More Important

[Kenskip1]

So I am thinking about age. Mine in particular. I just had my left knee totally replaced. So here is my question. What is more important to you as a saw operator. Cutting speed or the size of the chips from the cut. Mine is the size of the chips. This tells me that the chain is doing the job meaning that I have done mine. I can wait another second or two but I have viewed others that appear to be throwing saw dust but are still making the cut. Yes there are many variables here. Anyway just something that I wood toss out and see if it wood stick.
Here is what the after surgery looks like. Staples have been removed. I have one more week of therapy left. All is slow going but getting better each day

 

[farmer steve]

So I am thinking about age. Mine in particular. I just had my left knee totally replaced. So here is my question. What is more important to you as a saw operator. Cutting speed or the size of the chips from the cut. Mine is the size of the chips. This tells me that the chain is doing the job meaning that I have done mine. I can wait another second or two but I have viewed others that appear to be throwing saw dust but are still making the cut. Yes there are many variables here. Anyway just something that I wood toss out and see if it wood stick. Ken

As I near 70, speed of the cut is not as important to me as how good the chain is cutting. Yes a sharp chain will cut faster and is easier on the saw and the operator. 1 second slower in the cut isn't going to ruin my day. Hope your knee gets better.

 

[PV Hiker]

As long as the cutters are sharp and proper and the depth gauges are set to the wood in front of me, I have the time to let the saw do it's thing and don't try to get in a hurry.

As you said "have viewed others that appear to be throwing saw dust but are still making the cut." could be that their depth gauges are high and are cutting thinner cuts with a sharp chain?

Hope your knee rebuild turns out good for many years forward.

 

[Chainsaw Pete]

Speed of the cut. My head is usually far enough above the stream of chips, and my focus is on the saw, not the saw's waste flowing out of the cut. If the saw is cutting as quickly as I'm used to, all is well, otherwise I stop, shut down and examine the chain.

That said, as an occasional wood cutter and not a pro, I have the time to clean the saw(s) and sharpen the chain at the end of a day's work. I almost never begin a day cutting with a chain that I have not touched up with a file before the saw was put on the shelf.

Good luck with your rehab and best wishes for a speedy recovery.

 

[Marley5]

63 here with a lot of miles......sharp chain trumps everything.
A sharp MS 250 will run circles around a dull 372 XP.
As I've aged and the back ain't so great, I've graduated to lighter saws in the 50cc range, but sharp
Take care of that knee.

 

[oldguy]

Gonna be 84 in 3 months, got lot of screws, plates & pins but still sawing.
Gotta have sharp chain to make thick chips.
Love my fast reving 346oes but a 372 torquer works too.

 

[Del_]

I'm pretty sure that faster cutting speed equates to higher efficiency from the engine and less heat for the engine, bar and chain.

It likely is also easier on the operator.

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

Me even now days in 60's is lightest saw to do the job with sharp chain. Speed is not a concern to me.

As used. Full of mix, bar oil and 18" set up Echo 501 with muffler mod.

 

[firekindler]

So I am thinking about age. Mine in particular. I just had my left knee totally replaced. So here is my question. What is more important to you as a saw operator. Cutting speed or the size of the chips from the cut. Mine is the size of the chips. This tells me that the chain is doing the job meaning that I have done mine. I can wait another second or two but I have viewed others that appear to be throwing saw dust but are still making the cut. Yes there are many variables here. Anyway just something that I wood toss out and see if it wood stick.
Here is what the after surgery looks like. Staples have been removed. I have one more week of therapy left. All is slow going but getting better each dayView attachment 1222646

So I am thinking about age. Mine in particular. I just had my left knee totally replaced. So here is my question. What is more important to you as a saw operator. Cutting speed or the size of the chips from the cut. Mine is the size of the chips. This tells me that the chain is doing the job meaning that I have done mine. I can wait another second or two but I have viewed others that appear to be throwing saw dust but are still making the cut. Yes there are many variables here. Anyway just something that I wood toss out and see if it wood stick.
Here is what the after surgery looks like. Staples have been removed. I have one more week of therapy left. All is slow going but getting better each dayView attachment 1222646

Nice looking scar, Kenskip. I got my hip replaced in 201 after going bone on bone for five years, which was kind of like getting reborn. Twenty winters of commercial tree planting had worn it out. Anyway, four years later I got nailed by a widowmaker. My hard hat did its job; I felt ok, got up, and kept working. But 12-18 months later, it was evident something was not quite right. So I went back to the surgeon and got an x-ray. He pointed to my implant and said, "That's not where we put it." Turned out the widowmaker had driven the implant deeper into the thigh bone. Got that fixed in late 2020 and now my leg is rebuilt (it had atrophied to half the size of the other one), no pain, no limp. I'm a happy boy.
This year I decided it would take no longer, and maybe even go faster, to wheelbarrow my firewood about 75 yards uphill from the seasoning yard to the wood shed, instead of navigating the tight turns in the wood yard, tossing the wood in the bed, navigating back, then having to unload in order to stack: . No way in hell I could have even considered that before this last surgery. Don't skimp on your physical therapy! And best of luck to you. And now that I understand the vulnerability of my implant, I no longer fell hazard trees on wildfires. Didn't seem like the smartest thing to continue to expose myself to that level of risk of repeat, if I didn't want to make a career out of repeating that surgery.