Round length while cutting

[stihl in ky]

I also never cut alone, my daughter marks the logs for me. I figure I kill several birds with one stone. First, she's not wasting time playing video games, she's outside getting exercise, she learns the value of work, but most important is the quality of time we get to spend together.

 

[Whitespider]

I like the sideways saw idea but my MS361 weighs a lot more than a 2oz stick and 12oz hatchet

For me, the less I am holding the saw, the better.

No chain-saw aerobics for me.

What I don’t understand is why you guys think using the bar as a length gauge increases the time or effort to hold the saw… because it doesn’t.

So let me explain one more time…
When you make a cut your bar finishes under the log, branch or whatever, correct? (you’re not cutting into the dirt I hope)
Now, while the saw is under the log and as you side-step to the next cut, rotate the saw ¼ turn and lift it between you and the log. (you have to lift it for the next cut anyway, correct?)
As you lift keep the front of the clutch cover even with the log end (or even bump it) and take note of where the end of the bar (or the mark on the bar) passes by the log… make mental note of “reference” spot on the log.
As soon as saw clears the top of the log, rotate ¼ turn, hit throttle and cut at “reference” point.
When saw finishes cut, rotate ¼ turn, lift, reference, rotate, cut…
Cut, rotate, lift, reference, rotate, cut, rotate, lift, reference, rotate, cut, rotate, lift, reference, rotate, cut…
The only added motion using this method is the ¼ turn rotate… which takes absolutely zero muscle effort to accomplish and adds zero time because you’re doing it when you’d normally be holding or lifting the saw anyway.

 

[Guido Salvage]

My fast, high torque 85 cc saw more than makes up for the 2-3 minutes you think I am "wasting" in marking the wood...

Don't understand why some people always have to prove they are "right", whatever works for folks is fine by me.

 

[bbxlr8]

I run a 24" bar on my 572xp and marked both sides with a sharpie 16" back from the tip. I usually just lay the saw across for the first round and find the spot on the bark to "adjust". After that I eyeball that round for reference - did two standing deads this afternoon about 15-20 rounds each and worked great for me.

 

[haveawoody]

Well for me it's all a time thing while cutting.
If I'm making 100s of cuts then 5 seconds a cut adds up to 10-20 minutes of time.
2 or 3 sets of that a day means my beer is 1 hr later than it should be, and the crew is working 1hr for no reason and no extra money.

I would have to say Whitespiders lay bar tip twist over and cut is a real good one with no extra walking or time or things to remember and the natural finish cut position puts you right at the next measure position with the tool to measure and cut.

Lots of other good ideas here but the bulk of them require walking in and around the tree more than once.
A few other good ideas though with sharpies and bar measures.

Heck just remembering the basic tree cutting crud requires a daily list so one more thing to pack is just that, one more thing to forget. LOL

 

[jmason]

I just guess on all my cuts too much time wasted measuring. All my wood is about 18 to 24 inches. I sell the shorter stuff to make sure it will fit in there fireplace and the larger ones I cut In half at home to fit in the stove in the garage since it onky fits a 13 inch log. Just guess you get more rounds cut. More wood = more money just my two cents

 

[Whitespider]

My fast, high torque 85 cc saw more than makes up for the 2-3 minutes you think I am "wasting" in marking the wood...

No Guido it does not... wasted time is lost in history and can never be retrieved.
It is folly to believe you can "make up" for wasted time... because once wasted it is gone forever.
Time is the only finite thing in this life... each of us is allowed only a limited amount of it.
To "waste" time is equal to "wasting" a portion of your life...

 

[leadarrows]

My elbow to the tip of my figures is 17 inches. I just hold my arm in front of me when I want to check ...which does not have to be every time and cut away. I cut left to right and my fingers on the handle of the saw stretched out ...my elbow lined up with the end makes it close enough for me. I do modify around hard split areas as previously mentioned.

 

[haveawoody]

jmason,

Nothing wrong with eyeball cutting if you have a market for all sizes then measure isnt much point.
I do the stack on pallets and away on forklift via flattie to customers, so for me I'm limited to nothing to big or small to fit the tri pallet dimensions.

I cut 12" and 16" since those sizes fit well, cure well and sell well on on pallets.
If i have a sloppy cutting day it shows up on pallets later as ill fitting wood.

 

[fields_mj]

I mark my cuts too for a couple of reasons. First, so that it will fit in the furnace. Second, I cut two differnet lenghts. I cut some loads just under 24", and some loads just under 32". The 32" stuff will get cut in half before it gets burned, but so long as I can lift it without a problem, I'd rather load 32" rounds than load twice as many 16" rounds. Plus, it's fewer marks to make, and when stacked, the stack is more stable than the 16" stuff. I stack my stuff over 6' high, so I appreciate a more stable stack. Some of the 24" stuff will get cut in half also for use in more mild weather, but most of that I burn full length in the colder weather. Another reason I mark the cuts is to make sure they will fit in the truck. I stack the wood in, an if I get a piece that's 2" over, it really messes things up. I try to cut the wood an inch or so under so that I have a little room for error. I also measure the wood so that it will stack better back at the house. It's going to be stacked for 2 or 3 years, and I don't want to have to go out and deal with a stack that has fallen over.

