What makes a chainsaw agrressive?

[Hipa Store]

The cutter type? Teethe sequence? The size of the chain? Or the saw power?

[Rod Wolfy]

Like any wood working machine, the care of the operator using it! I've had two friends cut their legs open in the last few years for not taking proper care and wearing CHAPs when cutting. Nice stitches & thankfully nothing more!

[Jason Roehl]

Tooth geometry, cutting depth, and chain speed. If the chain is dull or incorrectly sharpened, it may make dust or cut crooked. No (reasonable) amount of saw power will overcome that. But, if the chain is correctly sharpened, and making nice chips, horsepower will be the limiting factor. I know I said chain speed at first, but it takes horsepower to maintain chain speed. And, since horsepower is a measure of the ability to perform work, once you factor in all the frictional losses, horsepower is the bottom line. You can go to www.madsens1.com to learn a whole lot about chainsaws and chains from professionals.

[Scott Winners]

Sharp. Sharp solves all manner of problems, as one of the signature lines around here correctly states. A small sharp saw can do more work than a large dull saw.

Besides keeping the cutting edges sharp, raker depth is worthy of attention. If your cutting edges are sharp, too shallow a cut because of the rakers is slowing you down. Both Stihl and Huskvarna make excellent file guides for both teeth and rakers.

If you are new to chainsaws, start with a 16 inch bar and get your processes dialed in. You can do untold damage with a 16" bar. Last time I looked a full suite of protective gear was about $300 for helmet and chaps and so on, same day the average ER copay for chainsaw injuries was about $2800 not including outpatient wound care, suture removal, antibiotics and pain pills. Protective gear is cheap, get all of it and use it religiously.

Once you rise above the entry level offerings, Stihl and Husky both make excellent saws. Rather than looking at the mfr, decide which local to you service department you want to be dealing with 10-20 years from now and buy that brand.

Good luck and best wishes.

[Lee Schierer]

The agressiveness of the cut is governed by the rakers. If they are too tall the cut will be light. The shorter they are the more bite into the wood there will be.

[Prashun Patel]

What size logs are you cutting and how frequently?

The power required is proportional to the bar / log size you are working with.

Teeth geometry makes a difference at the margin - which pros or people cutting frequently will notice.

However, for me , the number 1 factor is sharpness. Unlike any other bladed tool, it's very easy to dull a chain. Hitting the ground, dirty bark. Too easy to do (for me).

I stay efficient by having multiple chains, switching them out at the first sign of speed reduction, and sharpening often.

[Bill Dufour]

Roughly every other sharpening the rakers need to be filed down a bit.
Location. I no longer see bars longer then about five feet.
Bill D.

[John TenEyck]

If you mean aggressive is in grabbing but not cutting, it's because the rakers are set too low for the available HP. If you mean a saw that cuts really fast, see all the good advice above.

John

[Bruce Wrenn]

Around here, the pros use cutters that are carbide and attached to a disk about six feet in diameter, powered by a 450 HP diesel engine, called a "Feller - Buncher. Drive up to a tree, garb in arms, then in less than 30 seconds cut it clean from the stump. Then while still holding that tree repeat several times. Then lay trees over, all facing the same way. Skidder backs up to trees and grapple grabs the bunch, and hauls them to the "deck" to be limbed, cut to length and loaded on trucks. Only the tree trimming guys use an actual chain saw, or truck driver if he has a piece hanging out.

[Edward Weber]

Roughly every other sharpening the rakers need to be filed down a bit.
Location. I no longer see bars longer then about five feet.
Bill D.

I disagree with filing them that often, this may be why the OP's chain is too aggressive.
Rakers (actually depth gauges) only need to be filed when they need to be filed, when they're too high.
They are there to control the depth of cut, just filing them every other time is excessive IMO.
The height of the tooth does not shorten much at all during a proper sharpening, so no need to change raker height until it's necessary to do so, otherwise you end up in a situation like the OP.

JMHO

[Tom M King]

I like them aggressive. The trick is to cut with a light hand, and not push on the bar. This is a ported 066 pulling a 10 tooth sprocket in a blown down Maple. I have a bunch of different gauges for the depth gauges (rakers). This chain a full comp 3/8 x .050 that came with the depth gauges at .025. This at .030. I don't use the gauge for every depth gauge, but count the file strokes needed on a couple, and then count strokes around the chain after those two.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2cdN53BxGs

edited to add: I probably should have included to not try that vertical bar nose cut at home without a lot of experience. I was out of the plane of kickback, and it was a bit of arm resting because the cutting was holding most of the weight of the saw. That was an old chain (the reason for it being a bit bouncy) , since I didn't know what we would run into on the trails that day after a big blow the night before.

[Richard Coers]

Height of the raker on the chain is what makes a cut grabby. Many companies now sell a "safety chain" with high, slightly different shaped rakers. I hate them. Traditional chain for me with regular filing of the rakers to make a good thickness on the curl.

[Warren Lake]

I file rakers low and not consistent so it can be a bit thumpy and more grabby. Tom spelled it out with the touch and feel thing. Same as the wood machines. A very sharp chain saw is like a scalpel. I cut small stuff that past would use the fiskers loppers. Support it on my foot and use a light touch sharp saw it works excellent. Only have 16 and 18 bars and work fine for anything ive ever done. Told the arborist the chain saw is safer than some of the shop machines, he looked blank and didnt talk but I believe it.

I work the ropes, he does the climb stuff and hes gifted at it. Already 20 feet off at this point. Took us longer to drive there and back than to bring it down and cut to chunks.

P1650617A.jpg

[Bill Rhodus]

Types of tooth contribute; raker comments are spot on; position in bar of wood being cut also matters. Stay away from the tip of the bar.

[John K Jordan]

I disagree with filing them that often, this may be why the OP's chain is too aggressive.
Rakers (actually depth gauges) only need to be filed when they need to be filed, when they're too high.
They are there to control the depth of cut, just filing them every other time is excessive IMO.
The height of the tooth does not shorten much at all during a proper sharpening, so no need to change raker height until it's necessary to do so, otherwise you end up in a situation like the OP.
JMHO

I agree, I also don’t file them that often, only when needed (or in my case, ground with a Dremel instead of filing). As Scott mentioned, use one of the little and inexpensive hand-held gauges to feel when they need to be shortened.

That said, I’m with some others who lower the depth gauges more than the gauge indicates so the saw cuts more aggressively. This works very well UNLESS you don’t have enough experience with chainsaws, then it can be dangerous. Also note that some types of wood and diameters can be more challenging than others.

One thing that may help if the operator has trouble with grabby: don’t start the cut by contacting the wood in the middle of the bar. Instead, try first putting what are sometimes called “bumper spikes” against the wood first then rotate the chain down into the log, gently at first. And always start with a good stance and a firm grip, even when limbing. With experience it gets easier to know the kinds of cuts you can start and make with a particular saw and chain.

This might be a good place for a strong caution: almost everyone knows that running the tip of the saw into the side of a log can cause a dangerous kickback, and won’t do it on purpose. However, it’s possible to get a tip kickback accidentally when cutting through a log if another log or branch is hidden behind - if the tip contacts the hidden log the kickback can lift the saw out of the groove, possibly with disastrous results. When cutting in a pile I always check behind the log.

JKJ