Back again gents.
Have been relatively busy in the last week. If I haven't been cutting trees I've been babysitting while Tracy has gone to work.
Anyway I finished up at one of the properties earlier this week and then shifted back out to Kangara (around 40km away) where they have around 40,000 smaller trees to potentially drop. Because I have a few weeks off before I start my new job and can therefore drop a lot more trees than they thought and the property manager had to contact the overall farm(s) manager to ensure their budget would extend far enough to allow so many trees to be felled. It's not only my cost to the company but they also have to allocate staff to clear irrigation lines etc etc.
Anyway I have a few pictures and videos here from the previous property with the larger trees. On another note the little 550 has now settled down and the warm/hot start issues have disappeared. It's probably had close to 25-30 tanks through it now. I gave it a bit of a hillbilly muffler mod which made a massive difference as Brad Snelling has mentioned. These things have crazy power for 50cc and why anybody would want to modify them further than the muffler is beyond me. There is one thing though that is really pis*ing me off with this saw and that is the felling spike. It is absolute crap. This is one area that Stihl has got sorted and even my 200T's have far better spikes. Every tree in Sweden must have a 10" diameter and be perfectly round. On many trees here with funny shaped trunks the spike simply had nothing to bite on - because the case and muffler are hitting the tree I have paint coming off the case, a bent muffler, and even the spark arrestor screen has hooked on something and bent that too - if anybody knows of an OEM HD spike set for this saw please let me know. I nearly modified a set of 365-390 OEM HD spikes the other day but realised they'd be just a bit too big for a small saw like this. Those that think you don't need spikes on a saw used for falling are tugging themselves. They are very important for lining up cuts accurately (and therefore safely) and also help a lot with fatigue as you can lock the saw into the trunk and pivot it on the spikes. Without spikes cuts will wander and you have to physically push the saw through the cut while keeping the bar lined up to ensure your cuts end up in the right spots. Everybody knows what problems can arise with inaccurate cuts.
I also gave the little MS241C a run with a 16" GB ArborTech bar in 3/8"LP. It cuts well but simply wouldn't stay sharp long enough and was a bit too underpowered in trees this big and hard. For those not familiar with the ArborTech range they are a solid replaceable nose bar that are very affordable. Great little bar.
I also got lucky the other month and picked up 3 old saws for $150. One was a Sachs Dolmar 115i which needed a few parts but was a good runner in very good condition. They're around 50cc and have a lot of power for a saw designed (I think?) in the mid 80's. I also picked up a similar Dolmar made McCulloch which Wayne (gmax) bought off me for $50.
I also got an 026 which needed a few parts. Bennn*e got me a set of larger spikes for it and I already had an aftermarket muffler to suit. It needed a new 44mm piston and rings which I had here already (luckily as I was meant to get sent 44.7mm kits!). I'm also waiting on a new carby as it had some rust in it plus was erratic when tuning. One minute it would run well and next minute it was like the choke had come on. When it was running well it was a top little saw and like a mini 044. I would rather have an 026 anyday over an MS261 as they have a bit of character and their throttle response reminds me a lot of a Husky. They're really easy to throw around as well.
On the 550XP I was running a 20" 3/8" bar with a 7 pin rim and it was doing it easily. I have to be honest though that against all popular opinion on the 550 I am finding it a nicer saw to use with .325" and an 8 pin rim. So far it seems to be cutting faster than 3/8" although as always .325" doesn't wear as well. In dirtier conditions I'd run 3/8" for sure. This is a photo with the 3/8" bar...
This row was quite crappy and caused all sorts of issues with hangers, intertwined canopies, and of course the old stuck saw(s) trick. I got a few stuck here and there is a good reason why I prefer inboard clutches in situations like this. You can pull powerhead off easily!!! I had the 550 stuck in this photo and with no other real option left the saw there and bowled it over with a neighbouring tree. Luckily the Husky survived without a hitch and I cut it out with the 200T. Took a bit of work to actually find it...
These are the sort of crusty trees I was dealing with. A different species to the others but still a Casuarina...
I also cut this dead one a bit higher to avoid a Gecko hiding in a crack...
Some of you guys would have already seen this video in the All Aussie thread but this is something you try to avoid. I was doing the backcut on a heavy leaner with the 550 knowing it would come back hard but I wasn't quite quick enough. It snapped shut like a bank vault on the bar. I grabbed the 7900 to fall it with the lean and as luck would have it a crack shot up the trunk and jammed the 7900 in the new face cut (not ideal as I was trying to get all the trees falling in a Westerly direction to make it easier to tow out butt end first). There are a few things I'd have done differently here but hindsight is a wonderful thing and I was lucky to not have a couple of crushed saws. I hope you enjoy the thrilling commentary. I was using much harsher language in my head and this happened with only 10 trees left on this property to do (for now)...
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BDm8uYuhcvw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Understandably I didn't make this video "public" on Youtube as I am sick to death of know all dic*heads trying to educate everybody. I had one guy the other day have a go at me about safety because I was using my 241 above shoulder height and didn't have my face shield down. Despite not actually breaking any of the current Australian safety rules as I was wearing protective eyewear (required with face shield up) - cutting above shoulder height is not actually against any OH&S rules however it isn't recommended for inexperienced operators. I checked this guy's comment history and every single comment he'd made was about chainsaw safety. He must have had too much time on his hands.