Big Dog Spike technique?

[mattellis2]

I made a pretty substantial upgrade to the firewood saw department a couple of months back. Been cutting with an MS270 for 7-8 years, and finally ponied up for a 441. What a beast! I am amazed at the amount of power this saw has and the difference between 0.325 RS chain and 3/8" chain.

OK, to my question. I purchased some of the big dog felling/bucking spikes from Bailey's for the saw. In fact, I never ran it with the factory spike on it. Anyway, I have been struggling with the big spikes. When I hook a log with the lowest spike, it will slam the chain into the log hard enough to bog the saw. I had a really hard time flush cutting a large pin oak stump today because of this. I also tend to "bounce" when bucking...the saw bites, I can feel/hear it start to bog, so I let up. It revs up again, then bites hard again and starts to stall.

What am I doing wrong here?

Today's load:

The offending spikes:

 

[sawsalottawood]

Those Dawgs are outrageous! Try the factory dawgs out. it only takes a minute to do so and could save you some headache.

To me sounds like your rakers are set too aggressively. Have they been touched up? Are you using fullcomp or skip chains? If full try a skip.

Regards,

SAWs

 

[Gologit]

Maybe try using a little lighter touch on the saw. If it's sharp it should feed itself through the wood without a lot of pressure. If it's stalling out you're asking too much of it.

 

[Nailsbeats]

My brother has those same spikes on a 440 with a 28" bar and hates them. The lowest spike is the offender and is not going to work worth a crap with your setup. The distance between the bottom of the bar and the bottom spike is too great and causes the saw to clutch out as it aggressively forces it into a bind. As the diameter of the wood increases this is less of and issue as well as using skip tooth and long bars. Your current setup is dead in the water.

Get the Stihl western spikes and roller chain catch that are 1/2 the size of those and put an angle cut on the bottom spike, shortening it almost as short as the rest of them. This will give you the felling and bucking bight you need as well as the ability to slide the saw without binding while cutting firewood and slipping your way around a stump.

If you look at a stock 660, that's how you will want to make your new dogs look, they'll perform great for ya. Been there done that.

 

[mattellis2]

no on lowering the rakers....it is factory stihl RS full chisel chain. It was new when I put it on the bar. Saw has absolutely no problem pulling it, as long as the dogs don't touch the wood, and act like a lever (which is what they're supposed to do.) seems kind of self defeating.

 

[sawsalottawood]

These big dawgs have inches to let the bar fall or be pushed into the log that factory dawgs do not. Maybe having the fulcrum so low is letting the bar get extra leverage.

Regards,

SAWs

 

[mattellis2]

My brother has those same spikes on a 440 with a 28" bar and hates them. The lowest spike is the offender and is not going to work worth a crap with your setup.

Get the Stihl western spikes and roller chain catch that are 1/2 the size of those and put an angle cut on the bottom spike, shortening it almost as short as the rest of them. This will give you the felling and bucking bight you need as well as the ability to slide the saw without binding while cutting firewood and slipping your way around a stump.

If you look at a stock 660, that's how you will want to make your new dogs look, they'll perform great for ya.

i noticed the lowest spike being the culprit, too. thought about hitting it with a grinder to make it a little less aggressive. anyone else modded theirs?

 

[Hedgerow]

What rim sprocket are you running? If it's an 8 pin, switch to a 7... The dawgs shouldn't be making your saw bog in the cut. The bar you're running shouldn't be too long for a 441. Overly aggressive raker filing will do it too. My 7900 has huge spikes on it, and they work fine and I run my raker depth at .035...

 

[zogger]

Welcome back from the Klingon Home World! that must be where you picked up your saw enhancements!

Err.what the heck you want them things for? Aren't they a little to much saw bling and sorta giant to be practical?

Maybe take a grinder to 'em a little at a time to get them to someplace where they work better for your wood? Does Stihl recommend dawgs like that for that saw, or are they smaller, or what?

Cool looking, but if they ain't working for you, have to go to plan B.

 

[Hedgerow]

My brother has those same spikes on a 440 with a 28" bar and hates them. The lowest spike is the offender and is not going to work worth a crap with your setup. The distance between the bottom of the bar and the bottom spike is too great and causes the saw to clutch out as it aggressively forces it into a bind. As the diameter of the wood increases this is less of and issue as well as using skip tooth and long bars. Your current setup is dead in the water.

Get the Stihl western spikes and roller chain catch that are 1/2 the size of those and put an angle cut on the bottom spike, shortening it almost as short as the rest of them. This will give you the felling and bucking bight you need as well as the ability to slide the saw without binding while cutting firewood and slipping your way around a stump.

If you look at a stock 660, that's how you will want to make your new dogs look, they'll perform great for ya. Been there done that.

Good info... I didn't even notice the bottom spikes in the photo till I read this and went back and looked... those things are hangin' low... Way low... What would be their purpose?

I would consider these relatively large, but the OP's are off the charts!!

 

[Nailsbeats]

Good info... I didn't even notice the bottom spikes in the photo till I read this and went back and looked... those things are hangin' low... Way low... What would be their purpose?

I would consider these relatively large, but the OP's are off the charts!!

I think they would shine in a Redwood, or other softwoods where the wood diameter is large and the bark is course with deep valleys between the bark.

 

[Cage116]

View attachment 214001


Here's mine

 

[chucker]

with the bottom spike being that big? the first thought would be for a firm solid starting point as the saw starts its own cut with no added pressure! after the first cut gets say, 1/3 of the way through the log the upper spikes should ingauge !! after the half way point i dont see a use for the bottom spike?? maybe im missing something?? usually afer a good deep cut you would reset the dogs anyway!!

 

[CWME]

I put the same set on my 440 and that lasted for 4 cuts. They are junk. Just as you said they pull or force the saw into the cut causing it to bog and stall. Never went back to try to make them work. Been sitting in a bin on the bench for two years now.

 

[sunfish]

I made a pretty substantial upgrade to the firewood saw department a couple of months back. Been cutting with an MS270 for 7-8 years, and finally ponied up for a 441. What a beast! I am amazed at the amount of power this saw has and the difference between 0.325 RS chain and 3/8" chain.

Well ya should be, that's a huge jump!

And the diff in chain ? .325 for small saw, 3/8 for big saw?

Dang them Dawgs! TOO BIG!