Hand Tools and Machinery for Country Living

[nahtnoj]

That looks nice. They are intriguing for lighter work. In the chainsaw department, I have a 250 and a 291. If I need to take down anything the 291 can't handle, I probably shouldn't be doing it myself, is my thinking.

[rwsaunders]

Looking to purchase my first Dremelesque tool and I am leaning toward cordless, such as the Dremel 8220...any advice?

https://us.dremel.com/en_US/products...mance-cordless

[AngryScientist]

Looking to purchase my first Dremelesque tool and I am leaning toward cordless, such as the Dremel 8220...any advice?

https://us.dremel.com/en_US/products...mance-cordless

why cordless?

personally, i use a dremel a couple times a year, maybe. for infrequent use, the burden of keeping a battery charged and available makes no sense. corded tools work year after year after year, where as battery tools eventually succumb to obsolete battery standards, shorted batteries and otherwise uselessness. the nature of "stuff" i do with a dremel lends itself to being near an outlet so cordlessness is not really a big advantage for me.

my cordless drill is invaluable to me and i use it practically every day around the house, but for a tool like a dremel that sees use once in a while - corded is my preferred choice.

just a thought.

[swt]

Looking to purchase my first Dremelesque tool and I am leaning toward cordless, such as the Dremel 8220...any advice?

https://us.dremel.com/en_US/products...mance-cordless

Seems apropos for vsalon



disclaimer: I follow RSW on YT.

[j44ke]

Jorn- I'd be interested to know why you chose the model you did and what your initial impressions are. The more thought I give it, the more sense an electric saw makes to me: I can take it when I walk with the dogs to do maintain trails. I went on the Stihl site not expecting to find an abundance of choices, which there are.

I picked the MSA 220 CB because it is the first Stihl electric that comes with a 16" bar and it has the newest electric motor from Stihl, built around the AP300s battery. The AP300s has about 35 minutes of run time with the 220. Today I charged one of the batteries in about 30 minutes. Average is supposed to be 30-45 minutes. So that means two batteries is plenty for what I plan to do with it. My use will be high for very short periods of time. Afterwards it may sit for a while. So I didn't want to deal with a gas engine. I'm pretty good at taking care of stuff, but I don't want to deal with small gas motors, not for what I'm going to do with it. I just need a firewood saw essentially. I am not going to be cutting down trees. With all the ash around, they just keel over. This will work in a pinch if I need to move something that has fallen across the driveway or needs cleanup somewhere back in the woods, but I am not taking down one of our +80' pines or a big maple or oak. I'll hire someone who does that sort of work. Storm cleanup, cutting firewood, maybe cut a fence post or two or three, that sort of thing is what I'll be doing. Plus I can use the batteries in the string trimmer I got. That will likely see more duty than the chainsaw actually. Keeping the paths clean, mowing down the mustard before it goes to seed, trimming grass along the drive, behavior modification for some of the blackberry and raspberry thickets. With the battery it is about the same weight as the MS 250 gas saw @ 11lbs. I don't know how to compare it in engine size to gas, but electric motors often seem to have loads more torque than they do horsepower. And it isn't quiet but it isn't a motor noise loud either. So we'll see. Basically a big experiment.

[j44ke]

That looks nice. They are intriguing for lighter work. In the chainsaw department, I have a 250 and a 291. If I need to take down anything the 291 can't handle, I probably shouldn't be doing it myself, is my thinking.

This saw is supposed to be equivalent to the 250, but I don't really know how you compare motors. I really don't want to take on a big tree with a chainsaw. I could probably do it in the middle of a wide open field, but there isn't anything wide open about our property so inevitably the domino effect applies. I really don't want to become a domino.

I think I used up all my patience for motor repair on my Volkswagens - Beetle and Golf. But I understand the attraction of taking one apart and getting it back together again in good working order. Something very satisfying about making something go. And the self-reliance factor also. If I felt like it was important, I definitely would have bought a 250 and studied how to keep it going forever if possible.

[j44ke]

Looking to purchase my first Dremelesque tool and I am leaning toward cordless, such as the Dremel 8220...any advice?

https://us.dremel.com/en_US/products...mance-cordless

I have a Proxxon. It is wired. I bought it now about 10 or 15 years ago. At the time, it was lighter and had a higher rpm than the Dremel. I thought it felt better in the hand. Very smooth. Negligible gyroscopic effect. Very stable. Also I think the RPM dial is away from your hand on the Proxxon. The Dremel's knob was down where the hand grip was. The Proxxon location made more sense to me. There are some chores that only a rotary tool can do, and I probably find those 2-3 times a year. Always a good day when I get to take it out of its box.

