Sighting In A Saw

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slowp
I used the sight on my saw and thought I had it gunned to the left. Do I need to adjust the sights on my saw? Is that what the little screw thingie on the bottom of the saw is for? It looks like I'm pulling to the right a bit.
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Windage knobs on the side about 1 click per MOAspen gets yer 1/2 foot left or right lad & check yer rail mounts maybe loose.
 
I'm not sure, but I think I sense a bit of jocularity in this thread.

Besides, I thought everyone knew to run a rope from the tree to your pickup to pull it in the right direction. If the rope is just the right length, the tree falls in the bed so you don't have to do so much loading.
 
I won't pretend to be any expert, but I've been using saws since the early 70's and never even heard of "sights" on a saw until last year. I've discussed this with some old pro loggers in my area and none of them ever heard of "sights" either. I asked an old retired Mac/Homey dealer who was very big at one time and he never heard of "sights" either, in fact he was rather profane in his insistence they didn't exist. The old falling brochures I have from the 60's simply refer to right angles and level cuts. Now I'm seeing folks talk of ancient Macs having sighting lines. I suppose my question is, were they intended as sighting lines or are they just conveniently placed markings originally having nothing to do with actually being sights? I can find no sales brochure from Mac referring to sight lines, but my collection is limited, they may exist.

No offense to anyone, just wondering.
 
Sight lines have been on chainsaws since the 1950s. I suspect that the most use was in the West where the timber was very tall. We also used gun sticks on the large, tall and valuable timber.
 
didn't see any chain saws, but..

artisanal axes

Edit: just saw my warning
oops on my part, clumsy attempt at being flippant.
think I need to go get some sleep instead.
 
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RandyMac said:
Sight lines have been on chainsaws since the 1950s. I suspect that the most use was in the West where the timber was very tall. We also used gun sticks on the large, tall and valuable timber.
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Perhaps gun sticks would work. You can make me some after you eat a couple of popsicles. That should be the right size for this 30 year old stuff.

I'll have to visit the saw shop on a Saturday when the pro fallers come in and ask more questions. Maybe I'll have the popsicle sticks made and can show them. How many do you think they'd break in a day? Will they require another pocket?
 
Seems any line perpendicular to the bar would work. I eyeball most stuff like my chain angles and raker depths, and same way knocking one down. Look at the hinge and should go that way??? I am just a hack though. As in everything, practice makes perfect.
 
rogue60 said:
our big old hard wood does not smash to bits when it hits the deck it just puts a crack in the earth! lol...no man can read what way a log will drop 100% all the time if he say's he can he is telling porky pie's...I can not see how a saw sight can help in anyway if you dont know what you are doing in the first place there is way more to it than a line or two on a saw,and who know what would happen if the saw sight was out from factory lol :dizzy:......
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Well, I am not a man so I should be able to read a tree's lean! That's why I will use pink or other pastel colors to enhance the sight on my saw.
 
Bret4207 said:
I won't pretend to be any expert, but I've been using saws since the early 70's and never even heard of "sights" on a saw until last year. I've discussed this with some old pro loggers in my area and none of them ever heard of "sights" either. I asked an old retired Mac/Homey dealer who was very big at one time and he never heard of "sights" either, in fact he was rather profane in his insistence they didn't exist. The old falling brochures I have from the 60's simply refer to right angles and level cuts. Now I'm seeing folks talk of ancient Macs having sighting lines. I suppose my question is, were they intended as sighting lines or are they just conveniently placed markings originally having nothing to do with actually being sights? I can find no sales brochure from Mac referring to sight lines, but my collection is limited, they may exist.

No offense to anyone, just wondering.
Click to expand...

Every saw I own has sights. From an early 1960s MAC to a new Stihl. In fact, one of the ways to distinquish some MAC kart flywheel shrouds from a MAC chainsaw shroud is the absence of the sight; same for some recoil covers. While my oldest MAC manual doesn't reference the sight, my Stihl manual does - calls it the "gunning sight". Very useful item (at least to me) when you are trying to precisely land a tree. The bigger the tree the more useful it is in squaring up the face cut and assuring an uniform hinge when doing the back cut. I'm sure a lot don't use every tool available to them, either because they wing it or don't know it exists. Check some of the old big timber shots and you will see guys crawling into the face cut with a long wood trangle to check the anticipated fall. If accurate landing wasn't so important to them, then why did they bother. Ron
 
rogue60 said:
This is a joke right? sight a saw in WTF tape on a so could pro logger's saw Hahaha.... maybe something an Arborist would do but come on in the bush think you dudes call it the wood's, does anyone give if it's 2in to the left! or doing a full 180 off the stump nope!!! haha and like someone already said its to tell them the saw is up or down i think :clap:...do people even look at these so called sights on a saw thats news to me ...:confused:
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Great post. Nope the sights (sighting lines, handle bars) on a saw don't matter at all if you don't care where the tree lands. Eventually gravity always wins right? On the other with valuable trees, tight lays, obstructions, etc putting the tree EXACTLY where it needs to go requires the use of sights. I guess the manufacturer should leave the sights off firewood saws. Those saws all need to be ported for maximum power (and noise) but while in use it doesn't matter where the tree lands. I would advise staying away from tall trees that end up as lumber. It matters a whole bunch if those trees spin 180 on the stump and fall in the opposite direction. Really, it does.
 
the sight on the top of the saw is for tree lean right ? :popcorn:
 
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rogue60 said:
This is a joke right? sight a saw in WTF tape on a so could pro logger's saw Hahaha.... maybe something an Arborist would do but come on in the bush think you dudes call it the wood's, does anyone give if it's 2in to the left! or doing a full 180 off the stump nope!!! haha and like someone already said its to tell them the saw is up or down i think :clap:...do people even look at these so called sights on a saw thats news to me ...:confused:
Click to expand...

Skidder operator?
 
huskyman1 said:
I apologize if I came off that way that is not my intentions at all I grew up logging and I have never seen those taped on sights before. If they are common then again I apologize I did not mean to insult anyone. I am only trying to give some advice as I have personally fallen several million feet at production level.
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:laugh::laugh::ices_rofl:

You missed something, regarding this thread.......
 
This is an example of a tree gone bad...or operator error. In the local vernacular, it sat back. I do not know if adjusted sights would have helped. I could have sworn the natural lean was the original way I was trying to fall it. Perhaps a vertical sight is needed--a slide rule or "app" for calculating weighting of branches and such. Another reason to carry wedges, even in small stuff.
252970d1347730331-day-40001_2-jpg


I may have overcompensated to avoid doing a slopping back cut.
View attachment 252970
 

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