Full Wrap Chainsaw Handle vs Half Wrap Advantages Disadvantages
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2023
- Here are the advantages and disadvantages of full wrap and half wrap chainsaw handles. I will discuss full wrap versus half wrap handles. Most people use chainsaws with half wrap handles. I will show examples of where full wrap handles are most useful. They give timber fallers a big advantage when working in the kind of conditions we have in the Pacific Northwest.
In forums I have seen people arguing over the different names of the different handles on a chainsaw. I have heard half wrap, full wrap, 3/4 wrap, partial wrap, I don’t even remember some of the names.  It seems a lot of people don’t agree on what the different names are. Maybe this is why I don’t spend much time in forums.  I only know of the two kind I talked about in the video. The type with the handle only on the left side of the saw. The other type that has the handle on both sides. I’m not sure what the different names are but in this video I called the ones with the handle on one side a half wrap handle, and the ones with the handle on both sides a wrap handle.  - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Evidently I saw this video and “liked” it ten months ago ! But I’m watching it again because your stuff is not only informative, but also entertaining. Thanks
Aliens flying around the Pacific North West blasting trees in the forest. Hahaha, imagine that...
It's that desert-dry sense of humor that keeps me coming back to your channel. That, and the fact that I usually manage to pick up something that I didn't know before.
Hahaha, imagine that... ;-)
You can learn a lot about aliens ....
I love the reasoning for a 3/4 Wrap, especially on larger diameter West Coast Timber.
👍
I also like the full wraps because it acts like a roll cage for the saw. After seeing saws fall out of trucks and when a saw rolls down hillside after you set it down, the handle bar takes most of the damage, not the expensive and delicate clutch cover
That is a very good point. I have seen exactly what you are describing. 👍
Was going to the comments to say something similar, full wrap adds extra protection.
Expensive and hard to get in Europe are another two disadvantages. We have steep and awkward terrain too and the full wrap is nice.
What you said about not being able to cut extra close to the ground is important. Here in Ireland all our commercial timber is grown in plantations, with the trees planted very close together so that they grow fast and straight. The timber is then extracted with forwarders which have rubber tires. If you are not cutting CLOSE to the ground then the forwarder can puncture his tires from the rubber being pushed against the lip of the rim on his wheel while passing over a stump. Because the trees are grown so close together he doesn't have the luxury of being able to go around the cut stumps all the time.
The full wrap also comes in handy when cutting above your head or cutting in a thick hedgerow.
Just trying to order one for Ireland....
I bought a full wrap and a long bar for my MS460 and ran it for a full firewood cutting season. I ended up switching back to a half wrap and a twenty inch bar because I work in extremely dense forest conditions and the average tree I'm cutting is under twenty inch thick.
I just work a lot more efficient with a short bar in my environment.
For cutting firewood I used to use a 24 inch bar and a half wrap. If I was going to be cutting smaller firewood all the time, that’s what I would probably go back to. Also for thinning small trees, a 24 inch is good for my height.
500i 25in light bar
Two other slight disadvantages of a full wrap; Firstly, some of them make removing the clutch cover/ adjusting the chain a little more complicated. Second, I can fit two half wrap saws behind the seat of my pickup, would be short on leg room if I tried that with full wraps. For firewood I dont think a Humbolt gains you anything, and on smaller diameter wood its no big deal to cut with the back of the bar... the 4 main reasons I use half wraps.
I am on the east coast ' I have not tried a full wrap handle . We do have some challenging terrain here too . I have used your Humboldt notch a few times . I do like how the tree jumps away from the stump .
You like our hard woods but we wish we had your big softwoods , not many people out here use softwood for fire wood .
Stay safe .
if we weren’t all scattered out so far apart, we could do some log swapping..
Us cutting those goofy top-down notches, leave stumps as low as possible, you guys doing the humboldt leave your stumps pretty high, so the loss in timber is pretty equal, woudn't You say?
Great video as always.
The sawmills want the ends of the logs cut flush. So we would have to cut that notch out of it anyway. Also our bigger trees swell at the base and they don’t want that either. So we take the notch out of the wood that the mills don’t want.
@@WilsonForestLands Not to mention making one cut instead of two to flush out the notch. Efficiency of time and fuel is just as important as maximizing length.
Thank you for this information 😎
👍
I don't do much felling (maybe 2 or 3 trees) every few years. This video made sense as I have both style of handles on my 461s
I was hoping they would be at least a little bit of sense in between my antics.
