Someone Might Care... Who Knows?

[Magnus]

Always seems that the right side rail wore down more than the left, looking toward the tip. Does a flat file not correct the top as well as a grinder? I guess I do that by hand, too. Is it just easier?

Better tis to look at the reason behind the wear and try remove that instead so you get more out time and higher cost efficiency of your gear.
If one rail is lower than the other this has more wear as it has been loaded harder. Could be it is not as sharp as the other side or riders set different.
Flip chain over and look at the tie straps. Are they also worn more on same side?

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

Better tis to look at the reason behind the wear and try remove that instead so you get more out time and higher cost efficiency of your gear.
If one rail is lower than the other this has more wear as it has been loaded harder. Could be it is not as sharp as the other side or riders set different.
Flip chain over and look at the tie straps. Are they also worn more on same side?

Thanks for the tips.

I used to run a crew of rookies in the forest doing forest stand improvements/ fuel reduction with a Conservation Corps. Trying to get some of them to even understand what a sharp chain looks like was challenge enough. Hard worked saws with rookies hand filing in the field meant more worn bars. I don't recall seeing that same wear on my business bars. I have a lot more things to look after, so I'm not saying their not uneven. Sharp chain goes a long way to even avoid mushrooming. I don't have to do it very often, or many strokes. I do feel like I've probably lightly filed the top of the bar. Never had a groove cut deeper.

Rog B has mentioned chainbar.com in Portland. I've never needed it that I know of. I've bought a few shorter back-ups bars, just in case one gets bent/ worn out.

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

I have a question about a weird phenomenon that I've seen a limited amount which might be explained by mushrooming out the side catching on the wood, or the bar rails spreading. I've rolled a bar or two closed before with longer bars and canola oil.

Once in a long while I've seen a chain cutting then continue spinning without cutting, then given a wiggle, it starts cutting again. Seems something is hung up. Experimentation and trouble shooting gets laid aside, another saw is grabbed, maintenance done, no more issue. Not exactly sure what was wrong, or how it was fixed. The Conservation Corps saws were run hard and put up wet (not taken care of as a pro would, as they weren't pro's running them).

 

[Jed]

Sounds like you're in a pretty good place as far as the ability to keep cutting straight Sean.

A while ago, I heard someone say that for timber cutters, uneven bar rail wear was much more common, because of the number of diagonal cuts for face openings that they are required to make in a day. His point is that, if you are standing on the same side of the tree the majority of times, then the Humboldt will always put more pressure on one rail than the other. To me, this sounds like an almost negligible factor, but who knows? He seemed to know his stuff.

But then, as Northwest arbs: we have to make a ton of diagonals when taking down stems. Come to think of it, when up in the tree, I almost always make mine Conventional from my strong side. Maybe we need to mix it up to keep our bars straighter.

 

[Magnus]

If it lubed correct and is sharp, rider set correct and no forces used, the wear on tie straps rails is very little. I doubt it is of importance as long as its sharp.

 

[stig]

Yeah it is Sean. I'm just now learning all this stuff too. The grinding that we're referring to, has to do with the TOP of the bar rails. Because the chisels pull hard to the sides, in time the outsides of the tops of the rails will wear lower than the inside rail tops. This can quickly lead to certain irregularities which, when they get really bad, can actually lock up a bar in the kerf. I've had this happen two or three times.

An overlooked advantage of short bars is that they are cheap.

Instead of going to all that trouble, I toss the bar out and mount another one.

 

[Magnus]

With laminated bars there is not much to do other than maintenance. Most pro loggers I have run solid bars. They are worth the extra effort.
When I got Iggesund to make a Power match copy they ran the bars 6 months, then new tip, fixed railes, groove if needed and they ran about the same again.
Sadly they don't make them now, so Power match it is witch is twice the price and half the runtime.
Still pretty cost effective compared to laminated bars.

 

[stig]

The Iggesund bars I've tried are about the shittiest I've ever run.
Definitely use and toss.
We bought about 50 of them on sale once. Never again.

The bar that I use the most, an 18" cost about 55$.
I usually make about 100$/hr when I log.
So if I have to futz around with something worth 55 bucks for more than ½ hour, I don't bother.

The "Good old days" where loggers would work 8 hrs in the woods and go home and do saw maintenance for another 2 are gone for me.

I make my money killing trees, not repairing saws and straightening bars.

The only saw maintenance I do is cleaning the air filter and changing the fuel filter once a year.

I don't run old clunkers that have to be cozened , either my saws run good or they get scrapped.
End of story.

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

Good to understand mechanical malfunction and fixes. Also, good to know what pencils out at the end of the day.

 

[stig]

Most things have gotten too complicated to home repair.
Do you fix your smart phone yorself?
The new generation of saws are the same.

 

[Mick!]

Most things have gotten too complicated to home repair.
Do you fix your smart phone yorself?
The new generation of saws are the same.

Plus stuff is cheaper, like you say, do I spend an hour in the workshop at the end of the day trying to repair something or salvage a rocked chain etc or get a new one?
If it's too tricky chuck it back at the dealer and pick up your spare.

 

[Magnus]

The Iggesund bars I've tried are about the shittiest I've ever run.
Definitely use and toss.

I am pretty sure this is not the same bars. These I was involved in was never series produced or sold as Iggesund bars.
It was same steel and hardening as the harvester bars. They only made a test series of it that me and two more got bars for testing.
Was it solid bars with replaceable tip?

