Bucking spikes - necessity?

[Wortown Mick]

I dont understand how some of you take the dogs off.

The only time I dont use em is limbing / firewood under say 15 inches, thats with a 7900 though. The leverage makes for faster cuts under normal conditions.. I messed around with it not doggin in and to get the same cut speed you need to use considerable force.

Let the saw do the work let the chain cut yadda yadda. Theres some sort of medium there , some force is needed.

 

[blis]

here we tear off the dogs before we even put a bar to saw... :greenchainsaw:

 

[Andyshine77]

If the chain is sharpened correctly and the depth gages are set properly, the saw will feed itself through the wood. The problem is, keeping your chain that sharp when your cutting all day long is a pain in the A$$. I think some people probably set there depth gages a bit to low for my taste.

I personally think running dogs makes sawing not only easer but also safer, I feel they add stability and control while making notches and backcuts. I don't think I personally would ever run a saw without a spike of some kind on it, and how could you make a horizontal cut without some point of leverage?

woodchuck361 I'm also looking to order a set of dogs for my 361.

 

[pbtree]

I like having the dawgs in place, although on smaller saws I do not use them all that much...

 

[ScottWojo]

Well No Dogs for me.

I am in a big saw area. Most saws have dogs with the teeth cut off. The Stihl dealer will do it upon request to a new saw.
But the dealer tells me they love the dogs cuz they will smoke the bar. They call em the bar salesman.

I find that when cutting firewood the toothless dog protects the belly of the saw under the muffler and lets you glide through faster. Also lets you move the saw in better angles easier.
I also like stuff that looks kool, so If I was ever to have a special kool saw mor for looks, I would like a set of chromed dogs that looked like flames.

 

[SawTroll]

The smaller saws, say 60cc or under, 18" bars or less, dogs aren't necessary at all. They come in handy on the bigger saws, the dogs support the extra weight and the bigger saws have the grunt for easy levering. The hassle with dogs they always eventually catch and rip your expensive chaps, specially your left thigh if right handed, and even worse on the right thigh if a lefty, they also tend to scratch, damage, puncture various pieces of equipment, containers, other chainsaws etc... on 70cc or under saws I always unbolt and ditch them

I take them off, but I don't ditch them.....

 

[Tzed250]

The spikes are a tool, to be used correctly. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[Matildasmate]

The spikes are a tool, to be used correctly. Nothing more, nothing less.

Exelent reply Tzed , to the point and no bs . Cheer's MM

 

[joecool85]

Dogs on a saw are an obvious asset, but if you are too dumb to know how to use them, when to use them or why to use them, you probably shouldn't be operating a chainsaw to begin with, LOL.

My opinion,

Sam

Thanks man, I appreciate that. The only reason I "don't know how to use them" is because I haven't had a saw with them yet. I'm sure I'd figure it out and could get them to work for me, but silly me, I wanted to know their proper use.

**edit**
After reading through the rest of the thread I have to say thank you to all who gave helpful information. I hadn't heard them called "felling spikes" but I can see how they would be handy for that. I generally don't cut anything bigger than 16" across, sometimes into the 18" range and it's normally softwood. I can see how spikes would help in stabilizing the saw for felling and for cutting down the stump, but for bucking I don't think it would help for what I'm cutting. The saw already goes right through in a nice straight line with little to no pressure on my part.

Something to keep in mind is not only am I cutting smallish trees, but also Poulans aren't horribly light for their engine size. 10.8 lbs for a 36cc saw is enough weight that it goes through the wood itself while bucking quite well with no assistance other than a sharp chain.

 

[slowp]

I also like stuff that looks kool, so If I was ever to have a special kool saw mor for looks, I would like a set of chromed dogs that looked like flames.

'kay, now silly time. I thought the dogs were for us PNWers, we can stick em in the thick bark of the Doug-fir and then run the saw with one hand, while holding either our micro brew or latte' in other hand--we can sip and cut at the same time--and if we're thinking about something else, we're multi tasking and being very efficient.

Flames? When the dealer asked if I wanted my saw engraved, I asked if he did flames. Unfortunately, he didn't. They would have got scratched off anyway. I put some flame decals on my kayak, and have noticed it goes faster. Would the same not be true with the saw?

 

[ScottWojo]

Now wait a mitute. Your telling me that a set of Titanium Dogs Cut in still functional flame shaped teeth on a modded hot saw would not be cool? Polished and slightly heated to give a slight color change. You say this would be Silly? Sir do you own one tool that has chrome on it? Any silly snap on tools?

If I wanted to be silly, I would suggest that you cut the dogs in the shape of bananas and paint em yellow. Flames on anything, sir, whether real or cut into steel, are anything but silly. Unless you paint em backwards on your saw. seen it done.

