Husky's and Stihls are both great saws, no doubt about it. I've been cutting firewood for 30 years and selling it for 20 years. My personal preference is Husky. I run 2 saws while cutting firewood. A Husky 350 with an 18" bar for smaller branches, trimming and slash and a Husky 460 with a 24" bar and a skip-tooth logger's chain for the bigger stuff. One of the main reasons I prefer Husky over Stihl is honestly the anti-vibration in the Husky's. It's just a little better on a Husky. When you're running a saw for 6-8 hours a day, it makes a huge difference. Both saws are great and the top saws in the world. I've got logger buddies who will swear Husky is better and others who swear Stihl is better. I honestly believe you won't know for sure until you run both. It's all about personal preference. Se people like Ford's, others like Chevy's, and still others prefer Dodge. I've cut hundreds if not thousands of cords of hardwood, (oak, maple, locust, elm, pinion), as well as softer wood, (ponderosa, fir, grey and blue pine), with my saws and never had to do more than filters and lugs in them and they both still run great. And what I'll tell everyone that thinks that because, Husky's are available at box stores like Lowe's, they are an inferior saw, you are mistaken. The biggest Husky saw I've seen at Lowes is a 350, which is about the biggest saw you'd want for small things like home landscaping. You will NOT find Husky professional saws at Lowe's. I've seen Stihl's at Home Depot, but only small home owner models. I own a small Stihl MS210 with a 14" bar that works great when I'm trimming back the trees in my yard. I actually found it in the dirt while cutting firewood in the western foothills of the Sierra's. It looked like it been there several months in the spring, which is the rainy season of the Sierra's. I primed it and pulled about 7 times and it fired right up with a little spitting and sputtering, I adjusted the high-low and now she runs great! But I only use around the yard as it's too small to cut firewood. But it is a great saw. The best advice I can give anyone looking for a new saw, find some friends that have a Husky and a Stihl and try them yourself. You'll find your personal preference and will be happier than just buying something without trying. Most people test drive a car before they buy and you should do the same with a saw as well. For those of you that don't know, Husqvarna is the parent company that manufactures McColluch, Poulon Pro (which makes saws and other small gas powered items for Sears-Craftsman), and the now defunct saw company Johnesred (which in my opinion, was one of the best saw company's ever!), as well as some other smaller brands you may or may not have heard of.

I see the original post is over 14yrs old, but last post was 7days ago so clearly others are like me and still reading this post. Sad the OP never commented what they ended up doing. I'm in a similar situation but the area I'm looking to fill isn't near the house. Have deep yard and apx 10yrs ago planted a maple apx 7-10ft from our back fence that was supposed to be a fast growing tree but has only grown maybe 2-3ft tall in that time and mere inches in width. Talking to the place originally got it apparently had poor choice in where planted it as we planted it in the natural drainage section of our yard and we get a lot of runoff from the houses that sit higher then us. However being in Texas its dry more often then its wet. When it is wet its like the original poster posted can be wet/marshy for close to a week. Tree farm had some recommendations for the maple, my preference of their recommendations is to move it to a drier part of the yard. We have the room to do so would just bring it closer to the house and an established red oak we have and has handled the water well. Not looking to "fix" our drainage issue. Its doing what its supposed to keep the water from building by the yard and have a french drain that carries the excess water between the houses. The only thing the water impacting the maple does is impact this maple and make the grass a little swampy for a few days after heavy rains. Just looking for a tree that can handle this "temporary swampiness" and also our largely hot & dry climate and clay soil. Would like to put something in the hole digging the maple out of so asked the guy looking to have do the work for recommendations and he recommended Bald Cyprus, River Birch & Sycamore. In researching these three I found Weeping Willow which he said could also work. Which is why I'm posting here. Pretty much between the River Birch and the Weeping Willow. LIke the long growing season of the Willow, but think prefer the look of the River Birch. Didn't rule the Sycamore out but don't care for the seedlings it will drop as the red oak already makes a mess with its acorns. Several recommended the bald Cyprus and would like to note for those that don't have experience with an established Bald Cyprus. They are nice looking trees however in my opinion they are one of the messiest trees. Needle leaves & seedlings they drop are mess and worst of all they have what people refer to as "knees" that are the tree roots that pop backup in the yard which are a real hassle when cutting your yard. I would highly recommend against just for the knees, which would also be a hazard for anyone walking or playing in the yard. Reading others comments think might be now leaning the river birch or the sycamore. Several commented relative short life of the weeping willow which is a concern, though don't plan to be in the house long enough for that to be an issue. I think for our situation River Birch or deal with the seedlings from the Sycamore and go that way are the best options. Hope my post might help others. I'll try to remember to come back and post picture of the results once we buy and plant our new tree.

All maggots are not created equal. Black Soldier Fly (BSF) maggots are nice to see. The link below explains why, but basically --adults have no mouthparts and do not feed!!! --rarely enter houses anyway, weak fliers (I'd feel weak too, if I never ate...) --larvae discourage/prevent housefly maggots --larvae eat decaying organic matter and manures --they eat so much, so fast that odors are reduced/non-exsistant BSF are also a nice brown color, which I find aesthetically more pleasing than the startling white housefly maggot. :)) Houseflies, as you may know, spit on their food and suck up the liquid, pooping at the same time. They're eager to come inside my house, since a dirty dish is heaven for them. Houseflies, with all this flying, puking/eating/pooping everywhere pick up and spread bacteria and disease. Other questions you had -- Constant urine as moisture certainly will cause a pile to use more browns than if water were used. A cardboard box, yes, is a poor choice for composting on a balcony. I wonder if you are in an apartment complex, where balconies typically overhang the balcony/porch of the downstairs neighbors. I have a frightening mental picture of what might be dripping down there...along with the occassional falling maggots. By all means, get yourself a big gray plastic garbage can or some other container with a good drip pan under it. I applaud your efforts, BTW. I just want you to avoid any hassles with an apartment management team that may be quick to say "Stop that!" at the first complaint. Here is a link that might be useful: Beneficials in the Garden--Black Soldier Fly

We have a Norway maple out front, that must be about 50 foot high, and every year it drops several cubic yards of leaves. I rake them onto a plastic tarp, and drag them into the back yard. The tree drops its leaves over about a three week period. When the raking and dragging is done, I will spread out the leaves into windrows about 20" high, and run over them with a mulching lawnmower. The mulching takes only 15 or 20 minutes, but the clean-up, done by hand, with a leaf rake, takes an hour or two. The nice thing about using a lawnmower for this purpose is that the mower seems up to the task, and only needs to be swept off when the job is done. We are essentially out of room for storing additional equipment in our garage, so I guess that is the driving force behind this method. The chopped leaves are used directly as mulch, and the rest go onto the compost pile. When thoroughly shredded, they will decompose in about one year.