ICE Gardening equipment

[gromit]

I know a lot of forum members are using battery powered gardening equipment but I'm still playing with ICE stuff.

Picked up a Kaaz brushcutter today powered by a Mitsubishi motor.
Gave it a clean, found the foam air filter had decomposed, topped up the tank and it runs perfectly.
Slight leak from the grommet where the fuel pipes enter the tank but found them cheap on Ebay along with air filters.
The young bloke thought it was funny that Kaaz make LSD's and gardening equipment....

Next a Homelite chainsaw that played up a few years ago, wouldn't re-start when hot then didn't like starting at all.
I left it in the shed and moved on to another chainsaw. Recently I decided to get an aftermarket coil pack from Ebay. Fitted it today, now it starts OK and re-started when hot. Just need to either replace or sharpen the chain,.
A few years ago picked up an Oregon electric chain sharpener at the Trash & Treasures market for $3. I'll have a go at sharpening the old chain.

There's a Jonsered chainsaw collected from hard rubbish. Starts & runs but missing the top cover, unfortunately parts are difficult to find so it's not being used.

Next job is getting a couple of Stihl whipper snippers I was given running, one is a re-badged Shindaiwa.
I'll probably move these on.

What I do need is a petrol chipper/mulcher.

No plans to go battery when ICE stuff is so cheap secondhand or off hard rubbish.

Colin

[Lionelgee]

I know a lot of forum member are using battery powered gardening equipment but I'm still playing with ICE stuff.

Picked up a Kaaz brushcutter today powered by a Mitsubishi motor.
Gave it a clean, found the foam air filter had decomposed, topped up the tank and it runs perfectly.
Slight leak from the grommet where the fuel pipes enter the tank but found them cheap on Ebay along with air filters.
The young bloke thought it was funny that Kaaz make LSD's and gardening equipment....

Next a Homelite chainsaw that played up a few years ago, wouldn't re-start when hot then didn't like starting at all.
I left it in the shed and moved on to another chainsaw. Recently I decided to get an aftermarket coil pack from Ebay. Fitted it today, now it starts OK and re-started when hot. Just need to either replace or sharpen the chain,.
A few years ago picked up an Oregon electric chain sharpener at the Trash & Treasures market for $3. I'll have a go at sharpening the old chain.

There's a Jonsered chainsaw collected from hard rubbish. Starts & runs but missing the top cover, unfortunately parts are difficult to find so it's not being used.

Next job is getting a couple of Stihl whipper snippers I was given running, one is a re-badged Shindaiwa.
I'll probably move these on.

What I do need is a petrol chipper/mulcher.

No plans to go battery when ICE stuff is so cheap secondhand or off hard rubbish.

Colin

G'day Colin,

I thought ICE was a brand for a while. Then I paused to think ... Internal Combustion Engine = ICE. Must be late on a Sunday night. Well that is my excuse for the moment anyway.

Kind regards
Lionel

[austastar]

Hi,
I have a 4stroke muncher and my son has an electric one.
https://youtu.be/TncG_M40q4Q'si=sMcqWYks6zHf1sdq
Quieter, slower, starts easier, lighter and no fumes for me wins hands down.
Mine is so unpleasant to use I tend to put the job off until it is overwhelming and now hire a trash pack at $30 a pickup.
Cheers

[RANDLOVER]

G'day Colin,

I thought ICE was a brand for a while. Then I paused to think ... Internal Combustion Engine = ICE. Must be late on a Sunday night. Well that is my excuse for the moment anyway.

Kind regards
Lionel

Which is different again to using power tools while on "ice".

[Saitch]

Which is different again to using power tools while on "ice".

192892

[JDNSW]

Maybe I have been reading too much US news - I first thought "Immigration & Customs Enforcement" (recently in the news for disappearing people who may or may not have been illegal immigrants, but had the wrong skin colour).

[gromit]

Maybe I have been reading too much US news - I first thought "Immigration & Customs Enforcement" (recently in the news for disappearing people who may or may not have been illegal immigrants, but had the wrong skin colour).

In Car Entertainment crossed my mind as another acronym.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2whVu5ZOdcs



Colin

[gromit]

I fired up the petrol broom earlier today, as I pumped the primer bulb fuel was leaking from somewhere.
I assumed it was the primer bulb but on investigation it turned out to be the fuel return line had cracked.

