Read Gum dust and Stihl HD Filters

[MCW]

ouch. well the AU 660 comes with dual port and roller chain catcher. haha

Yeah good point. We pay USD$1050 for those added features so we must be getting a bargain

 

[Stihlman441]

And we dont get that little yellow sticker ubove the fuel cap.

 

[MCW]

Why is Redgum so dusty? Is it hard or dry or both, is it as dusty green as dry? Do you have other gums that are just as dusty?

Hi mate.
It is a quite hard wood by world standards but by Australian standards it's probably in the middle. When it is green like nealy all Aussie hardwoods it is fine to cut with little dust. The second it has dried out though it's a whole different ballgame. There are a number of Aussie hardwoods as bad as Redgum, such as Pink Gum etc, but when a tree is dead with no leaves etc it is nearly impossible to ID. In the end if it is dusty, hard, red wooded, and in southern Australia around a water source it is likely to be Redgum. They are a very common species and the most popular and sought after firewood we have. We have better firewood species but in the end most firewood buyers will pay more for Redgum through perception alone. Pale coloured timbers that burn as good as or better than Redgum, such as Box, Sugar Gum etc, won't command as high of a price.

 

[masculator]

RRP on a new MS660 here is around USD$2100

Stihls australian RRP is $1999 with a 25 inch bar but in reality no-one pays that for them. The RRP was the same when I bought mine in january I payed $1800 with a 36 inch bar and chain. $55 is nothing when it comes to protecting a saw that I plan on getting numerous years of service out of. hell it is not much more than half a load of firewood that it will cut! or less than a half a tank of fuels cutting.

 

[masculator]

Hi mate.
It is a quite hard wood by world standards but by Australian standards it's probably in the middle. When it is green like nealy all Aussie hardwoods it is fine to cut with little dust. The second it has dried out though it's a whole different ballgame. There are a number of Aussie hardwoods as bad as Redgum, such as Pink Gum etc, but when a tree is dead with no leaves etc it is nearly impossible to ID. In the end if it is dusty, hard, red wooded, and in southern Australia around a water source it is likely to be Redgum. They are a very common species and the most popular and sought after firewood we have. We have better firewood species but in the end most firewood buyers will pay more for Redgum through perception alone. Pale coloured timbers that burn as good as or better than Redgum, such as Box, Sugar Gum etc, won't command as high of a price.

Yes all of the above burn well and a lot of times hotter but redgum always burns well where as often times the really hard yellow box and such often requires something like redgum with it to burn. some of the boxes burn much hotter, but they resist burning much more than the likes of redgum. Personally I like casuarina and blackwood for burning as it burns very clean but redgum coals well and will burn for a long time once burning where as box will tend to stop itself burning. hence redgum is better as an overnight wood.

 

[masculator]

And a high out put oiler as well

No we don't they are an extra!

 

[MCW]

Stihls australian RRP is $1999 with a 25 inch bar but in reality no-one pays that for them. The RRP was the same when I bought mine in january I payed $1800 with a 36 inch bar and chain. $55 is nothing when it comes to protecting a saw that I plan on getting numerous years of service out of. hell it is not much more than half a load of firewood that it will cut! or less than a half a tank of fuels cutting.

Yeah thats right Trav - anybody who pays full tote odds on a new saw has rocks in their head. It does give a good idea to our American friends though of where we sit on pricing in Australia though as far as Stihl is concerned.

 

[MCW]

No we don't they are an extra!

I think that's only recently Trav. The mongrels...

 

[MCW]

Yes all of the above burn well and a lot of times hotter but redgum always burns well where as often times the really hard yellow box and such often requires something like redgum with it to burn. some of the boxes burn much hotter, but they resist burning much more than the likes of redgum. Personally I like casuarina and blackwood for burning as it burns very clean but redgum coals well and will burn for a long time once burning where as box will tend to stop itself burning. hence redgum is better as an overnight wood.

