Just Purchased My First Saw

[MacinJosh]

Head and neck injuries make up 10% of all chainsaw contact injuries, and if you're contacting your head or neck with a chainsaw, I guess we could suppose most of those are due to kickback. I do know leg injuries are 5x - 10x more common than head or neck injuries, depending whose statistics you use.

Here's some info from an NIH study:

Ok guys, I think I got about 90% of my PPE ordered. Just need some steel toe boots now. Welcome all recommendations. Thanks!

 

[DougA]

I had a look at the video Oldman posted. Nice info but I have never seen anyone do a bore cut. It must be a local thing for soft timber.

 

[Ashful]

Ok guys, I think I got about 90% of my PPE ordered. Just need some steel toe boots now. Welcome all recommendations. Thanks!

Red Wings always get top recommendations. I found some Georgia Boot Loggers that I really like, 3-4 years ago at TSC, but all the Georgia Boot stuff I see today has those crap soft expanded lightweight soles. Gotta call them to see if they still sell the old designs, since TSC stopped stocking them.

 

[Ashful]

I had a look at the video Oldman posted. Nice info but I have never seen anyone do a bore cut. It must be a local thing for soft timber.

The bore cut is the only way to do a tree > 2x your bar length. I see it used all the time, on big trees.

 

[MacinJosh]

Well, got out with the new Stihl last weekend and cut up a 2 foot wide round into manageable pieces. Man that's a powerful little saw. Did a great job with little effort.

I was watching some Wranglerstar YouTube videos and he recommended a skip chain (?). Not sure if I remembered the name right but basically it has less teeth and they are spread further apart. Says it makes a big difference in cutting. I didn't have much issue with the stock chain that came with the Stihl but wondered what y'alls thoughts were.

 

[Oldman47]

You want to be careful with the advice you get there. Some of it is pretty sketchy. A skip tooth chain is for long bars so that the engine can drive it easier and to avoid clogging the kerf with sawdust. If he just told you to always go with a skip chain on the video it is like most of his advice, sometimes he happens to be right for a particular situation. (He also thinks a plane will flatten a surface.)

 

[MacinJosh]

You want to be careful with the advice you get there. Some of it is pretty sketchy. A skip tooth chain is for long bars so that the engine can drive it easier and to avoid clogging the kerf with sawdust. If he just told you to always go with a skip chain on the video it is like most of his advice, sometimes he happens to be right for a particular situation. (He also thinks a plane will flatten a surface.)

Roger that. Thanks!

 

[Ashful]

You want to be careful with the advice you get there. Some of it is pretty sketchy. A skip tooth chain is for long bars so that the engine can drive it easier and to avoid clogging the kerf with sawdust. If he just told you to always go with a skip chain on the video it is like most of his advice, sometimes he happens to be right for a particular situation. (He also thinks a plane will flatten a surface.)

You've got the basic idea, there. I'd just add that skip chain is usually preferred by the Left Coasters, cutting fast in big pulpy softwoods. It is not nearly so favored in cutting eastern hardwoods.

 

[TreePointer]

Adding a little more...

Some like to use skip/semi-skip chain on shorter bars to have fewer teeth to sharpen, but I don't consider it until around 28" or longer. Occasionally, you'll find it on small saws because the bar that it comes with really is too long for its available power to pull full comp chain when buried. In my experience, skip chain on small bars is not as smooth or fast as full comp chain. There are some who run skip chain on everything and think it's the best thing ever--I do not.

 

[Jon1270]

Adding a little more...

Some like to use skip/semi-skip chain on shorter bars to have fewer teeth to sharpen, but I don't consider it until around 28" or longer. Occasionally, you'll find it on small saws because the bar that it comes with really is too long for its available power to pull full comp chain when buried. In my experience, skip chain on small bars is not as smooth or fast as full comp chain. There are some who run skip chain on everything and think it's the best thing ever--I do not.

