# bow bar - chainsaw attachment



## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

i saw an add for a chainsaw that includes a bowbar. the picture isn't good and I can't tell what its used for or how. Does anyone know much about these? I'm jsut askign out of curiousity.


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## GMman (Apr 11, 2008)

Do you have the picture


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## DaleM (Feb 18, 2009)

I have heard that they kick back a lot which makes sense because the tip of the bar and the area just on the top of the tip cause the most kickback, so the smaller the end of the bar, the less kickback in general, and the bow gives you a huge danger area on the end of the bar.


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## marcb (May 5, 2008)

Just say no to bow bars, don't really bring anything to the game except a certain danger.


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

here is a link


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## DaleM (Feb 18, 2009)

HokieMojo, as for the how it works, it goes on just like the regular bar. Here is a picture of one I found on the saw. It does look cool. http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee127/leeha1959/HomeliteSuperWiz66003.jpg


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

I wonder why you would want this wierd shape instead of the usual bar shape.


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## snowdog (Jul 1, 2007)

Scary looking chain saw. I think I will stick with what I grew up on. I went to a saw mill museum in NE PA last year and saw a lot of these from the old days.


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## 65jetstar (Sep 24, 2010)

The bow blade was popular in the southeast in the pulpwood industry. It is a very aggressive attachment best used for smaller logs up to 24" in a horizontal position below the operator's waste. They are intended for high volume cross-cutting applications where logs are lying on the ground. Bow blades work well in pine and other soft woods. Gear drive saws such as the Poulan "Super 72" which provide low chain speed with high torque were common in this application. A bow blade with sharp chain goes through pine fast! Direct drive saws, even with a bow blade, work better hard wood such as oak because of the greater chain speed and less torque. High torque from the big gear drive saws in hard wood makes the chain get hot and dull in a hurry.

If you are prone to accidents, stay away from the bow saw or you will end up in the emergency room! You do not want to use a bow saw in thick brush where there are many small springy branches in close quarters that the chain can catch on. Contrary to an unfounded impression that many people have, the bow blade is not a good or safe tool for clearing small standing bush! You can lose a chunk of your face in such conditions with a bow saw. The bow catches on every thing it bumps into and torque of a gear drive saw makes matters worse.

In the 70's, I ran model 54, Super 68, and Super 72 Poulans with bow blades in clearing operations near Houston. We would take the tree down with a 955 track loader. I would cut the stump off, limb the tree, and then cut off the top. The dozer would then move the log to a location where the pulpwood hauler would cut it up with his bow saw into 4' lengths or into saleable logs of other desired lengths. You are good with your bow saw or any saw when a dozer never has to assist in getting your saw out of a bind. The bow blade is easy to pinch in the big stuff. However, the bow blade has advantages on smaller diameter stuff. I cut up dozens of trees up to 3' d.b.h. in one day with a bow saw and have vivid memories of cutting off a few of those stumps 35 years later. Not all of the big ones were straight or lay neatly on their sides! You develop skills that these tree care company guys you see now could never imagine. It was insane…


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## JJohnston (May 22, 2009)

Based on what 65jetstar says, and the super-thin lower section of the bar, my guess is that it's less likely to get pinched in the cut than a conventional bar. If the log does pinch, it just pinches on the "donut hole".


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## newbiewoodworker (Aug 29, 2010)

Yikes… that thing looks like something out of a horror movie.. made for chopping up zombies…

I think Ill just stick with the standard bar…


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## 65jetstar (Sep 24, 2010)

It depends on your application! A big gear drive saw with a bow blade can do jobs in a way that could not be approached by any other type of saw. At 17 years old, I could cut up a dozen 24" trees lying on the ground with one of these dudes and be on my break before most guys would be half finished. They do not make the big gear drive saws any more, but I believe you can still buy a bow blade for some of the bigger saws on the market today. They are for professional use and many dealers will not touch them. If you lived in the south and were in the pulp wood business 40 years ago, this is what you would have been using. The Super 68 that I am running is about 80 cc, weighs over 20 pounds, and has no muffler. The Super 72 was about 90 cc. You could see the piston looking back at you through the exhaust port. Listening to that popping and barking for 10 hours will have your ears ringing.


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

so they won't be making an attachment for my remington electric saw anytime soon? Haha. I don't remember what the seller wanted for it, but I haven't seen one before or since that ad and I check CL often.


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## MoralOrel (Dec 17, 2011)

Some fairly bizarre applications are mentioned here for the use of a bow bar on a chainsaw… YES, I know this post is old as the hills but for accuracy and safety I feel compelled to update this post. A chainsaw bow guide bar is used for brush cutting, the smaller in diameter the better.