I like using my bar, but since my rounds are longer, and I do most of my cutting with an 18" bar, it doesn't work well for me. Maybe I'll try marking with the 28" bar on the 064 and then going back and cutting it. For now it's a 23" or 31" firring strip and a piece of chalk. In warmer weather, I may try some spray paint instead of the marker.

Just my 2 bits,
Mark

 

[jmason]

O probally should start measuring to make it stack better, but I go out by myself. I know it may not be the smartest thing to do but I have nobody to go with me. And I can honestly say that I don't sell much wood. O well I guess

 

[J.W Younger]

I don't mark and cut but I know where 2' comes to on all my saws. On larger rounds its important to make straight cuts that stay under 26" or they won't fit in the splitter.
Cutting 16" is tricky for me and most end up17-18" for some reason.

 

[sawkid15]

bar markings

i have a 20" bar on my ms290, and i just took a paintmarker and put a mark at 16" , so i just hold the saw sideways and see where to cut it. it seems to be working good for me.

 

[stihlrookie]

Whitespider knows

Why don't the rest of you get it? Wasted time cannot be made up for no matter what you do. Losing time marking logs and then believing you make it up elsewhere is just nonsense.

I follow basically the same method as Whitespider, although I use the saw itself rather than the bar. It is 16" from the end of the handle to the dawgs on my saw, cut, pull out of cut, rotate saw 1/4 turn, hold handle at end of log where I just cut, pick a reference point at the same time I am positioning myself for the next cut and repeat. Very accurate, I cut all my wood to within .5" this way. I used to blip the throttle and mark with the saw but it seemed it was loading the saw up and causing poor running, plus its a waste of fuel and not actually accomplishing anything.

Hell its easier this way by far, you even get to set the saw down briefly between each cut, ultimately saving time and energy. Its a win. Don't knock it until you have tried it, I have tried all the other marking methods and this is definitely the fastest for firewood cutting. Having a helper mark cuts is a waste too, they should be humping rounds as fast as you cut them or splitting or something along those lines, not milking it.

 

[SPDRMNKY]

when I was a kid my jobs were to limb (with a 2 bit axe), mark every 16", and then hump rounds to the trailer

dad started bumping knots when he went from a 1 saw plan (056MAG) to a 2 saw plan (added an 011AV)...faster
(ever try to limb a white fir with an axe...all those limbs...and pitch pockets...)

marking made sense to us...mostly because the trees were long and straight in the PNW

I tried marking when I got to the MidW...but couldn't find a straight tree to make it worth my time
(sometimes I miss the PNW)

so I figured out where 17" is on all my saws (from the bar tip), and just go from there

I mix it up...sometimes I'll do 2 - 4 small cuts to mark a log, and then hump those rounds out in log form...cuz' it's less headache

might go back to marking when the kids get a bit older...give em' something else to do so they don't get fed up with just humping rounds...I used to

I've learned the hard way that efficiency isn't truly about the shortest amount of time...it's about the least amount of headaches

what's that old saying...slow is smooth, smooth is fast!

 

[Whitespider]

One time I tried using my johnson as a length gauge... but all the rounds ended up way too long for the stove.

 

[stihlrookie]

One time I tried using my johnson as a length gauge... but all the rounds ended up way too long for the stove.

You cut wood for your pellet stove?

 

[Streblerm]

I only cut to one length - short enough to fit in the stove. I don't much care whether it is 8, 12, 16 or 24" long. It does make stacking kind of interesting. My favorite is around 18". I ended up with a bunch of short stuff this year. A local tree service was dropping off rounds that were conssistently 28-30". Boy can you load the stove with 8-12" chunks.

I have yet to find a piece of firewood that was too short to fit in the stove.

 

[Preston]

I guess I'm somewhat lucky. My fireplace is 38 inches wide at it's base. I keep the fire dogs spaced right around 14 inches. So for me I guess at it. So long as it fits the fire dogs, and will fit inside the base, it shouldn't matter. But I do pretty good at guessing the length at 22 to 24 inches. So for me, it's just eyeball measurement. :msp_smile:

 

[blacklocst]

What I don’t understand is why you guys think using the bar as a length gauge increases the time or effort to hold the saw… because it doesn’t.

So let me explain one more time…
When you make a cut your bar finishes under the log, branch or whatever, correct? (you’re not cutting into the dirt I hope)
Now, while the saw is under the log and as you side-step to the next cut, rotate the saw ¼ turn and lift it between you and the log. (you have to lift it for the next cut anyway, correct?)
As you lift keep the front of the clutch cover even with the log end (or even bump it) and take note of where the end of the bar (or the mark on the bar) passes by the log… make mental note of “reference” spot on the log.
As soon as saw clears the top of the log, rotate ¼ turn, hit throttle and cut at “reference” point.
When saw finishes cut, rotate ¼ turn, lift, reference, rotate, cut…
Cut, rotate, lift, reference, rotate, cut, rotate, lift, reference, rotate, cut, rotate, lift, reference, rotate, cut…
The only added motion using this method is the ¼ turn rotate… which takes absolutely zero muscle effort to accomplish and adds zero time because you’re doing it when you’d normally be holding or lifting the saw anyway.

Please explain to me one more time how it takes no time and zero muscle effort to cut in this manor. Are you living in a vacuum? let me get this straight you take your bar and turn it and pull the trigger and cut a reference cut on the log. Are you kidding me? How does this take less time? Aren't you using more fuel? If time is money and money is time it seems to me like your wasting a lot of both. Sounds like your working harder not smarter.