Pushing The Saw!!!

[rahtreelimbs]

For those of you who race modded saws, do you push down on the saw or do you let it keep up the revs and cut on its own?

 

[sawyer40]

Rich get yourself a log or cant and a stopwatch and find out just how hard you can push.

 

[timberwolf]

Yes and No

given the chain setup is right, logicaly the best times are made when the saw is maintained at the RPM wich produces peek HP. However if you are cutting a round, the cross section changes throughout the cut so in order to maintain constaint load on the saw down presure must be adjusted throughout.

More down presure at the start of the cut as the wood is smaller and the presure on the wood concentaited, also the inertia of 14,000 rpm droping to 10 or 11,000 can be harnesed to cut wood. then less preasure when the wood gets thicker and the presure is spead out over a longer section of wood, and more again once the wood gets smaller.

I wonder though if there is an advantage to increasing the down preasure right at the end of the cut, this could drop the saw RPM below ideal, but if timmed right using stored NRG in the form of inertia could finish the cut faster. Maybe those at the compitition level could comment, I'm not sure if it would work in practice.

 

[rupedoggy]

Speaking for myself, the saw must be pushed. When the chain is sharpened so that it self feeds, that means some of the horsepower is being used to pull the saw through. If you are pushing the saw it means you are providing some of the "work" (or horsepower) and the cut will be faster.
In other words: let the saw pull out the chips and you provide the downward force. This would be tiring for the logger or tree man that runs a saw constantly. It is faster for "racing" however. Practice, if you can, and you will arrive at the pressure that will do the best job for you. It is different for different sized saws and different size/type wood. Mike

 

[Marky Mark]

Rich the first thing your going to need is a good modded saw to start with, from there it's trail and error.

 

[ccicora]

You need to look, listen and feel as the saw goes through the cut. First learn that with running all of your different saws. Get a friend to help practice and time each other.

Later,
Chris

 

[z4lunch]

Raker Height!!!!!!!!!!

STeve here...
All you guys hit it right on the head... My niehbors think I'm a freak show, makin' cuts with my wife settin' in the lounge chair... martini and stop watch in hand. The stop watch tells ALL
Steve