarrah (_eucalyptus marginata_) and Karri (_eucalyptus diversicolor_). They are both around ~2000 on the janka scale - so again between the two you mention Rick.

I suspect the old Jarrah we get for firewood is harder again, as you regularly get sparks when cutting it!!!

Speaking of which - I just pruned 0.9T of wood from a mulberry (_morus lactea_) for my parents - it was much harder than I though, and sparks were coming off the wood even though it was green and very wet. Turns out the dry wood has a Janka hardness of ~2900!!!

FYI - In Perth on the west coast of OZ the coldest and hottest temps recorded are 26oF and 116oF.

We probably get through ~ 2 Tonnes of wood each winter.


----------



## tdi-rick (Jun 14, 2011)

Ben, growing conditions obviously have a lot to do with timber 'hardness' and ease of cutting too.

Where Matt lives I think they only average around 10" a year rainfall so the timber is a lot more dense/growth rings closer than they would be in, say, Tassie or even here (30-32"/annum) for the same species.

Serg has often mentioned that Eucs in particular, but I think most species will pull Silica up during hard drought years and it can crystallise in the heartwood, pretty much becoming grains of sand, hence your sparks.
I suppose other times the sparking can be from the chain and rails too, particularly if the oiler isn't keeping up.

Matt mentioned once he chopped up a Chinese Elm (ulmus parviflora I suppose ?) that was as hard as nails, it was probably way back in his 'Todays Job' thread.

One of the other Aussies here, BobL is over in Perth, but Bob spends most of his time in the milling forum.
He's posted some stunning Jarrah and Karri slabs, as well as other beautiful WA timbers.
He's been our resident boffin, but not sure which Uni he's at.

When everyone on here was arguing over the relative hardness/wear characteristics of the different chain brands, Bob took a pile of links and cutters to work and put them through the hardness tester. Didn't stop the arguments though.
Sound familiar


----------



## isuzurover (Jun 14, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> Ben, growing conditions obviously have a lot to do with timber 'hardness' and ease of cutting too.
> 
> One of the other Aussies here, BobL is over in Perth, but Bob spends most of his time in the milling forum.
> He's posted some stunning Jarrah and Karri slabs, as well as other beautiful WA timbers.
> He's been our resident boffin, but not sure which Uni he's at.



Yes I know very well - We were doing some density experiments for a school group recently - got some samples of tas oak from the workshops here. New tas oak isn't much denser than pine. However some ~50 yo stuff sinks!!!

I am pretty sure I have met Bob. I know one of his former colleagues very well. He makes hand tools I recall? And has a Stihl 076(?) for the mill?

I won't say which uni/department, in case he doesn't want it broadcast...

I have made some furniture from 50+ yo jarrah sleepers. The old stuff is much harder and purple-black in colour. The newer stuff is bright red.


EDIT
As for the sparks - definitely not from the bar - I keep the oiler wound all the way up on the husky (and all my saws).

Just found this:
http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=BT9740211.pdf


----------



## koshari (Jun 14, 2011)

isuzurover said:


> I suspect the old Jarrah we get for firewood is harder again, as you regularly get sparks when cutting it!!!
> 
> Speaking of which - I just pruned 0.9T of wood from a mulberry (_morus lactea_) for my parents - it was much harder than I though, and sparks were coming off the wood even though it was green and very wet. Turns out the dry wood has a Janka hardness of ~2900!!!


 

the ti tree i cut up down at loch sport creates a few sparks. very hard stuff when its dry,


----------



## tdi-rick (Jun 14, 2011)

isuzurover said:


> [snip]
> 
> I am pretty sure I have met Bob. I know one of his former colleagues very well. He makes hand tools I recall? And has a Stihl 076(?) for the mill?
> 
> [snip]



Yep, that's Bob !
Some of the photos of the tools he's posted are stunning.


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 14, 2011)

young said:


> cant wait to see a video of your new 660. upgrade the chain catcher to roller catcher and air filter to the hd2 verison unless you have already done so.


 
Ya for some reason the US 660s dont come with roller chain catcher the Ozzy ones do.


----------



## MCW (Jun 14, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> Matt mentioned once he chopped up a Chinese Elm (ulmus parviflora I suppose ?) that was as hard as nails, it was probably way back in his 'Todays Job' thread.



Yeah that Chinese Elm was a funny one Rick. It was certainly hard but the twisted grain played havoc with saws when trying to cut it. The chain just kept wanting to bounce out of the cut. Beautiful grain though - unfortunately my sealed prize log split up the middle, got rain in it, and ended up good for nothing but firewood 



isuzurover said:


> got some samples of tas oak from the workshops here. New tas oak isn't much denser than pine. However some ~50 yo stuff sinks!!!



I'm pretty sure you've been looking at a different species. There is no true Tasmanian Oak tree species but Swamp Gum (Eucalyptus regnans or Mountain Ash on the mainland), Blue Leaf Stringybark (Eucalyptus delegatensis), and to a lesser extent Tasmanian Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus) are all called "Tasmanian Oak" when used in furniture making. Both are quite dense timbers, WAY denser and harder than Pine.

My mum and dad were gutted when I told them their new "Tasmanian Oak" dining table that weighs a tonne and cost a fortune (and is very nice) was a common species of Tasmanian Eucalypt 



isuzurover said:


> I am pretty sure I have met Bob. I know one of his former colleagues very well. He makes hand tools I recall? And has a Stihl 076(?) for the mill?
> 
> I won't say which uni/department, in case he doesn't want it broadcast...



Bob is at Curtin University and certainly no dummy. I've had a few emails from him explaining what he's been involved with and my brain blew a fuse - extremely interesting guy, unless you hate astrophysics


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## Stihlman441 (Jun 14, 2011)

Ha there Matt you talk about Swamp Gums,this is what i call Swamp Gums.Anyway they have thin bark the curls and twists when it drys and as the wood drys it gets very dark in colour.

The trunk part






In this pic there is two Spotted Gums but you can see the leaves on the other so called Swamp Gums


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## David (saltas) (Jun 14, 2011)

Lucky for me BobL has been busy building his shed and did not have time for the WTF thread




saltas said:


> the red line is a hyper cycloid described by a radius of 3 for the circle of x2+y2=2 that is revolving around the inner circumference of the circle X2+y2 = 7
> 
> Just a engineer/nerd/draughts-person/electrician/saw-owner


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## David (saltas) (Jun 14, 2011)

*gotta love common names*

Swamp Gum may refer to a number of Eucalyptus species:
Eucalyptus bensonii, Mountain Swamp Gum
Eucalyptus camphora, Mountain Swamp Gum
Eucalyptus ovata, Swamp Gum
Eucalyptus regnans, Swamp Gum
Eucalyptus rudis, Swamp Gum


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## MCW (Jun 14, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Ha there Matt you talk about Swamp Gums,this is what i call Swamp Gums.Anyway they have thin bark the curls and twists when it drys and as the wood drys it gets very dark in colour.


 


saltas said:


> Swamp Gum may refer to a number of Eucalyptus species:
> Eucalyptus bensonii, Mountain Swamp Gum
> Eucalyptus camphora, Mountain Swamp Gum
> Eucalyptus ovata, Swamp Gum
> ...



In Tassie they only have one common named Swamp Gum, unlike the rest of Australia.
They have the second tallest tree in the world down at Tahune which is a Swamp Gum (Eucalyptus regnans). 
Euclid (the CSIRO's Eucalyptus ID program) which I own is extremely interesting as others here have found. Rick loves it and it has put many people's "tree knowledge" well and truly to rest. It's amazing how many people in my area, including myself, have been calling trees by their wrong name for decades as we were none the wiser.


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## isuzurover (Jun 14, 2011)

MCW said:


> I'm pretty sure you've been looking at a different species. There is no true Tasmanian Oak tree species but Swamp Gum (Eucalyptus regnans or Mountain Ash on the mainland), Blue Leaf Stringybark (Eucalyptus delegatensis), and to a lesser extent Tasmanian Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus) are all called "Tasmanian Oak" when used in furniture making. Both are quite dense timbers, WAY denser and harder than Pine.



Yes I realise the timber sold as "Tassie Oak" can be one of at least 3 different species. The grain and colour always has a very similar appearance though.

OK, pine was a bit of an exaggeration. The pine floated on oil (so <850kg/m3), one sample of "tassie oak" was between 850 and 1000 kg/m3 and others between 1000 and 1200 kg/m3. 

Could be different species, but I have noticed similar issues between "old" (dry?) grown timber and plantation timber of the same species.


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## David (saltas) (Jun 14, 2011)

Swamp bloodwood. 
Corymbia ptychocarpa was formerly known as 
Eucalyptus ptychocarpa prior to a fairly recent reclassification

EUCALYPTUS ROBUSTA Swamp Bloodwood – Swamp Mahogany

I am not any good at Plant ID. I only know those I have studied

There is a gardener at the Townsville Palmetum with asbergers
the guy is a walking dictionary, Scares the biology professors at JCU


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## MCW (Jun 14, 2011)

isuzurover said:


> Yes I realise the timber sold as "Tassie Oak" can be one of at least 3 different species. The grain and colour always has a very similar appearance though.
> 
> *OK, pine was a bit of an exaggeration.* The pine floated on oil (so <850kg/m3), one sample of "tassie oak" was between 850 and 1000 kg/m3 and others between 1000 and 1200 kg/m3.
> 
> Could be different species, but I have noticed similar issues between "old" (dry?) grown timber and plantation timber of the same species.



No worries mate - when you said just above Pine you had me worried  I assume the wood you tested was dry? I've done a few water displacement densities and there is certainly some heavy wood around in Australia. Even Redgum is a lightweight in the grand scale of things.
I've attached an interesting sheet if you haven't seen it already...


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## Stihlman441 (Jun 15, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Its a work saw so maybe that is why he didnt do a dual port muff,its got a popup piston and ceramic coated piston crown,upper cylinder and exhaust port,woods port,cylinder base turned i have only ran it a little bit but seems happy at 14000 w/o rpm.I have a big sugar gum lined up in the next few days to give it a good run in so hang on a bit.


 
Soory guys i was going to give the new 660 a run today with a 36'' bar and compare it to my stock 660 but when i got there someone has beaten me to it and the tree is gorne.

So i went and split Redgum all day,the farmer came down to see us and he said there is another big dead Redgum if you wont it.But it is on the edge of the creek and it has a fair old lean on it and looks a bit mmm dodge,will have to think about it for a bit.


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## Stihlman441 (Jun 17, 2011)

Hi there again,finished the second red gum today cut the last two blocks off the stump with the 880 and 50'' bar and got it all split and home.The last two pics i put water on the stump to bring out the colour.


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## imagineero (Jun 17, 2011)

Are you still using that super axe? I was looking at a used one on ebay the other day, they sure seem a lot of coin for what they are. I've been watching a lot of processor videos lately, and they whole 'x blade' thing seems the way to go, or maybe an X blade plus a 6 or 8 splitter blade. I've been cautiously thinking about building one myself, but I dont know what sort of tonnage I need to drive it. Would be great if I could run it off the hydraulic PTO on my truck, could split on site :-D

Shaun


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## Stihlman441 (Jun 17, 2011)

The next third and last Redgum is going to be interesting again.It is down the creek bank and cant get around the back of it like the first one,i has a lean on it towards us in the first pic and is about 45 to 50'' in dia.It has not been dead that long and the lower bark is full of sand from the floods.We will have to use the winch cable again to guide it from ending up in the creek.
I saw Redgun in Geelong today for $175 per cubic mtre WTF ?.






You can see the lean towords the left from where i took the first pic from.


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## Stihlman441 (Jun 17, 2011)

imagineero said:


> Are you still using that super axe? I was looking at a used one on ebay the other day, they sure seem a lot of coin for what they are. I've been watching a lot of processor videos lately, and they whole 'x blade' thing seems the way to go, or maybe an X blade plus a 6 or 8 splitter blade. I've been cautiously thinking about building one myself, but I dont know what sort of tonnage I need to drive it. Would be great if I could run it off the hydraulic PTO on my truck, could split on site :-D
> 
> Shaun


 
Ha shaun,this Redgum is way to good for the super axe splitter mate,in vic around here the Redgum is very very ordinary as in not much straight grain its all twisted sh_t.
Dont get me wrong i love my super axe its ideal for sugar gum,stringy and stuff,dry is no problem at all but that Redgum will do more harm than good.Its very easy to use and fast,the block lifter is great the only problem with it is if you have a short dry hard block the axe gets past the horizontal it looses a fair bit if its force.I have a spacer to put under the short bits.
The splitter we have been using is a home made one and nothing stops this thing,it may be a little slow but its got very large nackers.There is a pic of it a few pages back.


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## imagineero (Jun 17, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> I saw Redgun in Geelong today for $175 per cubic mtre WTF ?.


 
hehe.... 

That's nothing. I've seen ironbark going for $200~$250/cubic metre up my way. I was trying to buy an arrow 2400 wood heater for a friend this week, can't get one for love nor money. 4-6 weeks wait. Called the factory to see if I can get ahead of the queue or maybe get a factory second, no chance.

The guy was saying this year is the biggest sales of wood heaters they've seen in 20 years, and all manufacturers are snowed under. Most have put on extra staff, extra shifts, sold all their stock, floor models etc. High gas and electricity prices have sent a lot of people back to wood. 

I tried bidding on 2 separate auctions for arrow 2400's on ebay. Both were 8-10 years old but in good condition. New they go for around $3400. One went for $2200, the other for $2150.

Good time to be owning a wood splitter, especially if you've got about 100 cords all seasoned up from last year.

Shaun


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## Terry Syd (Jun 17, 2011)

($175-250 a cubic yard?) Gawd damn, I didn't know how lucky I was. I'm going over to a mate's place tomorrow to load up another trailer with some more seasoned firewood (good Ozzie hardwood). I cut it last year and it has just been sitting drying out and waiting for me.

He advertises in our local paper 'free firewood' - all you have to do is come and cut it. Surprisingly, no one wants to spend the time to cut and load it. They would rather buy some fresh cut split wood from some yard down in the valley.

I sit around in 'T' shirts and shorts while I type these messages. Everyone that visits the house comments how warm it is - like, what do their houses feel like?

This is the wood stove that I have in my house - http://www.pivotstove.com.au/products/p-35-thermalux-the-original-gourmet

Not only do we heat the house with it, but we cook on top of it and in the oven. Pizza, bread, cakes, casserole, stew, chicken, etc.

I don't understand people, I heat and eat from the stove and use the ashes to fertilize the gardens. Its almost like a complete disconnect from the 'consumer society', but many people just don't 'get it'.


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## imagineero (Jun 17, 2011)

nice looking stove! 
The last house I lived in had a kangaroo stove/heater. For about 6 months I cooked every meal I ate on its hotplate and in the oven. Went just fine by me, but the previous 2 years I'd been living on a property with only tank water and no electricity, so it was kind of a step up ;-)

This lady is looking for something that will heat about 300 square metres, so it's got to be something big, and efficient. I dont know why we dont have those really big furnaces that they have stateside. They look really great; load only every 12 hours, triple burn, heat exchanger, can take whole rounds. Sure looks easy.

Shaun


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## tdi-rick (Jun 17, 2011)

There was a piece in yesterdays Sydney Morning Herald where a researcher from Armidale's UNE and Greens Councillor on the local council claims that the humble wood fire releases more hazardous pollution than a car and the average heater in Sydney leads to an estimated $3172 in health costs a year.

