Dirt and fine saw dust mixed with oil will eventually plug up the bar and oil feeder holes. Even if you don't hit dirt, dirt still inbedded in the bark. Caked up debri will also lodge in and around the clutch area and cover. The other BIG mistake is not keeping the slack adjusted out of the chain. Which usually has to be done about every tank full of gas. You must clean you chain and bar regularly, Now for me thats at least every other use. I can't stand a dirty saw. You can look at the chain and if the wood is burnt on to the teeth and you have to take a pocket knife and scrape it off you chain getting little oil. even if I am very careful not letting my chain hit dirt it still needs to be cleaned after a days use. this included removing the bar running a wire or small screwdriver down the bar groove knocking all the stuck junk out. I use carb. cleaner it works great for me. I also hang my chain up and spray it down then scrub it with a nylon or brass brush, now that I got the bar and chain pristine clean, I crank up the air compressor and blow out the clutch, clutch cover, around the cooling fins, and exit slot on the pull rope side. Now I reassemble, adjust the chain tension, and hit the chain teeth about 3 or 4 strokes with a file. Now the saw is clean, sharp, and ready for storage till my next cutting job. IMO the worse thing you can do is put your equipment up dirty, especially if it's not used often. We've all seen them the mower decks with the big grass lumps on top of them, chain saws with the big burnt spots on the bar ect.... Now to answer the question how long the chain will last????? Till you sharpen the teeth off of them or they get sharpen down to a nub and break off. that's how long the will last. some will say this is overkill, but for me I like a well preforming piece of equipment, just makes the job easier IMO.

LOL No, not Martin. But today I'm calling him 'Pelt'! Grrrr. He dug up bulbs outside and knocked over new plants inside. Okay. Back to the thread. I've got my new plants all in individual ziplock bags, and all the leaves that came in are in a moist perlite/vermiculite mixture on trays and also in bags. So how do you keep those little 3oz. Solo cups upright and in a baggie? Mine keep falling over. Right now I have them all bumped up next to each other in a round plant tray, but they're still fairly precariously balanced. Any ideas? Or is it just me? Didn't someone post that he *hangs* the baggies from the shelving unit? Feegle

Our lumberyard sells the Sierra Primed Shake Deep Groove in 20 board bundles at $168.30 per bundle, which breaks down to approx $8.40 per 8' board. We did price out the pre-finished in Maple too...$259.25 per bundle or approx $12.96 per board. Those prices are with a 15% discount that they very kindly offered since we're OBing. :o)

From the photo. it looks as though the shingle siding just hasn't weathered yet. The siding was probably new within the last year. Give it some time and and the colour will soften. You can already see that the shingles down toward the bottom of the walls (where they're more exposed to the elements) are beginning to gray. If you like the naturally weathered look, just be patient. It will take 2 or 3 years for them to weather gracefully. If you're impatient, shingles can be painted or stained, but at this point, you'd probably have to power-wash them first to remove the staining that has started as a natural part of the weathering process. A tinted stain could then be applied to the cleaned shingles. If you choose to paint, a primer should be applied before paint. Personally, I prefer the look of naturally weathered shingles, so I'd be inclined go that route. Not only does it look better in my opinion, but it requires less maintenance.