# What's The Best Bow Saw?



## ReggieT (Apr 23, 2012)

Looking for something that can really eat/chew through some tough green and knotty/stringy dry wood...much of it pretty thick.:eek2:

I'm already straight on chainsaws and other items...I just had read some really good reviews on the Bahco Bow Saws.

Thanks a lot,

ReggieT


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## ShaneLogs (Apr 23, 2012)

ReggieT said:


> Looking for something that can really eat/chew through some tough green and knotty/stringy dry wood...much of it pretty thick.:eek2:
> 
> I'm already straight on chainsaws and other items...I just had read some really good reviews on the Bahco Bow Saws.
> 
> ...




Did you check Bailey's.com ? They have all your wood cutting needs.\



Shane


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## ReggieT (Apr 23, 2012)

*On My Way!*

Hey Shane....what do yo think about those Fiskars Axe's everyones raving about?
Any count???:msp_confused:


ShaneLogs said:


> Did you check Bailey's.com ? They have all your wood cutting needs.\
> 
> 
> 
> Shane


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## Guido Salvage (Apr 23, 2012)

ReggieT said:


> What's The Best Bow Saw?
> 
> Looking for something that can really eat/chew through some tough green and knotty/stringy dry wood...much of it pretty thick.:eek2: ...



Hard to find new bow setups today due to the perceived safety issues, however I have found these to be effective.


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## zogger (Apr 25, 2012)

I used a sandvik for years for my personal firewood, a 30" model. They invented the tubular frame bowsaw. I have no experience with the larger fiskars or the bachos yet. It cut really well, had a real adjustable tensioner on it.

I wouldn't get a saw without a tension adjuster, not anything large or serious. Usually you have a lock handle, then a thumb screw or wingnut thing for the final tweaks. I like being able to tweak the tension because it most definitely changes with temperature, etc and nothing worse than a sloppy loose blade or a too tight blade that bends the bar. Either one of those extremes gives you a squirrelly cut.

I recently picked up a 36" no name in a pawn shop used for 3 bucks, just to add to the manual powered tool stash. It's not something I would have bought new full price, but for three bucks, whut the heck.

People who have never used a quality bowsaw and learned how to use it properly really don't have a clue how much wood you can cut with one. Yes, it isn't a chainsaw, but you can fill a pickup bed with wood in not a lot of time.

I actually think 99% of the home renter chainsaws out there are a waste of time and money and joe note payer doing yard trims would be better off with a quality bowsaw and a pack of extra blades.


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## rarefish383 (Apr 25, 2012)

Guido Salvage said:


> Hard to find new bow setups today due to the perceived safety issues, however I have found these to be effective.



Guido, you beat me to it. I was gonna say a Homelite XL12 with a bow. Not too big, not too small, it'll do it all, Joe.


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## Steve NW WI (Apr 25, 2012)

Not a bow saw, but the tree guys rave about the Silky handsaws. Might be worth a look.


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## zogger (Apr 25, 2012)

ReggieT said:


> Looking for something that can really eat/chew through some tough green and knotty/stringy dry wood...much of it pretty thick.:eek2:
> 
> I'm already straight on chainsaws and other items...I just had read some really good reviews on the Bahco Bow Saws.
> 
> ...



I like this subject but have never seen one of those Bahcos, but looking at their designs, just that, they look hard to beat. going to have to put one on my list of "sometime I will get one". Get a couple of each blades, for the dry wood and the green wood, I know set and so forth is radically different with that, also softwoods and hardwoods.


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## Guido Salvage (Apr 25, 2012)

rarefish383 said:


> Guido, you beat me to it. I was gonna say a Homelite XL12 with a bow. Not too big, not too small, it'll do it all, Joe.



Got one of those too, though it is too small to pull a bow very well unless you are in pine or small wood.






Have a few of the old style ones too:


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## DFK (Apr 27, 2012)

*I dont know so I am going to ask???*

What is the advantage of a bow bar over a normal bar???

Thanks
David


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## zogger (Apr 28, 2012)

DFK said:


> What is the advantage of a bow bar over a normal bar???
> 
> Thanks
> David



I have no idea, never used one and try as I might I can't see any advantage to them just looking at them. Easier to hang up on a nail in the shed maybe?? There has to be something cool about them, as pertains to function over form, but I have absolutely no idea what that might be. Bucking directly on the ground, fast limbing?

I do have an observation though...even though apparently quite a few guys here own bowsaws with the engines, seems like all the wood cutting pics you see guys post, you really don't see them being used out in the woods. I've seen pics of guys trying them out at events and GTGs, but not day to day production work.

Maybe two generations ago they were common, but today, you don't see them, and they stopped making them as far as I know, at least for common saws. They are apparently quite dangerous, so any perceived efficiency gain is offset by OMG hospital and funeral expenses.