In our camp if you were caught bucking wood over about 4" in diameter with the "bow saw" you carried in the fuel for everyone the next day. Quite the task as I'm old enough we didn't have four-wheelers and the like so you could hike quite a ways with the steel jerrys (steel jerry cans).

The bow saw had its use in the day but bucking wood over eight inches in diameter was unheard of as despite the length of the chain the formation of the bar itself allowed for only very shallow penetration.. Take a look at the picture and imagine trying to cut any thing of much diameter with it Many of the bow bars had a, well I guess it would be called a guard about 6" from the tip. This ran almost the rest of the length of the bar toward the drive end. 
Another way to explain the use of these is 99% of the cutting was done with only the first 4" of the bar. I do not believe you can buy a new bow bar anywhere


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

wouldnt.touch.it


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## MoralOrel (Dec 17, 2011)

@ cr1 your "Cutting Christmas trees" comment about made me spit out my coffee! Not sure if you were serious, but gave me a heck of a chuckle either way! I never liked using the bow saw for any horizontal cutting, nor vertical for that matter! They were just never something I learned to like nor trust.

But, speaking of Christmas trees, I saw a Christmas tree "wrapping" machine in action yesterday! Not at all what I imagined them to be like. (it was the wire type not the netting type) Cool none the less!


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## Bonvi (Jul 23, 2011)

I just purchased one of these bow saws.Having a very difficult time in locating chain guaurd and bow bucking dogs. Any ideas where I can find the missing parts? I have scoured the internet for several hours with no luck.Thanks.


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## bold1 (May 5, 2013)

Bow bars were designed as breaking bars for when a tree was down. The idea of the high bow was to keep the top chain out of the cut so if the log pinched there was no kick back. The only chain in the cut was pulling the saw in not out. Until anti kickback brakes came on the market they were the safest way to break logs to length. As long as the log wasn't that big that the top bow came into the cut you didn't have to worry about it coming toward you.


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## Randy_ATX (Sep 18, 2011)

I know this is a REALLY old thread however this bow bar fascinated me - I had never heard of one before even though I am familiar with modern day chainsaws. This link seems to have a lot of good history:
http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw-stickies/109002.htm


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## Biff (Nov 19, 2012)

The Christmas tree farms around here in Oregon use them.


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

A bow bar is used for cutting brush, at least that is what I've seen wildland firefighters use them for. I haven't seen them around for a few years. Maybe they have fallen out of favor.


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## shawnmasterson (Jan 24, 2013)

you mean something this? These are very handy for limbing and bucking lugs. I had an older homelight it was awesome


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

I was told they stopped using them because they were so dangerous. A chain saw is the most dangerous tool on the market. If we made it safe it would be a worthless tool.


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## bold1 (May 5, 2013)

Chain brakes took their place. As you can see if the log pinched the blade the lower chain would only pull the saw away from you. It's the pinching of the top chain that causes kickback. Used as a bucking saw these were safer than a straight bar.


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## shawnmasterson (Jan 24, 2013)

this statement is not always true because some times stuff happens. A tool is only as dangerous as the operator, you can't fix stupid. there are a lot of people that should not even dream of picking up a screwdriver, but they think they can use a chain saw. That being said time to poke the SS fans, anyone know when the chain saw stop is coming out?

Sorry I just couldn't help it.


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## RTW8350 (Apr 7, 2018)

Look….. I've read through the comments about bow bars. And the only common denominator that I can come up with is, most of you have no idea what you're talking about. I would much rather use a bow saw that a bar saw especially when bucking a log. Bow saws were outlawed because people were using them incorrectly. And like gun control now because of the actions of a few stupid people the rest of us get punished. I've seen comments talking about how bow saws kick back worse than bar saws. Think about this for a second….... If you're using a bow saw and you are using it correctly, how in the hell is it going to kick back with those Forks pressed against the log that you are cutting? Those Forks keep it from kicking back. And the area just above those Forks on the bottom of the bow IS THE ONLY AREA OF THE BOW USED FOR CUTTING!!!! You do not use the top of the bow and you do not use the bottom of the bow like you would use a bar saw. A bow saw is made specifically 4 bucking a log once it is on the ground. It is not made for lemming and it's really not made for cutting a tree down though it can be done and I have done it. When you use a bow saw you don't have to bend over like you do with a bar saw. And also while using a bow saw, if you use it correctly you can keep your chain out of the dirt while you're cutting which also reduces the number of times it needs to be sharpened… In other words you can cut more wood faster and easier. I have had a bar saw Kickback on me while using it correctly.. I have never ever had a bow saw kickback because I use it correctly.


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