Without the handle you can place your saw flat on the log when cutting the top branches off. You can rest your arms. With the handle you need to bring the saw next to the log and still need to hold the weight. The one advantage I like using the original handle.
Ohh man you are Hilarious gramps......cheer me up this morning that's for sure.
Very important information on the differences between handles on your saw and what you are using it for. Thanks!
Thank you for taking the time and effort to produce this video! 👍You're goofing is pretty entertaining.😂
Thanks for the comment, there can be a fine line between goofiness being just goofy, and it being entertaining.
Alright then, that’s a cool representation my friend. Very good… I have never used a saw with the full wrap handle. Excellent video! Oh yeah, east coast pro climber / feller.
TN based climber here. A full wrap on the saw that comes up the tree when wood gets too big for the top handle? Life changing.
Doesn’t seem like it, but my MS261 and 372XP have full wraps. Hate bringing a half wrap into a tree now. Unlocks more options for work positioning than you’d think.
Great video as always. I especially like that you mentioned staying on the high side. I see guys on the low side all the time and because my cousin was killed getting rolled on, it’s a thing with me. Also I find that the full wrap (3/4) gets a lot of use limbing. Although I can’t say it’s necessary for that purpose as when I don’t have one I’m probably just as efficient or close enough. Half my small 60cc saws have them, half don’t. 70cc + saws all do. Didn’t even know they sold big saws without them! 😉👍🏼
Everytime the tip of the bar touches the ground, i flinch as i can feel my dads gloves flying at my head... If it wasnt on the tip of my boot, on wood or on my pack, I'd be reminded not to do that. He'd tell me chainsaws and gun muzzles donot belong touching the ground.
If more of the younger generations would listen to their dads the world would be a better place!
Whats wrong with a ⅝ wrap handle 😊, now now
Wilson good reasoning ,but there is always that goofy cut that requires a ⅝ handle 😅
I had a 460 rescue in the fire service and had to have one for my self. I have both handle and ill take the full wrap every chance I can.
Thats a west coast saw. Good points thx u. Im east coast smaller trees no need for wrap. WELL DONE!!!
I see your point on the advantages of the handle in your terrain . But around here it would not work as well. Thanks for sharing…
All my the way I’ll have to remind myself when I’m felling my next tree not to show notching the tree so not to offend you 😂😂😂
It would more likely give me something to poke a little friendly fun at. 😁
depending on how it's designed a full wrap bar can get in the way of the bar nuts when you go to put your scrench on them
I've always wondered about them full wrapped handles. I was thinking about getting one. And still thinking about it
If you get one and try it out and don’t like it, you can always take it off, put it on eBay and sell it.
@@WilsonForestLands ok thanks.
Interesting Wilson. I took my full wrap handle off because of weight, instability fueling on a tailgate, taking up more space on storage shelf and basically just didn't have a need for it. If I am cutting from the wrong side I'll use the top of the bar to make the initial flat cut. I noticed that your recoil/air intake is very close to the ground when doing your crazy 😁upside down notches...if done around here that would suck in tons of fine sand and grit. Anyways, good video!
southernadirondackout……”those goofy top notches” got you huh? Don’t trip potato chip. Humbolt cut is used in the northwest forests because the trees are huge and the value of the lumber in it is so high. The Humbolt Cut leaves more wood, so more money. Plus it is now habit. 😎
@@davidj.leavitt249 Just picking on Wilson...it goes both ways! I have actually been practicing the Humboldt notch.
I worked logging out west in Washington. Then watched videos of guys felling on yt. And using those big angle upper notches. Thought that looked completely dumb. Amazing the many different ways guys fall trees. Weird back cuts, the boaring the middle then backbout of the back cut. . To each his own and maybe different trees need different styles. Anyway ya I was accustom to a simple Humboldt notches ,3 simple cuts and tree falls. If done right you don't have to make another butt cut to square it up or mess with stump.
That fueling problem is a problem with the short bars. With the longer bars the tip sticks out farther and helps to level it out. 😁
You did explain it good way. Where In Europe I can find such A chaps. I line to update my style to look a real chainsaw warrior on our forest. No aliens are sen here though.
You mentioned something on the little tree about getting low enough.