Now I am just surmising, but IF they were superior, we would see a ton more pics of them being used all over. Like, cruise over to the chainsaw forum, scroll back whatever, ten pages, look at all the pics of guys using saws today..no bowsaw pics. You'll see a lot of older large saws..tons of those, but with regular bars on them. Or here on the firewood forum (no idea on logging or arborist forums, don't hang there much at all, can't see a dude in a tree with a bowbar though).

We've all seen tons and tons of pics of "today's score"!!! (I like all of those)....since I have been here, I don't recall any "score" threads involving using a chainsaw with a bowbar. Might have happened, but I missed it then. 

I know it happens, there must be some pics on this forum of guys actually using them all the time as their regular saws, but it is apparently quite rare today.


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## CTYank (Apr 28, 2012)

DFK said:


> What is the advantage of a bow bar over a normal bar???
> 
> Thanks
> David



According to the story of Claude Poulan's (re-)invention of the bow bar, in 1944 he was supervising German POWs operating 2-man chainsaws to cut pulpwood in north LA.
Those saws bound a lot, on top "edge" of bar, bucking downed logs into 4' pulpwood. Just weren't productive. So Claude had an idea, and hammered an old car fender, etc. into a bow bar. Situation no longer existed, where chain moving away on upper face of bar gets pinched.
Probably around the same time, someone saw the merit of being able to run the saw standing up.
Dunno if all this involved 1-man or 2-man saws, since this was right about the time of the demise of the 2-man and the birth of the 1-man.
You probably don't see much use of bow-bars now because feller-bunchers are enormously more productive, mass-producing pulpwood sticks lined up neatly for forwarders.


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## Guido Salvage (Apr 28, 2012)

DFK said:


> What is the advantage of a bow bar over a normal bar???



The advantage is two fold. As CTYank points out, the narrow height of the bow "bar" prevents pinching when bucking logs laying on the ground. The other is that you can buck wood from a standing position with the front portion of the bow rather than having to kneel or squat as you would with a regular bar. 

There are several types of bows, the "regular" type that I have pictured above as well as a "clearing" bow that is more pie slice shaped and not as tall. They were used for clearing brush (the bar wouldn't pinch on the cut) as well as on Christmas tree farms. Today brushcutters have mostly replaced them for clearing tasks.

Bows were mostly used in the southern pine forests harvesting pulp wood. When your truck was loaded, you simply hung the saw over the top of one of the standards on the back. Given perceived safety issues they have fallen out of favor and see limited use today. I still have 8 or ten of them and still use mine from time to time.


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## Mucksiegooma (Sep 17, 2015)

Guido Salvage said:


> Got one of those too, though it is too small to pull a bow very well unless you are in pine or small wood.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I have an old Gensco bowsaw. It has a rivet like pin holder at each end to hold the blade in place. There is not blade tension handle. I am unable to remove the old blade. I purchased a new blade, but it looks like the holes don't line up. Any suggestions?


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## rpowell (Sep 17, 2015)

Mucksiegooma said:


> I have an old Gensco bowsaw. It has a rivet like pin holder at each end to hold the blade in place. There is not blade tension handle. I am unable to remove the old blade. I purchased a new blade, but it looks like the holes don't line up. Any suggestions?


 I have a husqvarna 281 that wears a bow blade. it is ideal for cutting wood up that is on the ground. doesn't get pinched like a regular straight blade and like was said, you don't have to bend down. Every firewood person should have one when cutting firewood. it definetly is a tool that has its place and advantages.


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## Philbert (Sep 17, 2015)

Similar thread:

http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/bow-saws-worth-a-rip.285676/

Philbert


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## zogger (Sep 17, 2015)

Mucksiegooma said:


> I have an old Gensco bowsaw. It has a rivet like pin holder at each end to hold the blade in place. There is not blade tension handle. I am unable to remove the old blade. I purchased a new blade, but it looks like the holes don't line up. Any suggestions?



If you lean on it, will it flex enough to slip the old one off and new one on? Or perhaps a loop of rope across both ends, twist it up with a stick a little, then do the blade swap. I know too much would warp it short, but perhaps just an eeny is all you need?


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## Mucksiegooma (Sep 17, 2015)

zogger said:


> If you lean on it, will it flex enough to slip the old one off and new one on? Or perhaps a loop of rope across both ends, twist it up with a stick a little, then do the blade swap. I know too much would warp it short, but perhaps just an eeny is all you need?


Thank you. I did try to put on end on the concrete floor and try to press the other end down but being that it is a rigid tubular frame it doesn't seem to "give" much. I will try the rope trick though, sounds like a good idea. If I can get the blade off I still have to find a blade that fits. I am going to go out and buy a new bow saw today, the Bahco saws look pretty good.


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