Wife took this pic today.
Fortunately I didn’t bring a rifle, or I may have ended up pants down 
13 Likes
Is that your type of mountain grouse you have over there. They look big to me.
6 Likes
We have grouse too, but these capercailles are bigger. Oldest daughter does a lot of bird hunting. I hunt wood only
10 Likes
These are by far the angriest animal we have in Sweden, very fun to walk up on one, i still have a scar on my back from when i teased one of them some years back 
10 Likes
Just yesterday l read that solar maximum was due in 2025 but seems its a bit faster this cycle, so its expected next year. Today, l see reports of aurora borealis seen here, in the south of Europe! Wife found pictures on fb and we rushed on the hill but missed it. Picture from facebook.
Interesting colour. Isnt it usualy more green?
Anyway, the solar maximum doesent bring much good… looking at a couple of rough years untill the big boy setles down again…
15 Likes
I’ve never seen any that aren’t green.
9 Likes
Since we are on the topic of duck jokes, here is a classic by Buddy Hackett:
6 Likes
I have/had an Echo CS-451, a 452, and the Sears/Craftsman 4.3a/vl version . I liked them other than the oil and fuel fill were blocked by the top handle. This was really bad with the CS-451. The externally adjustable idle speed was nice for saws that tended to run faster as they warmed up. I lost one to a tree that I was felling when a steel wedge popped out and the tree fell backwards across the powerhead. Pushed it down in the soft ground of the woods. It was obviously damaged but fell apart when I started lifting it out of the ground.
A friend gave me his well worn CS-430 last year. Nice saw. Then it unfortunately quit running when the ignition coil failed. I found the sparkplug had a screw on electrode cap that had stripped it’s threads and was loose. I don’t know if this was what lead to the ignition coil failure. He thinks the saw had cut about 1200 full chord of wood with just simple maintenance. I watched facebook marketplace for a used one for parts and came across a new condition CS-400 for $125. I didn’t hesitate to drive most of an hour one way to buy it. The spring assist starting seems a bit odd when you first try it but it’s a nice saw. I’m a bit concerned that the spring assist starting may end up failing at some point. It has a fuel primer bulb that helps make starting easier. From what I’ve read these also have a catalytic converter in the muffler.
7 Likes
Good to hear from you RonO.
Your chainsaw got-used and cheapest welder got new experiences says the old wisdom of, “never look too closely at a gift horses mouth.”
Me? I prefer to instead look very carefully. And be very picky.
That horse, once accepted will still want to eat, poop and pee. Has to be worth his maintenance’s. Old “free”, near-free cars taught me that one all too well in my teens and twenties!!
Heavy raining Fall raining time is now mushy ground, stay inside, learning time for me.
I am taking a an on-line video course:
And another on mushrooms.
I have the books alright as references.
Still . . . something to hearing a fellow or gal present too.
Regards
Steve Unruh
8 Likes
I also have a Echo a 660EVL that too has a faulty ignition coil , boy its so small and cute 2 inch long including the fixing brackets
Not had any luck finding a coil just yet so will have to try harder i guess.
Dave
6 Likes
Ron , Dave, . maybe the coil didn’t burn out, maybe the problem is only with the disconnect switch, which is installed under the magnet, … Try to disassemble the magnet and check the contacts of the switch, …
Also try to measure the ohmic resistance of the primary and secondary windings.
5 Likes
Agreed. On most older types the Stop switch grounds out the coils primary circuit. ANY pinched wire; worn wire; switch mounting fault to ground on this circuit will kill the spark.
However . . . most newer systems late 1980’s and newer there are one, two, even three transistors molded into the coil assembly. All I’ve now had fail, it was a total fail. Ate too many heat cycles. Loaded hot engine stopped then no-air flow cooking as the worst. Keep the airflow passages cleaned. Do; no-load cooling down run before shutting down will help.
On the larger footprint air cooled engines it is possible space wise to exchange in other electronic coil assemblies.
Ha! Then you find it it incorperates an internal sparks counter to change timing from cranking/starting; to idle; to max load running in many electronic unitized systems.
Hey. It is fun doing these things.
Have fun. Beating the beasts of Obsolete; and OEM exclusive manufacture supply chains.
Howl out your successes.
S.U.
4 Likes
I didn’t mean the engine stop switch, but the “platinum switch” that ignites the ignition spark, my saw doesn’t have electronic ignition and I don’t think these models do either.
1 Like
Unfortunately - it really is a bad ignition coil. I searched and found one for about $85. Most vendors wanted $100 - $125 for one, My friend said the saw wasn’t worth putting that much money into. I’d also damaged a side cover after installing it’s first new sprocket. I put the clutch on backward and the flyweights came out and contacted the cover. It still functioned but I knew I’d muffed up. I replaced the clutch but then the coil failed. Thus to really fix it properly I should get both a cover and a coil. Can buy a used saw for that money.
The CS-400 is not as powerful as the CS-430 but I don’t do much felling of large trees so the lighter weight CS-400 works well for me. I read last week of drilling out the muffler for improved performance. I don’t know if it’s worth modifying a decent saw to try to get even higher performance out of it. I just got it’s first replacement chain yesterday.
7 Likes
I haven’t yet tried remodeling a chainsaw muffler or porting a saw but this guy does a lot of them.
4 Likes
I have seen some of his videos and it doesn’t seem that hard to do but in my opinion the hardest thing to do is to know when to stop grinding before it is too late.
As he says you gain alot just cleaning up the intake canal making it smooth and a muffler gives the most gain with just a few simple rules.
I still haven’t dared to grind the intake and haven’t taken the time to make a muffler. The chainsaws work so it is not a priority in the workload for me but if I run out of stuff to do I might give it a shot 
5 Likes
I’m thinking of starting the volvo. But I bought a new battery 4-5 years ago, but when I measure it, it is 2.5 volts, I charge it, the meter on the charger shows no rash, but after 5 minutes, the measuring instrument shows 5.8 volts.
Any idea to try this battery, or should I buy a new one?
One more question, I have an opel combo diesel that has been standing still for about 2 years, when I try to start it the engine seems stuck, can I try to tray to push it with the tractor?
10 Likes
If the water level looks low, add some clean water to the battery, but not too much because it will rise when charging.
Then charge it for at least a full day to see what the voltage sits at. I have brought many batteries back from the dead that way.
8 Likes
Look at some videos about using a welder to renew those batteries. Then if it works tell me. I’ve never had the balls to try that. Always imagine myself drenched in battery acid. I used to see a few Volvo’s of that vintage around here. They look like 1940,s American cars.
I would try and turn over that engine with a long breaker bar on the crank pulley. I think it would be unusual for a diesel to have the rings rusted to the cylinder walls but I don’t know that much about diesels so mostly talking out of my ass.
7 Likes
To augment what Tom said…please try and rock the engine crankshaft back and forth with that breaker bar. If you get any movement at all, then pull the glow plugs and squirt light oil into the cylinders and keep working the crankshaft back and forth. If it doesn’t turn…you can play around and soak the engine for some days, then try again. If it still doesn’t turn…you have to ask yourself if fixing it is worth the prescious time you have left on earth.
10 Likes