Bucking: What I learned today.

[slowp]

Today I recertified as a bucker--renewed the green card. I like doing this because I get to learn things from the guys who do the certifying. Twinkle was very sharp but, as Twinkle will do once and a while while boring, Twinkle kicked back. The instructor, gave this tip, which helped on the next boring cut. When you are boring in with the tip of the bar, wiggle or wobble it a little side to side while cutting and it will help to prevent a kickback. It seems to work, I don't know why.

I was talked into letting somebody else use Twinkle. Mistake. I came down the hill where I was doing traffic control on a trail, and saw Twinkles bar going into the dirt. The guy offered to file the chain but I went ahead and filed it, and hope I have salvaged it. I guess that was a learning experience also. More Barbie Stickers are needed!!

 

[LarryTheCableGuy]

...I was talked into letting somebody else use Twinkle. Mistake. I came down the hill where I was doing traffic control on a trail, and saw Twinkles bar going into the dirt. The guy offered to file the chain but I went ahead and filed it, and hope I have salvaged it. I guess that was a learning experience also. More Barbie Stickers are needed!!

Twinkle needs some of those handlebar streamers, a basket and maybe a bell.

:greenchainsaw:

.

 

[Gologit]

Need more of those special stickers? I have some of the actual Haz-Mat ones for the stuff on the other sticker but the way things are today somebody might take offense. You and Twinkle might have to do a lot of explaining and there might be guys with gray suits, serious expressions, and bulges under their left armpits standing on my front porch.

Tell the guy that ditch-witched your bar that you'll bring him the rock chain next week but for now to keep it out of the dirt.

 

[slowp]

He is done with Twinkle. I think the instructor guy noticed and told him to go get one of the saws that they brought. Then he told me to be sure and fill Twinkle up with Their fuel and oil. Luckily, Twinkle is not so desirable now as Twinkle does not have the heavy duty dogs for falling and the borrower was trying to pass the falling test as well as bucking. Twinkle will go back to work tomorrow and I'll take along a new chain as well. Sigh....

Still no logging too wet.... or too snowy

 

[pops21]

What is the purpose for a boring cut? I'm 23 and have known how to use a chainsaw for YEARS. Actually my first time with one was when I was 8. But still don't know the do's and don'ts. My hardest problem is bucking a log on the ground and before I can pull the bar out it gets pinched. Anyway to prevent that. Excuse me for my question, I just want to learn how to buck and fall the right way. I don't want to be like that poor sap on youtube that every cut he makes the bar gets pinched. Is there possibly some videos on youtube showing the right way to buck and fall a tree. Oh and one more thing my dad alwayse said it better to ask then to find out the hard way. So please don't knock me for my questions.

 

[Gologit]

What is the purpose for a boring cut? I'm 23 and have known how to use a chainsaw for YEARS. Actually my first time with one was when I was 8. But still don't know the do's and don'ts. My hardest problem is bucking a log on the ground and before I can pull the bar out it gets pinched. Anyway to prevent that. Excuse me for my question, I just want to learn how to buck and fall the right way. I don't want to be like that poor sap on youtube that every cut he makes the bar gets pinched. Is there possibly some videos on youtube showing the right way to buck and fall a tree. Oh and one more thing my dad alwayse said it better to ask then to find out the hard way. So please don't knock me for my questions.

Nobody is going knock you for asking honest questions. We reserve butt-kicking for pretentious posers and assorted idiots. You don't seem to be either one.

In smaller wood try making your cut about 7/8 of the way through, then rolling the log over so that the uncut side is up and finish the cut that way.

If the log is too big to roll, try using a wedge...or two.

These are two very basic examples...there's lots of ways to buck and if you start a new thread and ask the same questions, with the same good attitude you're displaying, you'll probably have a PHD in bucking by the time everybody contributes. Welcome to AS

 

[Scooterbum]

Here's a good start.
http://forestry.about.com/od/chainsaws/ss/fell_tree.htm

http://forestry.about.com/c/ec/9.htm

Don't ever stop asking questions.
If you don't get your answer the first time keep asking.

Welcome to AS

 

[volks-man]

I was talked into letting somebody else use Twinkle. Mistake. I came down the hill where I was doing traffic control on a trail, and saw Twinkles bar going into the dirt. The guy offered to file the chain but I went ahead and filed it, and hope I have salvaged it. I guess that was a learning experience also. More Barbie Stickers are needed!!

i file.. er, i mean, feel your pain!

buddy needs a saw to clean up a downed oak in a stone driveway. i hand him the echos. i decided to tag along and start limbing with my 026, and him with the little echo 346. i decide to start bucking and get out the ms361. i hand him the 026 and tell him "i upgraded, now you can too!'. i grab back the 026 after about a half hour and try cutting another limb with it and it gggrrriiinnnds its way through the wood. what happened? i say. 'i only hit the rocks a couple times' he says. 'saw it spark but i thought it was o.k.'

2 hours of filing later and my nearly new rsc has about 1/3 of it's service life gone! oh yeah, he neglected to mention the little echo was rocked out too. i noticed the corners off the teeth after i sharpened the stihl a few days later.

 

[pops21]

Thanks for the replys so far:greenchainsaw: . I'm at work and don't have much time to type so I'm gonna copy and paste my question in a new thread.

 

[stihl sawing]

My hardest problem is bucking a log on the ground and before I can pull the bar out it gets pinched.

If you will Tap a plastic wedge in the cut before you get near the end it will keep the cut open and won't pinch your saw.

 

[Burvol]

There is lots of ways to buck as Gologit said, and I guess what I have learned to be the most important thing for me, is to is learning to read a bind in a log, and what approach to take from there first and foremost. Not only for the wood's benefit, but also for safety.

 

[volks-man]

If you will Tap a plastic wedge in the cut before you get near the end it will keep the cut open and won't pinch your saw.

plastic? just use an old steel splitting wedge! thats what i do!
yup, thats how you learn to keep the saw from cutting up your wedges!








(kidding)

 

[stihl sawing]

plastic? just use an old steel splitting wedge! thats what i do!
yup, thats how you learn to keep the saw from cutting up your wedges!








(kidding)

Whew, Ya had me worried for a minute.

 

[RAYINTOMBALL]

Whew, Ya had me worried for a minute.

Me to! Was bucking one time and inserted a plastic wedge and cut to far, kerf opened wedge fell thru and hit chain and came at my lip at a high rate of speed. Luckily only got a small hole in the lip. If it had been a steel one, might of took of the face.

 

[teacherman]

My hardest problem is bucking a log on the ground and before I can pull the bar out it gets pinched.

If you will Tap a plastic wedge in the cut before you get near the end it will keep the cut open and won't pinch your saw.[/QUOTE]

I tried that on a big locust a while back, and my wedge has a few chips in it now.....it tends to fall on to the still-moving chain. Any way to prevent that? I do release the trigger when I see the log separate, maybe i need to start backing the bar out of the cut as it approached the bottom........

I tried twice to get the quote right.......

 

[teacherman]

Me to! Was bucking one time and inserted a plastic wedge and cut to far, kerf opened wedge fell thru and hit chain and came at my lip at a high rate of speed. Luckily only got a small hole in the lip. If it had been a steel one, might of took of the face.

Wait a minute. Mine kept flying out forward. Does your chainsaw have a reverse gear? (like the youtube "311Y") I guess it is a bit unpredictable.......

 

[ericjeeper]

If you are using a wedge and it falls into the cut..

It means the log is not bound in a top compression.. You should have skipped the wedge and let gravity hold the gap.

 

[turnkey4099]

Wait a minute. Mine kept flying out forward. Does your chainsaw have a reverse gear? (like the youtube "311Y") I guess it is a bit unpredictable.......

I was wondering the same thing.

Harry K

 

[litefoot]

Nobody is going knock you for asking honest questions. We reserve butt-kicking for pretentious posers and assorted idiots. You don't seem to be either one.

In smaller wood try making your cut about 7/8 of the way through, then rolling the log over so that the uncut side is up and finish the cut that way.

If the log is too big to roll, try using a wedge...or two.

These are two very basic examples...there's lots of ways to buck and if you start a new thread and ask the same questions, with the same good attitude you're displaying, you'll probably have a PHD in bucking by the time everybody contributes. Welcome to AS

Wedges have been mentioned, but if you take Gologit's suggestion one step further, you can save yourself some headaches. Instead of gauging your cut to 7/8th through, watch the kerf (the cut you are making). Depending on the tension on the log, it will start opening up or closing in. That precise moment it does one or the other is the time to get out of the cut and roll the log.

 

[kevin j]

I tried that on a big locust a while back, and my wedge has a few chips in it now.....it tends to fall on to the still-moving chain. Any way to prevent that? I do




Watching the cut best, but still miss it and send the wedge flying into center field...
Drill a hole in the wedge about 1 inch from the thick end. Poke a green stick through it (crosswise), or easier poke a piece of nylon line or rope through and tie a knot on each side. The knots keep the wedge from dropping down into the cut. PITA it gets caught in back pocket at times, though, so only for bucking.

k