Most definately true. Redgum has a lot of consistency.
It does depend on where it's grown though - for instance the Casuarinas I've been felling are useless for firewood and there have been about 3 species as well.
The wood that bent my splitter is excellent and hardly leaves anything at all. No ash, just a few coals - if I leave the air open she'll burn away to nothing which is very unusual. It even has a blue flame to it! Hmmm, copper... Does take a bit to get alight though - certainly won't get her done with firelighters alone, unless you use a whole packet!

 

[masculator]

I think that's only recently Trav. The mongrels...

the standard oiler we get on our 660s is higher output than the US oiler but the true HO oiler has always been an option and is about another 35 dollars and puts out about 10% more oil. This oiler was specifically designed for use in australia with our hardwoods.

When you look at pricing it works out not too far off par when you look at what people actually earn. For our dollars even at a higher retail pricing we are getting similar results compared to what we earn. I.E. the base wage in australia is considerably higher. When I was over there in 2006 the minimum payable wage was $4.50 here in australia at the same time the regulated minimum wage was $12.50 or there abouts. in reality for the dollars earned compared to what is spent it works out that we are close to parity with our local retail prices as to what they pay over there relative to wages.

 

[Stihlman441]

So there is an US oiler,Ozzy oiler and a HO oiler for a 660.
What about for 460,880 ?.

 

[masculator]

So there is an US oiler,Ozzy oiler and a HO oiler for a 660.
What about for 460,880 ?.

Not sure about the 880 but as far as I know there is for the 460.

If you are running the true HO oiler you WILL run out of oil before you run out of fuel and thus they recommend that you only half fill the fuel tank when refuelling so that you do not run the bar dry!

 

[MCW]

When you look at pricing it works out not too far off par when you look at what people actually earn. For our dollars even at a higher retail pricing we are getting similar results compared to what we earn. I.E. the base wage in australia is considerably higher. When I was over there in 2006 the minimum payable wage was $4.50 here in australia at the same time the regulated minimum wage was $12.50 or there abouts. in reality for the dollars earned compared to what is spent it works out that we are close to parity with our local retail prices as to what they pay over there relative to wages.

Yeah the Americans certainly do have a wider range of pay rates but in the end the US average wage is basically the same as ours. If they were on half our average wage then it would make sense that their saws are half the price. When I just checked the interesting thing was the difference in average wages per ethnicity.

US Mean Household Income by Ethnicity

White alone $65,317
Black $40,685
Hispanic or Latino $45,871
Asian alone $76,747

The average Australian wage in 2010 was $64641. There must be a lot of Aussies earning some serious coin though as I hardly know anybody earning over $65 a year.

If you are running the true HO oiler you WILL run out of oil before you run out of fuel and thus they recommend that you only half fill the fuel tank when refuelling so that you do not run the bar dry!

There must be a supercharged HO oiler as well. The HO oilers that were fitted to the two 660's I owned ran the fuel and oil out at about the same time. Maybe the US HO oiler and the Aussie spec ones are different? Thats a sh*tload of oil Which is always good in our wood.

 

[Stihlman441]

Those two 660s Matt wernt what we would call good on fuel,i dont think any modded saws are good on fuel.

 

[masculator]

Yeah the Americans certainly do have a wider range of pay rates but in the end the US average wage is basically the same as ours. If they were on half our average wage then it would make sense that their saws are half the price. When I just checked the interesting thing was the difference in average wages per ethnicity.

US Mean Household Income by Ethnicity

White alone $65,317
Black $40,685
Hispanic or Latino $45,871
Asian alone $76,747

The average Australian wage in 2010 was $64641. There must be a lot of Aussies earning some serious coin though as I hardly know anybody earning over $65 a year.



There must be a supercharged HO oiler as well. The HO oilers that were fitted to the two 660's I owned ran the fuel and oil out at about the same time. Maybe the US HO oiler and the Aussie spec ones are different? Thats a sh*tload of oil Which is always good in our wood.

