I ripped a fir on fire a few days ago to get it small enough for the Gradall to pick up. Boiled the oil right off the bar. Blued the rails just a bit but no too badly.
Where's WYK been, and what trouble is he making?
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Will 404 run on a 3/8 sprocket(vs rim drive)? I am gonna move to 404 for my next oak as this 3/8 is having a rough time and the ported 281 can run it easily.
nope it might turn the chain but it will be crunchy...
a guy could acquire some .404 sprockets and send them yer way if they are unobtainium in IRE.
a guy could acquire some .404 sprockets and send them yer way if they are unobtainium in IRE.
I had a feeling. I have a sprocket, so would need a new entire clutch drum/rim set up since this is an external clutch. I'll poke around and see what's local. It's not that the 38 can't hack it. It's just my long bar is about dead after a year of use, and I am on my last 30" semi chain. So thought maybe I would try 404.
.404 does seem to stay sharper, longer, but it takes plenty ass to haul it.
Well, I am gonna just get me a new chain. I ended up somehow lowering my rakers a bit much and she is pulling it well in oak. Good strong saw the 281. I've only mildly ported it. No ignition advance as I can barely start it as it is.
Today I cut down a spruce that had a chestnut branch grown in to it. That was interesting. I used a pole saw to remove the branch. Polesaws are freakin evil. Like a torture device.
In other news, a bud brought me a saw, an ms290. It starts on choke, but when ya put it on high idle it goes high revving and then dies. ANy idea what I should check? Im gonna poke around the interwebs and see what it says.
Today I cut down a spruce that had a chestnut branch grown in to it. That was interesting. I used a pole saw to remove the branch. Polesaws are freakin evil. Like a torture device.
In other news, a bud brought me a saw, an ms290. It starts on choke, but when ya put it on high idle it goes high revving and then dies. ANy idea what I should check? Im gonna poke around the interwebs and see what it says.
1270d
ArboristSite Guru
Fuel supply issue. Carb screen or cracked line maybe
8-10 chance its the fuel line, otherwise diaphram buggered, or impulse line shot.
Definitely air where it shouldn't be. Fuel line or impulse line. Boot maybe. Possibly a seal.
Rebuilt the carb. LOADS of sawdust in it. Runs great now.
Huh. Metering lever?
A baking powder
Just to respond to this - Dave K is still alive and at it. I haven't been able to get a hold of him, but he pops in to the arbtalk forum in the uk as outinthewood, and has his own channel on youtube now. Oddly, I have moved to Bray, which is across from Enniskerry, his back yard. I'm only back on the estate in Waterford part time now:
Suspiciously west-coast looking saw he's got there.
Yeah. He has a collection of ported saws from the states.
The funny thing about his and a few other european folks I'm aware of are running west coast style saws, long bars full-3/4 wrap bars, yet I keep having folks on my you tube vids tell me that its just not done in europe and the east coast, that its silly, overcompensation, rediculous etc etc etc, a real man could do that with a 42cc saw and a 7" bar blah blah blah
Meanwhile... more and more folks are using west coast set ups every year so?
Meanwhile... more and more folks are using west coast set ups every year so?
It really depends on what sort of forestry and arb work one does. Dave and I mostly cut down mature trees. Dave does the ones the harvester can't easily process. I mainly work on an old estate with a bazillion acres on it, much of it untouched for generations. This sort of work is rather rare in our neck of the woods. So we both have to use larger, more powerful saws.
Now, in most places like the UK, they do not really use conifers to build with. It's for fencing, interior stairs, panels, and partitions, some furniture, pulp and that's about it. So they do not cut mature conifers as often as they do stateside in the PNW. And even then, most folks prefer hardwoods here. Since you don't have large conifers as a mainstay, you tend to go with smaller saws, and most folks are weened on these saws and techniques, especially arborists or folks working in cities that mostly do clean up and trimming. So when they run in to larger trees, they simply scale it up - a 14" 346XP is now a 20" MS440. Whereas with me and Dave, we have to scale down when we do the typical work most folks do on the islands. I use a 15" bar on a 38cc saw(Echo CS390ESX) and a 24 on an 044 and a 30 on a 288. These bars stay on these saws 99% of the time. The less bending this old man does, the better. I could certainly use a 36 on the 288 on occasion, but it's a pain to swing that thing around. There are several trunks I am working on that I could make do with a ported 395 with a 42+ bar on it.
All our saws are also modified. Which is somewhat rare for the Islands, and with ported saws being very rare.
