Energy efficiency and embodied energy split from "gas&q
Moderator: Peak Moderation
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woodburner
- Posts: 4124
- Joined: 06 Apr 2009, 22:45
I’ve petrol (bought in mid 1990s) a mains electric, useful for cutting logs to length, and a 36V battery saw. This has a fine chane, so has to be treated gently, but is useful for felling as well as cross cutting. Mains cables often dont stretch as far as woodlands. The higher power battery saws have an inertia chain brake, which the low power ones don’t, and I wouldn’t use a saw without.
Good advice on using RCDs... 
In case anyone's wondering: They basically work by looking at the current that's flowing down the 'live' (brown) wire and the current that's coming back via the 'neutral' (blue) - if there's a difference, the RCD thinks 'Hmmm... it must be going somewhere else - possibly through someone's body?!?' - then disconnects the power (generally within 40 milliseconds).
Whether it's the plug-in type, built-into-the-plug or in the fuse box, they're only any good if they work - so use the 'test' button regularly! I've come across many of them (in consumer units) where they've failed to operate properly, simply because they've got gummed up and stuck... hitting the 'test' button regularly (every 6 months or so) helps prevent this.
Regarding chainsaws (petrol, electric & cordless), it's very much worth while getting proper 'chainsaw trousers' and other gear. The cost has come down considerably these days.
They work by containing a load of fibreous padding, so if (when?) the saw slips and hits your leg, the padding gums up the saw and stops it dead before it mangles anything soft and fleshy.
One way to look at it is to choose your favourite leg (assuming you still have 2) and ask yourself if it's worth less than £50 to you in working condition.
In case anyone's wondering: They basically work by looking at the current that's flowing down the 'live' (brown) wire and the current that's coming back via the 'neutral' (blue) - if there's a difference, the RCD thinks 'Hmmm... it must be going somewhere else - possibly through someone's body?!?' - then disconnects the power (generally within 40 milliseconds).
Whether it's the plug-in type, built-into-the-plug or in the fuse box, they're only any good if they work - so use the 'test' button regularly! I've come across many of them (in consumer units) where they've failed to operate properly, simply because they've got gummed up and stuck... hitting the 'test' button regularly (every 6 months or so) helps prevent this.
Regarding chainsaws (petrol, electric & cordless), it's very much worth while getting proper 'chainsaw trousers' and other gear. The cost has come down considerably these days.
They work by containing a load of fibreous padding, so if (when?) the saw slips and hits your leg, the padding gums up the saw and stops it dead before it mangles anything soft and fleshy.
One way to look at it is to choose your favourite leg (assuming you still have 2) and ask yourself if it's worth less than £50 to you in working condition.
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kenneal - lagger
- Site Admin
- Posts: 14287
- Joined: 20 Sep 2006, 02:35
- Location: Newbury, Berkshire
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I've got Ryobi 18V battery stuff, not quite the full range, but getting on that way. I use it pretty hard, not quite on a professional scale but heavy DIY. I find that it works for about a year and eleven months which is just inside the guarantee period. We've got a good repairer locally who does all the work on the guarantee so apart from losing the use of the tool for a few weeks and the inconvenience of having to take the tool to the repairer I don't really mind.
We tend to thrash the life out of the tools over the first two years and then use them less after that as they're usually bought for a particular project and then those jobs go on the maintenance task list. We used the pole saw, for instance, to clear branches down the edges of our drive, which was pretty well overgrown. We now have less strenuous work to do keeping it back or we can use the pole hedge trimmer to cut the smaller branches back.
We have a Ryobi battery SDS drill and a Bosch mains one. The Ryobi one coped with cleaning the mortar dabs off the backs of a hundred or so paving slabs in hammer only mode and it is fine for drilling small holes in concrete, brick or cob but the Bosch is the go to tool for larger holes, very hard concrete or 750mm long holes through cob walls. The Ryobi SDS drill does go through batteries quickly though.
We have a 250 swathe width Ryobi strimmer which is very good for most grass and young docks and nettles. It will get through those weeds eventually but the Ryobi brush cutter is better for extensive areas of those. I have recently bought an 18V lawn mower to cut the paths between our raised beds and any other awkward jobs like that. I use the brush cutter or strimmer to control the growth in the first place and then the mower thereafter.
It would have been nice to have De Walt stuff like my son in law, but he's a professional carpenter and uses most of them on a daily basis. I just couldn't afford them and any way I was bought my first Ryobi stuff as a surprise present and so had no say about what was bought. I have heard that the Makita range is better but slightly more expensive but, all in all, I'm happy with Ryobi.
I've got a Makita mains skill saw with a 250 blade which has lasted years. That replaced a B & D one which I had for over thirty years and helped me build the timber frame for a 900 sq ft first and second floor extension (for VT - second and third floor) to the 900 sq ft bungalow that we bought in the mid seventies and turned into a 2300 sq ft house on three floors.
(Note I have no financial or other interest in Ryobi, Makita or B & D beyond owning and using the stuff.)
We tend to thrash the life out of the tools over the first two years and then use them less after that as they're usually bought for a particular project and then those jobs go on the maintenance task list. We used the pole saw, for instance, to clear branches down the edges of our drive, which was pretty well overgrown. We now have less strenuous work to do keeping it back or we can use the pole hedge trimmer to cut the smaller branches back.
We have a Ryobi battery SDS drill and a Bosch mains one. The Ryobi one coped with cleaning the mortar dabs off the backs of a hundred or so paving slabs in hammer only mode and it is fine for drilling small holes in concrete, brick or cob but the Bosch is the go to tool for larger holes, very hard concrete or 750mm long holes through cob walls. The Ryobi SDS drill does go through batteries quickly though.
We have a 250 swathe width Ryobi strimmer which is very good for most grass and young docks and nettles. It will get through those weeds eventually but the Ryobi brush cutter is better for extensive areas of those. I have recently bought an 18V lawn mower to cut the paths between our raised beds and any other awkward jobs like that. I use the brush cutter or strimmer to control the growth in the first place and then the mower thereafter.
It would have been nice to have De Walt stuff like my son in law, but he's a professional carpenter and uses most of them on a daily basis. I just couldn't afford them and any way I was bought my first Ryobi stuff as a surprise present and so had no say about what was bought. I have heard that the Makita range is better but slightly more expensive but, all in all, I'm happy with Ryobi.
I've got a Makita mains skill saw with a 250 blade which has lasted years. That replaced a B & D one which I had for over thirty years and helped me build the timber frame for a 900 sq ft first and second floor extension (for VT - second and third floor) to the 900 sq ft bungalow that we bought in the mid seventies and turned into a 2300 sq ft house on three floors.
(Note I have no financial or other interest in Ryobi, Makita or B & D beyond owning and using the stuff.)
Action is the antidote to despair - Joan Baez