evening saw maintenance

[dave k]

I dont think there is much to add ! I'm amazed how many of guys I work with / for don't think of checking their bar !! I use a little file holder from Stihl( see pic ) which I assume is the same as the Pferd one ? I tend to use a soft brush as opposed to air for the first clean since you get a better look at AV mounts and anything stuck in underneath.
How about what you carry as a in the field spares kit ? I have a small bag about 10" by 4" with 8/10mm spanners Husky allen key and Stihl torx 27/15, fuel filter, starter cord, rim and circlip with spare washer to hold rim on. Also spark plug and bar groove cleaner and tunning screw driver. The bag is small enough to be taken if you are a fair way from the jeep.

 

[nw axe man]

I dont think there is much to add ! I'm amazed how many of guys I work with / for don't think of checking their bar !! I use a little file holder from Stihl( see pic ) which I assume is the same as the Pferd one ? I tend to use a soft brush as opposed to air for the first clean since you get a better look at AV mounts and anything stuck in underneath.
How about what you carry as a in the field spares kit ? I have a small bag about 10" by 4" with 8/10mm spanners Husky allen key and Stihl torx 27/15, fuel filter, starter cord, rim and circlip with spare washer to hold rim on. Also spark plug and bar groove cleaner and tunning screw driver. The bag is small enough to be taken if you are a fair way from the jeep.

I'm sure you just forgot to mention it, but I also keep a few bar nuts, both small and large block, and some spare screws, both small and large. I also keep a spare tape nail and a pill bottle with a greased clutch bearing. I even keep a pair of boot laces and starter pawls.
How good does that file holder from Stihl work? I've seen those but never used one.

 

[Rounder]

I am curious what some of you do for saw maintenance, daily and weekly. I suspect some answers may be "throw in the bed of the truck and see you in the morning"

I myself will at least, on a daily basis, clean the bar groove, throw on a good chain, and go ahead and clean out the gunk inside the side cover and give a quick wipedown of the saw, just to make me happy and keep it pretty. I'll throw on a fresh chain. Maybe check handlebar bolts for tightness. All in all about 10 minutes, max 15.

In addition to the saw, I'll get my fule jugs filled, my water for the next day (3 to 3 1/2 gallons in the summer, yuck) and the rest of the household things like lunch, get the coffee maker ready for the early rise.

Back when I ran Stihl filters, I hot soap and water washed the filter daily. Now, with Maxflow, I change the filter weekly or if I'm feeling like its awfully dirty, twice a week. The clutch bearing, greased weekly.

On the weekend I'll take off all the air filter stuff and wash. Clutch bearing greased, and of course whatever odds and ends need replaced/adjusted or the like. And grind (used to be "file") a bunch of chains.

Pretty much what I do Joe. Flip and file the bar every night. Air commpressor treatment of the cooling fins. No grinding of chain, just a lot of filing. Nice crushed rock roads. Trees are embedded with rock dust the top hundred feet of the strip. Awesome.

 

[hammerlogging]

Ah yes, the day bag.

Life has gotten better since I adopted the logging dog. My wife is going to start a reality TV show called "Logging Dogs of Buncombe County". Starring the little rubester. Ruby is a lot cuter than Sam's yarder, but doesn't pull nearly as much wood. She carries my spare chains, a spare tip, sprocket, washer, and clip, a bar nut, TP, a punch, a shot of coffee, and a little lunch. And a spare saw wrench. She's got a few Ruby snacks too. Oh, and enough tobacco to get a fella through a tight spot.

Folks ask, "So she carries your gas and oil?" ####in' hell no, god damn, a ####ing 35 pound dog carrys 3 gallons of fuel and a gallon of bar oil? Yeah, my 2 gallons of water too.

South Georgia ghetto mutt I came across a few years ago, put her to work since our new abode is on a busy road and there's no fence. Pretty cute.

View attachment 187990

 

[2dogs]

I have a carpenter's tool box in my truck with tools and spare parts. In my fire bag I keep a Pack Shack zip up bag with parts and tools. The only thing I carry all the time is a bar nut. I drill a hole in the scrench and thread a length of 550 cord through it and then a bar nut. I tie a loop in the end of the cord that I attach to a mini-carabiner (the $2.00 type). My chaps have a grommet near the scrench pocket that it clips to or I can hang it on my piggyback can or gypo jugs or wedge pouch.

 

[coastalfaller]

I'm sure you just forgot to mention it, but I also keep a few bar nuts, both small and large block, and some spare screws, both small and large. I also keep a spare tape nail and a pill bottle with a greased clutch bearing. I even keep a pair of boot laces and starter pawls.
How good does that file holder from Stihl work? I've seen those but never used one.

