Chain touch ups

Understood about saw shops and their motives. I was commenting more about clemsonfor and his 15% claim.

I only use the grinder to get my angles back where they should be or if I really booger one up. I can touch up a 72DL chain with a file faster than I can swap one.

 

Nobody stumps with a saw around here anymore. maybe some very steep old timber in the moutains or some huge bottomland hardwood.?

As a forester in the last decade I have had 2 crews to cut with a saw. they were both ultra low production, basically had to give them the wood and that was 9 years ago. the one I kept up with is all modern now. with a fellerbuncher.

And I got my grinder on sale at northern tool for like $90. not to many $6 sharpening till it's paid for. and with it I have been able to et trashed chains from my loggers that their hand filers have ablell out of wack. I grind them back to spec and get maybe half a dozen more used out of them.

 

My rule of thumb - file after every second tank of gas, whether it needs it or not. The key is to listen to the saw and look at the chips coming out of the cut. If they are long chips, almost ribbons, you're sharp. If it's mostly dust, stop and sharpen the chain. Even then, old, dead and dry wood will eat chains faster than a live green softwood tree. I have a stack of 2-year-old black locust logs that are going to be hell on my chains, and I am sure I'll need to sharpen at least every tank, maybe even half a tank.

A lot of people forget rakers. They need to be filed down every few sharpenings. Again, it's visual clues and experience. If your chain is sharp but you are still not cutting well, I'd bet your rakers are too high. Got to be careful though, too much off the rakers and the chain can get grabby. Not too bad when bucking, but try doing a bore cut in hardwood when you've filed too much off your rakers.

 

The chain and saw tell me when it's time to sharpen, and I don't do it before that. Basically wasting metal IMO if you do. So many factors... wet/dry & species etc. This last poplar score I picked up was a real eye opener. I've never cut poplar or anything considered medium or soft. I touched up once in what will probably end up being close to 4 cord.

 

Yea poplar will throw some HUGE chips with a sharp chain. so will red maple and fresh cut yellow pine!

 

What is the capacity of a typical buncher? I don't have huge trees...but many are between 20-26" DBH. I'd say that many of those are 30+" at the stump with butt swell and taper. If you don't bring cable to my woods, you'll only get 1/2 the wood out. It's not mountainous per say, but has some very pronounced terrain features. All hardwoods. The last crew in 2003 was out of WV and told me that my ground was "challenging" for them. They had a giant Cat skidder and even the D6 skid dozer was having troubles at times pulling the wood out of the valleys. There is literally nary a flat piece big enough to plant a house. I don't have a good topo, but there is about 225' of elevation change throughout the property from the lowest crick to the highest hilltop.

I'm on the fence about the new mech setups. Seems they have to drive around a lot more to get the wood out. I've always been told that compaction was very bad for a forest as it's floor is where all the magic happens. I know for the cutters, it's all about production these days to stay profitable, but I'm not sold on the new methods. Usually in these parts, a sidehill road is made, then the wood is pulled from above & below. Tough work no doubt!

 

They can easily cut 30" butts easy. probably can't hold those trees but they can directionally fell them, even against the lean.
They have to hit theme multiple times usually at that diameter but easily fellable. I have seen trees up to around 48" + cut with a fellerbuncher.

 

I have seen them do the multi cuts, but 40"?? Wow! Now, can they do that on a 80% grade? lol Would make it a little tough to hit it from multiple sides.

 

Not the wheeled ones around here but they have tracked cutters with self leveling cabs with an arm like on a trackhoe

 

I have a picture on an old camera somewhere with a trailer dropped with 9 short logs on it, around 17'6" or there about. there double bunked. that's where they stack them up front between front 2 standards and on the back between #3 and 4 standards. This was a standard 45 foot log trailer, was fully loaded this was pine. like 5 of those logs were from one tree I think. areguebly the largest pine I have had cut on my sales. the company is second generation loggers. dad is like 70. The matriart brought her grand kids out for the picture of it and the kids on the stump when their dad cut it!!

The longest tree length tree hauled off my sales off the property onto state paved roads was a pole measured at I think 105ft

I have seen cut and over seen LOTS of bigwood cut!