Heated handles.

Back in the day when i logged in Maine short bars were the rule. I was back there last week on vacay and saw a bunch of large pine stumps that had been logged and it looked like things were still the same; lots of 24"-28" stumps cut by 20" bars. One thing was new though, most all had been bore cut. If that technique existed in '77 I sure didn't know about it.
 
We've had more than a few posts where people refer to some pain that they have, and sometimes the surgical extent to heal it. Even what may seem light and manageable when you are young, can have a cumulative effect and be damaging during the long run. One morning you maybe wake up and your elbow or shoulder hurts, and you wonder to yourself what that is? When young, we often don't think about that, rather invincible. Good to try and be wise about it from an early time. Of course everyone here is surely doing stretching and other exercises to try and balance out the wear and tear. :lol: Just sayin.....
 
The extent of my stretching consists bending over to buckle my spurs on and reaching around my back to snap something on or unsnap it when I'm up the tree to use it. :what: . There really isn't much discussion worth having about guys wasting time trying to fall timber with a short bar.
Tho they may root and beller about how great they are with their stubbies. . Put em on steep ground with plenty of broke up draws in 36" 150-250' tall timber. Throw in some nice fresh blow down. . Shoot, I'de almost pay to see someone try to cut that with a 20" bar. Flop a nice limby Sitka spruce thats 4,40s tall, shoot, unless someone was 3' tall their back would be about broke by the time they got it Limbed.
 
P
woodworkingboy said:
We've had more than a few posts where people refer to some pain that they have, and sometimes the surgical extent to heal it. Even what may seem light and manageable when you are young, can have a cumulative effect and be damaging during the long run. One morning you maybe wake up and your elbow or shoulder hurts, and you wonder to yourself what that is? When young, we often don't think about that, rather invincible. Good to try and be wise about it from an early time. Of course everyone here is surely doing stretching and other exercises to try and balance out the wear and tear. :lol: Just sayin.....
Click to expand...

I certainly resemble this remark! I didn't used to mind running my 046, in fact, most times I preferred it! It was so much faster in the smaller wood it was worth the extra weigh!
Since my accident, and the limited tree work that I now do, I much prefer my ported 5100 with a 20" on it! I've been learning to use it as efficiently as possible to limit risks, minimize weight and still do what the job requires.
I still have my 046, but I sure don't like running it anymore than I have to!
For the 026/260, I've never had much use for that saw! And certainly now, I feel there are a lot better options out there in that class!
 
Yes Jay,
Your statement rings true as I sit here typing one-handed with my right shoulder/arm all splinted up and immobilized after reattaching the tendons those years of heavy saws and tossing branches and logs too heavy...
...might be selling my 2100 to Rajan ...hurts my shoulder just to look at it.
 
Ya, when I get up in the morning. Its what Doesn't hurt that helps me to start another day. . Most winters I get to have what I call, Deep Rest. For about a month. . It's cool. By the end of it, nothing hurts. But then I've got to start up again.
 
Cold Logging said:
I'm not to keen on short bars. Unless they are warranted, like in a tree. . Longer bars tend toward more accurate, easier falling. But. If I'm cutting in the snow. In the Interior. I will run as short a bar as I can get away with. Keeps more oil on the bar and chain parts. .

But, on the coast for production timber falling. I run 36s unless I need longer.
Which I seldom do.
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Longer bars don't make more accurate timber falling. Skill makes accurate and true cuts.
 
Just trying to give it fair definition, perhaps it can be said that they make for easier more accurate falling. I think that we have learned from earlier discussions that some folks have progressed beyond the easier or harder being relative part. Advanced abilities does that.
 
Tucker943 said:
Longer bars don't make more accurate timber falling. Skill makes accurate and true cuts.
Click to expand...

If you suffer from short bar syndrome it may be impossible to learn you. I'm not talking about 1 tree, I'm talking about day in day out falling timber. 20,000 - 100,000 board feet per day 6 days a week 4 weeks a month 6-10 months a year. Year in year out. If your in 24" and larger timber the shortest bar that is consistently comfortable is a 30" . But a 32 , 34, or 36" will tend to get the best results.
Show me a west coast faller that is falling high dollar timber that runs short bars consistently and I'll show you plenty of his bucks that aren't clean off. And some busted up timber.

So here's a? For the short bar boys. How many million board feet of timber do you fall per month?????
 
No one has advanced enough skills to fall timber on steep ground that is stooled up standing on spring boards with a 20" bar. Or even a 24 or 28 . Timber in the 50" on the stump size. They. Won't be consistently hitting their lays. They will be wasting time on the stump. And they will get fired for being a stupid cull.

If all you are is a flat lander and have timber that grows straight up out of the ground then ya, you can look like a monkey with a football. But in the long run I'll still put more wood on the ground per day, per week, per month and year with a 30-36" bar until the timber gets up to 60" on the stump. After that a longer bar helps
 
Don't waste your time being an ass to me. I didn't knock your trade, or you. I didnt knock long bars either. What I stated is that a long bar doesn't make you more accurate. Accuracy is the sum of several techniques. Long bars make less work of making big cuts. Long bars make matching cuts much more simple, and long bars are a must on steep ground where scampering around the tree 3 times is either impossible or difficult. What they don't do is make you more accurate. Accuracy comes from saw handling, not saw size. I own and use long bars. But an accurate and skilled faller/sawyer cant give his long bar a pat on the back for nailing the lay.

So, I don't care if you put up 10 million feet a week, or fill one truck a month. I was only stating that you have yourself to thank for accuracy, not your bar. Wasn't look to bang heads with you. Lets take this opportunity to go back to square one and have a nice discussion.
 
OK
Great with me. Yes being accurate at falling is primarily in the hands of the taller. . But I guess its just I've had too many years of cutting timber and working with too many fallers.
Short bars, tiny dogs and half wrap handle bars is a recipe for low production and getting cut.

Falling timber is so dangerous that a guy shouldn't try to make it more so.
I apologise for being a bit much.

I
 
I was just laughing because I know where you're coming from CL. I worked a lot of years in the woods along Vancouver island and the Charlottes. I've butted heads in the past as have others on this site over regionally developed saw differences and cutting techniques. You must remember too that this is an international arborists forum. West coast loggers are accepted here as much as anyone else, but you do have to respect where everyone comes from and what their experience brings.

Although I do agree with a lot of what you have to say regarding saw set up. I'm now in the interior of BC so a 24" bar suffices for most and a 32" or 36" on occasion.

I'm pretty strictly residential now myself though.
 
squisher said:
international .
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I'm not sure what the average height and girth of west coast loggers is, or what their caloric intake is over there, but I wouldn't doubt that the average in some other parts of the world is somewhat smaller. My first local connections were with people that needed someone that could handle a large saw, his own and theirs. :lol: I was hoping to find some photos of those little people in the Congo holding saws, but couldn't. They have some big trees.
 
On the east coast, more so the Northeast corner, 20" bars are the standard for hardwood logging. When I went to work logging I was puzzled by it. That and the fact that pretty much everything gets bore cut. The bore cutting I found a lot of merit in on hardwood trees, in terms of preventing cracking and heart pull, and the 20" rule proved to be sensible because that's all that will fit behind your feet in the skidder. I myself use enough bar for the wood Im dealing with. Small wood, small bar, big wood, big bar. In the hardwoods I live amongst and work in, I use enough bar to suit the log, mostly because hardwoods are a little bit of a different game then softwood. They chew up a lot of power. More often then not, the biggest I find myself using is 32". I use longer, as pictured above, but not often do I need to. Especially in the residential sector. Hitting nails with a 4 foot bar makes me want to puke.
 
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