What Is supposedly the standard oiler in aus should run the fuel and oil out at approximately the same time. on the E setting you should have approx 8% of a tank of oil left. on full open you should run out of fuel just before oil. as i said the HO oiler will run out of oil before fuel. I have heard of a few guys who are only using half a tank of oil at full open and if this is the case you need to see your dealer because the oiler has failed! I am led to believe the US HO oiler is what we have standard and the difference is only a few percent between it and their standard oiler.

 

[porky616]

What Is supposedly the standard oiler in aus should run the fuel and oil out at approximately the same time. on the E setting you should have approx 8% of a tank of oil left. on full open you should run out of fuel just before oil. as i said the HO oiler will run out of oil before fuel. I have heard of a few guys who are only using half a tank of oil at full open and if this is the case you need to see your dealer because the oiler has failed! I am led to believe the US HO oiler is what we have standard and the difference is only a few percent between it and their standard oiler.

i must be one of them as i get almost 2 tanks of juice to a tank of oil, i dont have no trouble with hot chains or dry bars and with the price of oil im sticking to my averages. oh and thats pulling a 32" with 404, with the 20" on it my leg gets covered in oil

 

[masculator]

i must be one of them as i get almost 2 tanks of juice to a tank of oil, i dont have no trouble with hot chains or dry bars and with the price of oil im sticking to my averages. oh and thats pulling a 32" with 404, with the 20" on it my leg gets covered in oil

With my standard oiler I get virtually one to one. There is a small amount of oil left, and as far as I know it is on the E setting. all those I have spoken to who have been using about half a tank have had their oiler fixed as they were found to be faulty. You should be using one to one, one tank of fuel to one tank of oil because if you are not you are under oiling by quite a bit. it appears that there was a period where the 660 oilers in oz were breaking down. You may not think it is a problem but you are running with an oiler that has problems, which may stop oiling completely at any given time.

 

[masculator]

Those two 660s Matt wernt what we would call good on fuel,i dont think any modded saws are good on fuel.

I ported and rebuilt my 034 recently and although I have only run a couple of tanks through her she seems to be running very economically. and she screams. I need a tacho so I can tune her properly cause she seems to be running rich but she is really revving! I will put her into some bigger wood this weekend and see if I can tune her a bit better.

 

[porky616]

With my standard oiler I get virtually one to one. There is a small amount of oil left, and as far as I know it is on the E setting. all those I have spoken to who have been using about half a tank have had their oiler fixed as they were found to be faulty. You should be using one to one, one tank of fuel to one tank of oil because if you are not you are under oiling by quite a bit. it appears that there was a period where the 660 oilers in oz were breaking down. You may not think it is a problem but you are running with an oiler that has problems, which may stop oiling completely at any given time.

been 4 years now so i will keep going as is, when it dies i will fix it. id have to put my wood up 20 bucks a ton just to cover bar oil

 

[MCW]

Those two 660s Matt wernt what we would call good on fuel,i dont think any modded saws are good on fuel.

Modded saws will quite often tend to chew more fuel in a given time than a stock saw but what I've found with the 7900's is that I get more wood cut per tank of fuel, particularly with longer bars. That last pop upped 660 I had though was a major fuel hog - as you'd expect with the grunt it had

What Is supposedly the standard oiler in aus should run the fuel and oil out at approximately the same time. on the E setting you should have approx 8% of a tank of oil left. on full open you should run out of fuel just before oil. as i said the HO oiler will run out of oil before fuel. I have heard of a few guys who are only using half a tank of oil at full open and if this is the case you need to see your dealer because the oiler has failed! I am led to believe the US HO oiler is what we have standard and the difference is only a few percent between it and their standard oiler.

You may very well be correct there mate with the US HO oiler - even with it flat out my Husky 390's pumped out more oil. They do have good standard oilers though and will run up to a 42" bar no worries and keep up with plenty of oil.