Bucking with aftermarket/big dog spikes?

[stihlrookie]

Just south of you in Benewah county. Lovely weather we're having.

For sure, keeps this up and I can go back in the hills and cut. About 12" packed at 2500 ft. where I was on Sunday.

Yep 50 degrees here in Spokane.

47 here in Coeur d Alene and not a speck of snow left in town save for the parking lot bergs.

 

[Beer Gut]

eh, these "skunks" are Highway Patrolmen, they would shoot back.

wow my bad thought you really had skunks but the advice is real..

 

[homelitejim]

For sure, keeps this up and I can go back in the hills and cut. About 12" packed at 2500 ft. where I was on Sunday.



47 here in Coeur d Alene and not a speck of snow left in town save for the parking lot bergs.

I was up around Mt. Spokane on tuesday and pulled a quick load of wood, had to deal with a inch of snow was about all, now I think it will be a inch of mud.

 

[Justsaws]

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?

Blunt the tips back as far as you feel confortable with. They are digging in WAY to much and overpowering your ability to control a saw with a reasonable anti-vibe system.

I would guess that you will not be able to react fast enough compared to the saw and chains ability to sink the tips and bind the clutch. The saw has to engage the wood at a controled rate or it will just bind the clutch.

Too much, too sharp on too little of a saw.

 

[RandyMac]

It may be the angle, drop and length more than just the sharp points. If the bottom dog hangs too low, it will change the fulcrum.

 

[Justsaws]

It may be the angle, drop and length more than just the sharp points. If the bottom dog hangs too low, it will change the fulcrum.

Those particular spikes on that saw would probably work better upside down. They are huge, pointy and probably waaay to sharp for the wood sitting in the back of the pickup truck.

I do not know how much they cost but I would be cutting and grinding on them for anything around these parts, one hard set in a stump and I would end up yanking a gas tank of a Husky getting the saw loose.

 

[mattellis2]

thanks for the responses everyone. i got busy, and was away from the computer last night.

i will be removing these from the saw and reinstalling the original spike. i'll see about looking into the less aggressive stihl set. bailey's online product review is going to hear from me as well. this is a product that is pure junk. looks neat, totally useless.

all that being said, anyone want to buy a set of slightly used monster dogs? :hmm3grin2orange:

-matt

 

[RandyMac]

Why blame the product? You installed them on a very small chainsaw and expected what?

 

[mattellis2]

Um, because they were sold as spikes for a 441? Clearly my fault for not being clairvoyant at the time of purchase.

i was just looking at bailey's website, and cannot find a big dog spike listed for the 441. i am going to pull my receipt to make sure, but i am confident they were sold for use with a 441. Maybe others have had the similar problems, and they've changed the listing?

 

[RandyMac]

So you bought or received the wrong size, they aren't really junk are they? I'm fairly certain when utilized properly, they are just fine. Put those baby teeth back on and saw wood, be happy.

 

[mattellis2]

OK, i found this:

Bailey's - Pro-Safety Felling Dogs for Stihl 044/064/066/MS 440 and 660

I know the caveat about heavy duty clutch covers was *not* there when I bought them, or I would have passed on the purchase. Looks like I am not the only one to have issues with this particular spike and the 441. Will pull the original receipt when I am back in the office.

 

[imagineero]

big dogs have their place, and thats generally with big bark. I've got a set a bit bigger than that which I use on my 660 sometimes. They're awesome on grandaddy radiata pine, and old ironbarks where you might have barn 4"-6" thick. Normal dogs would just keep tearing out.

When you dont need them, they are a real dog though. On big soft bark trees they dont really change the fulcrum much at all because the bark is so soft the 'turn point' is way out closer to the saw anyway. On normal bark, they're a nightmare to run as you discovered.

The stock stihl 660 dual dogs are just about as good of a stock dog as I've every run. They're an excellent compromise and work well for most felling and bucking scenarios in a wide range of bars. Even with a 20". Add to that, they're big enough that your manhood wont feel threatened like it did with the smaller stock single dog on the 441 ;-)

Not cheap though. But you can find them on ebay sometimes.

Shaun

 

[dancan]

I think I wore my spikes/dawgs out .

 

[Beaver eager]

Dancan I have the same "spikes" you have on my 266se. I dont need them due to mostly smooth or thin bark. My MS361 has the stocks on there but rarely use them as they are intended. I cut some trees here and there but alot of what I do is down already and spikes just grab and make things harder sometimes.

 

[dancan]

Faster for limbing and bucking and felling 16" and smaller , keeps the wood close to the saw but off the saw .
It won't work in the PNW until they have to start cutting the same size stuff we have to cut .

 

[Grande Dog]

Howdy,
I'm not sure when you bought them but, we have a 30 day satisfaction gaurantee. So even if you don't like the way they part their hair, you can return them. That aside, I looked at our wording and our title says "felling dogs" but, the copy says "falling and bucking". The "bucking" part is coming out. As far as I'm concerned, if you're using dogs for bucking it's just a crutch for a dull chain.



Regards
Gregg

 

[Trx250r180]

our saw shop sells these dogs 5 point ,more for felling deep bark fir trees around here ,the same company that makes those huge 5 point ones also make a 4 point one that doesnt hang down so far ,actually about same hight as oem stihl big dogs just stick a little further torwards the bar for deep bark ,like doug fir ,if not cutting trees with deep bark they may not benifit you at all, ill see if i can get a photo of them ,the 5 point ones were designed to use with the pro safty full wrap bar , i have the whole setup for my 660 and it works pretty well ,the 5 point dogs are level with the full wrap handlebar that company makestView attachment 213998View attachment 213999

 

[Sport Faller]

our saw shop sells these dogs 5 point ,more for felling deep bark fir trees around here ,the same company that makes those huge 5 point ones also make a 4 point one that doesnt hang down so far ,actually about same hight as oem stihl big dogs just stick a little further torwards the bar for deep bark ,like doug fir ,if not cutting trees with deep bark they may not benifit you at all, ill see if i can get a photo of them ,the 5 point ones were dedighned to use with the pro safty full wrap bar , i have the whole setup for my 660 and it works pretty well ,the 5 point dogs are level with the full wrap handlebar that company makes

I'm rockin the 4 point Pro Safetys, I can sure see where the 5 points might be a hassle in all but the thickest barked trees whilst usung an OEM wrap

 

[paccity]

thoughs are good for parking your saw on the log.

 

[Trx250r180]

View attachment 214038View attachment 214039View attachment 214040heres couple pics of the 4 points ,think you would be happier with these on a 70cc saw