There is one power tool I am seriously contemplating wasting some money on:
Battery powered chainsaw.
It's fine using a bowsaw and an axe, but when you have limited time to spend on anything else than kids and work, it's really tempting to take at least that one particular shortcut.
I have a 230v cabled 1800watt chainsaw, but taking that out to the woods is just not going to happen.
Battery powered chainsaw.
It's fine using a bowsaw and an axe, but when you have limited time to spend on anything else than kids and work, it's really tempting to take at least that one particular shortcut.
I have a 230v cabled 1800watt chainsaw, but taking that out to the woods is just not going to happen.
Just be sure that it works in the cold. One member of this thread had to use a NiCD battery pack so he could do some trimming outside. none of his Lithium batteries worked in the cold and the charger wouldn't charge them either because it was too cold.
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Charging and storing of batteries would be done inside, and the batteries would be taken outside only when needed. NICD is quite useful in many applications.
I have done some work on battery power banks, and know at least some of the basics. Not worked on anything larger than 600VDC 65AH though, a bit scary to redo all the power connections in a tight cabinet when it's too hot to wear anything more than a t-shirt and shorts, trying to keep a few cm's of clearing between your arm and the poles under while loosening some nuts in the far back. You cut it in segments, but 8 x 12V batteries in series should still be treated with a modicum of respect.
Now it's mostly just some 24v 26ah stuff going on. Can still melt a wrench if you're stupid.
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I used to take the battery out of my old car when it was colder than -20c, then there was no problem with cold starts in winter. But that's a bit tricky with my Hyundai Ioniq EV.
I have done some work on battery power banks, and know at least some of the basics. Not worked on anything larger than 600VDC 65AH though, a bit scary to redo all the power connections in a tight cabinet when it's too hot to wear anything more than a t-shirt and shorts, trying to keep a few cm's of clearing between your arm and the poles under while loosening some nuts in the far back. You cut it in segments, but 8 x 12V batteries in series should still be treated with a modicum of respect.
Now it's mostly just some 24v 26ah stuff going on. Can still melt a wrench if you're stupid.
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I used to take the battery out of my old car when it was colder than -20c, then there was no problem with cold starts in winter. But that's a bit tricky with my Hyundai Ioniq EV.
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Ryobi Propane, US Home Depot
Ryobi 900-Watt Propane Powered Inverter Generator Model# RYi911LP $299
Ryobi 6,300-Watt Propane Gas Powered Electric Start Portable Generator Model# RY906300LP $699
I have the 6,300. Works fine. Propane only. As you know, gas/petrol is OK if you will drive and use it this month, but not for intermittent use.
I also have a Model # 5982 Generac 3,250-Watt Gasoline Powered Portable Generator $439. Lovely machine, but strains to start the well-pump, and is not rated for my microwave.
The brand names are arbitrary. The machines are more alike than different, and surely not made by the brand that is on them. The Ryobi shipped from another brand's warehouse. I suspect some Asians do deals to get engines and alternators and make frames, then flog them to likely markets and Big Name Brands, "Your Logo Here".
For portable machines, the build quality is fine, no gripe. (I am not ready for a rig that self-tests and self-cutsover.) Oh, the 6300 has a LCD meter with a button that is too small for my fat finger, whine whine.
Dual-fuel is very rare. I do not know why. Ford made a gas/propane truck but if the propane got a little weak it would switch to gas and not go back to prope. A truly optimized engine will run higher compression on propane, but generators are not that high-tuned. I have a bad (from new) propane weed-wacker, and clearly made for a gas carb, which I could probably buy if I knew the type engine it is cloned from; but the battery wacker is much nicer.
You can buy propane carbs but the market is very small and local. Most US designs come from an IMPCO 1960s design; apparently in Europe they use a different design. IMPCO failed and the molds sold to other companies, and re-created by others, and VERY expensive because production is teeny. A V-8 conversion starts at $999 and a small-engine is not a lot less (same number of parts, and not enough less metal to drop the price). The only wide market I am aware of is fork-lift trucks, and they must use a different feed system. Another market is urban (and park) buses which don't want to be seen spewing black smoke.
I can take my ~1800W chainsaws almost anywhere on my 5 acres, with 500 feet heavy cord (or humping my generator over the hummocks).
I have a gas saw and I dislike it.
I had a chance to try this, Ryobi ONE+ 12 in. Cordless Chainsaw, $199. I expected it would be a joke. Man, this thing bites! It's got a very slender chain which really throws the tiny chips. Yeah, it has to be babied through a 12-inch trunk, it's happier at 6". Yeah, the oversize drill-battery won't last all day, but it lasted longer than me a few times. Where it really shines is you drop an 80 foot tree and are overwhelmed with top-branches where you want to drop the next tree. Limbing with a gas saw is tiring and dangerous. Limbing with a cord saw is more cord-tangle than real sawing. This battery job is light enough to be easy to control (may be safer) and no cord. Saws 2"-4" old-growth Spruce branches left and right.
It's not for professional lumberjacks- won't run long, won't do big work, and a pro has the rope-yank muscles to re-start an 050 gas saw over and over. As a homeowner saw, it's a great toy. But hardly cheap.
FWIW: this IS the saw/battery that left me stranded in sub-freezing weather. Branches hung low with snow. Battery right out of the charger went Wrr..... the charger was waiting for Spring. Keeping it in the dining room gets old quick.
If I decide to go for it it's either the Ryobi RCS36X3550HI, or the Stihl MS140 C-BQ, possibly the Stiga SC 48 AE.
Total sum of pro's con's: The Ryobi utilizes a standard 3/8" chain which is easier to obtain when shtf. But also delivers probably fewer total cuts than the 1/4" chain of the Stihl, the Stihl is probably slightly better built. Battery voltage is the same, difference in AH is negligible but in slight favor of the stihl. McCulloch is supposedly the low-price brand of Husquarna now (?), and they have a cheaper saw (McCulloch Li-40CS) at roughly the same voltage but 1/2 the AH, and extra batteries are actually more expensive than the ones from stihl, the availability of Ryobi 36v batteries seem limited.
Then there is the Stiga SC 48 AE, which is a 48V kind of thing, does not come with batteries and charger, so have to order that too, but it actually comes out cheaper than the Stihl and the Ryobi including charger and 5AH battery, also utilizes a standard 3/8" chain.
So thinking about the Stiga SC 48 AE, but not sure.
I have a "storage" corner with chargers and batteries hidden behind a thin curtain.
Total sum of pro's con's: The Ryobi utilizes a standard 3/8" chain which is easier to obtain when shtf. But also delivers probably fewer total cuts than the 1/4" chain of the Stihl, the Stihl is probably slightly better built. Battery voltage is the same, difference in AH is negligible but in slight favor of the stihl. McCulloch is supposedly the low-price brand of Husquarna now (?), and they have a cheaper saw (McCulloch Li-40CS) at roughly the same voltage but 1/2 the AH, and extra batteries are actually more expensive than the ones from stihl, the availability of Ryobi 36v batteries seem limited.
Then there is the Stiga SC 48 AE, which is a 48V kind of thing, does not come with batteries and charger, so have to order that too, but it actually comes out cheaper than the Stihl and the Ryobi including charger and 5AH battery, also utilizes a standard 3/8" chain.
So thinking about the Stiga SC 48 AE, but not sure.
I have a "storage" corner with chargers and batteries hidden behind a thin curtain.
wanted to share this nice picture that I saw on weatherzone.com.au
Weatherzone on Twitter: "Thunderstorm over Broome, WA on the weekend. Picture: Craig Williams… "
Just wished we were getting that kind of weather on the east coast, I love thunderstorms.
Weatherzone on Twitter: "Thunderstorm over Broome, WA on the weekend. Picture: Craig Williams… "
Just wished we were getting that kind of weather on the east coast, I love thunderstorms.
Attachments
VF - stunning photo
On our own little Mt Washington, a bit more snow than usual - i.e. one meter in 24hrs.
Mt. Washington closed due to heavy snowfall | CTV Vancouver Island News
and more to come
News - Two major snowmakers could bring another 100+ cm to B.C. - The Weather Network
as brothers Cal and Scott D can attest, we got a bit of breeze and wetness even at the lower elevations
On our own little Mt Washington, a bit more snow than usual - i.e. one meter in 24hrs.
Mt. Washington closed due to heavy snowfall | CTV Vancouver Island News
and more to come
News - Two major snowmakers could bring another 100+ cm to B.C. - The Weather Network
as brothers Cal and Scott D can attest, we got a bit of breeze and wetness even at the lower elevations
Really nice lightning photo. High speed camera or luck?
1m of snow in 24h, that-is-a-lot!
Wonder how they came up with that train snowblower. "crap, we're stuck out here 'till the snow melts." "we'd better start shovellin', you go get the guys and I'll fetch some container we can drag it off with." .... "hey Jim, there's this big hole in the middle of the container" .... "hmmmm"
10 shovels, a vast amount of heated argument, one steel container and a driveshaft later... "Let's try'n fire this up!"
