Arbormasters

Burnham · Nov 18, 2004

Thanks, Glen...I'm gonna have to think about that...but at first blush I say "buncha hooey"

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glens · Nov 18, 2004

That's certainly your prerogative to think that, but I don't think I'd be so willing to state that opinion publicly.

Glen

Curtis James · Nov 18, 2004

bore cut

The bore cut I was taught was for felling spars & such after getting the guide/pull ropes attached one cuts out the notch be it open face, humbolt or which ever is best for your situation. Then the boreing begins just behind the two inch or whatever hinge that is needed alomst all the way back leaving a small tab on the opposit side of the notch .Pound in some wedges and cut just below the tab. drops right where you want it.

glens · Nov 18, 2004

Yes, you described the felling cut.  The previous description was of removing the remaining stump to ground level after the stem was felled.

Glen

Burnham · Nov 19, 2004

Well, gee, Glen, I didn't mean to get your dander up! Let's back it down a notch and see what we both mean here.

I expect if we were in the same room, speaking directly to each other, we'd already have clear understanding of where each of us was coming from. This web format leads to misunderstandings at times.

I took your statement about cutting with the top of the bar being hard on the equipment to mean you disapproved of such use. Looking back at your post, I see that you clearly stated "long-term", which I overlooked at first.

I reckon you took my "hooey" statement to mean that I thought you were full of it, but my intent was to say that I believe that all sawyers use the top of the bar, it's a normal technique, and to advocate against such use was neither neccesary nor practical.

Perhaps something closer to the truth of our comments might be thus: Glen says flush cutting stumps with the top of the bar is unneccesarily wearing to the saw. Better to use a wedge or two to keep the kerf open. Burnham says using the top of the bar is useful in many situations, and must be done oftimes, but agrees that for stump removals Glen is right. What say you, Glen? Might this be so?

Those that have followed some of my posts in the past will remember that I am a big fan of wedges. Cutting big wood with the top of the bar is big work, too. I doubt I'd choose to flush cut stumps that way in the first place.

Of course, I have to have a last word here

. I have never bent or broken a bar stud, and I have never worn a bar tip out before the bar grooves were gone, so I think my level of top-of-the-bar cutting is not damaging to the saws I have run across thirty-plus years. But that is just anecdotal, and Glen's analysis of what's going on with the saw when used that way may well be dead on...but my experience has me leaning towards the point of view that the damage he forsees is theoretical...and that's just for me.

glens · Nov 19, 2004

Originally posted by Burnham
Perhaps something closer to the truth of our comments might be thus: Glen says flush cutting stumps with the top of the bar is unneccesarily wearing to the saw. Better to use a wedge or two to keep the kerf open. Burnham says using the top of the bar is useful in many situations, and must be done oftimes, but agrees that for stump removals Glen is right. What say you, Glen? Might this be so?

Absolutely!

I too (and often) use the tip and top of the bar to cut.  Though I haven't been doing it for 30 years, I have seen adjusters and bar clamps (clutch covers) go bad (the latter by over-tightening the nuts, as well the cause of studs getting stripped out of the cases).  Granted, some of the cause for such action was more than likely trying to maintain tension on a dull chain when I think back on some of the people I've cut with.

I've never had a sprocket tip blow out either (knock wood).

But I know, as I'm cutting with the top of the bar, that I'm subjecting the equipment to more stress than if I'd bend at the knees and use the bottom of the bar and that it's a judgment call.

In order to achieve the effect of plugging the kerf with chips, one would have to cut with the top of the bar in a blind cut and to do very much of that at all would require a great deal of effort.  Even if I didn't concern myself with the equipment I'm a bit lazier than that.

Sorry for the abruptness earlier.

Glen