I keep fuel line 'in-stock' so carby & fuel tank off to replace both pipes as the supply was guaranteed to fail once I'd replaced the return line.

Blower cost $20 from a Trash & Treasure market 4 years ago and fuel line a few dollars from Ebay.

Colin

[DoubleChevron]

The trouble is they accumulate in the shed. The last one I picked up was an old oleo-mac 284f .... I think I it was $60 bucks with two bars. What a revelation. That thing has some serious grunt [bigrolf]


https://youtu.be/rtwa1LZL7as

some new fuel line and a carby clean .... and its away. Before you say it, yes I replaced and tightened the chain [bighmmm]

[scarry]

I'll probably move these on.

What I do need is a petrol chipper/mulcher.

Colin

I had a Greenfield Piecemaker chipper for over 20yrs,it was really good but just a bit light on for what we needed.
Eventually the engine wore,vibrated badly and cracked the mounting plate.
If i knew you wanted one you could have had it,but it has gone to the scrap place.

Replaced it with a BWM chipper/mulcher recently,this one has more capacity and the Honda motor is quieter and easier to pull start.
It also works a lot faster,an electric one wouldn't do what we want.

I do have an electric Stihl Pole saw,it is great.If i needed another chain saw i would go electric for sure.
Still using the old 55 yr old Stihl we inherited from my father.Few parts are available for the older models,but we haven't needed any.
The spark plug lead rubbed through once,earthing onto the frame,causing it to stall on occasions.
That was an easy fix with a bit of tape.

[Tins]

Still using the old 55 yr old Stihl we inherited from my father.

Probably proudly made in West Germany, like my Dad's 08S which I still have.

[Tins]

Honda for four stroke, Stihl or Echo for two stroke. If I ever buy another chain saw, which I will only do for carrying in the cars, I will probably get a 'Waukee just because of the battery ecosystem.

[scarry]

Honda for four stroke, Stihl or Echo for two stroke.

I have had an Echo leaf blower for over 20yrs,it is used almost every weekend,for an hour at least.Apart from the occasional spark plug it hasn't missed a beat.

The boys have been having trouble with their Honda 4 stroke brush cutters,whipper snippers,mowers,etc.It is usually the carby needing an overhaul or replacement.So maybe they are not as good as they used to be.
The latest advice is to always use Stihl fuel conditioner.The shop i bought my chipper from said the same thing.

My Honda 4 stroke mower is over 30yrs old,still going.Apart from having to replace the occasional spark plug and the pull cord once.And blades every few years.
It is also the brand almost every mowing contractor uses.

On another note,Honda or B & S genuine 4 stroke oil seems to be half the price of the same weight/type of oil from Supercheap,Penrite or Castrol brands.
Apart from mower shops the genuine oil is also available from Bunnings.

[gromit]

I used to get oil from a blender in Bayswater.
I ordered 5 litres of chain & bar oil some years back, when I collected it I got five 1 liter containers of Ryobi oil !
Turns out they packaged it for Ryobi.

Hunting around, straight 30 for the 4-stroke equipment can be reasonably priced. I don't get near the blender any longer and their prices steadily increased.
SuperCheap weren't too badly priced (for a change) last time I looked.

The carby overhaul kits from Ebay or AliExpress seem to fix problems with the 2-stroke equipment. One 'gasket' has a couple of flaps that act as one-way valves, I think these get tired.
Just fitted a grommet, fuel pipes, fuel filter & breather to the Kaaz. $12 for one set, $13 for two so I got a spare that I'll probably never use :)

As for a chipper/mulcher....the pile is so big I'll get someone in to do the whole lot. If I find a chipper/mulcher I'll then try & keep on top of the situation.


Colin

[oka374]

20 years ago I was given a Bolens chipper/muncher with an 8hp Tecumseh 4 stroke engine that had put a leg out of bed. I found an 8hp Honda that had been on a tile lifter fwhich had fallen off the truck and had a few abrasions but was basically sound and fitted it in place of the Tecumseh.
The Honda has performed perfectly ever since and the chipper can take a 90 x 45 lump of pine down the chipper chute without missing a beat, it's a great machine but usually only gets an annual use as we don't have much green waste any more.
I also only use premium unleaded in any ICE powered power tools as there is too much crap in the standard stuff and the premium doesn't go off as quickly.

