What did you buy today

[Yeti's Beast]

I bought a new serpentine belt tensioner. Yay


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[Mike02Ti]

Seal kit and bearing for my power steering pump. Will do it over the weekend

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[Mc4by]

ARB front locker.

[Stropp]

Nice new set of 285/75/16 hankook muddies and black rims 👌

[4bye4]

Nice new set of 285/75/16 hankook muddies and black rims 👌

Wanna buy a spare tyre cover??

[Stropp]

Wanna buy a spare tyre cover??

I have two already

[gubigfish]

a tough dog adjustable steering damper

[Cuppa]

Had a late night ebay splurge.

We hope to fall into a pattern of using the ‘choofa’ I made from a 9Kg gas bottle for cooking as the norm, rather than using gas - it allows for use of an ‘open’ fire in more places. The price to pay for this is the need to collect firewood to fit the choofa.

Over the past few years I’ve considered the best way to do this.

First I bought a medium size Fiskar axe after being impressed with Threedog’s one at Murray camping weekends. This is good when there is something available to use as a chopping block, but that is not always the case.

Then I thought a cordless reciprocating saw would be a good idea & bought one, but whilst it will do the job I find it a cumbersome & not particularly pleasant tool to use for the task, particularly when the firewood being cut is not still attached to a larger more solid piece of tree. (Good for garden pruning though).

So then I bought an eBay cheapie 10” petrol chainsaw. It is very effective even if it does feel cheap & nasty compared to my larger Stihl. It’s plastic construction isn’t designed to last but it’s good enough for for camp firewood use.... have to carry a container of petrol & the saw leaks chain & bar oil when stored, but worst if kept inside the pod it contaminates the entire inside of the pod with the stink of petrol. Opening a pod door after it’s sat in there for a day the fumes are really strong & I don’t really have anywhere else suitable to carry it so have become reluctant to take it with us.

I had previously discounted cordless chainsaws as too expensive. All my cordless tools are Makita, & I was unwilling to shell out for any tool requiring the purchase of different batteries & charger to what I already have, (I have several 4Ah Makita batteries) particularly as I also want to carry my cordless drill or impact driver. Taking different types of batteries, plus two chargers wasn’t an option. Makita cordless chainsaws are generally priced at $400 upward.


In the early hours of this morning I came across a Melbourne seller selling Makita cordless chainsaws on eBay - they are American imports, almost the same as the model sold here, but with a different USA model number. Only difference is it has a 12” bar instead of a 10” one. Still double what I paid for the petrol cheapie, but at $299 cheap compared to buying an Australian model ....... so “Bugger it” I thought, “why not add yet another item to my collection of firewood gathering white elephants ” & clicked the ‘Buy it now’ button.
I suspect (& hope) a cordless chainsaw is really what I should have bought in the first place ......... but at least I now have choice! Ha ha.

screenshot_1006.jpg

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Makita-Ch...72.m2749.l2649

For folk not already ‘wedded’ to a cordless battery system, I reckon the pick of available cordless chainsaws would be the Stihl 12” model, availablefor $460 plus battery .... not sure of battery cost but I’d guess a total of close to $700.

I’m also under no illusion that a battery operated chainsaw is going to have the power of an equivalent sized petrol version but from what I read they are certainly up to the task of keeping the camp fire fed.

[TPC]

All I have is a fold up hand saw but I don't have to be as precise with the size of my firewood for cooking, just leave it hanging out the back of the plate.

[Cuppa]

All I have is a fold up hand saw but I don't have to be as precise with the size of my firewood for cooking, just leave it hanging out the back of the plate.

Believe me I considered a hand saw, I already have a couple of bow saws, & I looked at a few folding types. If it were for short holidays or weekends away no probs, but for full time daily use - I get enough of that sort of exercise grinding my coffee each day! We do also have a hotplate with legs which would require less cutting wood to length, but we need to take either that or the choofer, not both, & the choofer allows for a fire in more places.