2 stroke brushcutter engine issues

[PDQ Mobile]

And at risk of thread drift a decent lightweight scythe (Austria make the best) can be a thing of some joy on a summers evening!

Nooo. The best scythes are blacksmith made. Easy to pick up at Saturday auctions round here. Quite often a lovingly cared for blacksmith made scythe turns up blade well greased and wrapped in sacking usually complete with sharpening stone. They go for under a fiver. I presume they come from dead people's house clearances.

For once we disagree!
The best scythes in the world are Austrian, they are hammered thin and very lightweight.
The method goes back to the middle ages!!
The edge of the blade is regularly peened wafer thin on an anvil, then given a razor!! edge with the whetstone.
The British scythe is a heavyweight, tough for coarse work but not a patch on an Austrian one for grass.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dVv597m848s

Ps. Never fails to start!!

[Cyril Haearn]

+1 for scything, beautiful to watch, and tradition and push mowers without motors

Why are brushcutters, chainsaws, lawnmowers etc so noisy? Surely the motors could easily be made much quieter

Are they noisy as a safety warning?

[Paulatic]

+1 for scything, beautiful to watch,

And there is the truth..to watch. Try using one day in and day out and keeping it sharp. As a youngster I was always given the worst one out of the shed anyways. Damned hard work!
My Mrs neighbour went on a scything course with a romantic idea of keeping her patch tidy with a scythe. She even bought an expensive scthye. That was a few years ago now and last weekend, as usual, was filled with the sound of 2 stroke strimmer.

[PDQ Mobile]

+1 for scything, beautiful to watch,

And there is the truth..to watch. Try using one day in and day out and keeping it sharp. As a youngster I was always given the worst one out of the shed anyways. Damned hard work!
My Mrs neighbour went on a scything course with a romantic idea of keeping her patch tidy with a scythe. She even bought an expensive scthye. That was a few years ago now and last weekend, as usual, was filled with the sound of 2 stroke strimmer.

It is true that it is hard graft, especially on thick western swards.

There are positives though.
So while the lady may have spent money on her scythe her running costs are practically zero, unlike 2t fuel which is, with it's expensive oil, probably as an expensive a fuel one can get.
(Barring Aspen!)

For small areas and around young trees a razor sharp scythe is wonderful, virtually no risk to the tree.
And quiet of course, bird song.
The smell of flowers, mown grass and the undefined, rather than 2t fumes.

40 years ago I found an old (British) scythe hanging in a tree just near.
A massive heavy thing.
It had been there a long time, heavily rusted and the snath was pretty rotten. Hung and left by someone who just gave up? One would just love to know!
Still I took it, fixed it a bit and I am scything still,(with a lighter one!).
Perhaps the taking down was in some way symbolic?

[Mick F]

Scythes are all well and good, until you hit some stones.
They're fine for nice smooth ground, but lumpy rough ground where stones seem to grow as much as the grass, they are useless.
They are primarily designed and used for crops in fields, not for clearing scrub and woodland.

Horses for courses.
Give me a good brushcutter every time.

[PDQ Mobile]

I think useless is overstated.
A scythe will work around large stones.
The Alpine peoples use a different scythe for rough work or in brambly woods, shorter heavier and broader.

The light scythe is a tool designed for grass, for hay.
Having said that it is perfectly at home cutting young brambles and bracken. Excellent on heavy hollow reeds too.

And for around young trees the scythe is wonderful, the back of the tip of the blade is placed against the trunk and a quick flick does the job, no risk of bark damage.

Stones can also be a problem with a metal disced strimmer. Full safety equipment required, I don't care much for that, being wrapped in earmuffs, visor, etc.

For a really close cut along along stone walls or rocks a corded strimmer takes some beating yet for working under a low sheep fence the scythe is arguably better. There is no cord to snag and sometimes break.
A few flowers growing near rocks are to my mind rather more aesthetically pleasing than mown close anyway.

