Bore cut kickback

Anybody ever experience kickback in the kerf while bore cutting?

I've had it happen in harder woods such as Beech and dead Elm

Any way to avoid it? or can you just not cut harder woods with a bore cut?

always plunge in

with the bottom part of the tip.. always

It is kind of a push down and in with the bottom of the tip and lift the rear of the saw at the same time. Full throttle. Kind of like puncturing the old tomato juice cans with the can opener before the peal off seal came along. Once you get the hang of it you wonder why it seemed so scary. I had a load of 8 ft muddy skidded wood and noticed that the bucker had used bore cuts in cutting to length and I remembered reading that it was a good technique for cutting dirty wood. It was a good chance to get a lot of practice under good conditions.

Need a sharp chain and some revs, but I've never had any issue because of hard wood.

The only times I have an issues is when I am cutting pieces to remove pieces from really big wood and I have to go back in and plunge where I have already plunged and cut sideways. As long as you are boring straight in, once the tip is started slightly to the bottom, the bar can't really go anyway but straight in. But going into already open cuts is trickier because if the top of the tip touchs wood there may not be any wood to support the bar.

I do a fair amount of end grain plunge cutting where I bore only to a predetermined depth and then cut sideways. A pic would be more clear than trying to describe it.

When plunging, especially endgrain or hard woods, I feel a fairly forceful and aggressive steady feed of the saw is important. Stopping the motion can cause the tip to kick.

Good sharp square ground helps a bunch in hard wood as well as it sort of self feeds.

The one time I had problems was when I got carried away with my grinder and took the depth gauges down too much. I had a hard time starting the cut.

ericjeeper said:

with the bottom part of the tip.. always

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Even with the bottom part of the bar. As i plunge in, and start to cut more with the tip, the bar kicks back and out

For bore cuts I brace my right arm on my thigh or body so when the top of the tip begins cutting the saw has to move my whole body to climb out of the cut. Full throttle is also necessary which seems a bit scary if you've had the saw come back at you before, but the saw will kick back less with alot of chainspeed.
Practice on some nice soft cedar or white pine, that's what I started with.
Also a short bar with full comp chain is better than a long bar and skip chain.
Good luck and play safe!
Ian

I just got done with a class for two days with Forest applications for work.They teach borecutting as the main method to fell trees.I have found in the class that if you have an aggressive chain,like Stihl RS,it can be harder to start unless you have the experience of some of the posters here on AS.My recommendation would be to cut a conifer stump into a rectangle about three feet off the ground,and save the slab off of the back side of the stump.Rest the slab back against the stump and use this setup to practice your borecuts.As you get better,try to keep the tip of the bar from touching the slab on the back side of the stump,but still boreing all the way through.I also would start practicing with a Green chain ,or safety chain first,as these are more forgiving for borecutting,when you feel comfy with this ,switch up to a more aggressive chain if you want.

Also ,they showed me that if you bevel the rakers so that they dont have a flat on top,they are smoother in the cut than just rakers that are flat on top.

Yea, I use bore cutting as my main method of felling, at least for big trees, especially when it is thicker than my bar is long. Always stuff to learn

thanks for the tips guys

Wismer said:

Anybody ever experience kickback in the kerf while bore cutting?

Click to expand...

I'm much more concerned about suckback in the kerf while bore cutting...I once had a race saw whose increased squish combined with the coriolis effect to create a gyroscopic anticyclone strong enough to suck the thoughts out of my head!

I lost an entire bar and chain in that suckback incident! :yoyo:

99% hardwood

Wismer said:

Anybody ever experience kickback in the kerf while bore cutting?

I've had it happen in harder woods such as Beech and dead Elm

Any way to avoid it? or can you just not cut harder woods with a bore cut?

Click to expand...

I cut 99% hardwood. I use bore cutting as my main method. I've bore cut dead dry standing locust that made my brand new RM chain throw sparks in the day time. I don't think you can get much harder than that. Maybe rocks are harder,lol. Start with bottom tip of bar(not upper tip). Ease it in, then once the bar nose is buried apply full throttle. It takes a lot of time and practice to master this technique. Once you catch on to it, it will just come natural.:greenchainsaw:

I would suggest that you start by boring your bucking cuts on firewood, It is a lot more comfortable cutting in that position and you have better control of the saw should something go wrong. After you are more comfortable with the mechanics of how the bore cut works then you can translate what you learned to felling cuts.

That’s how I learned.

Maybe Im old school but I never bore cut its asking for a kickback
to happen I use common or humbolt but no bore and doubt if I will
start. It is not necessary to bore cut a tree and not safe in my opinion! Just wait until you get half way in and hit wire you will
see why I don't use the cut.

ropensaddle said:

Maybe Im old school but I never bore cut its asking for a kickback
to happen I use common or humbolt but no bore and doubt if I will
start. It is not necessary to bore cut a tree and not safe in my opinion! Just wait until you get half way in and hit wire you will
see why I don't use the cut.

Click to expand...

This is a good thread. I cut only a few trees a year and am not familiar at all with bore cuts, I must say. I've tried it a few times but just like Wismer, it's difficult to avoid the bar kicking back a little if you are not familiar with the technique, and going in full throttle scares me quite a bit, not to say much, though.
I've seen however a swedish vid where the technique is shown and looks quite "easy", as usual when you see pro's at work
I am pretty much convinced that this technique is a pretty handy one to know and provides more safety to the feller in some occasions (heavy leaners...) so all tips to overcome the beginner's fear is quite appreciated.
thanks

Some slight push-back, yes - kick-back, no.

Never any trouble, full trottle is important.

Bore cut schmore cut... Use a conventional face and back cut and you won't have to deal with kickback.

One of you novice bore cutters is gonna lose a leg or worse unless you get someone to show you the proper techniques...

Just my opinion... prolly don't count here though...:bang:

Gary

GASoline71 said:

Just my opinion... prolly don't count here though...:bang:

Gary

Click to expand...

Well..... you just convinced me....

Full throttle is the key to a smooth bore so don't baby the throttle in the cut

GASoline71 said:

Bore cut schmore cut... Use a conventional face and back cut and you won't have to deal with kickback.

One of you novice bore cutters is gonna lose a leg or worse unless you get someone to show you the proper techniques...

Just my opinion... prolly don't count here though...:bang:

Gary

Click to expand...

Oh be quiet Gary:hmm3grin2orange:

I have done a few bore cuts, I have found times they are usefull!! Trees against a fence, cutting a crotch without having to climb the tree, etc., I find it's usefull for protecting property. Also comes in handy when bucking a tree thats hung up etc.
Not something I am very comfortable with yet, and not something I care to use that much, but it's another tool in the toolbelt.