Hi peoples.
Just a bit of interesting information from this forestry course I did over the last couple of days. I've outlined a few interesting points from the course below...
Firstly I was unaware that all forestry saws and SES/CFA/CFS saws used in forests (emergency services) in Australia are meant to be legally heat tested and accredited. Any point on the saw that exceeds 340°C is against regulations and cannot be used - large fines apply. If used and the operator starts a bushfire they are unlikely to be covered by any insurance.
The new Stihl 441 M-Tronic saws that the training organisation were sent for testing by Stihl were returned as they did not meet the standards and were too hot, indicating lean running and cannot be retuned without Stihl tech help by all accounts. Although it sounds simple I wonder whether these saws will comply with EPA regs if richened up to cool them down?
Husqvarna saws also have a habit of cracking this maximum temperature however this is due to them being set too lean (in Australia) from the factory. The 3120's with a fixed H jet are the worst offenders apparently as they cannot be richened up (easily) to run cooler.
It is very rare for a factory supplied and tuned Stihl to crack the magic 340°C, apart from the 441 M Tronic.
In forestry any changes made to chains OUTSIDE of factory specs are not on in Australia and are against regulations. My 7900 bucked a bit during a bore cut and the instructor was straight onto it. He knew the rakers were too low immediately and I was not allowed to use my saw with that particular chain again (RSC with rakers about .035") - I had to buy a new chain that afternoon (he has a race 084 with tuned pipe - nice guy and knew his stuff when it came to chains and all other saw related things!). The only .050" 3/8" chain I could buy from a local dealer that afternoon (to satisfy their factory spec chain requirements) was Oregon 72DP semi chisel with the bumper links - similar deal as the LPX Sawtroll raves about here on AS. I stand corrected regarding the Oregon chains like these and it cut EXTREMELY well and very smooth (sorry Sawtroll but it's STILL low kickback chain
- apologies and it impressed me a LOT). The "ramps" are quite low so actually would not interfere with shorter cutters and lower raker height after extended chain use and sharpening. Even the instructors were impressed that it was semi chisel and extremely impressed with how well it cut on my modded 7900 with 8 pin and 17" bar. It bore cut beautifully.
He also picked up on my downward facing 3rd exhaust port on the 7900 and said that would be banned in forestry as well due to a fire risk. He's correct and I have lit up bark before on longer sustained cuts - I'll order a new muffler and run two larger exhaust ports as this 3 port idea has bugged me for a while now. He loved the 7900 though and was very impressed as were the rest of the trainees. The saws they supplied were a 441 and 362 - both unimpressive saws as far as I was concerned and I used both. The 362 was a hard starter, even when warm. He said that if Dolmar built a decent 90+cc saw they would have been more popular in Australian Forestry.
There is also a 3 year limit from date of manufacture on helmets - mine was 2 months out of date so I couldn't wear it and that evening bought a new Husky helmet (and the DP chain) which is very nice - my fat head didn't like the supplied Stihl helmets and I ended up with a headache at the end of the first day due to two small lumps on the straps digging into the back of my head. The Husky muffs are also a lot better and the Husky helmet was $60 cheaper than the Stihl!
Every single piece of equipment these guys have is Stihl for one simple reason. They are given it all for free! They used to use a few Huskys and Stihls and were running Oregon bars and chain. Stihl Australia came along and told them that if they used Stihl everywhere they would be supplied it all for nothing. It was like one big Stihl advertisement but as the instructor said it saves their training organisation 10's of 1000's of dollars a year. Smart move on Stihl's part and when the other trainees are calling full chisel chain "Super Chisel" and semi chisel "Micro Chisel" you can see how well Stihl's advertising works.
You must wear high vis clothing!
You must put out "Tree Felling In Progress" signs.
We only dropped self sown Pines in a swamp area neighbouring Radiata pine plantation woodlots (mechanically harvested). No biggies here and only up to maybe 24" max. All cuts on single stemmed trees were as low as possible. Being used to hardwoods I was absolutely amazed how the hingewood on these trees hung on all the way to the ground and had to be trimmed off in 90% of cases. Probably the saddest bit of news I heard was that only 16 manual fallers remain in the area. I think they used to have 400 in the late 80's until harvesters came along.
A few piccys...
Over she goes...
Stuart Rayson the instructor (30 years felling experience in hardwoods and softwoods + saw racing!) giving us some crosscutting tips...
This is without a doubt the most interesting and entertaining thread on this and probably any other site around. I tip my hard-hat to you sir, keep up the good work and be safe! :msp_thumbup:
