Why Big Dogs are Good.

Clearance recommend this thread, and I was going to do it anyway, so here goes...

Big dogs, or spikes, or dawgs, or bumper spikes, whatever you call them serve a purpose and don't just look cool. Mainly, they're for thick, West Coast bark we see on original and second growth Doug Fir, cedar, whatever. You've got to be able to take a bite in the tree to rotate your saw around and sweep your (long) bar through the cut up to your hinge. There's no way you can just pull a 28"+ bar lengthways through a cut on your own without wearing yourself out. So you dog in, and sweep through, and it makes it a one hand operation. (I didn't just say that...I mean easy two hand operation.)

You'll also use them when starting a cut. Walk up to your hinge, set the dog in the bark, and now the dogs and the bark are taking the load of the saw and the (long) bar you're using. Instead of getting up to the back cut and dancing around trying to get your bar level and everthing lined up, you've got most of the weight of the saw off your hands.

Large dogs also keep your muffler and brake flag off the tree as well, which are both good for obvious reasons.

What else? Tree Sling'r? Timbe Pig? Timberwolf? Clearance? Andy?

The first pic is of a cookie I took off that Doug fir from the other day in the full wrap thread. That was a small tree and you can see how thick it's bark was. The tree that Tree Sling'r went potty next to in the full wrap thread likely had bark twice as thick!

The second pic is me dogged into the same tree starting my back cut. I hadn't even thought to make that picture, but it just happened that I cought a prime example on film. You can also see how thick and gnarly that bark is.

So again, it's a West Coast thing. I've not seen many sycamore or beech trees with bark as thick as what we see out here.

And as an aside, I like the larger dogs because they keep my longer bars and their tips off the ground when I set them down. Just a nice bonus, but a very real one in my book.

Jeff

Big dogs, or spikes, or dawgs, or bumper spikes, whatever you call them serve a purpose and don't just look cool.

They serve a purpose, but man I love those Dawg, did you make them or buy them?(it would be for 660 mag)
Thanks

Very good, not just for thick barked trees, good for any tree. The older Husky saws came with proper dogs, when I first used my 372 I was like wtf? Husky must have known thats why the good replacement dogs are like $30. Anyone who does any real falling and bucking is making thier life a lot harder by not having big dogs and wrap handles. Try under bucking a big log so it doesn't slab with a 394 that has no dogs, try one handing a backcut in a sketchy looking snag, while looking up, without dogs. Dogs are the right tool for the job or in some cases I guess the right job for the tool.

You nailed it...


However, here's a question for the unwashed masses: why two dogs? Isn't the inboard dog sufficient?

old dogs

from a Homelight 775G. Unless I'm missing somthing, the huge claws on the bottom seem to have little value, except they stand the saw up nicely...

Right on! You nailed it there.

A nice big set of dogs just makes life so much easier, especially when the bark is thick. Same with the full wrap handle. It just makes the saw handle so much better and makes life easier.

As to why two dogs not one, it helps with alignment and keeping the cut straight, plus the saw looks better and meaner with a nice big dog sticking out on the sprocket cover too

Outside dog on the side cover is nice for when you are flushing stumps, esp with alot of butt flare. With out the dog on the side cover the cover may hit the root flares before the inboard dog will hit the bark.

Lakeside53 said:

from a Homelight 775G. Unless I'm missing somthing, the huge claws on the bottom seem to have little value, except they stand the saw up nicely...

Click to expand...

They were so you could get the saw into position for felling cuts. The old saws were slow and heavy, hard to get a good cut started.

Jeff, how come everything is always for the west coast? We have been using em for years here to. Some of the hardwood trees have that much bark also.

Yup, two dawgs. Square cut and for those "jug-butted" trees. And, what the hell, two dawgs are better than one! And one dawg is sure to nail you in the back when you shoulder the saw. Now that's fun! Trip on the tiniest limb and catch "dawg" hell. Should I go on?

If you have used small dawg and then use larger ones, there's a bit of a learning curve, but you learn quick when you did them into your leg while carrying the saw.
Here's the dogs on my 020T
John

dawgs r us

Large dawgs are also needed on larger diameter stems for felling and bucking.

West Coast types, next time you're cutting a 36" 'er +. Check down and look at your dawgs. The flatter it gets, with larger diameters, the bigger badder and more vicious the dawgs need to be.

You wouldn't catch Tim, "the tool time" Taylor running an underpowered saw with small dawgs and a short bar. Ouhhrah !

again

Let’s have this argument every week.
Thanks

Ms 310 you can buy those dawgs from baileys. I have a set on my 046. they also allow you to run a thick roller chain catcher on the bottom instead of that pos they come with.

dawgs long?

And I thought that was in case you didn't have a stump vise when touching up the chains. Find a soft stump and try it. Not all the old loggers got paid enough to afford a fancy stump vice.

Nice 020T dogs Gypo, where can I get a set for mine like that. Do they help with the old growth limbs?

Got Dawgs?

As seen on AS! Everyday 372 Husky dawgs...blurry vision, yes I know...But you can see em'! Right!

oakman said:

Got Dawgs?

Click to expand...

I think when you have to crank your welder past 100 amps to make your dogs, it might be a little excessive.

Good thread. Big dogs rule.

All these "custom" dawgs...you are tempering them, right?

Are big dogs completly useless on a 16" bar? I am wondering if it will shorten my cutting edge too much...