Firewood and chainsaws.
- Thread starter chaoticbob
- Start date
Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:
porker
Established Member
There are several but I use Stihl Motomix. It does not contain ethanol which I think all pump petrol contains now. Problem with pump fuel is that it goes stale, gums up your carb and rots some fuel pipes. You can get it from most garden machinery suppliers. It's about £20 for 5 litres so not cheap but I prefer for limited use as starting isn't a problem.
llangatwgnedd
Established Member
HUSQVARNA 420EL 16" 2000w
More expensive than the Chinese, and motor in-line and not on the side .
Only use in the near the house for noise factor, petrol husqvarna when out in the woods.
Bought it here.
https://www.worldofpower.co.uk/husqvarn ... 0XEALw_wcB
More expensive than the Chinese, and motor in-line and not on the side .
Only use in the near the house for noise factor, petrol husqvarna when out in the woods.
Bought it here.
https://www.worldofpower.co.uk/husqvarn ... 0XEALw_wcB
Aspen for me , I pay £15 cash for 5L , been using it for several years. No horrible fumes, just a sweet smell.
Northern arb Rototech chains are good, cheap but stay sharp, you need a fresh file
when they do need sharpening.
Northern arb Rototech chains are good, cheap but stay sharp, you need a fresh file
when they do need sharpening.
porker":120zf782 said:
Newer fuel line will tolerate 10-15% ethanol.
In the states, most regular gasoline is 10% ethanol. Even though the saw will tolerate it, it still has a short tank life which makes it suspect for infrequent users. The premium gas here generally has very little ethanol in it, and i stick to that. Some stations offer zero-ethanol gas at a price about 10-15% higher.
They do sell the pre-mix all over the place here, though, and it's popular.
My saw is older and was not ethanol proof. As you mention, fuel line failure came swiftly and convincingly (it cracked about 8 different places at one time). the subsequent piece of line that I put in the saw (thanks youtube) has been fine for half a dozen years now as it's made to tolerate the ethanol.
most people here in the states still use gas saws, especially if they cut any quantity of wood. the battery and electric saws have decent power, but they don't have the same chain speed, which makes them slow to use regardless of their power.
We also have 120v mains here, so you generally can't find a saw above 1800 watts (back to the chain speed thing - it's slow enough that the speed is the limitation and not the motor power).
Health and safety doesn't amount to much here, so chainsaw accidents are not uncommon.
Geoff_S":32uqtuou said:
It's for everything, to aid the crowd of casual users who, for example, may use a leaf blower and string trimmer a few times a year and have a knack for scoring pistons on their equipment by forgetting to mix or being unable to follow directions.
The premix is expensive, but not expensive compared to repair bills.
Falcon
Member
I have a Titan chainsaw which I have used a lot for cutting fire wood for the wood burner and now need to sharpen the chain.I have never sharpened a chain saw blade before,what saw blade guide would you recomend? I am also after a spare saw chain ( it came with an Oregon) any recomendations?Thanks.
I have an electric chainsaw and I think it's fantastic. If I were only processing firewood at home then I wouldn't even consider a petrol model, electric is far quieter, cleaner and more pleasant to use.
I can't comment too much on tightening mechanisms an mentioned earlier. Mine is a cheap one from B&Q and it uses a screw under the bar to tighten it, I have to adjust it every now and again while working but it only takes a second.
I can't comment too much on tightening mechanisms an mentioned earlier. Mine is a cheap one from B&Q and it uses a screw under the bar to tighten it, I have to adjust it every now and again while working but it only takes a second.
Trainee neophyte
Established Member
Falcon":2v011ves said:
Sharpening the chain is nothing difficult, but it should be done fairly regularly. On big saws, the assumption is that every time you refuel, you give each tooth two or three swipes with a file. In the real world, this doesn't happen, but certainly every couple of hours use, if not more often.
The easiest system is something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-151 ... 58&sr=8-10
Cheap as chips - buy a good one, or a cheap one, and it will do about the same job. Make sure the file is the correct size for your chain! (Read the manual). Buy a fancy set from Oregon and it will have a flat file for doing the rakers, too. (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oregon-558549- ... 08&sr=8-16)
YouTube videos will show you how to do the actual sharpening, but basically you file at 30°, in one direction only (i.e. push the file away from you whilst cutting, but lift it up to bring it back - don't drag it backwards along the tooth towards you. Then you turn the saw around and do the opposing teeth from the other side, so you are always sharpening every other tooth on the chain. I do the same with the rakers.
If you have never sharpened the chain before, try filing each tooth 6 times, which is going to take a bit of effort, and with a new file, is a serious sharpening. See if it make a difference. A new file should make the saw good as new, but if it doesn't, you may need to file the rakers down, too. The rakers are the bit just in front of each tooth, and set the cut depth (and as the name suggests, take the sawdust out of the cut). As you sharpen the teeth, the teeth get shorter, so the depth guage(i.e. the rakers) need to be reduced, too. You use a flat file for these, not a round file. Quite a lot of people don't bother with them, and eventually replace the chain when sharpening doesn't have much effect any more.
Do you have a local chainsaw repair shop? They might well sharpen it for you (€2 where I live, probably £15 for you, or maybe more these days), and they may also show you how to do it. Perhaps.
