Talk Me In/Out of the Stihl MS261

[CliffordK]

I’m not aware of 1 box store in PA/DE/NJ/MD that sells Stihl.
That Rural King Store might be a “chain”, but if their focus is farm & ranch supplies, that passes the smell test for me as a legit Stihl dealer, especially if they repair them and offer parts.

I'm not sure about Stihl "dealers" around here, but the saws are literally everywhere.

We have a local building supply store, Jerry's, which had a large Stihl display. All gas.
Right next door, the farm and garden store, Wilco also had Stihl chainsaws including the electric ones.
I went to the logging store, Roberts today, and behind it they had the "saw shop" that appeared to be nothing but Stihl saws.

 

[CliffordK]

I saw this at the local pawn shop a couple of day ago.

 

[Hay Dude]

@Hay Dude, forgive me if you already posted it on the thumb thread, but is the thumb on that loader purchased or home grown? I just bought a new fork and frame for my CUT, and am already turning thoughts toward thumbing it. I move a lot of logs around, and the old chain choker slings on bucket hooks are getting slower and heavier, each year.

That is an HLA single arm log grapple. It’s attached to a separate set of HLA forks. I highly suggest this grapple. It’s really rugged and it does exactly what you want it to do. The also make a double arm log grapple, but I prefer the single. It uses heavy, clamp style cradle to bolt to your forks. The HLA forks are a perfect fit. Other forks may require a little modification.

Agriteer in Leola, PA is an HLA dealer. Great to deal with.

If I were to have a double arm, it would be for a brush grapple. I’m looking at used double arm brush grapples as we speak. Have mountains of brush to move. I may start a thread on suggestions for a medium sized brush grapple.

 

[xyz123]

NGK just put out a bulletin on how to discern a China plug from a real NGK Japan plug and it's quite enlightening. The go into great detail on how to determine that, from the printing on the insulator to the machined ring above the threaded portion to the wire elctrode and how to tell.

back in the day, a plug was a plug. I guess now you can counterfeit just about anything and I knew Torch was a Chinese brand. HF would never use a domestic plug, not that there are any today anyway. Had a buddy that worked at Champion before they sold out to a Chinese firm.

This has nothing to do with counterfeit plugs. That's been known for many years now.

This has to do with REAL NGK plugs are made in China too. If your plugs are not marked made in Japan on plug. It could be a real NGK plug made in China or one of their many other countries they use now days.

 

[WinterDeere]

Thanks @Hay Dude. That HLA setup looks like exactly what I need. I’m 75 minutes east of Leola, not a terrible drive.

 

[Hay Dude]

Thanks @Hay Dude. That HLA setup looks like exactly what I need. I’m 75 minutes east of Leola, not a terrible drive.

Great people to work with.
Grab an HLA catalog. You’ll be broke in no time!
I could own 10 of their attachments!

 

[WinterDeere]

Agriteer in Leola, PA is an HLA dealer. Great to deal with.

Just bought one. Should have it in less than two weeks.

 

[Hay Dude]

Just bought one. Should have it in less than two weeks.

WOW that was quick!
Pallet forks and grapple?

 

[WinterDeere]

WOW that was quick!
Pallet forks and grapple?

Heh... I don't mess around.

I already bought new JDQA FEL forks and frame two days ago, they're on the way now. If I could find a nice 3-point to JDQA adapter, I think I might just totally sell off my old 3-point pallet fork rig.

You may remember I had another thread a few months back, looking to adapt that old 3-piont pallet fork rig to my JDQA, and install a thumb on it. However, the thing was under-rated for my application, and between the 3-point hardware, JDQA hardware, and thumb, it was all getting pretty heavy, not to mention a cumbersome rig. I'm thinking that it's better to adapt JDQA to 3-piont, adding the weight of the adapter to the 3-point, rather than putitng that extra weight out on the loader. My tractor is only a Deere 3-series, not the beasts you run.

 

[WinterDeere]

@Hay Dude, what do you think of trying to use 48” forks with thumb for moving logs? I bought the 48’s because that’s my standard pallet depth, and also the longer forks work better for setting and retrieving pallets from a pickup truck bed. But I anticipate I’ll want some shorter forks for picking logs from piles, with the thumb, as the long ones can probably be a bit more cumbersome at that task.