This also transfers to how we cut. I was taught both the humbolt and the 'standard' cuts. But, I almost never use a humbolt on a hardwood unless I want it to fly off the stump and it's relatively straight, and I almost never use a standard cut on a softwood unless I want it to stick to the stump. I have never met anyone else on the islands using humbolts. It also makes it easy for me to tell if there's any poaching on the estate.
There is an accepted practice here on hardwoods, that mostly works, in that you make a small face cut with enough angle to let the trunk fall a good amount and break the hinge, and back cut a lot of the width in order to keep the tree from barber chairing. It's not as important on most softwoods, and definitely doesn't make any difference on smaller softwoods that are healthy. But the thing is, this is the first cut most folks on the islands learn, and it is the main one they use for about everything. It is slower, yeah. Oftentimes slower by about 3-4X as much time. But since it is mostly used on smaller trees, it's not as bad as using the technique in the PNW would be. In fact, most of what they teach here would be a complete waste in the PNW - it would take far too much time to put wood on the ground, and some of the techniques would bring wood in to the mill that would be unusable or need excessive trimming.
I also almost never bore cut unless it's a huge hardwood that could use a bit less hinge, or it if I need to be more creative for bucking big pieces of wood. Even then, I prefer to nip the hinge from the back if I can vs cutting into it from the front, which is standard practice here. That requires a longer bar.
Now folks on the continent that see larger conifers daily definitely use longer bars and more powerful saws in general. It's unlikely these are the guys giving out for PNW users with longer bars. Basically speaking, if a European gives out to someone for using a ported power head with a longer bar, it means they likely do not fall large conifers on a regular basis, and definitely not from a production stand point.
This is SGFoley in Germany using a 390 on a few decent sized Spruce. He generally uses a larger saw, and is mainly doing this video to show the capabilities of the little Shindaiwa, but this is a good demonstration of the European technique VS the PNW technique:
I did this to an oak I needed to leave the stump and roll off of a berm instead of kick back at me like it might have if I used a standard cut:
I cut mostly for firewood, so leaving a stump like this, which I'll cut off with the 044 or 288 later, isn't an issue. But if that was going to a mill, I would have tried to cut it closer to the ground.
Now, in most places like the UK, they do not really use conifers to build with. It's for fencing, interior stairs, panels, and partitions, some furniture, pulp and that's about it. So they do not cut mature conifers as often as they do stateside in the PNW. And even then, most folks prefer hardwoods here. Since you don't have large conifers as a mainstay, you tend to go with smaller saws, and most folks are weened on these saws and techniques, especially arborists or folks working in cities that mostly do clean up and trimming. So when they run in to larger trees, they simply scale it up - a 14" 346XP is now a 20" MS440. Whereas with me and Dave, we have to scale down when we do the typical work most folks do on the islands. I use a 15" bar on a 38cc saw(Echo CS390ESX) and a 24 on an 044 and a 30 on a 288. These bars stay on these saws 99% of the time. The less bending this old man does, the better. I could certainly use a 36 on the 288 on occasion, but it's a pain to swing that thing around. There are several trunks I am working on that I could make do with a ported 395 with a 42+ bar on it.
All our saws are also modified. Which is somewhat rare for the Islands, and with ported saws being very rare.
This also transfers to how we cut. I was taught both the humbolt and the 'standard' cuts. But, I almost never use a humbolt on a hardwood unless I want it to fly off the stump and it's relatively straight, and I almost never use a standard cut on a softwood unless I want it to stick to the stump. I have never met anyone else on the islands using humbolts. It also makes it easy for me to tell if there's any poaching on the estate.
There is an accepted practice here on hardwoods, that mostly works, in that you make a small face cut with enough angle to let the trunk fall a good amount and break the hinge, and back cut a lot of the width in order to keep the tree from barber chairing. It's not as important on most softwoods, and definitely doesn't make any difference on smaller softwoods that are healthy. But the thing is, this is the first cut most folks on the islands learn, and it is the main one they use for about everything. It is slower, yeah. Oftentimes slower by about 3-4X as much time. But since it is mostly used on smaller trees, it's not as bad as using the technique in the PNW would be. In fact, most of what they teach here would be a complete waste in the PNW - it would take far too much time to put wood on the ground, and some of the techniques would bring wood in to the mill that would be unusable or need excessive trimming.
I also almost never bore cut unless it's a huge hardwood that could use a bit less hinge, or it if I need to be more creative for bucking big pieces of wood. Even then, I prefer to nip the hinge from the back if I can vs cutting into it from the front, which is standard practice here. That requires a longer bar.