 

[Magnus]

Most things have gotten too complicated to home repair.
Do you fix your smart phone yorself?
The new generation of saws are the same.

You are right. You make money with saws, I make your your saws do just that.
I am the one you go to when your smart saw isn't working (gets stupid) or you need bars that work or help finding out why they don't.

 

[cory]

I might try to learn to square file chain. I think I can learn with enough time and practice. I'm a lousy climber, a worse groundman, a mediocre business owner, and can't pitch a baseball well. But I am the Grand Imperial Wizard of round filing and have been told so by many other professional loggers and tree rats alike. One hand, no file holder. I have a callous the size of a dime on the palm of my right hand there the point of the file rests and I apply pressure. I started filing at 10 or 11 years old and its pretty much the only thing I'm awesome at besides changing the clock on the radio in absolutely any make and model of vehicle.

Wow, theres a lot there Do you use a file handle? You're not trying to tell me you file with no handle and one hand, are ya? You may have a callous on yer brain too if so And veryyyyy manly also, if so.

Changing times on radios- 2 questions: Are you fast at it or just dogged? And are they getting tougher to change with each successive model year as electronics get more and more elaborate? Btw, which mftgr is going to figure out that a vehicle with fewer electronic features will sell like wild with many consumers. Nobody want to have the key on to adjust the seat and silly chit like that.

The "Good old days" where loggers would work 8 hrs in the woods and go home and do saw maintenance for another 2 are gone for me.

I don't run old clunkers that have to be cozened , either my saws run good or they get scrapped.

Same here.

do I spend an hour in the workshop at the end of the day trying to salvage a rocked chain etc ?

In the old days, yes. I suppose one learns a lot from doing that a bunch of times. But now, nah not even. Not worth it.

I look at my edges with a 10x lens fairly often, Magnus what magnification do you use?

 

[Magnus]

I think it is 8x then 15 with the next lens. Tooth is about a dm in size in Lens so it is pretty easy to see. Even so it is sometimes hard to see what I want.
So sometimes I use microscope, not sure what magnification, perhaps 50?

There is no money in it, just great satisfaction in knowing what to do different...

 

[cory]

And great fun looking at stuff under magnification.

 

[Jed]

The Iggesund bars I've tried are about the shittiest I've ever run.
Definitely use and toss.
We bought about 50 of them on sale once. Never again.

The bar that I use the most, an 18" cost about 55$.
I usually make about 100$/hr when I log.
So if I have to futz around with something worth 55 bucks for more than ½ hour, I don't bother.

The "Good old days" where loggers would work 8 hrs in the woods and go home and do saw maintenance for another 2 are gone for me.

I make my money killing trees, not repairing saws and straightening bars.

The only saw maintenance I do is cleaning the air filter and changing the fuel filter once a year.

I don't run old clunkers that have to be cozened , either my saws run good or they get scrapped.
End of story.

Must be nice Stig. As a res. arb., (and a foreman, at that) I make $26 per hr. 48 hrs. Per weak. You can bet that I'm straightening out my bars. Other than the top handles, the shortest bars I run are 28".

What you are implying by your post, is that the "good ol' days", must have sucked; and I can testify that, yeah... They kinda do. Although I usually only do about an hour of saw maintanance.

 

[cory]

Do you pay for your own bars?

 

[Jed]

Do you pay for your own bars?

Typically, yeah cause the company will only get us 28" or I have to beg like a disgusting animal. Even cutting from both sides, I do much better with a 32. In big wood, I'll use a 36, but the added length is a real encumbrance for me. Still, it can be nice to reach all the way through, in the medium trees, so the encumbrance is sometimes worth it.

 

[cory]

Gotcha.

 

[Tucker943]

Cory, I hold the bar with my left hand and file with my right. I don't use a file handle. It has nothing to do with manliness though. When i started making attempts to file chain as a kid, that's how I want about it and like many things in life, you end up doing it the only way you know. Because the point of the file pushes against a spot just above where the palm meets the wrist, it is not uncomfortable in the least. It's how I taught myself, and its just how I do it. I sliced the palm of my hand 3 years ago and had a lot of stitches there for a bit and lost that callous. I had to file with a handle and two hands for awhile and it was very difficult and awkward for me to make a sharp chain.

Sure, my statement was bold about being good at filing. But don't over look that I stated I'm less then decent at the othe aspects of the trade. Wasn't trying to mislead anyone into thinking I'm awesome across the board.

About radios, there's no method to my madness. I start choosing what I think are the logical buttons that lead me to a menu, and one thing leads to another. One minute I'm in your passenger seat showing you my small callous on my right palm, next minute I've got your daylight savings issue all caught up and nothing but a bad memory on your radio.

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

Bringing your own gear to a national company seems screwy.

I can't see how a good manager would stop at 28" bars in the PNW. I had a 20" bar, then a 28" bar for my 361 when it was my only saw.

 

[cory]

. One minute I'm in your passenger seat showing you my small callous on my right palm, next minute I've got your daylight savings issue all caught up and nothing but a bad memory on your radio.

Gahahaha You're a menace!

Interesting about your filing method.

 

[Tucker943]

I'm the only one I know that files that way. More then one person has given me a funny look.

 

[Magnus]

Well we past the darkest day, so it gets brighter every day now.

You file vertical Tucker?