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Does remind me of those tunnelling drills, except they got rid of the shovels.
1m of snow in 24h, that-is-a-lot!
Wonder how they came up with that train snowblower. "crap, we're stuck out here 'till the snow melts." "we'd better start shovellin', you go get the guys and I'll fetch some container we can drag it off with." .... "hey Jim, there's this big hole in the middle of the container" .... "hmmmm"
10 shovels, a vast amount of heated argument, one steel container and a driveshaft later... "Let's try'n fire this up!"
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Does remind me of those tunnelling drills, except they got rid of the shovels.
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Yesterday night had quite a temperature plunge from -3C down to -18C, today it's back up.
It's quite funny following MSM weather reporting even in here in Finland, slightest wind puff or precipitation forecast is blown out of proportion with big drama and subliminal climate change FUD mind programing, all orchestrated by a central elite group controlling MSM in the whole western world, tiresome. *sigh*
On January 25th, 2006 Al Gore chanted ".. unless drastic measures to reduce greenhouse gases are taken within the next 10 years, the world will reach a point of no return."
Al Gore’s climate change predictions IMPLODE as everybody realizes the North Pole didn’t completely melt – NaturalNews.com
ok ok I understand, we, the Western world, are all on the same bandwagon, it's all about getting rid of the dependency on Russian carbon based fuel... well, I hope they do know whate they are doing then, or is it just more smoke and mirrors of a larger Agenda called 21/2030!?
It's quite funny following MSM weather reporting even in here in Finland, slightest wind puff or precipitation forecast is blown out of proportion with big drama and subliminal climate change FUD mind programing, all orchestrated by a central elite group controlling MSM in the whole western world, tiresome. *sigh*
On January 25th, 2006 Al Gore chanted ".. unless drastic measures to reduce greenhouse gases are taken within the next 10 years, the world will reach a point of no return."
Al Gore’s climate change predictions IMPLODE as everybody realizes the North Pole didn’t completely melt – NaturalNews.com
ok ok I understand, we, the Western world, are all on the same bandwagon, it's all about getting rid of the dependency on Russian carbon based fuel... well, I hope they do know whate they are doing then, or is it just more smoke and mirrors of a larger Agenda called 21/2030!?
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Pictures of reality is good enough for the smartphone junkies, Ray Kurtzweil will be happy to embrace and guide these sole-less drones into the singularity cloud, eternal life is promised.
That sure is a smoky snow blower
Sure is. It is coal steam, a type rarely seen today, and mostly in easy work such as tourist rides. I hear the UK both re-builds and new-builds steam engines and runs them on mainline track "for fun". In the US we only see steam on short trips, and many have gone over to oil (and some back to coal).
There's two "smokes". Coal smoke of course, density depending on fire intensity (power). But these engines have waste steam which is injected to a venturi to pull the coal smoke through the boiler, inducing air to the fire. In that cold air, the waste steam goes white. At low power, the coal smoke would be mild grey. Black when starting or pulling a hill. But here they are working the engine way past its nominal everyday rating, probably burning coal twice as fast as intended, because this is not everyday work.
Note that the two(!) pushers are smoking light grey. They are not loafing, but not OVER-driven like this snow-chewer is. The pushers probably run the other 364 days so they don't abuse them. The blower only works after large snowfalls, maybe only once in Spring, so they make it work. It is probably a type that they know won't break easy. Clearly it is sooting-up real bad, and will need extensive cleaning before it runs again, but they got all summer.
That line was built for an Alaskan gold rush ~~100 years back. It is a really terrible place for a railroad; but hey, GOLD! The gold ran out, the railroad kept going but never replaced the stock with Diesels like all other US roads did. Today it runs as a combination out-back transport and popular tourist run. The cars are spiffed-up but the locomotives are pretty vintage. (They replaced the originals a few times as steam engines got to be a glut on the main lines.)
It may be hard for most of us to understand how much it can snow in the Rockies and how vital those cross-Rockies trains were. I recall a warm summer crossing Oregon and my co-driver asked "What are those sticks?" They had marks every foot and were twice as high as a tall man. Tip: I also knew the road we were on was "Closed in Winter". I'd seen them on California passes. My dad knew them in Colorado. The snow really does get that deep, between snowfall and snow-slides. You don't go in there with a shovel and wagon to clear snow. As you say, tunneling was a big thing in the day, and turbines and chaff blowers. And yes, most huge snow blowers start as a heap of boiler-plate and driveshaft supplies, and "let's try this".