[Saitch]

Honda for four stroke, Stihl or Echo for two stroke. If I ever buy another chain saw, which I will only do for carrying in the cars, I will probably get a 'Waukee just because of the battery ecosystem.

I suggested an upgrade from an 8aH to 12aH for a Milwaukee line trimmer a friend has and they don't regret it.

What was a bit sad was that their 8aH only lasted a bit over 12 months from new, with the trimmer!

[DoubleChevron]

I'm amazing you guys bother with chippers. I picked a B&S 8hp I think chipper cheaply about a decade ago. I got it running, thinking it would be fantastic ...... What a useless heap of junk. It would takes hours to make a wheelbarrow of mulch. You had to break every branch down into bite sized pieces and slowly feed each stick through one at a time.

I suffered through using it for about 10 minutes and noticed absolutely no progress on the stack of branches to be mulched. So put it straight up for sale and sold it to some other sucker and threw all the branches on a burn pile. So much easier. I would take me countless hours to even dream of mulching the crap that drops on the ground around here, let alone prunings (I tend to prune with a chainsaw when the boss women isn't home [bigwhistle][bigwhistle])

seeya
Shane L.

[RANDLOVER]

Maybe the blades needed sharpening or replacing.

[scarry]

I'm amazing you guys bother with chippers. I picked a B&S 8hp I think chipper cheaply about a decade ago. I got it running, thinking it would be fantastic ...... What a useless heap of junk. It would takes hours to make a wheelbarrow of mulch. You had to break every branch down into bite sized pieces and slowly feed each stick through one at a time.

I suffered through using it for about 10 minutes and noticed absolutely no progress on the stack of branches to be mulched. So put it straight up for sale and sold it to some other sucker and threw all the branches on a burn pile. So much easier. I would take me countless hours to even dream of mulching the crap that drops on the ground around here, let alone prunings (I tend to prune with a chainsaw when the boss women isn't home [bigwhistle][bigwhistle])

seeya
Shane L.

I am guessing something was wrong with it.
The one i have now,6.5HP Honda will easily do Eucalypt branches 60mm thick,and i can do a pile of branches larger than the size of my van in 3/4 of an hour at the most.
That would be at least 3 wheelbarrows full of mulch.
And palm fronds,green,straight through in around 15 seconds,dead dry ones take a few seconds longer.
Many of them are over 4M long.
Same for branchs,gums,ironbark,fiddlewood,Jacaranda,whateve r,some are 3M long,it just pulls them through.
Bamboo,6M long,gone in a few seconds.

This chipper has belts and a drum set up,which works a lot better than the old Greenpiece one i had before which was direct drive,with a similar motor size.

Whoever bought yours probably changed the blades as someone else said,and it is now fine.....[thumbsupbig]

[V8Ian]

I'm amazing you guys bother with chippers. I picked a B&S 8hp I think chipper cheaply about a decade ago. I got it running, thinking it would be fantastic ...... What a useless heap of junk. It would takes hours to make a wheelbarrow of mulch. You had to break every branch down into bite sized pieces and slowly feed each stick through one at a time.

I suffered through using it for about 10 minutes and noticed absolutely no progress on the stack of branches to be mulched. So put it straight up for sale and sold it to some other sucker and threw all the branches on a burn pile. So much easier. I would take me countless hours to even dream of mulching the crap that drops on the ground around here, let alone prunings (I tend to prune with a chainsaw when the boss women isn't home [bigwhistle][bigwhistle])

seeya
Shane L.
How many have you got? :o

[DoubleChevron]

How many have you got? :o

Nah, it worked fine, it was just hopeless. I did turn up at my brother inlaws a few years ago, and he had a huge ... maybe 20hp chipper there with a big pile of branches beside it. I looked at it and said "this awesome". And he said exactly the same thing as me "to slow ... bloody hopeless, it took me ages just to do half a barrow load of chips". He was taking it straight back to where he got it. They have a small olive orchard. He'd die of old age before he broke every offcut down small enough to feed through a chipper.

I live on acerage, as does my brother inlaw. I guess if I lived on a tiny little city block, I could persist and clean up a few twigs. But there is no way I'm investing the hours it would take to feed sticks through on of those things.