As a consequence The Greens are calling for wood fireplaces to have tighter emissions standards, and a moratorium placed on them until the as yet undecided new standards are introduced. :bang:

The current Oz standards allow for 4 grams or less of particulate matter per kilogram of fuel burned,


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## Stihlman441 (Jun 17, 2011)

There will be a carbin tax for when ya fart soon "wankers"


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## tdi-rick (Jun 17, 2011)

Getting OT here, we had a discussion a few months back on the Oz Land Rover forum on wood heaters.
I think I've become a heater snob, although I'll never be able to afford one.
They also give you instant cred with the ladies. They are _French_ 







Cheminees Philipee - Melbourne Sydney Canberra Australia

Then there's these ones from Finland. 

Soapstone fireplaces | Tulikivi
Ceramic fireplaces | Tulikivi


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## masculator (Jun 17, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> There will be a carbin tax for when ya fart soon "wankers"


 yeh you pay it every time you buy a piece of meat! gonna tax emissions on what comes out of cows and pigs behinds (think they already do in some countries) Where will this government of taxers end. it has gone beyond a joke Julia! We are the highest taxed generation of australians EVER and they don't understand just how it is crippling the country!


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## Terry Syd (Jun 17, 2011)

Yeah, wood stoves, global warming, 9-11, Port Arthur, Bali, London Bombings, Aspartame, yada, yada. - I like have so much confidence in the MSM and government.

Fork 'em. 

I see where that government sponsored liar Simon Chapman is pushing for a license on being able to smoke - that twit is the King of junk science. I figure something is going on behind the scenes, so I bought some tobaccy and papers today. Don't smoke that much, but I felt the need to double up on the smokes just to assert myself from whatever agenda they have planned.

Did you know that growing your own tobacco in Oz carries a greater penalty than growing marijuana?

I'm known as a really nice guy, but I still have the synapsis wired deep in my brain of a combat veteran - go ahead, keep pushing me fools.


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## XPLRN (Jun 17, 2011)

Terry Syd said:


> Fork 'em.
> 
> I see where that government sponsored liar Simon Chapman is pushing for a license on being able to smoke - that twit is the King of junk science. I figure something is going on behind the scenes, so I bought some tobaccy and papers today. Don't smoke that much, but I felt the need to double up on the smokes just to assert myself from whatever agenda they have planned.
> 
> ...


 
:msp_thumbsup::msp_thumbsup:

You remind me of some good friends I have here in the USA!! This whole "entitlement/taxing" crap being propagated by governments is rediculous. Governments do not do the work to create income..........all they want to do is take take take.........and get paid(government workers salaries) by the taxpayers to take their money from them. What a mess this world has become.


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## MCW (Jun 18, 2011)

Nice looking Redgum Andrew  I think you'll need all the winching capacity you can get on that one. I would have loved to come help but sadly snowed under for at least 3 weeks.



imagineero said:


> Are you still using that super axe? I was looking at a used one on ebay the other day, they sure seem a lot of coin for what they are. I've been watching a lot of processor videos lately, and they whole 'x blade' thing seems the way to go, or maybe an X blade plus a 6 or 8 splitter blade. I've been cautiously thinking about building one myself, but I dont know what sort of tonnage I need to drive it. Would be great if I could run it off the hydraulic PTO on my truck, could split on site :-D
> 
> Shaun



I bought this 40 tonner this week - have to assemble it tomorrow  Got dad coming to give me a hand. She's 310kg all up and complete with 13HP Chonda. Not a big fan of the X blade splitters. They are far more suited to straight growing timber - it's like your typical firewood processor setup, they really struggle with anything but the perfect log.


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## Rudolf73 (Jun 18, 2011)

Sweet splitter Matt! I was actually looking at that same model last night. 40T should split just about everything. Would like to see how fast it splits with that big cylinder and 13 horse.


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## MCW (Jun 18, 2011)

Rudolf73 said:


> Sweet splitter Matt! I was actually looking at that same model last night. 40T should split just about everything. Would like to see how fast it splits with that big cylinder and 13 horse.



I'll let you know how it goes Rudy. She'll be up and running tomorrow (I hope). I have some of the toughest wood imaginable here ready to split and a hand splitter doesn't even make a dent (no joke!) - if it can split that it will split anything - the 32 tonne splitters have struggled on the odd harder species in my area like Box etc. I got it here...

PETROL LOG SPLITTER - 40TON » Paramount Browns'

She's built pretty well (think Sherman Tank). They are the same ones listed on Australian eBay but that seller charges about $450 freight to Adelaide with no pick up available. Good price on their splitter but they make a fortune from their freight which is an absolute rip off. Paramount Brown's is like a playground for guys like me


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## Rudolf73 (Jun 18, 2011)

MCW said:


> I'll let you know how it goes Rudy. She'll be up and running tomorrow (I hope). I have some of the toughest wood imaginable here ready to split and a hand splitter doesn't even make a dent (no joke!) - if it can split that it will split anything - the 32 tonne splitters have struggled on the odd harder species in my area like Box etc. I got it here...
> 
> PETROL LOG SPLITTER - 40TON » Paramount Browns'
> 
> She's built pretty well (think Sherman Tank). They are the same ones listed on Australian eBay but that seller charges about $450 freight to Adelaide with no pick up available. Good price on their splitter but they make a fortune from their freight which is an absolute rip off. Paramount Brown's is like a playground for guys like me


 
Very nice and it has a proper jockey wheel on it. Yeah I used to use a 20-30T splitter on some tough SA wood and it was seriously hard. The axe never got used - no point. 

Right now im burning ironbark in QLD and rather hard also. The axe doesnt do much damage so I have to get a sledge hammer lol


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## AUSSIE1 (Jun 18, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> There was a piece in yesterdays Sydney Morning Herald where a researcher from Armidale's UNE and Greens Councillor on the local council claims that the humble wood fire releases more hazardous pollution than a car and the average heater in Sydney leads to an estimated $3172 in health costs a year.
> 
> As a consequence The Greens are calling for wood fireplaces to have tighter emissions standards, and a moratorium placed on them until the as yet undecided new standards are introduced. :bang:
> 
> The current Oz standards allow for 4 grams or less of particulate matter per kilogram of fuel burned,


 
Yeah? On the rock where I live this town doesn't have natural gas, never will do and the cost of LPG and electric heating and where the cost is heading. So what do they propose if they knock out our firewood use.....which I'm forced to get on the sly?

I sell peppermint for $80/metre.


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## masculator (Jun 18, 2011)

Rudolf73 said:


> Very nice and it has a proper jockey wheel on it. Yeah I used to use a 20-30T splitter on some tough SA wood and it was seriously hard. The axe never got used - no point.
> 
> Right now im burning ironbark in QLD and rather hard also. The axe doesnt do much damage so I have to get a sledge hammer lol


 

When I was a lad....lol

Seriously when I was a young bloke my old man used to split everything with an axe (we grew up in mallee and redgum country in south aus) taught me how to do it and honestly till now it is how I have persisted and although I have found some tenacious timbers They all eventually yield to my splitter. have split everything this country has to throw at me, and had to laugh when I moved here to victoria and saw how people struggled splitting ash and stringy and the like. compared to what I was used to it was like cutting butter with a hot knife. This said I am thinking of hiring a hydraulic one for the big logs I have coming up just for the sheer amount of wood I am looking at.


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## AUSSIE1 (Jun 18, 2011)

masculator said:


> When I was a lad....lol
> 
> Seriously when I was a young bloke my old man used to split everything with an axe (we grew up in mallee and redgum country in south aus) taught me how to do it and honestly till now it is how I have persisted and although I have found some tenacious timbers They all eventually yield to my splitter. have split everything this country has to throw at me, and had to laugh when I moved here to victoria and saw how people struggled splitting ash and stringy and the like. compared to what I was used to it was like cutting butter with a hot knife. This said I am thinking of hiring a hydraulic one for the big logs I have coming up just for the sheer amount of wood I am looking at.


