Chain grabbing

[pycoed]

OK - some advice from the forum needed here:-

My experience of chainsaws is mainly for hedging with a little bit of simple felling on easy stuff, plus firewood conversion.

For donkey's years I used a Homelite Super XL12, then for the last five or six years ( & especially since retirement) I've also used a Husqvarna 135, which has proved a brilliant saw for hedging.

Because the Homelite is so loud, (not to mention no chainbreak or AV) I've mainly used the Husky for firewood.

Most of my stuff is hedge thinnings 2-4" dia which I cut in bundles on a saw horse, bundles secured by a chain tensioned by a stirrup via a chain lock.

This is OK but the Husky is a bit light for that work, so I got myself a 18" Solo 646 for Christmas after reading the threads on here.

Very happy with the saw in general, but I've noticed when cutting the bundles of small stuff on the horse it seems very "grabby". I've not actually had a real kickback that has activated the brake, but the saw seems much grabbier than the others of my experience.

Bar is Oregon, chain is Oregon 21BP072XS (& is sharp! - cuts well with bags of nice big chips). Can anyone suggest another chain type that would be more suitable for this application? I've yet to sharpen this one, but I have an electric sharpener - so would a change of tooth angle work?

[Stubby]

Im thinking it could just be that it is a longer bar and therfore you are in contact with a wider bundle of sticks . They are not all held firmly on the horse because of iregularitys in shape / straitness so they move a tad sometimes causing this problem . You could try a semi chisel with safety type bumper rakers or just dont file them so often when you sharpen up .....

[cornish wood burner]

If you don't already do it you could try a small ratchet over the bundle. Bit slower but you might save a bit of wear and tear to the saw and possibly yourself. I have a similar thing with a variety of wood from my hedges 2 to 14inch . Big stuff I cut with a chain saw but up to 5 inch I use an evolution 355 mm chop saw to get around the same problem you have. They do not recommend using it for round but it works.

[Farmer Tom]

And another sympathy but no solution here.

Little Lidl saw with 14" Oregon bar, low-kickback chain.

I do a lot of hedge arisings and so do the sawhorse with a ratchet strap thing too.

 

I reckon it's to do with cutting more than one stick at a time, the way they're held allows them to pivot slightly and grab the blade. My solution (work-around) is to run the saw full throttle and cut down more slowly than I normally would.

[spudulike]

Taking the depth gauges/rakers down too much can make a chain awfully grabby. You may find semi chisel is a bit smoother.

[C.J]

For the Attention of Stubby and Spud -

 

21BP is semi chisel

[rowan lee]

Chain size I would say. Used to cut up small billet bundles with 1.3mm 3/8picco chain, no probs - now on 1.6mm .325 chain - more powerful saw but same bar length and it can be a bit grabby alright. I always put heavier lumps on the top of the bundle to avoid this, and forget about the saw horse tensioner altogether.

[pycoed]

Thanks for the responses - I was wondering if it was the longer bar making the difference, but I also use an 18" electric saw nearer the house & this cuts quite easily - only a narrow chain though...

I'll try a ratchet instead of the chain lock, or perhaps as well as.

It's also the inefficiency of the operation that irritates me! Although it's only my retirement time, having seen home made Czech & Polish machines on Youtube (look up "rebak walcowy", branch logger type machine) I'm green with envy. I reckon I could easily clear my pile in a day with one in particular, but I've too many projects on in the garage to start making one - next winter perhaps.

Another "roundtuit" job is rigging up a chopsaw or small buzzsaw- I've just refurbished a nice little Kubota engined Truckster with a rear conventional PTO that'd be just the job to drive one.