If you are able to figure in just a little bit of "un-level" with your hinge, I back off and cut with the tip. Bonus points if the terrain is in your favor. With a longer bar the angle isn't that noticeable. You at least can get it a LITTLE lower that way.
Yeah that’s the way I would do it at an angle. Most of my antics of what I was doing at the little tree was subtly continuing to poke a little fun at the top down notch guys (east coast). Including picking such a small tree to demonstrate on. All with friendly intentions.
When I’m fatigued, I specially like a full rap handle simply so I can carry and operate the saw in different positions easier after spending an entire week in the woods. The full wrap allows me to use different muscle groups so to speak making my day less tiring. 🤷♂️ and this is on hardwood with goofy cuts as this guy puts it
Some full wraps get in the way of getting a scrench on the bar nuts.
I like the old husky full wraps that are 90° to the bar for gunning.
yeah that’s the problem with some of them. I believe it was my 044 where it got a little bit in the way of the bar nuts. When I got this one I was happy to see it didn’t in the way at all.
They make stubby bar scrench for just this reason. My 461 has this exact issue.
It's also good on east here for after tree removals. I have excuse not to get my saw hot or in dirt flushing stumps.can tell customers my saw won't cut that low .as I explain what stump grinders are for 😂 LOL
Greetings from the UK. Nice trees.... Interestingly steep slopes. Entertaining vid, as usual. Yes, diff'rent strokes for different folks (to pirate a phrase from a US-made comedy on the idiot box in the '80s).
We mostly do hardwoods 'cos it's what we have. We only have one native 'forestry' conifer species that grows naturally in Scotland and didn't appear in Dorset until the 17th or 18th century when people started planting it. If you want to fell conifers all the time, you have to go 'oop north' and work on planted trees. Where you'd find yourself doing the crap that a harvester can't cope with and possibly walking miles in the mizzle or p1ss1ng rain over lumpy, muddy terrain strewn with brash. So we do your 'goofy cuts' with the gob in the wild grain at the bottom of the stem. Often cut the tree's toes off first to get the cut nice and low. Then we don't have to come back and slice the stump off. Bear in mind that in southern UK many of the sites are highly visible from roads and rights of way (public footpaths, bridleways and BOATs - another story) so if you flush off all your stumps and do a good job, the passing GBP may not even notice you've been there. Leave the stumps high and all ragged with the hinges and maybe the odd tear-out in place and they will notice and may write letters, complaining about the 'cowboy' tree fellers, so when you come back next day you may find a 'stop' order on your site. Wooded land is often sited in areas where people with money, lawyers and letter-writing leisure choose to buy property at prices the locals can no way afford....
Never seen a saw with a full wrap handle in real life. Never seen a Humboldt used or seen it taught - been using and fixing saws for 40 years and been through several courses to keep the Safety Elves happy. I use the push chain nearly as much as a pull chain. Which is more difficult if the depth gauges have been chopped down. I use a 'conventional' cut, putting in my top cut for my gob first. Easier that way 'cos you can take a squizz down the kerf of the top cut and if you're using a bar long enough to go all the way through your victim, you can see when your bottom cut meets. Of course if you're using a little saw with a little bar, then that doesn't work quite so well and you'll have to work from both sides of the tree anyway. If it's diameter is twice bar length, then you'll have to bore a throat cut and you'll want the saw right-side down to start that off. Cutting off the toes reduces the effective diameter.....
Shutting up now. Hope this was entertaining for somebody.
PS I cut a lot of coppice. A full wrap would be a total useless p4in in the 4rse 'cos the stools are always finished as low as possible to promote regrowth and (especially with hazel) stool expansion over repeated re-cuts. Diff'rent strokes...
I see you trained your saw to "stay" on the slope. Since it did stay, I guess it was a "good boy". 🤣🤣
Oh yes it definitely got treated to a full tank of fuel after that. That was the example of the benefits of the big felling spikes digging into the ground.
Those darned, pesky aliens and their redwood tree-top blasting... (sotto voce: "stupid aliens.")
"Stuck in a thinking loop", yup, that's me!
(Either waaay over-thinking something all the way into a catatonic state, or waaay under thinking, rushing the job and messing it up.)
Hey now, I'm one of those goofy guys cutting near-flush with the ground, (especially Ponderosa pine -- to deny Ips beetles any stump targets.)
BTW, enjoying the high-definition video quality, crisp picture, sharp colours. Nice.