 
Yep, stringy, peppermint etc virtually fall apart just at the sight of a hand log splitter. But then we have patches around of redbox, yellow, grey, ironbark, redgum etc.


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## MCW (Jun 18, 2011)

masculator said:


> When I was a lad....lol
> 
> Seriously when I was a young bloke my old man used to split everything with an axe (we grew up in mallee and redgum country in south aus) taught me how to do it and honestly till now it is how I have persisted and although I have found some tenacious timbers They all eventually yield to my splitter. have split everything this country has to throw at me, and had to laugh when I moved here to victoria and saw how people struggled splitting ash and stringy and the like. compared to what I was used to it was like cutting butter with a hot knife. This said I am thinking of hiring a hydraulic one for the big logs I have coming up just for the sheer amount of wood I am looking at.


 
Well you are 6'7" 

I also used to pride myself in splitting things with an axe. If you get the grain right you're cooking with gas 

Although I bet there are a few White Mallee stumps around you couldn't split. No grain to follow in those puppies and one of the hardest timbers on earth. There is still a 200 odd kilogram White Mallee stump at my mum and dad's place that I said I'd cut up with an axe. My dad said "Go for it". I spent ages on that thing after school with an axe - it's still there and I reckon I broke about 3 axe handles on that bastard. Hardly looks touched  Hell White Mallee burns well though...


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## Rudolf73 (Jun 18, 2011)

AUSSIE1 said:


> Yeah? On the rock where I live this town doesn't have natural gas, never will do and the cost of LPG and electric heating and where the cost is heading. So what do they propose if they knock out our firewood use.....which I'm forced to get on the sly?
> 
> I sell peppermint for $80/metre.


 
Thats a good price Al, I wish I lived closer. I actually drove through Beechworth the other day while on a short break/holiday but i didnt see any grey Patrols with huskies on the back haha


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## MCW (Jun 18, 2011)

Rudolf73 said:


> Thats a good price Al, I wish I lived closer. I actually drove through Beechworth the other day while on a short break/holiday but i didnt see any grey Patrols with huskies on the back haha


 
Even if you did Rudy you'd need a ladder to see onto the back of Al's Patrol with his 6" lift kit...


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## Rudolf73 (Jun 18, 2011)

MCW said:


> Even if you did Rudy you'd need a ladder to see onto the back of Al's Patrol with his 6" lift kit...


 
Haha true, that is one mean Patrol!


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## tdi-rick (Jun 18, 2011)

Yep, the White, Yellow and Grey Box around here is almost impossible to split by hand, particularly near the butt. 

Even stalled out this Kubota diesel powered splitter of my mates unless we revved the ring out of it trying to split some big White Box rounds off an old tree here.

Sorry about the crappy pics, they were taken about three years ago on my phone.


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## tdi-rick (Jun 18, 2011)

And this is the splitter that the local chainsaw/mower/small engine repairer built up from a front deck mower and an ebay splitter.
I reckon a self propelled splitter is pretty cool.


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## MCW (Jun 18, 2011)

Rudolf73 said:


> Haha true, that is one mean Patrol!



Yeah most people would need a fold down ladder to get in it  Luckily Al is 6'9" and an ex Oympic gymnast...


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## Stihlman441 (Jun 19, 2011)

This is my super axe splitter when it was new.


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## masculator (Jun 19, 2011)

MCW said:


> Well you are 6'7"
> 
> I also used to pride myself in splitting things with an axe. If you get the grain right you're cooking with gas
> 
> Although I bet there are a few White Mallee stumps around you couldn't split. No grain to follow in those puppies and one of the hardest timbers on earth. There is still a 200 odd kilogram White Mallee stump at my mum and dad's place that I said I'd cut up with an axe. My dad said "Go for it". I spent ages on that thing after school with an axe - it's still there and I reckon I broke about 3 axe handles on that bastard. Hardly looks touched  Hell White Mallee burns well though...



I gotten lazy in my thirties if it looks hard the chainsaw splits it!! Mallee is one of the hottest burning woods I have ever burnt makes redgum look about as good as pine. Have seen a few VERY big mallee stumps that I reckon would be very nice slabbed into table tops, they have some awesome grain when you cut them.

When I was younger I took a mate of mine on a trip over to the eyre peninsula from mt gambier, and pulled up on the side of the road somewhere near arno bay, he went looking for firewood while I was setting up camp and came back with a heap of sticks and reckoned there was not much around. I went for a quick wander and got some mallee sticks and a few small stumps, he couldn't believe how much heat came out of a few sticks and a couple of small stumps, or how long they burnt for.


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## MCW (Jun 19, 2011)

masculator said:


> I gotten lazy in my thirties if it looks hard the chainsaw splits it!! Mallee is one of the hottest burning woods I have ever burnt makes redgum look about as good as pine. Have seen a few VERY big mallee stumps that I reckon would be very nice slabbed into table tops, they have some awesome grain when you cut them.



I know an old farmer about an hour away who has an 800mm wood lathe. You should see some of the bowls etc he's made from Red Mallee burls - absolutely unbelievable. Worst bit with Mallee stumps is they tend to grow around big lumps of Limestone and other rocks etc. No good for chainsaw chains when you hit them  I've done it stupidly...


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## Terry Syd (Jun 19, 2011)

Coolest find I had was out in the Western Region of NSW while cutting up an old mulga bush for some wood. As I pulled over the old stump, I found a perfect hand grind stone stuck into the inner roots of the bush. It appeared that some old aboriginal woman had been buried there and they had left her favourite grind stone with her.

I kept the stone to go with some of the flat mill stones I found in the area.

The area was out on the Warrego and I found quite a lot of old spear points, cutting stones and axes. There were so many old fire pits with burnt rocks/ant nests that the place had a real nice 'homey' feel about it. Always liked to go back to that area.


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## v8r (Jun 20, 2011)

AUSSIE1 said:


> Yep, stringy, peppermint etc virtually fall apart just at the sight of a hand log splitter. But then we have patches around of redbox, yellow, grey, ironbark, redgum etc.


 
have / do split all that with my old man's custom built block buster. its split litteraly 100's of tonne over the past 20yrs and still as good as the day he created it. he used to do small time firewood (~8T most weekends) delivery back in the mid 80's-mid 90's from mudgee to the blue mountains, everything split by hand. no wonder i was a frikkin fit teenager!
just the right block splitter head welded to just the right length of steam pipe. heavy as buggery but spot on for the harder species, rarely ever needs a full blooded swing 

never tried mallee, but it has a legendary status for a reason i reckon :angry2:


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## porky616 (Jun 20, 2011)

Terry Syd said:


> Coolest find I had was out in the Western Region of NSW while cutting up an old mulga bush for some wood. As I pulled over the old stump, I found a perfect hand grind stone stuck into the inner roots of the bush. It appeared that some old aboriginal woman had been buried there and they had left her favourite grind stone with her.
> 
> I kept the stone to go with some of the flat mill stones I found in the area.
> 
> The area was out on the Warrego and I found quite a lot of old spear points, cutting stones and axes. There were so many old fire pits with burnt rocks/ant nests that the place had a real nice 'homey' feel about it. Always liked to go back to that area.


 
good old mulga only timber known to give a dozer a flat tyre


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## AUSSIE1 (Jun 20, 2011)

v8r said:


> have / do split all that with my old man's custom built block buster. its split litteraly 100's of tonne over the past 20yrs and still as good as the day he created it. he used to do small time firewood (~8T most weekends) delivery back in the mid 80's-mid 90's from mudgee to the blue mountains, everything split by hand. no wonder i was a frikkin fit teenager!
> just the right block splitter head welded to just the right length of steam pipe. heavy as buggery but spot on for the harder species, rarely ever needs a full blooded swing
> 
> never tried mallee, but it has a legendary status for a reason i reckon :angry2:


 
Admittedly if you have some straight grain, you have a chance, but as soon as there is some swirl forget it with at least what we have here.