Same as both you guys, except I keep a spare tape in my tupperware container too.

 

[Gologit]

Good thread.

 

[Joe46]

Pretty much what everybody does or did in my case. I used to turn the hose on my saws. I'd just remount the bars and chains and fire them up to dry off. If I was in Hemlock, used to clean the bars with kerosene to get the pitch off. Greased the clutch bearing weekly. Turned the bars daily, and greased the sprockets at the same time. I would hand file the rails, but would take them to the saw shop for the major stuff. He had a machine like NW.

 

[dave k]

Nw Axe Man you are correct ! I have bar nuts sm/lg also emery cloth and a syringe so you can "blow" fuel/ oil line and if problems starting then a safe way to put a squirt of mix in carb or cylinder.
The Stihl file works very well and gives good straight finish and removes burrs without leaving your knuckles in bits !!

 

[nw axe man]

Nw Axe Man you are correct ! I have bar nuts sm/lg also emery cloth and a syringe so you can "blow" fuel/ oil line and if problems starting then a safe way to put a squirt of mix in carb or cylinder.
The Stihl file works very well and gives good straight finish and removes burrs without leaving your knuckles in bits !!

I'm headed to Madsens today so think I'll see if they have any. I like to be able to recommend these types of tools to friends and clients. Most people don't have a clue when they buy a saw what they're doing or how to take care of any part of it. I recommended to two of my friends to go out and pick up a 460. Both of them stopped by the office with their new saws. I haven't had a new saw since some of mine had to be replaced when I got ripped off in 98. Wouldn't you agree that it's about time?

 

[coastalfaller]

I'm headed to Madsens today so think I'll see if they have any. I like to be able to recommend these types of tools to friends and clients. Most people don't have a clue when they buy a saw what they're doing or how to take care of any part of it. I recommended to two of my friends to go out and pick up a 460. Both of them stopped by the office with their new saws. I haven't had a new saw since some of mine had to be replaced when I got ripped off in 98. Wouldn't you agree that it's about time?

Gotta love that new saw smell!!

 

[Joe46]

13 years?????? Way overdue:msp_smile:

 

[056kid]

I like to sit down at the end of the day and take the bar off, run the hook through the rails, file some burrs, poke in and around the clutch area with the tuning screw driver for a minute, brush the dust off the foam, check for tight nuts and bolts, put an edge on the chain and put her to bed. .
If I succeed in landing some work out west, I will probably buy a grinder and do everything at home. Cutting timber in VA is pretty nonchalant compared to out west. Hammer is a model faller compared to most guys around there(imo). once I was doin some end of the day saw maintenance and the skidder driver greasing his skidder said,"its a saw, it's supposed to be dirty" in a ####ty kind of way. I asked him why they didn't sell them that way, no response. . That is the usual attitude

 

[Gologit]

I haven't had a new saw since some of mine had to be replaced when I got ripped off in 98. Wouldn't you agree that it's about time?

Yup...you need at least one new saw...reliability factor and all that.

There, that should help. If your budget department has any questions, just tell her that even loggers as far away as California know that you need a new saw.

 

[2dogs]

If your budget department has any questions, just tell her that even loggers as far away as California know that you need a new saw.

Oh yeah, that ought to help alot.

 

[nw axe man]

I like to sit down at the end of the day and take the bar off, run the hook through the rails, file some burrs, poke in and around the clutch area with the tuning screw driver for a minute, brush the dust off the foam, check for tight nuts and bolts, put an edge on the chain and put her to bed. .
If I succeed in landing some work out west, I will probably buy a grinder and do everything at home. Cutting timber in VA is pretty nonchalant compared to out west. Hammer is a model faller compared to most guys around there(imo). once I was doin some end of the day saw maintenance and the skidder driver greasing his skidder said,"its a saw, it's supposed to be dirty" in a ####ty kind of way. I asked him why they didn't sell them that way, no response. . That is the usual attitude

I've got a T shirt I'll take a pic of and post it. You might be interested. I would think you'd be the only one.

 

[nw axe man]

Yup...you need at least one new saw...reliability factor and all that.

There, that should help. If your budget department has any questions, just tell her that even loggers as far away as California know that you need a new saw.

I think we're pretty much all the same all over the world, aren't we? All we need is someone who's in the same boat as we are and we're off to the races.

 

[056kid]

Sounds interesting, I'll take a look.

 

[RandyMac]

Dirty saws always annoy me, I have even cleaned landing saws.
I usually had mine all spiffed up, before they were cold.

 

[Gologit]

Oh yeah, that ought to help alot.

Cynic. :biggrin: