tailgate chainsaw sharpening

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
limbwalker54

limbwalker54

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Jan 11, 2007
Messages
331
Location
Fenwick Island, DE
Daniel,

I may be considerably younger and have far less years under my belt, but I guess we all do this task a little differently.....

I was taught not to back drag a file that has directional teeth on it...which saw files do......

So mine would sound a little more like, scrrrm, then lift then scrrrm, then lift, then scrrrm.....

And I use two hands on the file and put the bar in a nice little wooden block that i made to sit on the tailgate of my truck.


I am not posting a video of this, however :)
 
murphy4trees

murphy4trees

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Apr 20, 2002
Messages
2,488
Location
suburban Philadelphia, Pa
two hands on the file is nice if you have a vice.. the back pull has no pressure.. it saves a little time on each stroke when you leave the file on the tooth for the back stroke.. It all adds up at the end of the day, week, month, year, career..
 
tree MDS
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
11,490
Location
CT
two hands on the file is nice if you have a vice.. the back pull has no pressure.. it saves a little time on each stroke when you leave the file on the tooth for the back stroke.. It all adds up at the end of the day, week, month, year, career..

It all adds up to a lot of wasted files, is what it adds up to.

Lol, worst backwards file dragger ever!! Priceless instructional value here! :msp_tongue:
 
Nailsbeats

Nailsbeats

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Nov 24, 2007
Messages
3,518
Location
West Central Wisconsin
I'd watch the vid but I've been filing since birth so........lol.

It always amazes me how many can't file a saw worth a darn. I'm always putting down 2 strokes here or 3 strokes there just to tune it up. The next guy just pushes harder and burns on the equipment.

The other classic is just because you can file well, everyone wants you to file all there saws and gaffs too. Maybe some just can't see well enough to be reallly good at it.
 
Nailsbeats

Nailsbeats

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Nov 24, 2007
Messages
3,518
Location
West Central Wisconsin
Just watched it. The price of files is cheap compared to lost production, get it done and get back to cutting.

When falling the chaired tree, it's important to note the force the falled tree is placing on the remaining trunk and the intergrity of the connection point. You may push on that trunk and have the broken piece come straight down while the trunk goes over, putting you in the strike zone.

Many chaired woods trees have a certain amount of force pushing straight back, especially if the top is jammed up against another tree, stump, etc.. or layed into some loaded up spring poles. If this is the case the face cut should be 45've to the rear instead of 90'd to the side.

Going into the top of the tree and relieving any preasure first is a good option too. This keeps you from having to work under an unpredicatable stem, especially if someone isn't super mobil or experienced. Watch those spring poles under the top though!

Thinking out loud here, nice vid Murph.
 
Blakesmaster

Blakesmaster

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Feb 24, 2008
Messages
4,589
Location
NY
Vice mounted on chipper makes life sweet.
attachment.php
 
Blakesmaster

Blakesmaster

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Feb 24, 2008
Messages
4,589
Location
NY
Just watched it. The price of files is cheap compared to lost production, get it done and get back to cutting.

True. But it only took me 3-4 sharpenings using the lift technique to get just as fast and smooth as I had been with the backdrag version. No point in back dragging.
 
Big L

Big L

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Jun 16, 2011
Messages
254
Location
Land of Oz, CT
The other classic is just because you can file well, everyone wants you to file all there saws and gaffs too. Maybe some just can't see well enough to be reallly good at it.

The eyesight factor is huge imo ... even with glasses on I still can't see the cut well without a magnifying glass! :bang:
 
murphy4trees

murphy4trees

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Apr 20, 2002
Messages
2,488
Location
suburban Philadelphia, Pa
Just watched it. The price of files is cheap compared to lost production, get it done and get back to cutting.

When falling the chaired tree, it's important to note the force the falled tree is placing on the remaining trunk and the intergrity of the connection point. You may push on that trunk and have the broken piece come straight down while the trunk goes over, putting you in the strike zone.

Many chaired woods trees have a certain amount of force pushing straight back, especially if the top is jammed up against another tree, stump, etc.. or layed into some loaded up spring poles. If this is the case the face cut should be 45've to the rear instead of 90'd to the side.

Going into the top of the tree and relieving any preasure first is a good option too. This keeps you from having to work under an unpredicatable stem, especially if someone isn't super mobil or experienced. Watch those spring poles under the top though

Thinking out loud here, nice vid Murph.

All good points.. not mcuh of an issue on this one, but definitely lots to keep in mind... That's another reason I like to pull with equipment... in tricky situations it allows you to leave a lot more hinge, so you know the tree isn't going to move til it gets pulled on, and you'll be well out of the danger zone by then..

like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8wZHaB5J6o


ps.. I need reading glasses to sharpen a saw these days too!
 
treevet

treevet

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
8,715
Location
The Nati, Oh Hi, Yo
Vice mounted on chipper makes life sweet.
attachment.php

damn ...looking smart and dumb in the same pict lol

That is a terrible filing vid. No leverage and that back dragging....uggh. If those teeth are all burred you got to have leverage and the bar secured. Me, I am gonna jam the bar in a crotch of something or run a light cut in a log and settle it in there.

I try to never sharpen a saw on a job tho. Gives a bit of amateurism imo. Bring some extras or do your job the night before. Don't let idiots run the saws.
 
Treetom

Treetom

ArboristSite Guru
Joined
Nov 6, 2005
Messages
750
Location
Muskegon, MI
Daniel,

I was taught that files, particularly the fine chainsaw type, don't sharpen on the pull stroke. It appears you're dragging across the cutter which actually dulls the file and wears it out more quickly. Only the push stroke actually sharpens the cutter. Just sayin'. Take care, Treetom.
 
derwoodii
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Messages
27,567
Location
Victoria Australia
Interesting method you got there, not so much my liking but if it works well sure its all yours. I worked with a bloke who cradled the saw in his crossed legs and filed it upright offset to his body, twas amazing looked like he was practising yoga not chain filing.

When no vice I brace the saw bar tip in the utes tray tail gate and file away works ok can take off some paint but
 
Ax-man

Ax-man

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Messages
2,440
Location
NE Illinois
That was a good vid Murph showing the improper way to sharpen a chain. I don't know how a saw could even begin to cut good by the way your a showing how to file a chain.
 
tree md

tree md

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Oct 29, 2001
Messages
7,644
Location
Somewhere in a tree
I can't remember the last time I filed a chain on the job. I used to do it but it just drives me crazy to have to sit around filing a chain or worse, watching someone else do it while there is zero production going on... I am just anal like that.

I keep plenty of spare chains in my saw box but really, I usually just grab another saw unless it is a 660 cut or something like that... I still carry files in my saw box for emergencies but to tell the truth, I have all but quit filing... Just so much quicker to throw it on the bench grinder at the shop and give the cutters a light tap. I have at least 3 spare chains for all of my saws...
 

Latest posts

Top