What's your experience been with using skip on hardwoods? I recently picked up a 28" bar for occasional use with my 044. It came with a loop of full comp chisel, but since since 28" is kinda pushing it on an 044 I've been toying with the notion of getting a loop of skip to go with it. Comments I found on AS were divided, with some suggesting skip performs better on softwoods than hardwoods. I really only cut hardwoods.

 

[Ashful]

What's your experience been with using skip on hardwoods?

I've never experimented with skip and full comp of the same type on the same length bar. I suspect this is the reason there are so many debates on which is really better, as there are probably relatively few people who have experimented with both in the same chain type and length.

I do have two loops of skip chisel for my 36" bar, but I run full-comp chisel on my 28" bar, both on the 064 AV. I only install the 36" bar when cutting stuff over 50" diameter, or when felling something over 30" where my escape path is impeded from one side of the tree. I went with skip for that bar for the reason TreePointer stated... worried about the 064's sprocket speed pulling full-comp on a 36" bar.

 

[TreePointer]

I've tried skip on a few saws that weren't mine, but most of my experience is on a 79cc Makita.

I keep a 24" bar with full comp chain on the saw, and I've never had a problem with it buried in hard or soft woods. There never seemed to be an issue with chip clearing with the full comp chain. Skip chain didn't improve anything.

When I swap to a 32" bar, full comp chain functions fine in both hardwoods and softwoods. Clearing chips becomes an issue when the bar is buried, and that's where skip seems to be preferable. Limbing with skip chain is more "jumpy."

 

[BlackGreyhounds]

WOW! This thread went from a dude buying an MS271 as his first saw to 32" bars and full-skip chains. I love the internets! Anything can happen.

 

[Jon1270]

Limbing with full comp chain is more "jumpy."

You mean skip, right?

 

[TreePointer]

You mean skip, right?

Oops, I did mean skip. Changed it. Thanks!

 

[MacinJosh]

WOW! This thread went from a dude buying an MS271 as his first saw to 32" bars and full-skip chains. I love the internets! Anything can happen.

Lmao! Kinda what I was thinking but I don't mind thread drift, especially when I'm learning.

Now I just need a translator for all the saw lingo!

 

[MacinJosh]

Seriously though. 32" bars??? Can't imagine. I thought a 20" bar felt long and heavy.

 

[Ashful]

Seriously though. 32" bars??? Can't imagine. I thought a 20" bar felt long and heavy.

32" is what I would call a mid-size bar. Even my 36" bar looks small, next to the 60's and 72's at the saw shop.

Here's my 36" bar, sitting on a 49" diameter round. The small saws are a 62cc Stihl 036 Pro with 20" bar, and a 35cc Husq T435 with a 14" bar.

 

[MacinJosh]

You guys are on a whole other level. Lmao

 

[Ashful]

I have trouble with moderation.

 

[CrufflerJJ]

I have trouble with moderation.

My motto is "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing to EXCESS." My darling wife doesn't quite understand that approach, but such is life!

 

[BrotherBart]

You guys are on a whole other level. Lmao

Hang around here long and your credit card WILL suffer. Don't pay any attention to Joful. He's rich. He just burns wood because he likes to show us pics of all his stuff and make us drool.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I was watching some Wranglerstar YouTube videos and he recommended a skip chain (?). Not sure if I remembered the name right but basically it has less teeth and they are spread further apart. Says it makes a big difference in cutting. I didn't have much issue with the stock chain that came with the Stihl but wondered what y'alls thoughts were.

It makes no difference in cutting. It makes a big difference in ease of filing, however.

What's your experience been with using skip on hardwoods?

Exactly the same as it is with "soft woods" - there is no difference until it's time to start filing.

Limbing with skip chain is more "jumpy."

I have not found this to be true. In my experience the jumpiness of a chain has more to do with the height of the rakers than the # of teeth.

 

[MacinJosh]

Got my Labonville chaps in the mail yesterday and my Rockman hard hat from Bailey's.

Of course the wee lad couldn't resist trying it on. LOL

 

[Rearscreen]

My 2 cents I bought an electric chain saw sharpener from home depot for about 70 bucks. One of the best tools I have. A sharp chain is essential. Get that credit card out!