I never had a problem with it damaging turf...except when the rollers became worn on their bearings. Probably around 400 hours. When backing up any significant amount, I lifted the deck...hydraulic, so why not?

 

That makes sense. I remember doing that on my parent's old JD tractor that they had for the field. Full floating deck and it would scalp if you didn't raise it in reverse. It was hydraulic lift too but easy to forget when you're hustling. Another consideration. Thanks for reminding me...

 

Hey Tyler and Scott, have you guys seen that the new Stihl BR 800 backpack has a side start pull? So, no need to take it off your back to restart after shutting down. I'm not a Stihl guy but that seems like a VERY good idea... I was just off clearing off my side lawn with the new hand held. It's got more guts than the old Redmax for sure but I see a backpack in my future. I'll likely wait for the Echo PB8010T to come back into stock. No hurry now with the season about over. I do think one would be useful for after the tractor and bagger is put away. I can just blow the late falling oak leaves into the woods with it....

 

Yep, I saw the video of it. Side pull is very useful. I hate setting the backpack down to restart. But the even the Stihl makes you start it on the ground when it's cold.

I might buy one next year just to try, but I'm pretty content with my three 580 BTS units.

 

I'm sure we will see the Redmax Husky twins with a new model to compete next year too. Their current big dog in Redmax form is about 8 years old and a fan favorite from what I read.

 

Tyler... The first fuel injected saw is alive...

 

I'm wondering if it's really fuel injected or just the next-gen M-Tronic. Note that this saw still has an air purge bulb. That would be unnecessary for true fuel injection, no? Already, M-Tronic can measure ambient temp and barometric pressure. This appears to add engine internal temp, probably to help warm starts and fine tune the mixture. Maybe it is an injector...but even battery-less EFI on snowmobiles still have an electric fuel pump.

 

I saw the primer too. Mechanical injection maybe? TBI? One pull to charge the system and one to start like my old Cat ZL600? IDK. It's carb-less though from what I'm reading so it must have a fuel pump despite the primer bulb. Here's Stihl's page on it. https://www.stihl.com/STIHL-power-to...1/MS-500i.aspx

Interesting what ever it is. On edit... Their website does state "electronically controlled fuel injection."

 

I have absolutely no need for a saw like that.

So, why do I want one now?

 

It's a curse Tom. A curse I tell you...

 

And it doesn't stop with power equipment. I just ordered a new server for my side business. I wanted the biggest, baddest machine I could find, though I didn't have $100k to drop on one. Thankfully, reason took over and I bought a lower-tier machine, but still, it's got 8-4TB hard drives. Seriously, why do I need 32TB of storage? Sheesh! Oh well, I should be set for several years now, and spending the $$$ keeps some out of Uncle Sam's pocket!

 

Oh, oh, I know the answer!! Because if you're running RAID you don't have 32TB of actual storage. RAID 1 = ~16 TB

 

Yea....I just bought a $4200 MacBook Pro to replace an old one that finally failed.....it is a sickness. Just like a good woman, she is well endowed...

 

Prices, they are a creapin'. When I bought our last one 3 years ago or so, it had every hardware upgrade available and was about $3300. Just built one now and it's over 7k maxed out...