Reviving old bow topic

[Diesel JD]

Hey, I haven't posted here in awhile but I'm still a chainsaw guy. I wanted to resurrect an old bow topic. Some of you all told me that my bow's chain guards were too short to provide adequate protection, well I took your advice adn got teh good ones from Bailey's. they are not direct fits for my old Stihl bow, but all I had to do to make them fit was drill a couple of new mounting holes, which was no mean feat through that heavy metal they used. Judging from the quality of just the guards, I would ahve no hesitation in buying a bow from Bailey's or East Texas Bow MFG, and I will feel a lot safer cutting with it now....but not so safe that I will treat it as anything other than a potential killer, so don't worry. Just stopping in to let everyone know what the skinny was on that front as besides myself there are a few old bow saw enthusiasts here.
J.D.

 

[Lakeside53]

Hey... Welcome back!!!

What saw are you using that bow on?

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

What saw are you using that bow on?

If memory serves, he's got it on a 390.

 

[wagonwheeler]

Hey Diesel, didn't you have to remove your chain catcher to run the bow?

I've got an 066 powerhead that I decided to put my bow on for a run, but found I'd have to pull the chain catcher and I just can't bring myself to do that and run a chance of gouging my tank (or me). Couldn't run it on my 361 due to the catcher and the powerhead shape.

I've got to either fab a dropped chain catcher for the 66, or bag the bow. Haven't decided which I'll do.

Guy I got the bow off ran it on an 028WB but I didn't notice if it had a different chian catcher arrangement...

Post some pics of the bow w/ upgraded guards.

Chaser

 

[Diesel JD]

Hey guys, I have it on the 390,a nd yes, I had to remove teh chain catcher. I was told that in treh unlikely even that the chain flies off the bow, it will be caught on the bottom chain guard, and this makes sense. I'm pretty sure that this has always been teh case on Stihl saws. Anyway, I ain't scared about the chain issue, my concern has always been the high kickback of teh bow guides. I found playing around with it that as long as you keep the spur firmly against the wood, there is probably less kickback than performing a similar plunge cut witha straight bar. I may still get the full face shield so I don't look like Leatherface in case it does come back at me or worse. Oh yeah, it does make short work of small to medium diameter wood, no bending down!
J.D.

 

[458_lott]

It's funny you bring that topic up again. My mother just had some trees taken down and said I could have the wood. I showed up on Sat. to cut-up this huge maple they were falling and, of course, I had my trusty Homelite Super Wiz 66 with the 16" bow and 1/2" chain. The owner of the tree service has been in business for 54 years. He and his ground crew looked at me like I had just stepped from Mars. I quickly fired-up the Wiz and began to chew the wood up (all the while just standing there and not leaning over). No bending over, no wedges, now pesky pinching, just pure cuttin'. The owner and ground crew asked in amazement what that wicked looking thing was and commented that it surely made quick work of the buckin'-up end of things. I just smiled and stated that it was hard for me to imagine cutting wood any other way. Love it. In fact I cut all day today even though it was a miserable 97 degrees.

 

[Diesel JD]

Good one....only limitation is that 16" is about the limit for a bow...but then again most of my firewood is actually 4-12" dia, so it is great for 99% of what I cut.

 

[wagonwheeler]

Hey guys, I have it on the 390,a nd yes, I had to remove teh chain catcher. I was told that in treh unlikely even that the chain flies off the bow, it will be caught on the bottom chain guard, and this makes sense.

You're right Diesel - didn't even think of the lower guard catching the chain since I ain't gots guards - I prolly missed that in our earlier threads. All the more reason to have 'em.

BTW, your guards are steel or alloy?

Chaser