Grab a beer and listen to the story of woe...
There's a question down there at the end if you make it that far...
Well... I managed to line up 4 days to go out to my family's farm in PA to deal with the 3 trees that are the reason I got the 795L... Man, I was dieing to try a saw that big, in some good sized wood. When I got there, I was informed that 2 of the 3 had come down on their own, which was good news. There had been 3. 2 of which were a double that had split right at the ground, going in opposite directions. They were/are big for what we're used to. 28-30" at the base, and if they were under 70', it was just by an inch. They happened to sprout long ago just off the edge of a dropoff in that section of woods, so they had to go an additional 10-12' just to get to the canopy top compared to the surrounding trees. Well the one got hung up in a black walnut on the way down. That thing was a good 25" at the base. Probably 15' of it was straight at the bottom, which is pretty odd for the walnuts around our place. I guess it had to go up again for sun, before going out... Well nature brought them both down at some point thankfully, and they dropped basically on the logging road there. So after a lot of branching, we managed to get the heavy limbs pulled up and bucked. I didn't have the big saws with me that day as I didn't think we'd get that far so I cut the walnut off the root with our Husky 50 and a 16" bar. No fun there, that saw while something of a demon, was certainly outclassed. We pulled 2 sections out with the loader, and put them to the side, to go to a mill for lumber. The rest, I diced up in 1' logs with the Husky.
Day 2 came, and I piled all the saws in the gator, and down we went. I knew I did not want to deal with the 2 Ash trees with just a 16" bar... Well, I topped the ash, and we hauled out some smaller sections, and heavy limbs for bucking. When we got in to 16" material, I pulled out the Homelite XL-12 with its 20" bar... It was now that the problems started... I just couldn't get the Homie to run right. It would start as always, and run good, then die. Sorta light a vapor lock, so I tried loosening the cap, and no change... Man I was pissed.
That saw has been the most reliable saw we've had my whole life. So, fine... I didn't really want to slice and dice everything with the 795L as its heavy, but I knew that would start, and run. Uhhh... No... Man, I about pulled my arm off trying to get it to fire. I mean nothing...:msp_confused: It was bizarre since I had started it on the first or second pull the few times I ran it here in NJ, and made a couple test cuts... I can tell you I was getting really steamed at this point.:msp_mad: I was staring down the reality of bucking a whole load of ash with the Husky and that 16" bar... That's how the day finished... I cut a pile of ash with that thing, and I tell ya, it beat the crap outa me having to work it that hard... There was much beer that night...
Day 3 came... I knew I had the bottom 30' of the first ash to cut off, haul out, and buck... I figured it would be worth 30 minutes or so to get either the 795, or the XL-12 going. So I dumped fuel on both, and mixed fresh, from fresh stock. Still no change on the Homie. Same symptoms... Same on the 795. Seemed like no spark, so I figured out how to get in to the plug, and when I flipped open the cover, something just looked off. Now I've never been in there before, so I don't know why that thought occured to me... Well I got the plug wrench on it, and after about 1/8 of a turn, I knew the problem... The plug hole is trashed. For the life of me, I can't imagine how the guy that sold it to me managed to get that plug to seal well enough that it fired up perfectly, and didn't shoot the plug out when I ran it here... So, that ended the thought of a quick fix...:bang: It was then time to go back to the wood... Our loader took the last 30' in 2 sections, barely. Our they came, and I diced up 1 for logs. It got hot about then, so we decided to got back in the woods to try to get Ash #2 to drop. It was hung up on an 8" thick Birch. There was no good way to cut the birch, but we thought we might be able to just rip it down with the added help of the weight of the ash. So I lobbed a line about 25' up, through a crotch on the ash on the second try. (I was pretty happy only needing 2 shots) That pulled a 1/2" steel cable up and over, and we cinched it back up to the tree. Cable down to a block chained to another big tree, and then back to the loader... It took some doing, but we managed to get the birch root to tip out. We didn't get enough momentum though to knock down the next tree in line which is a 6" oak. Just too tough I guess... So now the ash is at about 45 degrees. The birch is at 80 degrees, the oak is bent a little, and we're all frustrated...:msp_cursing: Next step was to weaken the ash down at the stump... God knows how long ago, people were using the woods there as a glass dump. Why, I don't know, but whatever... Man, the whole area around these trees is a foot to 18" deep in old bottles. That is all overgrown by rhododendron... I managed to hack my way down to the stump, cleared the brush, and crushed enough glass that I thought I had an area I could live with to work in. I had to get up on the root base to make the cut... We went just about half way through that damn ash with a V cut. There's snapping and crackling, and a crack starting to run up the tree from the bottom of the V... We pulled on the cable, and then tried a chain wrapped around the V cut in an attempt to just finish the crack... Nothing... That damn tree just isn't in the mood to fall. So, there is is... Its back in the woods where we don't really ever go. We're hoping to get a good wind storm that might drop it, but failing that, its just going to have to dry out, get weak, and come down on its own... I don't like leaving it hanging there, but I didn't have any more days to throw at it. However, by the time it does come down, I can pretty much guarantee that the Homie, and the 795 will be ready to go, and we can give the Husky the day off... This is the first time we've ever been outclassed by a tree out there... Personally I'd like to put some TNT under the stump, and blow it out, then we could pull it away from the hangups, but that just isn't going to happen...:mad2:
Welcome to the bottom of the post... Glad you made it...
So...
Finally, the question becomes... Can anyone recommend a shop in NJ, or possibly eastern PA that they feel like they would be comfortable taking something like a 795 to for a spark plug rapair insert? I don't want to take it someplace where the first thing they tell me is its an antique and I should just buy something new...
-Tim - Who has returned from my vacation to install a full bathroom in my girlfriends house over the weekend... I can't wait until I go back to work Monday so I can relax...