I've noticed the big ones they tow behind trucks. They just throw the entire branches into (without spending hours breaking them down into bite sized pieces) and it just sucks them through and blows them out the other end into the truck. Now THAT would be useful :)

The current burn pile down behind the shed is about as tall as me .... and a decent size. You're welcome to come and chip it and show me how fast it can be done [biggrin] (I guestimate with a domestic type chipper ..... 5000hours [bigwhistle]). with one of those truck towable ones. maybe 1/2hour

[Saitch]

Nah, it worked fine, it was just hopeless. I did turn up at my brother inlaws a few years ago, and he had a huge ... maybe 20hp chipper there with a big pile of branches beside it. I looked at it and said "this awesome". And he said exactly the same thing as me "to slow ... bloody hopeless, it took me ages just to do half a barrow load of chips". He was taking it straight back to where he got it. They have a small olive orchard. He'd die of old age before he broke every offcut down small enough to feed through a chipper.

I live on acerage, as does my brother inlaw. I guess if I lived on a tiny little city block, I could persist and clean up a few twigs. But there is no way I'm investing the hours it would take to feed sticks through on of those things.

I've noticed the big ones they tow behind trucks. They just throw the entire branches into (without spending hours breaking them down into bite sized pieces) and it just sucks them through and blows them out the other end into the truck. Now THAT would be useful :)

The current burn pile down behind the shed is about as tall as me .... and a decent size. You're welcome to come and chip it and show me how fast it can be done [biggrin] (I guestimate with a domestic type chipper ..... 5000hours [bigwhistle]). with one of those truck towable ones. maybe 1/2hour
This is our solution to that size wood.
193019

[scarry]

Nah, it worked fine, it was just hopeless. I did turn up at my brother inlaws a few years ago, and he had a huge ... maybe 20hp chipper there with a big pile of branches beside it. I looked at it and said "this awesome". And he said exactly the same thing as me "to slow ... bloody hopeless, it took me ages just to do half a barrow load of chips". He was taking it straight back to where he got it. They have a small olive orchard. He'd die of old age before he broke every offcut down small enough to feed through a chipper.


If they were that bad no one would own one,and no one would be selling them.

I have some palms to cut down,maybe 25 to 30 long fronds total.I will time how long it takes to mulch the whole lot up and report back.And measure the lenght of them.

I find it takes more time to pick all the branches up,whether they have fallen down or are trees i have cut down or trimmed.Then get all the branches together,ready to chip.

The actual chipping is the quickest and easiest part of the job.

[V8Ian]

Nah, it worked fine, it was just hopeless. I did turn up at my brother inlaws a few years ago, and he had a huge ... maybe 20hp chipper there with a big pile of branches beside it. I looked at it and said "this awesome". And he said exactly the same thing as me "to slow ... bloody hopeless, it took me ages just to do half a barrow load of chips". He was taking it straight back to where he got it. They have a small olive orchard. He'd die of old age before he broke every offcut down small enough to feed through a chipper.

I live on acerage, as does my brother inlaw. I guess if I lived on a tiny little city block, I could persist and clean up a few twigs. But there is no way I'm investing the hours it would take to feed sticks through on of those things.

I've noticed the big ones they tow behind trucks. They just throw the entire branches into (without spending hours breaking them down into bite sized pieces) and it just sucks them through and blows them out the other end into the truck. Now THAT would be useful :)

The current burn pile down behind the shed is about as tall as me .... and a decent size. You're welcome to come and chip it and show me how fast it can be done [biggrin] (I guestimate with a domestic type chipper ..... 5000hours [bigwhistle]). with one of those truck towable ones. maybe 1/2hour
I think you missed the point.

[gromit]

Dug out an old 2-stroke Atco today when I was cleaning out a back shed.
Cleaned off the cobwebs, topped up the fuel tank, tickled the carby and it started second kickstart !
It needs sharpening but cuts grass OK.

The fuel tap leaks as the cork seal had dried out. Tried boiling it in water and got a bit of life back in the cork.

I'll put it up for sale as it's probably a 'collectors item' now.


Colin

[Saitch]

Dug out an old 2-stroke Atco today when I was cleaning out a back shed.
Cleaned off the cobwebs, topped up the fuel tank, tickled the carby and it started second kickstart !
It needs sharpening but cuts grass OK.

The fuel tap leaks as the cork seal had dried out. Tried boiling it in water and got a bit of life back in the cork.

I'll put it up for sale as it's probably a 'collectors item' now.


Colin

I don't think that there's a rotary mower on the market that will cut like a sharpened, cylinder mower.