The main advantage from my perspective is that the strimmer chops up the vegetation, and provides a quickly disappearing mulch.

The strimmer is a wonderful tool for controlling vegetation (and high hedges!) but there is something rather beautiful and "free" about a sharp scythe too.

(By the way on the strength of your earlier thread recommendation I bought some square "Nylium" line, but I found it inferior to the Duoline I have been using.
More prone to break at the eye and faster wearing. Gone back to "Duoline", it's incredibly tough.)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gsfIHiBB6xE

[Cyril Haearn]

Is scything hard physical work, or can one get used to it like cycling all day? Does the scythe develop its own momentum? Is it more dangerous than an infernal combustion engine? Why are the motors so loud?

People maybe worked too hard back then, now they are too lazy physically

Wolfgang Schmidbauer suggested that a turning point was when external energy (coal, oil) was introduced, that led to great changes in society, for bad and for good

[Mick F]

I'll concede that "useless" was a bit strong, but big stones can be seen, and small ones can't perhaps.

That square line stuff didn't seem to break at the eye with mine. It was long-lasting and sharp.

Things have changed now, or they will when I get a replacement machine. One thing I bought was a new line head as the Oleo Mac head was worn, and it was the third head in the 20years.

The Oleo Mac one needs the outer ring unclipping and the central coil spring springs out so you have to be careful to catch it. The new line needs fitting in two separate lengths and both wound round and round the spool in their separate channels. Then with some dexterity, you fit the spring and full spool whilst at the same time threading the two lines through their holes, then fitting the outer ring and clipping it on and at the same time pulling the lines out tight. Then, you have to press the bump-release and turn it backwards to wind the line in to a good length ready to start up.

The new one I've bought is an Efco Load and Go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzpJTzbrYWI
So very simple and quick, so instead of buying expensive line, I'll be getting cheaper stuff as it'll be so easy to just fit some more. The Oleo Mac head was such a pain, the longer the line could last, the fewer times I'd have to reload it.

[PDQ Mobile]

Is scything hard physical work, or can one get used to it like cycling all day? Does the scythe develop its own momentum? Is it more dangerous than an infernal combustion engine? Why are the motors so loud?

People maybe worked too hard back then, now they are too lazy physically

Wolfgang Schmidbauer suggested that a turning point was when external energy (coal, oil) was introduced, that led to great changes in society, for bad and for good

First answer is- it depends on how fast you scythe!!!
But sure you can get used to it, and get pretty fit.

Second answer is- no, not dangerous (to the user!) Though sharpening requires a little practice and can result in deep cuts to the hand.
Certainly less dangerous than a motorized strimmer where protective equipment really must be worn.

The philosophical point about energy may well be true though I feel that we are now so far along that particular road that changing direction will be difficult.

[Cyril Haearn]

Cycling is the answer
And decentralised energy, a new old idea

[Cyril Haearn]

Why are they so loud?

[landsurfer]

Check the vent on the fuel tank is clear.

[PDQ Mobile]

Why are they so loud?

Because a restricted heavily baffled exhaust reduces 2t engine efficiency.

[Mick F]

Check the vent on the fuel tank is clear.

Can't find one. The cap is designed to vent outwards but not inwards.
None on the leaf blower
None on the chainsaw
None on the lawnmower either, but that's 4stroke.

Taking of the lawnmower, we have a Stiga Multiclip similar to this one.
https://www.stigalawnmowers.co.uk/multi ... er-1-1-1-1
Bought it new in August 2007 so it's just about 11years old and works perfectly ................ however, as I'm cutting the grass, the exhaust cover has snapped off (rust?) and the silencer is loose.

I never rains, but it pours!

Just come in out of the hot morning sun and to get some tools whilst the exhaust cools down.

[Mick F]

Fixed it.

BTW, the Stiga Multiclip is front wheel drive, which is a marvellous system. No clutching in and out on the turns, you just lean down on the handle and the front lifts and you can pivot round on the freewheeling rear wheels. Very simple and convenient.