Cheers from your goofy, ("Guilty as charged") neighbor to the North in Linn County
I think denying ips beetles is a worthy reason to do anything the goofy way. They can be even more obnoxious than those stupid aliens. Good to know the high definition is showing up. My editing is in a small box on a laptop screen so hard to know how it’s turning out on a bigger screen.
The disadvantage is their expensive. Ya u gotta buy em separately so forget that. If manufacturers made em multi piece so I could add it on that’d be nice.
I never could figure out why anyone would use a top notch specialty on valuable hard wood trees
I have heard some reasons, which I still don’t fully understand. Even though they may have good reasons, I still cringe whenever I see it happen.
Just out curiosity, are you a believer in UFOs etc ?
Love your content
Much respect from the U.K
I would say I am a skeptic about UFOs. I just don’t know either way. I haven’t spent enough time looking into the subject or thinking about it to form an intelligent opinion.
Goofy top down notches.. why do I feel so targeted right now… 🤣
The full wrap is good for limbing trees and other things where you are twisting and turning the saw every direction to cut off limbs and tops
Yes I didn’t even think to mention that part. Good point.
They also don't fit in a hard case.
I have never had a case so I didn’t think of that one.
Hard cases are for weekenders.
@@calebdonerand guys that store their saws in their trucks at their off-grid properties while away.
Nice, and accurate. but actually often a full wrap will cost a ft or more because as u pointed out access .. and that's it. Proof/ Look how u walk up and attack a tree. That's a LOT of wood left per tree. Do that and every 20 stumps is about a full saw log. We use Humboldt and goofy top down along with a variety blends of the two, depends of how much can be harvested one tree situation vs another. I have both full and half depending on the type of work. BTW can work both sides with a half wrap in fact often do, so that argument is a little ..goofy. BUT the Humboldt style undercut on the off side almost requires a full wrap. Imagine same situation with top down cuts......no need to pull / rotate off a bucking spike And can work from both sides as well. So who's goofy? Those who can make do with simple tools? Or those who out of goofiness', create a problem with an awkward process that requires a more complex tool? :) Fun aside, this was a good video in my most humble opinion. AND one last point, those massive tree's almost require the Humboldt & the best tool has a fill wrap. Conversely 20 - 30 inch don't and in fact forcing a Humboldt in those forces a higher cut in order to have room to swing a longer bar to make the under cut. Leaving money on every one.
I would likely still be cutting the stumps as high as I do. In most cases the trees I have have a pistol butt at the bottom or a butt swell. The mills don’t want that wood. A lot of West Coast loggers cut stumps even higher than I do to avoid that stump wood.
@@WilsonForestLands Why you do what you do, it's the opposite out here. Mills will take all the way to the root ball if u can get there. The only time I leave a high stump is when I am going to yank out the stump with my excavator. But my point still is , its not about style approach , it's what the person with the check wants. The pine type trees out here aren't typically logged with a saw, most are mechanically done as there is no money in it for a small logger. My bottom number is $300 a thousand. So NO pine. Typically maple , ash, walnut etc. And u cut that low as u can. So again to those who get into the "us vs them" misses the point. And is a hole in the logic. It's about the harvest and the approach is based on bucks , what you were showing would leave a lot in the woods,, and many would fire a feller using that on high dollar wood. I would. Too much loss. SO being an expert, have to understand those wrinkle's in the logging paradigm to actually BE an expert. We aren't using a "goofy" approach, we are simply maximizing the dollars per tree based on parameter defined by our log buyers. AND mills differ as well. Like u said many ways to skin a cat. Those cutting pine out here cut as u do is my guess.
I have a related but totally unrelated question for you.
Is woods-work your main job? Do you make a decent living doing what you do?
I've been doing this as a hobby for a while now. Currently on 120 acres of decent hardwoods. Had a major life crisis, and need a real change. As much as I love cutting and firewooding I thought I should inquire.
What I have been doing on video is just in the portfolio of things I do, which can commonly change from time to time. I have been doing that more so lately just because I had all those bug kill trees to salvage at the other place the past couple years. Now wind blown trees at this place. Before the last couple years, the previous 10 years my main gig was exporting shipping container loads of decorative branches around the world. It started out as working in the woods but I ended up becoming more of a middleman doing that than actually working in the woods. The previous 10 years before that I did a lot of Internet work. My forest lands are an investment and a hobby that turns into an occupation from time to time. If I got focused, wasn’t making videos, I could make a good living doing what I’ve been showing on videos. Softwood lumber is tough right now, but firewood is good right now where I am now. If you have access to good hardwoods, that’s a different animal and I would think you could do better with that.