Silly indeed, Great Googily Moogily.

LoL
Scott.

 

[smokechase II]

Dawgs

I suppose that Dawgs can be taken off in small timber.

They certainly make falling and bucking easier.

The larger the diameter, the more important it is to have decent sized dawgs.

Often with thicker bark, the larger spikes work better there too.

*****************

This isn't a manhood thing.
All the cutters in the NW are not making up for some inadequacy with big dawgs and very long bars.

*****************

I've never seen a pro timber cutter here go with small or no dawgs.

 

[SawTroll]

The spikes are a tool, to be used correctly. Nothing more, nothing less.

That is true, when they are needed.

 

[24d]

I agree with every reason not to have them, and every one to have them, (except for makeing a dull chain cut) the one that came on my saw is more than enough for my needs, however I'm gona put large felling dawgs with a chain catcher on mine because I think they look neat. I dont see any reason not to. I think everyone should do as they please also.

 

[slowp]

Now wait a mitute. Your telling me that a set of Titanium Dogs Cut in still functional flame shaped teeth on a modded hot saw would not be cool? Polished and slightly heated to give a slight color change. You say this would be Silly? Sir do you own one tool that has chrome on it? Any silly snap on tools?

If I wanted to be silly, I would suggest that you cut the dogs in the shape of bananas and paint em yellow. Flames on anything, sir, whether real or cut into steel, are anything but silly. Unless you paint em backwards on your saw. seen it done.

Silly indeed, Great Googily Moogily.

LoL
Scott.

Chrome wouldn't add to the floatation factor of my kayak. No, I haven't had the urge go chromey. I have been told I need to put bigger dogs on the saws, but I think it might be a bad thing to have when packing the saw any distance, for me anyway, so I'm sticking with the original equipment. I'm only bucking stuff or cutting brush or cutting firewood, and will be doing a bit of thinning out at the Moneypit. However, I like the term, Googily Moogily and shall try to utter it when traipsing around in the brush. Like when I jam a stob in my shin, I can cheerily yell, Googily Moogily. I like it !! Or, maybe Holy Googily Moogily, when slapped by a limb in the face on a cold day. It's a lot more original than what one usually hears. Originality counts. Thanks...

 

[ropensaddle]

My dawgs are muzzled I like them less work and keeps
paint lookin better!

 

[XJWoody]

Chrome wouldn't add to the floatation factor of my kayak. No, I haven't had the urge go chromey. I have been told I need to put bigger dogs on the saws, but I think it might be a bad thing to have when packing the saw any distance, for me anyway, so I'm sticking with the original equipment. I'm only bucking stuff or cutting brush or cutting firewood, and will be doing a bit of thinning out at the Moneypit. However, I like the term, Googily Moogily and shall try to utter it when traipsing around in the brush. Like when I jam a stob in my shin, I can cheerily yell, Googily Moogily. I like it !! Or, maybe Holy Googily Moogily, when slapped by a limb in the face on a cold day. It's a lot more original than what one usually hears. Originality counts. Thanks...

Great Googily Moogily! First time I heard that was on some old Frank Zappa track.

Another gem was heard uttered by a sweet old lady. We had just established the boundary of her property (There was some disagreement between her and her brother over where their common line ran.) Her term for the moment was "Fiddlesticks!" It was really hard to keep a straight face...

"Son of a motherless goat" also works well for when less than full-strength is required.

Edit: post #440 That has to be a good sign! Dogs are a tool. I'd rather my saws have them than not.

 

[24d]

Now wait a mitute. Great Googily Moogily.LoL
Scott.

Ok now I'v always heard it "good googily moogily" that way everything got two o's?


I think dolmar has the coolest dawgs for a a stock pair.


Sooooo Scott when can I get some flame'n dawgs for my 440, I need a chain catcher too you know?:chainsawguy:

 

[ScottWojo]

Ok now I'v always heard it "good googily moogily" that way everything got two o's?


I think dolmar has the coolest dawgs for a a stock pair.


Sooooo Scott when can I get some flame'n dawgs for my 440, I need a chain catcher too you know?:chainsawguy:

Hey I am just the Idea guy. I am still trying to make flame stencils in the shape of a "W" for my modded pipes. If I had some stainless plate and some flame stencils I could make some killer ones.

And I think you confused "Good Goobely Goo" with "Great Googely Moogely."
"Good Goobely Goo" was said by Gradey on Sanford and Son.

Ha ha,
Scott.

 

[huskydave]

It has been my experience that people who run chainsaws day in and day out use them and people who are occasional users don't and there are some like troll who take them off to save weight and get a little longer bite from a shorter bar.