Any good ideas on measuring out the length of a round? Mingo, Marking your bar, ect

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baroil92

Tree butcher emeritus
Joined
Aug 28, 2011
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North Dakota
Haven't looked thru all the threads, but havent see alot about this lately, I use a Mingo Firewood marker, any other good ideas?:msp_confused:
 
Mingo for me

The wheel ain't perfect. The trip arm is flexible enough to catch on the body.
However, it does work most of the time.

Until they design and build a better mouse trap :bowdown:
 
I eyeball it off the bar. Easier than carrying a extra measuring device.
 
I usually don't mark the smaller rounds, ones that doesn't have to be split, but I do mark the bigger rounds. I just use a 20" piece of wood and inverted marking paint. I think it is worth the little times it takes. For the life of me, I can not cut consistent rounds especially when cutting different sized rounds. A mingo would be good for logs that are already limbed.
 
I have my chain saw bar clearly marked at 18" from the mark to the bar tip. With the saw running I hold the mark over the end of the log and just touch the bar end lightly on the bark to indicate where to make the cut. It is quick and accurate.
 
I usually mark out the whole tree with a Spencer tape and log marking paint or a lumber crayon. If I'm free handing firewood rounds they tend to get longer as the day goes on.
 
Used to use a dowel rod and a piece of chalk, but decided to just eyeball it. Since I don't sell firewood, it doesn't make much difference, but if I'm careful, I can get pretty darn close to exactly 18" every time. But then, I suppose it helps that I'm a carpenter who uses my tape measure every day.
 
Story stick and marking device of you pickin, I use marking paint most of the time,
mark out the full log after limbin....
 
I use a marking stick and my hatchet. Watch your fingers/ just take a chunk of bark and cut on the scar.
 
They have those marking rods that you can put on the threads of one of your bar studs, but I tend to always cut left to right. I was thinking that a cheap hillbillyish way would be to buy a 2' cable tie and put it on your handlebar and cut it off to your desired length. I haven't ever tried it, but it would seem to be pretty non invasive/annoying and would do the job. I've used the lumber crayon, mingo markers, etc., but they seem to be too time consuming imo.
 
I use the bar and just pick a reference on the log, such as an irregularity in the bark, stray saw chip, whatever. Anything that reduces the amount of "stuff" I need to haul out with me... even if it's a marking pencil... that's a good thing. Anything that causes me set the saw down/stop cutting... like to grab a separate marking tool... that's a bad thing.
I have two bars and cut to 16-inches. Using the 16-inch bar is a no-brainer, on the 20-inch bar I use automotive touch-up paint to make a mark (on both sides of the bar) 16-inches from the clutch cover and 16-inches from the tip... no matter if I'm working left-to-right, right-to-left or how I turn the saw there's a quick, handy mark on the bar.
 
Out in the woods I eyeball it . For some reason the large rounds seem to be pretty much accurate but the smaller stuff I always seem to cut on the longer side for some reason . The logs that get delivered I mark with a yardstick and dollar store sidewalk chalk I stole from the kids .
 
Yardstick and a hatchet. Takes a bit of time, but I get my son to do the marking and it makes him feel useful. A crayon would be more accurate and easier to see, but the hatchet lasts longer and is more fun. Gransfors makes such nice tools that I look for a reason to use them.

I tried one of those nylon rods that screws onto the saw but broke it within a day.
 
I have a 4' splitter and cut my rounds to 4'. I carry a 4' stick with me and lay it beside or on top of the log. Make the 4' cut slide the stick up the log and make the next cut. The table on the cordwood saw is marked at 16" and 2' and 32". When I'm cutting the 4' pieces I line up the desired mark on the table and make the cut. The 4' stick is also handy for measuring the logs and cordwood stacks.
 
Story stick and marking device of you pickin, I use marking paint most of the time,
mark out the full log after limbin....
+1 I can get close with the eyeball method, cut wood with my brother and he can not. My Defiant Encore does not take anything much bigger than 16". His stove will take up to 22" wood. We compromised at keeping our cuts at 16"-17" so I have been marking the stuff with spray paint and the story stick, I have found it only takes a few more minutes and is a little quicker when actually bucking because there is no hesitation wondering if you are being consistent.
 
I use a 192T to do most of the limbing then switch to a 361 or 391 to do the cutting. With the little top handle saw in my right hand, i walk down the log with an 18" piece of wood in my left hand. I just make a nick or small cut with the saw every 18 inches. When I'm done I'm back near the trunk, which happens to be where my other saws usually are. It's quick and easy for me.
 
if I have alot of rounds to cut down to length, I attach a piece of all thread to the bar studs with a long nut. It has worked for me so I wont fix it

Jeff
 
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