Now folks on the continent that see larger conifers daily definitely use longer bars and more powerful saws in general. It's unlikely these are the guys giving out for PNW users with longer bars. Basically speaking, if a European gives out to someone for using a ported power head with a longer bar, it means they likely do not fall large conifers on a regular basis, and definitely not from a production stand point.
This is SGFoley in Germany using a 390 on a few decent sized Spruce. He generally uses a larger saw, and is mainly doing this video to show the capabilities of the little Shindaiwa, but this is a good demonstration of the European technique VS the PNW technique:
I did this to an oak I needed to leave the stump and roll off of a berm instead of kick back at me like it might have if I used a standard cut:
I cut mostly for firewood, so leaving a stump like this, which I'll cut off with the 044 or 288 later, isn't an issue. But if that was going to a mill, I would have tried to cut it closer to the ground.
totally agree, different wood different methods, I just find it amusing that so many dismiss West Coast stuff as childish posing when it could save them a lot of work on many a tree. Its the keyboard commando types that only know one way and therefore everyone should perform that one way that amuses me
Also you've been in Ire long enough now that your typing like em... (which is also amusing in its own way)
Also you've been in Ire long enough now that your typing like em... (which is also amusing in its own way)
Funny thing about a good set of tools is that it defies opinions.
No doubt. I suspect some of the nonsense you hear on the YouTubes are just people intimidated and made insecure by the fact people who work in the PNW are just pure badasses.
One of the things I am not fond of is how much some folks 'muscle' their saws when working on trees here. In order to be insurable, I had to take certification courses here in Europe. Every state is different, but Ireland's basically is the same as the UK. And because of this, I see a lot of similarities when it comes to using saws on both islands. One of them is muscling the saw. The other is using the back bar of the saw very often. Both of which I saw taught in the cert courses. Now, I know some folks stateside use it simply to keep the chips off of ya, and I do this, too. But I mean these guys take their 50cc saws with a 12 inch bar on it and just shove it the fug into a stump and grind away as the saw screams like it's being bent over in a prison shower. You see a bit of it in the SGFoley vid, and a lot of it is because they need to cut close to the ground. Does it work? Well, it gets the job done. But one of the things about learning on a large saw with a longer bar is allowing the saw to do most of the work for you, and keeping your chain sharp. I have serviced a lot of saws, and seen a lot of folks in the field, and sharpening is not a skill I would say many have mastered.
When you hear someone on the youtubes complain about how you are using too much saw, just consider the fact he might be that guy forcing the back of a dull bar into a spruce at foot level, thinking to himself 'Ferrrggghhpphh!' the entire time before he came home that evening and decided to tell people half a world away how to get things done.
I don't often put up videos any more. It's just a pain to get notifications of people being stupid.
Heh. Well, the locals will rub off on ya. And, perhaps most importantly, if you live among them, you need to communicate with them.
I am often on the Arbtalk forum that's based in the UK because I learn a lot there, and I try to help folks out as much as I can while I am drinking my coffee. Which is often since I need to find me a full time job, really. They suffer from the same thing anyone else does who is isolated. They have their own methods that suit their own needs. But, their forestry is woeful compared to US forestry. Especially in Ireland, which has the second smallest percentage of landmass dedicated or forested in Europe(which is also why we have to be vigilant preventing poaching off the estate). 11% VS an average of 30-40% for most Euro countries(US is at about 34%), with Finland coming in at something like 65%. But 30% of something like Norway means about .2% of what we have stateside; 2 million acres VS 1 billion in the US. So, cutting off all that stump and flare, adding in the flare to the base of the trunk, which is not gonna help that wood grade worth a damn, cutting all those buttresses and leaving a flat stump - ain't no one in the US got time fo dat stuff unless they are doing hardwood harvesting. And even then, I doubt all that flare is helping unless it's being used for making hockey sticks.
S0, again, it's just folks showing their ignorance. You know - like how teens like to talk all the time instead of listen. Something the internet does a great job with. Which is sort of odd, because EVERYTHING you need to know you could learn on the interwebs if you shut up and sit back and take it all in instead of opening your mouth and spouting nonsense to try and impress people you don't know or never will meet. It used to be you would simply tell your friends in casual conversation how stupid you were, and they would all go, 'Ahh...that's super...uh...interesting'. I know - I've often been on both sides of that conversation. But now you can share your stupidity with the world via YouTube and watch other stupid people 'like' your stupidity. And just like that 'participation trophy' they got for warming the bench, it bolsters their esteem. What a great time we live in.