[youtube]r22_vlglpOg[/youtube]
porker
Established Member
I always keep a couple of spare sharp chains so I can easily switch if I damage the chain. Hitting a bit of metal in the wood like a staple or something or touching a stone on the ground will blunt a chain really quickly.
As above advice, little and often is best with a file and a guide. Also look out for Lidl's who do a Florabest electric sharpener as they are great if the chain needs a grind. A light touch and they are like new. Much cheaper than other competitors but a few professional arborists use them. You can buy a system where you push the special chain tip into a sharpener where you run the saw but I've never tried one.
As above advice, little and often is best with a file and a guide. Also look out for Lidl's who do a Florabest electric sharpener as they are great if the chain needs a grind. A light touch and they are like new. Much cheaper than other competitors but a few professional arborists use them. You can buy a system where you push the special chain tip into a sharpener where you run the saw but I've never tried one.
Deadeye
Established Member
Interesting thread.
I'd do this:
- in your head, write offf the Stihl.
- now that it has no value, strip it down and try to fix it. There's a couple of good youtubes on that
- chances are it's just the carburettor - in which case a few quid, a replacement, reassemble and you feel like a minor deity. Plus, bonus, you have a perfect, still good, good (Stihl), chainsaw.
- if your strip down goes like mine and you lose bits, break bits, can't reassemble bits or can't find a fault, then you're no worse off - just buy the replacement
I'd do this:
- in your head, write offf the Stihl.
- now that it has no value, strip it down and try to fix it. There's a couple of good youtubes on that
- chances are it's just the carburettor - in which case a few quid, a replacement, reassemble and you feel like a minor deity. Plus, bonus, you have a perfect, still good, good (Stihl), chainsaw.
- if your strip down goes like mine and you lose bits, break bits, can't reassemble bits or can't find a fault, then you're no worse off - just buy the replacement
Trainee neophyte
Established Member
Deadeye":2v62h2ar said:
Don't write off the Stihl! Change the spark plug! Poor thing, all unloved and abandoned - it's just sulking a bit. Give it some love and new spark will be kindled!
Rorschach":1fqlju5x said:
How do the electric saws last over there? Here in the states, most of the consumer electric saws are plenty strong given their chain speed, but their gear setup is metal and nylon combo, and that's where they usually fail.
As a kid, we cut some of our own firewood and burned 8 full cords a year, often cutting far from the house, so electric was out of the question. There are good electric saws to be had here (like makitas), but they don't yet sell well, and the rise of the high powered battery chainsaws looks like it's going to keep them from ever selling much.
D_W":1wjg57gq said:
Mine does fine but it doesn't see heavy use. I use it to cut up bog oak logs mostly so that's hard going but it's only for short periods. For what I paid it has long since paid for itself so I don't mind if it breaks now.
I have an electric oregon for processing turning blanks. Means I can use it in the workshop in all weathers and not gas myself. If I was doing a lot of firewood I'd use the petrol one but for a couple of little cuts the electric one is great.
Falcon
Member
Trainee Neophyte - Thank you very much for your detailed comprehensive reply, that was just what I was looking for .I will get one of those file sharpening guides right away.
porker - thats a good point about having a spare chain or 2.I am new to chainsaws and stupidly thought that the chain supplied with the saw would last forever!!
Thanks again for all your replies.
porker - thats a good point about having a spare chain or 2.I am new to chainsaws and stupidly thought that the chain supplied with the saw would last forever!!
Thanks again for all your replies.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
Everlasting chains? One bad hit in sand or grit and you might throw a new small chain away - it tends to do more harm than nails or small bits of ironmongery.............which, incidentally you can expect in trees in hedgerows or on boundaries. Damhikt. 
Northern arb supplies are worth looking into for chains etc. (It grieves me to recommend them - their customer service could be used as an example of exactly how not to do it) get a couple of spare chains. Do NOT wait until a chain is blunt before touching it up - if you touch up a chain that has just lost its edge slightly, the angle is easy to follow - if you thrash the chain til it's fubar you'll have a job reshaping the teeth. You will find also that it is much easier and better to sharpen the chain in a vice, rather than on the saw, which is another good reason for having more than one chain. Do not ever use a file without a handle - it hurts like hell when you run the tang into your palm. Once again, damhikt.
You CAN get used to not using guides - I've not used any sort of guide in the near fifty years of off and on use of chainsaws.
Northern arb supplies are worth looking into for chains etc. (It grieves me to recommend them - their customer service could be used as an example of exactly how not to do it) get a couple of spare chains. Do NOT wait until a chain is blunt before touching it up - if you touch up a chain that has just lost its edge slightly, the angle is easy to follow - if you thrash the chain til it's fubar you'll have a job reshaping the teeth. You will find also that it is much easier and better to sharpen the chain in a vice, rather than on the saw, which is another good reason for having more than one chain. Do not ever use a file without a handle - it hurts like hell when you run the tang into your palm. Once again, damhikt. You CAN get used to not using guides - I've not used any sort of guide in the near fifty years of off and on use of chainsaws.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
TFrench":3ab9w3xw said:
Likewise with my Ikra.
llangatwgnedd
Established Member
Trainee neophyte":1i8anar3 said:
Not forgetting air filter
