Is softwood really that soft?!?

[MaddBomber]

Been surfing around AS and I can't help but notice how large of a bar some users mount on thier saws. Here in New England (excluding Maine, but including upstate New York) I deal almost exclusively in hardwoods. I have cut a decent amount of white pine and red cedar, and don't notice a measureable difference between Hard and Soft wood. Most saws onsite are 70cc+, and there are very few 20"+ bars to be seen. My lightly modded Jonsered can run into trouble with a 20" bar... Same for my little MS260 with a 16". One guy runs an MS660 with an 18" (AWESOME!!), another has a fairly new Husky 372xp with a 24" and it was a donkey until he put a 20" ont it. One day I was stuck using my cousins 346xp with an 18" bar and I probably would have had an easier time using an axe....... kinda strange because his other saw is a MS361 with a 16" on it.... He's the climber.

I wouldn't even imagine putting a 32" bar on a 70-80cc saw, then trying to wrestle it through a 90ft Pin Oak.... Good God that would be a nightmare!

I have played around with a borrowed 046 with 28" bar and full-skip on it, but I had to switch it out for a full comp 20 incher, and the difference was amazing.... not only lighter, but WAY faster.

Sure, with a shorter bar we have to work a little more (kinda funny watching us dance around the bottom of massive hawthorns plunge-cutting like lunatics), but we have a decent production rate for six guys and one beatup old grapple skidder (if it starts).

 

[cjcocn]

That's a good question and one that I have had as well, albeit from a different perspective. Around here all we have are softwoods and I have heard how hard oak can be, but have never had the opportunity to cut any.

During the winter when the green logs are frozen they can be very, very hard (according to my experience) and I have often wondered how they would compare to oak on a good day.

Hopefully those members with experience cutting both hard and soft woods will chime in as I am quite interested in reading their comments.

 

[056kid]

what do the other 5 guys do all day??

 

[Oldsawnut]

It usually comes into play if you get a 3' hardwood vs 3' soft with a big bar. You can tell a bigg diff especially on how long your chain stays sharp. You can cut twice as much fir as some hardwoods before you get dull.

 

[Evan]

must be because i like running the 28" on the 044 and the 026 runs an 18" i cut pretty much only sof wood and these two saws cut very well and chains stay sharp for a very long time when kept away from the dirt.

 

[Cerran]

Hardwood Vs. Softwood isn't a very help terms as many "softwoods" are harder than many hardwoods. Usually the term just means trees that have leaves vesus needles.

It's best to compare individual woods for how hard and tough they are.

 

[MaddBomber]

what do the other 5 guys do all day??

Depends on the job.... Everyone does what has to be done. Some days I mark trees, some days I load logs, some days I chip, somedays I'm on clean-up, somedays I fell, buck and limb. Or somedays i stay at the shop and split, or sharpen chains, or deliver cords, or mix mulch, or move chips, or answer phones. Somedays I work late, somedays i punch out before lunch.... it all depends..... we try to keep busy; everyone does everything.
Today I had to drop two Norway Maples and a Blue Spruce for a homeowner who was getting his septic system replaced... punched out at 11:00am. Monday 4 of us are going north to start clearing a 30 acre woodlot for a housing development..... It's right on the edge of a Wildlife Management Area and a lake, so the EPA and OSHA will probably show up..... great. It's close to a two hour drive each way....

 

[thomas72]

When softwood and hardwood are wet you can tell a difference, but when they are dry you can tell a big difference. The hardwood seems to turn to iron and the softwood turns to mush or dust unless it turns to fat..

 

[Stihl Hyde]

^Is it just me or was that mildly ####ographic

 

[chopperfreak2k1]

When softwood and hardwood are wet you can tell a difference, but when they are dry you can tell a big difference. The hardwood seems to turn to iron and the softwood turns to mush or dust unless it turns to fat..

woah... he's right!!

 

[pgg]

Why would anyone run a clumsy 28" bar and crappy-cutting full skip chain on a 70cc saw when a normal 20" setup cuts twice as fast with 1/2 the effort???

