How'd it go today?

[Tucker943]

I've never used a bar cover in my life. I never really had a need to.

 

[Tarzan]

Well, as I only have a small area in the back of my pickup to put all my saws in, I have to use them or they would ding up other saws and chains. It really ticks me off when I grind a laser chain and ding it on some metallic object before I even get a chance to put it to work.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I've made a few bar covers out of ply with some blocks along the edges to give the spacing. Works ok, but you generally need to tie it to the handle or something or the weight will make it fall off when pointed downward. I guess if you made it a tight fit it would better stay on. I also made a long one out of very thick cardboard and covered it with varathane to make it harder. For a long bar that doesn't get used much, and it still works.

 

[Tarzan]

I am definitely going to come up with something!

 

[Tucker943]

I'm not knocking anyone that uses them. They surely have a place in the industry.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Bar covers can help from tearing up the back seat when the trunk is full. The dogs are still a problem though. I've driven my wife's car with the 090 in the back seat with the bar resting on the dash, kind of the extreme though.

 

[Tarzan]

I would love to see a pic of that!

 

[SkwerI]

I buy the plain black bar covers from Bailey's. They don't cover the entire bar but at least they cover the tip and give me a place to hold the bar without cutting myself. The middle of the bar is still exposed but not as vulnerable to contact with other saws in the box.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I doubt I can get a pic, having pretty much stopped doing that when my wife started referring to her vehicle as "the logging car". I think it was her way of saying that she didn't much appreciate it.

 

[Tucker943]

I put a leaky husky 390 in my wifes suv ONCE. Stunk like gas for a week. Hauled jugs of diesel in the same suv ONCE also. She freaked.

 

[treesmith]

I've made a few bar covers out of ply with some blocks along the edges to give the spacing. Works ok, but you generally need to tie it to the handle or something or the weight will make it fall off when pointed downward. I guess if you made it a tight fit it would better stay on. I also made a long one out of very thick cardboard and covered it with varathane to make it harder. For a long bar that doesn't get used much, and it still works.

I did a job in Florida once for a guy I knew. He wanted me to go down and cut some pines at his daughters house. We made a family trip out of it, staying with my wife's aunt a couple of nights. Traveling in the Xterra limited our space, however, so I used the hitch hauler to carry my saws. I realized the bar covers might blow off an the road, so I drilled a hole through each bar, then drilled a matching hole in the cover and "pinned" them on with a piece of wire. Crude but effective.

 

[SkwerI]

You could have run the wire between the bar and chain and avoided drilling the bars.

 

[treesmith]

Yep, that would work. And I have poked a hole in the top rear of the bar cover and run a piece of wire from it back to the chain brake handle. Not as secure as pinning it on, but it will keep it from falling off.

 

[Husabud]

I've seen a couple of pickup truck boys around here using retired fire hose. The piece is as long as you want it. I am not sure it would slide on too easily though.

 

[woodworkingboy]

The hose gets caught on the cutters, kind of a pita for longer bars.

 

[Husabud]

That is exactly what I was thinking. Enough to drive you mad I would suppose.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Yeah, especially in combination with other things.

 

[Tarzan]

The hose gets caught on the cutters, kind of a pita for longer bars.

A 50" Canon bar with 404 teeth has a lot of belly too. I found some fire hose but it only fits smaller bars with not as much belly.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Jeeessh Cody! Careful mang.
I use whatever bar cover I can about get free from the dealer. You would be surprised what they have paying around in excess. I must have pulled about 6 off them last time to replace the worn out ones. I keep cutting them shorter as the chain wears them out near the dogs. Better than having things in the back of the truck get cut, fingers get cut, or the chain getting dull from our bumpy gravel roads. Our asphalt ain't much better in most places.

Easy kill of a gray pine today... Pollen count was a tad high though

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/R3FDwknr4QU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Pulled the chipper right up next to it. 10 yards. Rest was firewood.
The root ball was pulling up and bulging and was going to tear out part of a leach field if it went wind or snow thrown. Had to go.

 

[MasterBlaster]

No bar covers here. I've always wondered why they were always so short, just covering half the bar.

If I did use one, it would be to keep the chain safe, not the operator.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I got a couple 24" covers the other day. They work fine for my 32 and 36 bars.

 

[flushcut]

I take the husky bar scabbards and make a longer cover by cutting and taping them together.
Edit: I was also going to make some for my cannon bars but the husky scabbards don't fit the belly so I am thinking about Lexan or even some PVC pipe. PVC once heated with a heat gun becomes quite soft and can be squished flat and once cool sets to the new shape. I have made some axe scabbards that way.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I think the PVC might be a bit heavy and tend to slide off.

 

[flushcut]

I was thinking thin wall.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Oh, I wasn't aware that there is thin walled.