I have never used a rip chain, so I cant comment on the advantage.
Cutting the rakers down like Jim suggests does make the saw cut faster, but especially in hardwood, it can make the saw kick much easier - just a warning - not knocking the advise. I keep the rakers cut on my saw to optimize the chip size and speed.
Remember, a kick back normally happens when the top 90 degrees of the tip is cutting. I try to avoid this situation.
When I was a young and working in the woods for my family's logging business, I had a 16" bar. Large aspen was interesting to cut with a short bar and was where I had issues with kick backs. The 16" bar might not fit all the way through the pieces I now cut for turning. The shorter bar might make it more difficult to keep the tip out of the wood, depending on the size of wood you are cutting.
The saw I now have for firewood and now turning, has a 20" bar. I have yet to cut a piece that the tip of the bar did not stick through. I also have not had a kick back yet due to clogging. My saw has the dogs where the bar mounts to the saw, so I use these to apply pressure to the bar while cutting.
My saw is a 365 Huskvarna and is around 5 HP. I dont really have a power issue.
IMHO, the most important safety feature on the saw is the chain brake. These new saws are so much different than the saws we used back in 70's. On my new saw, the chain brake is activated if the saw kicks back toward you (up) or if it kicks down. It took a while to get used to this when I got my new saw 5 years ago, but I really like it.
Last edited by Rich Aldrich; 09-25-2010 at 10:12 PM.
Reason: Spelling Errors
Thank you,
Rich Aldrich
65 miles SE of Steve Schlumpf.
"To a pessimist, the glass is half empty; to an optimist, the glass is half full; to an engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be." Unknown author