 

[forestryworks]

Why would anyone run a clumsy 28" bar and crappy-cutting full skip chain on a 70cc saw when a normal 20" setup cuts twice as fast with 1/2 the effort???

on a 30" tree how does a 20" bar cut faster?

:monkey:

 

[GASoline71]

Why would anyone run a clumsy 28" bar and crappy-cutting full skip chain on a 70cc saw when a normal 20" setup cuts twice as fast with 1/2 the effort???

Because what you see as "clumsy", we see as normal... You guys ever think that you might be the weird ones?

Try walkin' a spar and limbin' a 30" plus Doug that is 175 feet long with your nancy-boy 20" bar... your back will be killin' you after one spar. 28" bars are normal on 70cc and 75cc saws.

I guess you could walk both sides on the ground with your dedicated 16" "limbing" saw...

80cc saws are 32" and 36" bar territory. However I have ran a 32" bar on my 044 with no problems. However you shortbar guys would fight the hell out of it.

Gary

 

[Evan]

Gas is right the 70cc saws are right at home and comfortably cut 30" wood with 28" bars. atleast our weak fir wood

you will work twice as hard and long with 60cc saw and 20" bar. i garantee after i finish buckn a 30" tree that my back will feel betr and ill have finished off 6 pack before you finish with the 20" saw

 

[Stihl Hyde]

Me thinks we need to get some of these guys over to the left coast with their 20" bars and have a cutting contest in some PNW wood:greenchainsaw:

 

[Evan]

Stihl Hyde

where you located?

my guess is if you rev 361 16" wot next to 30" tree maybe spray it with bar oil it just might fall right over

 

[forestryworks]

Because what you see as "clumsy", we see as normal... You guys ever think that you might be the weird ones?

Try walkin' a spar and limbin' a 30" plus Doug that is 175 feet long with your nancy-boy 20" bar... your back will be killin' you after one spar. 28" bars are normal on 70cc and 75cc saws.

I guess you could walk both sides on the ground with your dedicated 16" "limbing" saw...

80cc saws are 32" and 36" bar territory. However I have ran a 32" bar on my 044 with no problems. However you shortbar guys would fight the hell out of it.

Gary

yes sir.

someone rep Gary for me.

 

[Stihl Hyde]

Stihl Hyde

where you located?

my guess is if you rev 361 16" wot next to 30" tree maybe spray it with bar oil it just might fall right over

It could happen, you'd sure look cooler than running circles around the thing, you'd get pretty dizzy over the course of a day

I'm about 35 miles south of Coeur d Alene

 

[Brmorgan]

My mildly ported 181SE pulls a 28" full-comp chain about as hard as I care to push on it. I cut a bit of a 30" Douglas Fir up for my neighbor for firewood, and after a couple cuts he came over to check whether it was rotten or not, because it was cutting so fast. It's also a very well balanced length and lets me do a lot of limbing work without having to bend over at all. Big saws with short bars feel unwieldy to me, though they're nice for milling.

As for the original question, there is generally quite a difference. When dry, harder "softwoods" like Hemlock or Larch would be nearly as hard as a relatively-speaking soft "hardwood" like Birch. Cottonwood and poplar would be fairly similar to spruce and the soft firs like Subalpine and Balsam. Birch is the only hardwood I've cut very much of with a chainsaw, and when it's green it cuts just like butter and is very easy on the cutting edge. My only real experiences with cutting a variety of hardwoods is with woodworking, and there are most definitely significant differences. My planer will take 1/8" off of a Pine 2X8, but if I were to try that with Birch or Oak etc. it would make it a couple inches and stall right out.

 

[Jonny Quest]

80cc saws are 32" and 36" bar territory. However I have ran a 32" bar on my 044 with no problems. However you shortbar guys would fight the hell out of it.

+1

My 385XP runs 20", 24" and 32" bars. No doubt, the 20" is a great length for firewood and small/medium sized wood, and the saw seems to barely break a sweat. The 24" bar seems to be my "go to" size and fits most of my needs. Again, the saw seems to have power to spare with the 24". No doubt, the saw is working hard when pulling the 32" bar, but it has enough "pine cones" to get the job done. With the 32" bar, I typically run skip chain (Oregon 72JGX).

It does help that Snelling made it run like a 390XP on steroids.