camel2019
ArboristSite Guru
What’s the difference between a pulpwood bow and a clearing bow how were they used.
Bow bars
- Thread starter camel2019
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
Camel do you know who made your Tecomaster 6?
Kash
Kash
camel2019
ArboristSite Guru
Thinking Clinton idk though I seen a Canadian tire version on Facebook marketplace recently too but they wanted $300 for it.
The shape/size of the bow/opening. How were they used? Carefully
The bow bar for bucking was much wider so it could buck logs. I have a 4000 Poulan with bow and it will cut up to 21" diameter and will cut bigger by changing positions. Never used a clearing bow.
camel2019
ArboristSite Guru
I take it a clearing bow was used for felling smaller trees? Don’t think I’d ever own one or use one I kinda think their neat though. But a brush cutter with a blade seems somewhat safer.
The brush cutter may be safer but in the case of small trees it is much slower
camel2019
ArboristSite Guru
Been looking at buying land to do a U cut Christmas tree farm and from what I read the clearing bows were used on them a lot.
The clearing bow bars I used in the '80s for thinning were longer and had narrower ends than the bow bars I've seen since. They had stingers bolted to the end at the bottom corner, and long aluminum guards on top and bottom. You seated the stinger on the tree and it prevented the bar from kicking back. They were great for thinning as you did not have to bend down far. They were safe enough that I often started a cut and then used my right hand to push the tree over the the desired direction. We were cutting trees up to about 5-6" at the base.
camel2019
ArboristSite Guru
I can see why Christmas tree farms use them then. You can buy new clearing bows they are expensive though.
Pulp wood bow on top shelf. Clearing bow on bottom shelf.
Ron
Ron
This is a clearing bar.
Homelite enthusiast in training [emoji3517]
Homelite enthusiast in training [emoji3517]
Down here in the pine tree plantation belt I see poulans with pulp bars pretty often come up for sale in the 2-500 range. They do cut downed pine trees into sections quickly and the setup does very well at keeping the chain out of the dirt but you better make sure your oiler works and boy can they kick back like a mule if the log closes on the top of the bar.
I'd like to see some vidios of bow bars in action being used by someone that knows how to use them the correct way.
Don’t have any videos, but you must first have a proper stance that always keeps your body to the side otherwise a kickback can kill you - decapitation, split skull, etc. The cut is made with the lower part of the bow with the prongs pressed against the log. You must make sure the upper part of the bow doesn’t hit anything. My bow saw is an old gear drive that weighs at least 35#. A twig the size of my thumb sent it over my head in an outstretched arm sending me to the ER with hand injury. If I had not been standing properly, I would be pushing up daisies instead of typing this post 40 years later.
Ron
Ron
I live in the largest Christmas tree production county in the US. When I was in school I worked in the trees and we tried bow saws. They were terrible. Out of 20 tree cutters not one liked them. Basically turned a one man job into a two man job and you was still bent over . Best case scenario The tree would sit back down on the stump inside the bow even worse the butt would go down through the bow and miss the stump and you was stuck. You pretty much had to have another person to lift up on the tree or help it fall. On trees under 6 ft or so it wasn't bad but the bigger the tree the worse they got.
Me being well over 6 ft tall by then I preferred the brush cutter just to keep me from moving limbs and having to crawl around. (and still do today, I use a 545 Husqy) but id easily choose a small regular saw over a bow. Id guess I have all those old bow bars in the old barn if some A hole hasn't stolen them. Worst part of the brush cutter was dulling because of ground contact or rock. Trees were typically planted on hill sides so you were cutting toward the bank behind. But with the cutter you didn't have to bend down or have another person. It is much faster.
All the tree farmers tried them. I don't know of a one that uses them today, in a county that sends out 20 milion trees a year.
camel2019
ArboristSite Guru
You got me I kinda want to see a pic of that now
Abbeville TSI
ArboristSite Operative
We could put a bow on a Stihl without cutting the clutch cover. I remember a time here when an XL12 with a bow was real popular.
