bounties, sub-bounties, ant love and chainsaws

So a bunch of people helped with the berm shed in the time during and around the PDC. Those people said they would like their sub-bounty share to be donated to ant love stuff.

I could probably write for an hour on a series of events that led to the idea today of using those funds to get:

one cordless stihl MSA 200 (not the 160). $380

two batteries: AP 180 (not the 115 or 160). $200 each

one charger: AL 500 (not the AL 100 or AL 300). $140




Maybe an extra bar, some extra chains, some bar and chain lube ...


And it was pointed out to me that cob stomping has not yet included music. So I would like to suggest this:


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN/B00SL2LYJK/rs12-20

A big yes on the music box!
The chainsaw would be a very useful tool for us all at this stage in our projects. I've got a gas saw which is great for felling trees, but a lighter, quieter electric saw for construction work would be great. If the stihl proves to be a worth while saw, I could see moving away from the gas saw entirely in the future.
Of course, these tools are only useful as long as we have access to power to charge them, i.e. the solar carts.

The electric chainsaws have been valuable tools I've used since I got here, they are light enough to make limbing a tree easy on the arms, quiet enough that ear protection isn't needed and the rechargeable battery makes for a sustainable fuel source for quite some time when combined with solar panels. One place that we are still wanting is brute felling power, we have used a 36 volt and two 40 volt cordless saws and they will all struggle when cutting under load, like when felling a 6+ inch tree. I think that if we Ants are to use this generosity to purchase an electric saw it should be more powerful than any of the models we've used. Though Stihl has a good reputation I wonder if this 36 volt saw (msa200) has enough oomph. I wonder if something like the green works 80 volt ($360) may be better for ant use.
Regardless, we Ants are all grateful to everyone who is contributing to the community tool library, thank you!

It is done.



We got the saw, with extra batteries, extra chains, etc. And we got the radio too.