Stihl MS150t - mod

 

Got this little saw a few weeks ago and I've been pretty impressed with it so far.

 

However I've heard of quite a few people loosing the saw out of the tree, due the the attachment ring on the back giving way.

 

So with this weighing on my mind I decided to back it up, I'd read of a few different ways over on arbtalk but decided instead to use some 6mm accessory cord and make use of a small hole/recess at the back of the saw

The cord is poked through and tied off with a fig 8 stopper knot and pulled tight

 

The other end is then tied into a double fishermans

 

Tied nice and short it lines up nicely with the original attachment point

 



So the saw strop can then just be clipped through both

Vehicle mounted vice (cover)

Found a use for an old dry bag

Fits nicely over the vice and should stop it getting too rusty as well as keeping it clean(ish)

Jerry can holder

Just making the most of the available space in my new truck with this 10lt jerry can holder

 

Tucked away out of site it can only be accessed when the bed is tipped up, no excuse for running out of diesel in the chipper now!

Vehicle mounted vice

I've always wanted to mount a Vice to the various vehicles I've owned/used but either never got round to it, never had a suitable place for it or never intended to keep the vehicle long enough to bother.

Well as I'm hopefully going to keep my new truck for quite a few years I decided to finally get around to putting one on it. It took a while to find somewhere suitable to put it, needed to be at the right height but not get in the way with a solid fixing.

This is what I came up with

Pictures are fairly self explanatory, basically one tube fits inside the other with a wing nut type bolt to secure it in place, and then when not in use the whole thing gets twisted 90 degrees and slides in out of the way. 

Couple more videos

Just a couple more videos following on from the last couple of posts

SRT and redirects

Just a couple of pics from the big pop fell last week showing the use of some redirects and the further benefits of SRT

This one is a little confusing as the perspective is off slightly,  the left hand stem is the rigging point with my initial  anchor being the middle stem which is then redirected off the next one, allowing me to get much further out on the branch I'm rigging back in. 

My view

The redirect, a lyon sling round the stem with my climbing line secured in place with a clove hitch 

getting out on the tips of this branch enabled us to rig it clear of a couple of fences

                     

Lots of rigging

Couple of videos here of the Stein Block and Husky top handle  in action, whilst taking down a couple of big poplars.

Nicely overhanging some fences and industrial units, pretty much everything had to be rigged.

                                          

Ended up having a tag line on most of the pieces in order to pull them clear, even had to use the Mini MA system I've been harping on about so much. Came in very handy for a lot of the lower growth that actually dipped down lower than the fences, allowed us to pretension the line much more than usual and in a couple of case lift the pieces up completely with the felling cut on top of the branch. 

You can just see the fence in this photo, with that razor wire type top it was definitely something we didn't want branches getting caught up in. 

Stihl MS150T - First Impressions

Latest addition to my collection of saws

Little baby top handle, to be used exclusively for reductions/repollards and general pruning

Here it is next to a 200t to give you an idea of how tiny this thing is

Unfortunately I haven't had chance to use it yet so can't comment on performance, seems to weigh almost nothing and feels very comfortable in the hand, well balanced and proportioned. 

Couple more pics

Got it on a 10'' bar to stop me using it on anything too big! got a few reductions coming up next week so I'll update once I've put it through its paces...

How to make chainsaw trousers last longer

Whats the best way to get a normal pair of chainsaw trouser to last longer?

For years I did what most tree guys do, I brought a pair of trousers and wore them until they fell to pieces, maybe sewing up some of the big rips but for the most part I was doing well to get 12 - 18 months out of a pair. 

I then decided to be more proactive in the repair of my trousers, sewing up even the tiniest of rips before they got any bigger. This made a huge difference, but it takes quite a lot of discipline to wash them on a friday and have them sewed up ready to go on a monday. The simplest solution to this problem: 

Buy a second pair! Sounds obvious and it does require you to fork out another £150 on a pair that you don't necessarily need. But now with the second pair as soon as I get a little nick or tare I can wear the other pair until I get around to fixing them. It also allows me to always have a dry pair as with all the wet weather we've had this winter its not always possible to dry them overnight and nobody likes putting damp trousers on!

A 1" cut

All sewn up 

I tend to sew over the cut with a standard overhand stitch at least 3 times with doubled up strong thread, I then add a couple of applications of fabric glue as this strengthens the join and stops the thread from fraying so quickly. Does require a bit more discipline but hopefully will pay out in the long run. 

Especially as the zip has just given way on the older of the two pairs! not such a quick fix...

Arb Trucks

This has always been a bit of an issue for me. I used to mostly freelance climb, so would make do with a small van. Then when I started getting a fews more of my own jobs I got a discovery and a bigger trailer, then a chipper.

The 'disco'

I was then stuck with the issue of what to do with the chip, as a lot of the time you can't get away with chipping on site. 

The trouble was a lot of my work needed off road access so a normal transit type tipper was never going to fit the bill. I already ran 2 vehicles as I needed a car as well and just couldn't justify running 3.

So in the end I did the inevitable and brought a landy tipper. This one to be precise:

The 'old girl' (it was an F reg (1989) after all!

This was fine, and once I'd put high sides on it served me well. The trouble was it being a standard 110 it was only plated to just over 3 ton, the tipper was off a transit, steel and very heavy. So realistically the payload was pretty pants. That coupled with the complete lack of tool storage, meant I was continually on the look out for a better solution. 

Unfortunately Landy tippers are a bit like hens teeth, so you don't have much of a choice and they get snapped up pretty quick when they do become available. So instead I went down the road of having one built to my spec by the guys at The Defender Centre

The 'new beast'

Just a couple of pics, I plan on doing a full write up once I've used it a bit and fully tested it out. Needless to say first impressions are very good and can't really find fault with the build quality or customer service. 

Pulling over a stem/mini MA in action - video

Quick video of the big poplar stem being pulled over with the aid of the Mini MA

The video better illustrates the size and weight of this stem, which standing perfectly upright would have taken a lot of pulling/wedging to get over without the aid of mechanical advantage 

Quick fist tool clamps

Recently fitted a few of these to the tool storage area on my truck

Not used them enough to formulate much of an opinion, but they seem well made and should hopefully stop a few things from rattling round in the back

Gransfors splitting maul and forest axe, go with me to virtually every job

Big shot trigger video

Follow up video from a previous post

Not a huge tree, but with the 6ft pole and a 12oz weight I get the fork I wanted first shot, base tied and SRT up the other side to remove/reduce a few lower branches overhanging a golf green. Definitely saved a few minutes.