I haven't seen the battery ones. I don't even think there was a battery model when I bought mine.

[ides1056]

I walk the dogs around our place every day and pass myriad opportunities to clean up the trail, limbs down and the like. A battery powered saw would be the best tool for these jobs.

Gas saws are unpleasant to use. Full stop.

[nahtnoj]

Like you, I have a lot of standing dead ash. There are dozens of them along a fence line by one of the hay fields, and some of them its easier to just bring down preventatively than be constantly cleaning up sticks and branches, or worse - have them take out the younger trees (maple, walnut, hickory, cherry) growing up around them. They're generally leaning towards the field anyway, so its just a question of whether or not they are going to twist at all of their way down.

[caleb]

If any of you bums are interested in my modified (carb) DOLMAR PS-5100 5100 SH CHAINSAW 18"BAR let me know. It is a very fast running saw. I'm going to hunt for something a little less wildcat ;)

LOL It has a heated grip. No kidding.

Just seeing this now, @Too Tall . If you really want to rehome your Dolmar in earnest, let me know. I'm guessing we could come to an understanding on terms and conditions.

[j44ke]

We just got a real humdinger of a storm. Started out with the sky going black, then this crazy wind. At one point all the cushions on our outdoor furniture levitated and then flopped back down. I heard a "whump" in the forest and went into the bedroom to see if it was close. Just as I walked in, one of the pines over the septic field kind of pivoted and then snapped in half. Another whump. Then it started raining. Then snowing. Now seems relatively calm. Tomorrow we get 20 mph winds during the day.

But the tree down on the septic field means I get to use my shiny new chainsaw tomorrow. I'll report the results from my hospital bed.

[Mabouya]

We just got a real humdinger of a storm.

https://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/today.html

[ides1056]

A proper New England, third-week-of-April day:
Sun enough first thing to recreate outdoors and arrive back at the car as the heavens open and torrents fall.
Back home thunder in abundance, shaking the house while hail teems off the roof.
Going out for firewood now snow falls, drifting without a care in the world.

[Tom]

It beats the cut off low snizzling for 10 days at 42 degrees 30 degree dewpoint. At least its something different every day and as noted in every day.

[Too Tall]

Just seeing this now, @Too Tall . If you really want to rehome your Dolmar in earnest, let me know. I'm guessing we could come to an understanding on terms and conditions.

Send a PM.

[j44ke]

Spring storm this week corkscrewed a pine right off its foundations. I saw it go. Almost like the wind lifted it up and then set it down, and then the upper 3/4's of the tree landed on the septic field. I limbed it yesterday but the winds were still thrashing the trees so I left cutting up the trunk for today. Saw worked really well. Very smooth and easy to control. It was a pine though, not a gnarly old hardwood. I think I spent more time afterwards cleaning all the pine sap-filled sawdust off the saw, me and my gloves. Took the bar and chain off and cleaned there as well. So far so good.

[ides1056]

That tree was healthy- no sign of red rot. I had a few tops come off, but there were obvious reasons.

[Mabouya]

That tree was healthy- no sign of red rot. I had a few tops come off, but there were obvious reasons.

I'm guessing that the trees that are close to the house are still getting used to the new wind patterns with the clearing for the building and yard, so it will take a while until everything that's sensitive and newly exposed is taken down by storms.

[j44ke]

I think this tree got whacked by another tree earlier in the process of clearing. On the right side of the photo, there is a longer section with an old wound of removed the bark almost its entire length. And then in the back are the shards that were the section between that and the remaining trunk left standing. So I suspect there was an internal separation/weakening caused by that impact and the wind just hit it the right way one too many times, and that section came apart.

But yeah, I don't think this is the last tree to go down, but I hope we're close to the end.

We felt another boom during the height of the storm, but I haven't located the tree it came from. We'll go on a walk tomorrow morning and see what surprises are in the forest. Sometimes these things go down so perfectly you'd think they were placed there. And then other times it looks like they went down spinning like a propeller, taking out with anything and everything. Tree pinball.

I just hope I am never underneath when one comes down. That pine was not thick but the lower several of the sections I had to roll with the peavey to get them out of the way. Amazing how heavy a tree can be.

[ides1056]

We get lightning often, with sometimes spectacular results: a 100' pine turned into matchsticks when struck. Water becomes steam and kablooie.