I've had chains cut realllll fast at or around .020"........ But I'd stay right around the .025 mark for general use. Keep the cutters sharp and .025 will serve you just fine. Don't worry about the boss, tell him to worry about his saw as yours is cutting just fine.
File those rakers down!??
- Thread starter old-cat
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tree monkey
Addicted to ArboristSite
now dats funny rite dare
SawTroll
Information Collector
Yes, there is a limit, where too much of a good thing turns bad on you!
MCW
Somebody's talking crap here & it ain't the tree!
There are all sorts of favourite settings around for different situations but in the end for all round performance in all situations rakers at standard height or slightly less are still the best. The chain manufacturers probably know a thing or two 
Not to exclude gripping your file too tight! :msp_scared:
old-cat
Fir Man
You guys are GREAT! Absolutely excellent!
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WidowMaker
Addicted to ArboristSite
"Be one with the file-o-plate young grasshoppah..Tell Bossman he dinky dau!!"
Stay safe!
Dingeryote
====
Dammm ain't heard that in awhile...
mile9socounty
Two-Stroke Swope
I run between .030 and .035 on my chains. Just depends on which raker gauge I grab out of my cutting pack. I wont go any lower than a .035, dont like the chain chatter and kicking.
Hedgerow
HACK
I have been guilty in the past of getting far too excited with the rakers and this has been on some pretty powerful, ported saws too.
If you ever have to start doing more technical felling cuts or bore cuts you'll look like a complete idiot when the saw bites, kicks, stalls etc etc.
I got to the point where enough was enough and I was getting too much bogging and stalling when felling. In my opinion you can take a chain "slightly" past a File-O-Plate setting but any more than that and the chain will only be good for cross cutting small bits of wood.
I did a forestry course a while back thinking all was good until I tried to do a felling bore cut in pine. It bit, bucked, and carried on and the instructor was straight onto me saying that I'd taken my rakers down too far, it was dangerous, and unproductive. He knew EXACTLY what I'd done and was right
Amen to this!!! A 90 cc saw can punch you right in the knee cap on a bore cut if those rakers are too low...
A grabby chain can almost render a saw useless for dropping trees...
:msp_thumbdn:
nmurph
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As was mentioned, the shorter the cutter has been filed, the lower the raker should be. I have a 20" loop of RSC that is back to the witness marks and is set about .040. I use it on a 288 for bucking. It is absolute murder in pine but is too grabby in oak. I'm really going to hate when I have to hang that loop up. I haven't lost any cutters yet, but it can't be long in coming.
I'm guilty of grinding my rakers too low. But whats been ground can not be unground so just hold on to the saw lol. Especially annoying if you go from soft to hard wood where the saw bogs down because of biting too much. :bang:
"Be one with the file-o-plate young grasshoppah..Tell Bossman he dinky dau!!"
Stay safe!
Dingeryote
ok dingy you just gave your age away. if i could i'd didi on over to your place and get dinky dau widchu.
Can't be bothered with different gauges/tools for different chains. Come on.
Granberg File-N-Joint works simply and precisely for setting height of any depth gauges I've encountered.
Mount flat file. Adjust guide height so file just kisses cutter top. Adjust guide height for depth gauges as desired (say, .025" below). Run file across depth gauges. Go cut stuff.
Notice- chain specifics don't matter.
Granberg File-N-Joint works simply and precisely for setting height of any depth gauges I've encountered.
Mount flat file. Adjust guide height so file just kisses cutter top. Adjust guide height for depth gauges as desired (say, .025" below). Run file across depth gauges. Go cut stuff.
Notice- chain specifics don't matter.
HEAVY FUEL
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So you've tried the Husky roller file??
SawTroll
Information Collector
"Be one with the file-o-plate young grasshoppah..Tell Bossman he dinky dau!!"
Stay safe!
Dingeryote
I found 6 file-0-plates (so far; 3 of each size) in my Dad's wood cutting tool box and barn
I like Husky roller gauge myself
longunner
ArboristSite Lurker
checking rakers
An easy way to check your rakers in the woods is simply to set your saw down handle first on the ground. Holding the bar tip in your gloved hand you can sight down the bar and chain looking at the relationship between the top of the raker and the cutter just behind it. For my wood (pine) 1/2 way between the bottom and top of the tooth is about right (.030-.035) . Any more and you have a vibrating monster in your hands and any less and you might be wasting somebody's time and daylight. If you have a heavy saw or you just want to take a break, you can pretend to be busy rotating your chain while you're sighting back down the bar and chain and your saw is sitting on a stump or block of wood. If that sentence isn't long enough I'll try harder next time.
An easy way to check your rakers in the woods is simply to set your saw down handle first on the ground. Holding the bar tip in your gloved hand you can sight down the bar and chain looking at the relationship between the top of the raker and the cutter just behind it. For my wood (pine) 1/2 way between the bottom and top of the tooth is about right (.030-.035) . Any more and you have a vibrating monster in your hands and any less and you might be wasting somebody's time and daylight. If you have a heavy saw or you just want to take a break, you can pretend to be busy rotating your chain while you're sighting back down the bar and chain and your saw is sitting on a stump or block of wood. If that sentence isn't long enough I'll try harder next time.
What do you do with a chain that has the rakers bent over? I guess it's a safety thing.
lambs
Stihl crazy after all these years
The FOP doesn't fit so well on Stihl chains, although I tried it a long time ago. Does the Husky guage work for Stihl? It looks like it would. May have to drop by Lowe's and pick one up.
I use the bench grinder to take them down. The vanguard chain cuts good for a couple of sharpenings then it just doesn't seem to cut as fast.