I cut up a beaut length of redbox about 4m, straight as a die, limbless, to the disgust of my Lucas mill owning mate, into firewood size pieces. A rare sight around these parts in that configuration. Unfortunately at the time, I had no option.


----------



## AUSSIE1 (Jun 20, 2011)

Andrew do you have any issues with wood wanting to pop out if the length is a little long? Any wear issues with the pivot pin?

They are made just south of here at Whitfield.


----------



## tdi-rick (Jun 20, 2011)

AUSSIE1 said:


> Andrew do you have any issues with wood wanting to pop out if the length is a little long? Any wear issues with the pivot pin?
> 
> They are made just south of here at Whitfield.



Ditto.

A 3pl version would suit me ATM as our tractor is finally coming home.


----------



## AUSSIE1 (Jun 20, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> Ditto.
> 
> A 3pl version would suit me ATM as our tractor is finally coming home.


 
Ditto there Rick! :msp_thumbup:


----------



## Rudolf73 (Jun 20, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> Ditto.
> 
> A 3pl version would suit me ATM as our tractor is finally coming home.



How about this one Rick... not sure why its only rated at 14ton though. With decent tractor pressure it should be quite a bit more. 

Log Splitter 14 ton 3 point linkage for tractor | eBay


----------



## tdi-rick (Jun 20, 2011)

Rudolf73 said:


> How about this one Rick... not sure why its only rated at 14ton though. With decent tractor pressure it should be quite a bit more.
> 
> Log Splitter 14 ton 3 point linkage for tractor | eBay



It's only for a little tractor, says cat 1 linkage


----------



## MCW (Jun 20, 2011)

AUSSIE1 said:


> Admittedly if you have some straight grain, you have a chance, but as soon as there is some swirl forget it with at least what we have here.



This is the sort of grain I gather you're talking about Al.






This is the same wood that bent the 40mm plate on my splitter. Mongrel to split - the ram has to go to the full length of it's travel and you still have to pry 50% of the pieces apart as it pulls up about 4" short of the baseplate. Out of those 25% can't be pulled apart so you have to turn it around and split them from the other end


----------



## tdi-rick (Jun 20, 2011)

AUSSIE1 said:


> Ditto there Rick! :msp_thumbup:


 

Found the hydraulic requirements, three need 40l/min minimum and the WS400 (the same as Andrews one above) needs 25l/min minimum.

Just pulled the specs for my old Fiat 550 and the pump only delivers 22l/min......


----------



## AUSSIE1 (Jun 20, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> Found the hydraulic requirements, three need 40l/min minimum and the WS400 (the same as Andrews one above) needs 25l/min minimum.
> 
> Just pulled the specs for my old Fiat 550 and the pump only delivers 22l/min......


 
Hmmmm good point! The Fordson's are supposedly a little weak at the hydraulics?


----------



## Rudolf73 (Jun 20, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> It's only for a little tractor, says cat 1 linkage


 
Thats true, but it can be easily modified to fit. Unless you have a serious tractor with say cat 4 linkage - that will require a bit more work.



tdi-rick said:


> Found the hydraulic requirements, three need 40l/min minimum and the WS400 (the same as Andrews one above) needs 25l/min minimum.
> 
> Just pulled the specs for my old Fiat 550 and the pump only delivers 22l/min......


 
The tractor I am working on at the moment has cat 4 linkage and 190l/min... that should split some wood! lol


----------



## tdi-rick (Jun 20, 2011)

AUSSIE1 said:


> Hmmmm good point! The Fordson's are supposedly a little weak at the hydraulics?



Yep, as most were from that era.

The Fiat's from around '70 and supposedly a bit better, but maybe not good enough ?

Actually my next door neighbour made a 3pl one for a farm near here and said it turned out a bit slow/weak in comparison to the one above that he made.
Can't remember what tractor it went on the back of :msp_confused:


----------



## AUSSIE1 (Jun 20, 2011)

MCW said:


> This is the sort of grain I gather you're talking about Al.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
Mate, that's good enough to be labelled fiddleback.


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 20, 2011)

AUSSIE1 said:


> Andrew do you have any issues with wood wanting to pop out if the length is a little long? Any wear issues with the pivot pin?
> 
> They are made just south of here at Whitfield.


 
Ya i know what you meen about the long bits,but if its no to large in dia you can put on angle away from you and the end wedges into the grate part in the table.There is one pin where the ram joins the end of the axe is starting to get a bit of slop in it.Iam supprised how well its holding up i have done a lot of work with it but i allways grease everything.I picked it up from Whitlands Engineering i think Tony was his name.


----------



## tdi-rick (Jun 20, 2011)

Rudolf73 said:


> Thats true, but it can be easily modified to fit. Unless you have a serious tractor with say cat 4 linkage - that will require a bit more work.
> 
> 
> 
> The tractor I am working on at the moment has cat 4 linkage and 190l/min... that should split some wood! lol



hahaha, that'd work 

Wonder what the pump was rated on the old White the FIL had on the farm ?
It had a 6-354T Perkins under the bonnet.
Got up and boogied pretty well, but there's some serious HP on the plains just over the range from here


----------



## MCW (Jun 20, 2011)

AUSSIE1 said:


> Mate, that's good enough to be labelled fiddleback.



It looked right perty in the photo. A hell of a lot messier and tangled in the flesh. Speaking of which I copped a few good splinters just flipping these over for the photo. This stuff is like High Carbon steel...


----------



## tdi-rick (Jun 20, 2011)

One thing I just remembered is that a cutting partner of isuzurover bought a Chinese splitter off ebay and had hells own trouble with it.

Swarf in the hydraulics toasted a cylinder, freight back to the importer from Perth was problematic so it cost a fair bit for a Perth based mob to re-do the hydraulics and fix some inherent seal faults.

I'll try and dig Andy's thread up, it was a PITA for him.


----------



## Rudolf73 (Jun 20, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> One thing I just remembered is that a cutting partner of isuzurover bought a Chinese splitter off ebay and had hells own trouble with it.
> 
> Swarf in the hydraulics toasted a cylinder, freight back to the importer from Perth was problematic so it cost a fair bit for a Perth based mob to re-do the hydraulics and fix some inherent seal faults.
> 
> I'll try and dig Andy's thread up, it was a PITA for him.


 
Yeah, its a bit of a lucky dip with the chinese splitters... like most of their stuff really. The one I used to use in SA is probably 4 years old now and has split many a ton of wood. Knowing the operators its never been looked at or serviced, etc. Starts first time every time and trouble free. In this case it was had to justify $4000+ for an aussie splitter compared to $1200. 

On another note, I ran some performance numbers on the chinese splitters and their tonnage is somewhat inflated on a number of models.


----------



## MCW (Jun 20, 2011)

Rudolf73 said:


> Yeah, its a bit of a lucky dip with the chinese splitters... like most of their stuff really. The one I used to use in SA is probably 4 years old now and has split many a ton of wood. Knowing the operators its never been looked at or serviced, etc. Starts first time every time and trouble free. In this case it was had to justify $4000+ for an aussie splitter compared to $1200.
> *
> On another note, I ran some performance numbers on the chinese splitters and their tonnage is somewhat inflated on a number of models.*



True. Many of their numbers don't add up in regard to psi and ram diameter. Bit hard to check their numbers without bolting on a pressure guage.

My splitter went together perfectly - exactly the right number of bolts, nuts, washers etc. A 20L container of hydraulic oil and exactly twice the amount of engine oil needed.
I was even absolutely gobsmacked that every bolt hole lined up and I didn't have to redrill anything - that has to be some sort of Chinese first!!!
The Chonda motors are pretty good nowadays though - I have heard of very few problems with them in the last few years. The 13HP motor on my splitter started second pull and runs like a clock.


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 27, 2011)

Dropped that last redgum on Sunday,today been cutting up thar large base end and been pulling them up the bank with a tractor,will be noodling and splitting tomorow have got vid and pics.


----------



## aquan8tor (Jun 27, 2011)

AUSSIE1 said:


> Mate, that's good enough to be labelled fiddleback.


 


What I wouldn't give for some of that stuff over here! I'm a turner; that stuff is like gold to me. I get all my wood for bowls from firewood piles, storm blowdowns, and arborist companies. Wish they had more trees like THAT one!!! Admittedly, the hardness makes it a little less attractive, but generally, at least for U.S. wood species, the harder, the cleaner the cut with a really sharp chisel. I wish it didn't cost so much to ship wood overseas!


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 28, 2011)

I have a few pics for yas pulling lenghts of the redgum up the bank with a tractor and then noodling up the blocks for splitting.
This is down the bank at the stump





Pulling up the bank


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## Stihlman441 (Jun 28, 2011)

All ready for splitting,will put up some vids soon.I even gave the new Snellerized 660 a run.


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 29, 2011)

Give the Snellerized 660 a run today blocking and noodling up redgum for slitting,this is its forth tank of fuel.

[video=youtube;gym6nQIAIeY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gym6nQIAIeY[/video]


----------



## young (Jun 29, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Give the Snellerized 660 a run today blocking and noodling up redgum for slitting,this is its forth tank of fuel.
> 
> [video=youtube;gym6nQIAIeY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gym6nQIAIeY[/video]


 
nice. hows it compare to your stock 660s?


----------



## wiskey_6 (Jun 29, 2011)

*? Tachometer.*



Stihlman441 said:


> Sneak look at the new Snellerized 660


 
Stillman441, 

Is that a tachometer I see attached to the handle with a wire going to the spark plug. If that is what is the brand and did you or Brad install it?


----------



## Rudolf73 (Jun 29, 2011)

Sweet noodling saw Andrew!! Seems to be cutting really well... how much cutting did you do with the 4 tanks of fuel - 2hours? I hear the modded 660's can be quite thirsty.


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 30, 2011)

young said:


> nice. hows it compare to your stock 660s?


 
Havnt put them side by side yet going to put a few tanks through it first,feels more torquey and hold rpm in the cut well.


----------



## young (Jun 30, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Havnt put them side by side yet going to put a few tanks through it first,feels more torquey and hold rpm in the cut well.


 
cant wait. start saving and have brad port mine hehe.


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 30, 2011)

wiskey_6 said:


> Stillman441,
> 
> Is that a tachometer I see attached to the handle with a wire going to the spark plug. If that is what is the brand and did you or Brad install it?


 
Yes it is a tach and hour meter,when you turn the saw off the highest rpm comes up and shows rpm as you run the saw,hours are displayed all the time when saw is off.The brand is Works Connection and got them from Seismic cycles .com.
They are a bit hard to get at the moment.I got them and installed them myself.


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 30, 2011)

Rudolf73 said:


> Sweet noodling saw Andrew!! Seems to be cutting really well... how much cutting did you do with the 4 tanks of fuel - 2hours? I hear the modded 660's can be quite thirsty.


 
Have used 4 tanks and its got 1.6 hrs.
Ya a lot of people say that the modded saws use a lot more fuel,i will compare to my stocky soon and then my stocky is going to Matts for a BB kit,then i will do more vids and compare them all again.
Will have my ozzy stocky dual port(which i think is a extra good one)Mooded one,BB kit one and a mate has got a ozzy dual port 660 stock,a 660 US stock and a 066 ozzy dual port stock.Hope to compare all of them in cut times,fuel use etc.


----------



## masculator (Jun 30, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Have used 4 tanks and its got 1.6 hrs.
> Ya a lot of people say that the modded saws use a lot more fuel,i will compare to my stocky soon and then my stocky is going to Matts for a BB kit,then i will do more vids and compare them all again.
> Will have my ozzy stocky dual port(which i think is a extra good one)Mooded one,BB kit one and a mate has got a ozzy dual port 660 stock,a 660 US stock and a 066 ozzy dual port stock.Hope to compare all of them in cut times,fuel use etc.



It is always hard to tell from videos just how they are performing compared to your own but it looks like it goes well. the chip spray and sound are not too dissimilar to what I get with my ozzy dual port, but it would be interesting to see it hand in hand both with the same chains and such side by side. Like you I think my ozzy one is an extra good one. When i bought mine with a 36 inch bar the dealer said it wouldn't pull it, I proved him wrong and cutting with the 42 inch last weekend I could lock the dogs in and lever to my hearts content without bogging it.

Nice I love the 660's


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 30, 2011)

One thing a found out about the US 660s is the alloy bent up chain catcher is useless all the noodles get stuck in it so it came off pretty quick.I have orded a roller one a couple of HD2 filters from my dealer.


----------



## masculator (Jun 30, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> One thing a found out about the US 660s is the alloy bent up chain catcher is useless all the noodles get stuck in it so it came off pretty quick.I have orded a roller one a couple of HD2 filters from my dealer.



what sort of wait time did they give you on the filters?


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 30, 2011)

masculator said:


> what sort of wait time did they give you on the filters?


 
I spoke to Stihl Australia on Monday and they said there is a 100 due in at the end of this month,well woopy they wont last long,my dealer didnt even know the part number so i had to give it to him to order them.I wont be counting on them soon.I may have another very large redgum to mill this time so i hope there are on the way.


----------



## masculator (Jun 30, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> I spoke to Stihl Australia on Monday and they said there is a 100 due in at the end of this month,well woopy they wont last long,my dealer didnt even know the part number so i had to give it to him to order them.I wont be counting on them soon.I may have another very large redgum to mill this time so i hope there are on the way.



they order 100 now next order they will need to order 1000. the standard filter is just shyte, even that mahogany I been cutting goes straight through it. the felt prefilter might as well not even be there cause it does jack!


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jun 30, 2011)

Yes to all the above.:msp_mad:


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## young (Jun 30, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> One thing a found out about the US 660s is the alloy bent up chain catcher is useless all the noodles get stuck in it so it came off pretty quick.I have orded a roller one a couple of HD2 filters from my dealer.


 
dont forget to get the bumper strip that takes place of the aluminium catcher. p# 1122 640 8300


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## Stihlman441 (Jul 1, 2011)

Do we really nead the bumper strip or is it a nice to have,my 460 and other 660 havnt got them,have ya got a pic.


----------



## young (Jul 1, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Do we really nead the bumper strip or is it a nice to have,my 460 and other 660 havnt got them,have ya got a pic.



spot will be unprotected. plus you wont be able to use the alloy catcher with the roller. it wont fit.

http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/113291.htm



Tzed250 said:


> .
> 
> 
> In another thread a question was posted about mounting the 1122 640 8300 bumper strip on the MS660. The bumper is used when the standard chain catcher is replaced with the roller chain catcher.
> ...


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jul 1, 2011)

Thanks for that have never seen one of those before, including my 660 i know of and have used 4 others with chain catcher rollers and they dont have one of those nylon blocks,wonder will that fit a 460 ?.


----------



## young (Jul 1, 2011)

it might. i just check my 441 and i think it might fit it. 440/441/460/660 have very similar space in that chian catcher area. if nothing else install and file the bumper to fit.:biggrin:


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## tdi-rick (Jul 1, 2011)

Curious what the spacing is between the spikes on the 660 ?

Anyone have a vernier and a 660 they can measure please ?


----------



## porky616 (Jul 1, 2011)

think i be getting one of them nylon suckers, my case has a few knocks from thrown chains


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## MCW (Jul 1, 2011)

porky616 said:


> think i be getting one of them nylon suckers, my case has a few knocks from thrown chains



How's that BB kit Aaron? blown up yet?


----------



## MCW (Jul 1, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> Curious what the spacing is between the spikes on the 660 ?
> 
> Anyone have a vernier and a 660 they can measure please ?



I'm not sure of the spacing Rick but I can assure you they are the best set of spikes I've ever used on any saw whether firewood cutting or felling. They look so simple too


----------



## masculator (Jul 1, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Thanks for that have never seen one of those before, including my 660 i know of and have used 4 others with chain catcher rollers and they dont have one of those nylon blocks,wonder will that fit a 460 ?.



I reckon I might just be able to fabricate some of them!


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jul 1, 2011)

Anyone know what they cost ?.


----------



## young (Jul 1, 2011)

masculator said:


> I reckon I might just be able to fabricate some of them!


 
cut up a polyethylene cutting board to size haha. those bumpers are only $10 from stihl at least for us yanks.


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## Stihlman441 (Jul 1, 2011)

Did a vid to show you splitting the last of that Redgum in the fog.This one was pretty easy to split half green and straight grained.

[video=youtube;V-VAuadbtyA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-VAuadbtyA[/video]


----------



## porky616 (Jul 1, 2011)

MCW said:


> How's that BB kit Aaron? blown up yet?


 
please dont say it! every other thing i touch has :censored:up in the last 2 weeks so much to the point that ive given up selling any more wood for the year and pretty much shelved the saws


----------



## tdi-rick (Jul 1, 2011)

MCW said:


> I'm not sure of the spacing Rick but I can assure you they are the best set of spikes I've ever used on any saw whether firewood cutting or felling. They look so simple too


 

I think the roller catcher is a good idea too, I've frigged a few aluminium ones on a Makita


----------



## young (Jul 1, 2011)

heres the kicker the roller catcher kit is $6.50. p# 1122 650 7700

so i paid more for the bumper. thanks stihl


----------



## tdi-rick (Jul 1, 2011)

porky616 said:


> please dont say it! every other thing i touch has :censored:up in the last 2 weeks so much to the point that ive given up selling any more wood for the year and pretty much shelved the saws



I think it's been going around Aaron, I've had two weeks from hell.

A good mates into some real hocus pockus stuff and reckons it's something to do with a lunar eclipse or somesuch gobbledygook and he's started to convince me :msp_ohmy:


----------



## tdi-rick (Jul 1, 2011)

MCW said:


> I'm not sure of the spacing Rick but I can assure you they are the best set of spikes I've ever used on any saw whether firewood cutting or felling. They look so simple too



Just look at the length and angle of the bottom spike in relation to its mates, you can hog in on your cut with that.

Dolmar/Makita fekked up with theirs, the middle spike is longer than the bottom one


----------



## MCW (Jul 1, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> I think the roller catcher is a good idea too, I've frigged a few aluminium ones on a Makita



You're gonna hate me soon Rick cause I have a heap of roller catcher kits here for a Husky that just so happen to line up with the Husky spikes I adapted to my 7900. Thanks for the idea  Bravo old son, bravo...


----------



## porky616 (Jul 1, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> I think it's been going around Aaron, I've had two weeks from hell.
> 
> A good mates into some real hocus pockus stuff and reckons it's something to do with a lunar eclipse or somesuch gobbledygook and he's started to convince me :msp_ohmy:


 
mate id listen to any theory right now, i using a pair of tongs to take a leak just in case i break THAT too!


----------



## tdi-rick (Jul 1, 2011)

MCW said:


> You're gonna hate me soon Rick cause I have a heap of roller catcher kits here for a Husky that just so happen to line up with the Husky spikes I adapted to my 7900. Thanks for the idea  Bravo old son, bravo...



Cool, they'll fit my spikes too as the spacing is the same :msp_tongue:


----------



## tdi-rick (Jul 1, 2011)

porky616 said:


> mate id listen to any theory right now, i using a pair of tongs to take a leak just in case i break THAT too!



 cheers Aaron, that's the best laugh I've had in days :msp_biggrin:


----------



## young (Jul 1, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> Just look at the length and angle of the bottom spike in relation to its mates, you can hog in on your cut with that.
> 
> Dolmar/Makita fekked up with theirs, the middle spike is longer than the bottom one


 
the large 660 dogs are flush from top to bottom. the medium 660 dogs, the lower spike is about 2cm longer.


----------



## masculator (Jul 1, 2011)

tdi-rick said:


> Just look at the length and angle of the bottom spike in relation to its mates, you can hog in on your cut with that.
> 
> Dolmar/Makita fekked up with theirs, the middle spike is longer than the bottom one



Only complaint I have about them is how long they are but they work bloody well! If ya look at the pics of me cutting with the 42 inch bar in the 12 inch cookies or all aussie thread and check the gap between the airbox and the main body you will see just how hard I am really leaning on them! springs or rubbers av doesn't do much when you lean on it that hard!


----------



## porky616 (Jul 1, 2011)

masculator said:


> Only complaint I have about them is how long they are but they work bloody well! If ya look at the pics of me cutting with the 42 inch bar in the 12 inch cookies or all aussie thread and check the gap between the airbox and the main body you will see just how hard I am really leaning on them! springs or rubbers av doesn't do much when you lean on it that hard!


 
they feel a whole lot longer too when they are stuck in your thigh an inch deep,


----------



## tdi-rick (Jul 1, 2011)

young said:


> the large 660 dogs are flush from top to bottom. the medium 660 dogs, the lower spike is about 2cm longer.


 

The US/Aussie Dolkita 64/73/7900 spikes are a lot bigger than the Euro ones BUT, when trying to cut a scarf or backcut on a larger tree, or even blocking up it's bloody hard to lever in with the stockies, they've gone all OH&S IMO so you don't skewer your leg with the lower spike.
Whatever their reasoning it doesn't work very well (IMO) in what we tend to cut here.

I did this to mine and it made a huge difference.

Matt did something similar by modifying some Husky spikes to suit.


----------



## AUSSIE1 (Jul 1, 2011)

young said:


> cut up a polyethylene cutting board to size haha. those bumpers are only $10 from stihl at least for us yanks.


 
Argh yes the cutting board, every man should have one hanging in the shed. They made great chain slippers on dirt bikes amongst other things. 1001 uses.


----------



## tdi-rick (Jul 1, 2011)

AUSSIE1 said:


> Argh yes the cutting board, every man should have one hanging in the shed. They made great chain slippers on dirt bikes amongst other things. 1001 uses.



Yep, SWMBO couldn't understand why I retrieved our old one out of the bin


----------



## masculator (Jul 1, 2011)

AUSSIE1 said:


> Argh yes the cutting board, every man should have one hanging in the shed. They made great chain slippers on dirt bikes amongst other things. 1001 uses.



I work with sheets of the stuff 1200 by 2400 in thicknesses from 2 to 10 mm!


----------



## AUSSIE1 (Jul 1, 2011)

masculator said:


> I work with sheets of the stuff 1200 by 2400 in thicknesses from 2 to 10 mm!


 
Heaven, lol! :msp_thumbup:


----------



## Rudolf73 (Jul 1, 2011)

masculator said:


> I work with sheets of the stuff 1200 by 2400 in thicknesses from 2 to 10 mm!


 
Have you tried the black stuff - called wearex I think. We used in heavy wear applications and its seems to last forever.


----------



## masculator (Jul 1, 2011)

Rudolf73 said:


> Have you tried the black stuff - called wearex I think. We used in heavy wear applications and its seems to last forever.



I have but I prefer the UHMWPE less stuff tends to stick to it and it does tend to absorb cuts more. the black stuff is more resistant to grit getting embedded in it though, such as where it is used as a slide in place of a roller.


----------



## Rudolf73 (Jul 1, 2011)

masculator said:


> I have but I prefer the UHMWPE less stuff tends to stick to it and it does tend to absorb cuts more. the black stuff is more resistant to grit getting embedded in it though, such as where it is used as a slide in place of a roller.


 
Good to know :msp_thumbup:


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jul 14, 2011)

I found another vid on my phone more Redgum.

[video=youtube;boCQP6cpCdY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boCQP6cpCdY[/video]


----------



## MCW (Jul 15, 2011)

Redgum redgum redgum...

It never ends. I would HATE to be one of your filters Andrew


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jul 15, 2011)

Funny you say that Matt i may have got onto another one but this one is perfect for milling,but i need a bigger mill with myne i can only cut 31'' wide.I think this one could be a good test for one of your 660 BB kits,i have gor HD2 filters to try next time as well.:msp_smile:


----------



## young (Jul 15, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Funny you say that Matt i may have got onto another one but this one is perfect for milling,but i need a bigger mill with myne i can only cut 31'' wide.I think this one could be a good test for one of your 660 BB kits,i have gor HD2 filters to try next time as well.:msp_smile:


 
cant wait to hear how those hd2 filters do with redgum dust.


----------



## Stihlman441 (Jul 15, 2011)

Im hoping they are the fix or we have all been skammed into getting new filters,that would be funny.:msp_mad:


----------



## MCW (Jul 16, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Im hoping they are the fix or we have all been skammed into getting new filters,that would be funny.:msp_mad:



No it wouldn't  Keep us informed old son.


----------



## NORMZILLA44 (Jul 17, 2011)

so what is the best filter money can buy, is it the stihl hd?


----------



## MCW (Jul 17, 2011)

NORMZILLA44 said:


> so what is the best filter money can buy, is it the stihl hd?



Stihl MS261, Stihl HD2 for the 440-880, and my favourite the Dolmar HD. I like the Dolmar setup more because the 7900's aren't air injected and they suck in less fines. As far as the actual filter material goes the 3 mentioned are all excellent against super fine wood dust


----------



## NORMZILLA44 (Jul 17, 2011)

Cool thank's Matt. I have used the standard Stihl filter's here, until recently in this thread or another had heard of the hd, just recently. I guess I am ok not as much fine stuff. I wonder on the huskie's if you can disable the air injection for cutting in fine dust situation's? The Dolmar's do look like an outstanding saw!!:msp_thumbup:


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## MCW (Jul 18, 2011)

NORMZILLA44 said:


> Cool thank's Matt. I have used the standard Stihl filter's here, until recently in this thread or another had heard of the hd, just recently. I guess I am ok not as much fine stuff. I wonder on the huskie's if you can disable the air injection for cutting in fine dust situation's? The Dolmar's do look like an outstanding saw!!:msp_thumbup:



Unfortunately the air injection is basically an integral part of the saw's design. Disabling it or bypassing it would take some major changes - not impossible but in all honesty not really worth it. In the case of the Stihl HD2 filters the fact that the air injection pumps in more fines means little as they'll keep them at bay by the look of it. Unfortunately though with the larger Huskys you have to oil their filters to keep out stuff like Redgum dust which means they get dirtier faster


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## Terry Syd (Jul 18, 2011)

Matt, the 'air injection' system is in MHO nothing more than an advertising gimick. I had to block off my injection system because the mods I made to the engine were flowing a lot more air into the engine - that was air that wasn't going over the cylinder fins. In other words, I was making the engine produce more heat at the same time I was removing cooling air for the fins.

I used some silicon sealer to block it off and then drilled two openings at the rear of the cover over the rear handle. The reduction in engine heat was significant, the plug went from white to brown with the same mixture setting.

First off, the research Timberwolf did in regards to the air injection system was that the compression of the air over the flywheel fins increased the heat of the inducted air in the engine - that is less air density for producing power. TW indicated that he had seen an increase of up to 10F in the temperature of the air off the flywheel.

Second, I immediately noticed less trash and dust in the 'air box' after making the mod.

It wasn't until I had to cut up a burnt stump that had lots of charcoal on it that I realised the dynamics of what was happening. The front of the saw had charcoal dust all over it - that dust continued back and was sucked into the front of the flywheel housing. The black coating clearly indicated where the flow of light dust was going.

As you know, the air injection system is fine for taking out the big chunks, but allows the fine dust to be inducted into the air box. What people don't realise (and I do now) is that the air injection system actually sucks extra dust into the flywheel housing - which then gets sucked into the air box.

If I ever buy another saw with an 'air injection' system, one of the first mods I will make is to block it off.


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## MCW (Jul 18, 2011)

Terry Syd said:


> Matt, the 'air injection' system is in MHO nothing more than an advertising gimick. I had to block off my injection system because the mods I made to the engine were flowing a lot more air into the engine - that was air that wasn't going over the cylinder fins. In other words, I was making the engine produce more heat at the same time I was removing cooling air for the fins.
> 
> I used some silicon sealer to block it off and then drilled two openings at the rear of the cover over the rear handle. The reduction in engine heat was significant, the plug went from white to brown with the same mixture setting.
> 
> ...



Hi Terry.
I agree it is nothing more than a gimmick and I've mentioned this before. When you see the Husky vs. Stihl videos where guys are shovelling handfuls of chips into the starter housing at full noise it looks impressive - in real life it isn't that simple. Quite the opposite in fact. I know a number of guys who have cut stuff like dead Redgum and removed the filter covers on their Stihls and Huskys and have noticed the filter stays cleaner for a lot longer - they generally don't even know why funnily enough! I hadn't seen Timberwolf's info but I'm not surprised at all


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## Stihlman441 (Jul 18, 2011)

I put one of thoses new HD2 filters on my 460 yesterday and cut green and dry sugar gum,with the old HD filter they have that band of felt around the filter to catch the larger particals.I noticed at the top of the HD2 filter the fan type element was full of dust,so the crap at the top settles in the fan folds and cant get out.So over a days cutting the top of the filter will become full of crap so loosing its abillity to allow air into that part of the filter.


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## MCW (Jul 18, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> I put one of thoses new HD2 filters on my 460 yesterday and cut green and dry sugar gum,with the old HD filter they have that band of felt around the filter to catch the larger particals.I noticed at the top of the HD2 filter the fan type element was full of dust,so the crap at the top settles in the fan folds and cant get out.So over a days cutting the top of the filter will become full of crap so loosing its abillity to allow air into that part of the filter.



Thats similar to the Dolmar HD filters mate but there is heaps of airflow left. I've found the crap reaches a point on the Dolmars where it doesn't tend to get any worse no matter what you chuck at it


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## Stihlman441 (Aug 4, 2011)

I have an update on the new Stihl HD2 filters.

http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/174782-11.htm#post3083059


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## deye223 (Oct 21, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> A couple of pics from today cutting up the second redgum.


 
holey snappen duck sh1t andrews got a bar on a stihl and it aint orange :msp_thumbsup:

bugger it's ya mates saw isn't it


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## Stihlman441 (Oct 21, 2011)

Haha the funny thing is i have got him converted and he got a heap of orange ones know.


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## deye223 (Oct 21, 2011)

Stihlman441 said:


> Haha the funny thing is i have got him converted and he got a heap of orange ones know.


 
well you converted me where do you get em i can't find them on fleebay anywhere . can you get a new roller nose for them aswell


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## Stihlman441 (Oct 24, 2011)

I sent ya a PM and he has the repacement noses as well,only one has died on me and they replaced it for free.


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