@@WilsonForestLands Thank you for your detailed answer!!
I remember your branch "confession" video well!
You can cut closer to the ground without a full wrap
I imagine there's often an extra cost to a full wrap handle? And they might get in the way of maintenance work on the saw? Are there situations where you could get away with using a pushing chain if you needed to cut from that side?
Some wraps get in the way of the bar nuts, some don’t
Some do get in the way of maintenance. Some of them made it hard to get a wrench on the bar nuts. But not on this model. It seems the manufacturers are making them so they aren’t so much in the way now. You can do a pushing chain from the other side but it’s better to be able to do it with a pulling chain. Especially with large cuts. I haven’t compared the price difference so can’t comment on that.
@@WilsonForestLands ported 3120 42” pushing chain ain’t fun 🤣
All those East coast City-Slickers cutting those
goofy top-down notches- yeah doesn’t make a lot of sense to ruin part of the saw log!
Take care, keep cuttin’🇺🇸🇺🇸
Yeah, and the short stubby bars, I didn’t even get into that.
And.... that's a wrap.
Hah, nicely done.
Another minor disadvantage is that the saw won’t lay down flat on its side with a full wrap. It wants to wobble around when adding fuel and oil.
Also without a ‘stubby’ chainsaw spanner, the bar nuts are difficult to access
You bring up a good point, that is one of the disadvantages.
That was a problem with a lot of the older saws like my 044. The newer saws are much better. I can get my bar wrench that came with the saw in there with no problem.
@@WilsonForestLands mine is a 576xp 2011 24 inch bar
Love your content, much respect from the uk
All the saws in Europe are not the full wrap handle and trying to get one is impossible without going online to get one and then finding a person who knows how to install them 🤔
Where are you in Europe I can help you with that.
Goofy notch guy from the North East that likes cutting notch's from above.
Why you ask? Cuz its easier, faster, cleaner bark and facilitates a more accurate notch cut, IMO.
I only run a full wrap on my biggest felling saw, a Husqvarna 395XP.
And... you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Good sense of humor BTW
Thank you for the comment. I mostly make fun of the goofy notches in response to guys on the East Coast who all in good fun like to make fun of me and my “upside down notches”. A lot of the things we do probably come down to what you say, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. 😁
As far as I'm concerned Humbolts only really make sense on logs that will be going to a sawmill or plywood mill, where they dont want to make multiple face cuts to square up the butt. Firewood, even for pulp or OSB, your going to gain more using a top notch and cutting a lower stump.
Nice to see someone who knows how real fellers notch trees. None of that funky weird notching upside down and boaring the center then backing out of the tree for a back cut etc. Logged in qashington for 11 years and 99 percent of the time every faller used the normal way to fall trees a straight cut then angle up from below and then a simple straight back cut at the same level as the first cut. Saves squaring up the butt of the fallen tree.
Also that full wrap is good for landing men and fallers when limbing the tree. And needing to spin and twist saw every which way to get at the limbs. I liked the full wrap
Well said.
Their trees, terrain, log values, etc., are different.
Bob Ross of the Great Forests.
Also ive watched some videos rhe last few years on ytube. And havent seen a videonshowing people how to put a chain back on the bar when it comes off, without having to loosen everything up. Maybe you could do a video of how to safely put a chain back on the bar without loosening everything.
I did a TH-cam short about putting a chain on that way about a year ago. It was a very controversial video but it got over 1 million views. A whole bunch of people telling me all the reasons why I can’t and shouldn’t put a chain on that way. Even though many of us have been doing it for decades. I followed it up with kind of a snarky longform video showing how to do it and poking a little fun at all the negative commenters. Maybe I should do another one for all those who didn’t see those.
@@WilsonForestLands thanks. I'll have to look it up and watch them. Thanks and be safe.
What really is the difference between cutting your 70 first over your 180?
Your angled face over your diving face?
I’ve always made my 70 cut first. Does it really matter, so much as your not blowing past your mark?
Never ran into a case where my 70 first was a bad decision.
*(I find it easier to meet a 180 to a 70 than a 70 to a 180)*
I always bore cute behind my hinge wood, then follow it with my 180 trigger cut.