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How to avoid bar/chain pinch?

FergusonTO35

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Hey folks. I've been sawing for almost 30 years now and am pretty good at working on saws but not necessarily using them. For some reason, I have never quite figured out how to avoid getting the bar and chain pinched when cutting a hanging limb or a log that is propped up. Any suggestions on techniques to avoid this?
 

Rob Stafari

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Couple ways depending on the situation. If there's enough room underneath you can cut from the bottom up. Be careful of that top quarter of the bar tip when doing so as it can be hard to see whats going on under the other side. Look to make sure there's no hidden branches or anything of the sort that might cause a kickback, which nobody wants. If the wood is thick enough you can cut bout halfway through or to when the kerf just barely starts to close and set a felling wedge(or homemade wedge cut from locust or osage orange) in the cut above the bar and give it a couple whacks to keep the wood spread. If it's some wide crotchwood with lots of room to move you may want to put a wedge at each side as you still might get pinched with just one depending on how the wood moves. Third option is to bore cut into the middle leaving plenty of holding wood above the bar, cutting through the bottom then back up to the top till the hinge starts to go. The right situation you can zip right out, but a big log with enough room to fall can still pinch the bar as it comes out of the top. However if you leave that hinge and let it do its job. The wood will collapse under its own weight to the ground while the hinge will push the logs apart leaving you to comfortably finish the cut from top or bottom of hinge. If the wood has been in the mud I like to cut from inside out so it is throwing that muddy bark dust away from the saw and not pulling it back into the cut. Helps keep the chain sharper. If you aren't familiar with it, bore cutting is dangerous. Watch some videos and keep that bar slanted up so that top quarter of the tip isn't wanting to kick the saw back at you. Stay safe out there.
 

FergusonTO35

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Thanks very much. I currently have a limb that has been cut multiple times but never enough to make it drop before pinch sets in. It requires a ladder to get to, so not a very safe situation. I think I'm going to throw a logging chain over it and use my winch to pull it down. Hopefully that will break the wood that is holding it and the limb will rest on the ground so I can cut it from there.
 

RI Chevy

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Really just comes with experience. I always take at least 2 saws with me, as I have had my first saw get stuck beyond relief. I use the 2nd saw to free the first. lol
And wedges. They can be very useful.
I sometimes when cutting limbs that have alot of tension on them cut a mini relief wedge cut on top and bottom then just quickly zing it whichever way it is going. Works for me. But there is no substitute for field experience.
 
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Cigmaker

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Really just comes with experience. I always take at least 2 sawd with me, as I have had my first saw get stuck beyond relief. I use the 2nd saw to free the first. lol
And wedges. They can be very useful.
I sometimes when cutting limbs that have alot of tension on them cut a mini relief wedge cut on top and bottom then just quickly zing it whichever way it is going. Works for me. But there is no substitute for field experience.

You're really good when you get the second saw stuck as well...
 

junkman

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Trick i do when bucking logs ,i will do a bore cut ,leaving a strap on both ends top /bottom ,pop a wedge in both open sides then nip the straps ,sometimes will make a small face cut once the bore is done if i think the log has too much pressure still because cutting the straps can still pinch ,on overhead limbs cut them in sections to avoid pinch ,say the limb is 12 foot long ,cut it at 4 to 6 foot sections ,takes a lot of the weight off ,i like a longer bar for the reach also ,that is personal preference though .,keep a sharp cutting axe handy also ,not a splitting one ,they are different ,the cutting axe i have cut my bar out of bigger logs ,chopping and wedging ,i try not to pack extra bar ,the axe and wedges usually get me unstuck .
 

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Hardest part is when your mind is telling you, your going to pinch that saw, just a little more, maybe it will not pinch. It's pinched. Mainly do a relief cut, then cut and place a wedge. Limbs, relief cut and top cut. Like all above methods.
 

FergusonTO35

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Good advice everybody, thanks. Looks like I'll have to become more proficient with my wedges. The limb that is currently hanging on me is something of a special case because I barely have enough room to cut it with the saw while standing on a ladder on the other side of the tree. My arms ain't long enough to hammer wedges in or anything like that. I'll probably just pull it down with the chain as much as I can and muddle through it as usual. Good thing my wife didn't see this little operation!
 

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jacob j.

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Learning how to read "binds" is your best bet. Bind describes where the tension and compression points are in a log or tree that's either suspended, laying across an obstruction, bound between two or more points, or resting on a steep incline. This link is to Chapter 4 of the latest U.S. Forest Service chainsaw training guide and has some good explanation of binds. A lot of the descriptions were originally written by D. Douglas Dent in the 1970's:

https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/pdfpubs/pdf06672805/ch04.pdf
 

Dub11

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Learning how to read "binds" is your best bet. Bind describes where the tension and compression points are in a log or tree that's either suspended, laying across an obstruction, bound between two or more points, or resting on a steep incline. This link is to Chapter 4 of the latest U.S. Forest Service chainsaw training guide and has some good explanation of binds. A lot of the descriptions were originally written by D. Douglas Dent in the 1970's:

https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/pdfpubs/pdf06672805/ch04.pdf
Were could someone get the whole book?
 
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