A friend said he knows someone who when he buys a new chain the first thing he does is grind the rakers off. I know rakers are supposed to prevent kick-back. Just wondering if any of you remove the rakers rather than grind them a little at a time?
Remove rakers?
- Thread starter MNBobcat
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
Deets066
Firewood hack
Not a great idea if you ask me, one its dangerous, and two a properly maintained chain usually cuts the best and stays shaper for a longer period oif time.
dingeryote
Blueberry Baron
Ummm...your friend knows some guy who is fixing to get dead or mangled, at some not too distant point in the future.
In addition, never buy a saw from this genious.
Have a distant cousin that did the same dumbassed thing. He got cocky bucking a good sized log, and now the guy puts his teeth in a glass at night. The rakers are there to control the depth or bite, that the cutters take, and have nothing to do with "Kickback".
They do however keep the saw from busting the chain, the crank from snapping off, and clutches from getting fried every other week. LOTS of big money, and a bazillion hours of engineer time, plus a bazillion hours of saw geek time have gone into figuring the most efficient raker height. Not one of 'em has come to the conclusion that Rakers need to be removed, for any reason.
Next time ya hear that sorta stuff, just grin and agree, and DON'T run thier saw or stand near 'em when they do.
Stay safe!
Dingeryote
In addition, never buy a saw from this genious.
Have a distant cousin that did the same dumbassed thing. He got cocky bucking a good sized log, and now the guy puts his teeth in a glass at night. The rakers are there to control the depth or bite, that the cutters take, and have nothing to do with "Kickback".
They do however keep the saw from busting the chain, the crank from snapping off, and clutches from getting fried every other week. LOTS of big money, and a bazillion hours of engineer time, plus a bazillion hours of saw geek time have gone into figuring the most efficient raker height. Not one of 'em has come to the conclusion that Rakers need to be removed, for any reason.
Next time ya hear that sorta stuff, just grin and agree, and DON'T run thier saw or stand near 'em when they do.
Stay safe!
Dingeryote
Slamm
Addicted to ArboristSite
In short, removing or excessive lowering of the rakers, is dumb and counterproductive.
Sam
Sam
DangerTree
ArboristSite Operative
A chain with no raker's will bind instantly! It will not cut faster. A chain with no raker's is garbage.
There is no safe place for stupid people in the tree business!!
There is no safe place for stupid people in the tree business!!
mingo
ArboristSite Operative
Well if he did he must not have made a cut because if he did he would be telling everyone what a bad idea that was.
The guy has been doing it that way for years and never had a problem. I didn't think it was a great idea, but was mostly curious if anyone else had tried it.
I take a little off the tops of the rakers when they need it. I have an electric sharpener but it doesn't work great for the rakers. Hand filing them is so darned slow.
I take a little off the tops of the rakers when they need it. I have an electric sharpener but it doesn't work great for the rakers. Hand filing them is so darned slow.
8433jeff
Aftermarket connoisseur
Time taken to file them properly is time saved squared in cutting efficiency. Not to mention the aggravation saved trying to cut with a saw with a chain that keeps stalling or breaking down clutch wise.
Maybe he has the bumper link and raker terminology mixed up; if hes filing the bumper link out of existence, why not buy chain with out them or at least a different style of them?
Beat me to it. No rakers = dangerous and ineffective. No big ol' humped bumper strap? Normal chain. I've ground a few off myself. One bit of advice: Grind 'em as evenly as possible or you'll end up with lots of vibration due to eccentric weighting.
Slamm
Addicted to ArboristSite
I laugh at those that take the rakers down much lower than say .035, because they think they are faster, but they never take into account how many times they stall or lockup their saw on normal cuts. I watched a guy stall his saw 4 times on a 4" knot that needed to be trimmed off of a log. This after saying he takes the rakers down a lot more for bucking up, and then he couldn't ever get it restarted in the cut if he stopped.
Again, its one of the things I keep saying,"Faster by seconds and slower by minutes." Its just dumb, if its less safe than normal, so much the dumber yet, LOL, but it isn't faster. Plus how the crank or clutch lives through it is beyond me.
Sam
Again, its one of the things I keep saying,"Faster by seconds and slower by minutes." Its just dumb, if its less safe than normal, so much the dumber yet, LOL, but it isn't faster. Plus how the crank or clutch lives through it is beyond me.
Sam
A new qoute for my sig line!
Oldtimer
Addicted to ArboristSite
In pine I will take one "light" swipe off each raker of a brand new chain with my flat file, in hardwood I only take them down when I have to "push" the saw through a cut.
mingo
ArboristSite Operative
I use the Carlton file-o -plate to take my rakers down works fine for me.
to the OP, your buddy is a liar. .
...or an idiot. Likely both.
paccity
Addicted to ArboristSite
not worth a coment.......... oops i comented.
RandyMac
Stiff Member
You can cut ice with no rakers.
dingeryote
Blueberry Baron
Yep. But the stuff needs lotsa Diesel to get it to warm up a stove.
Stay safe!
Dingeryote
A chainsaw would knock over my glass. I just use cubes.
