Back to it

After our morning walk Fin and me went out to get some fresh gas this morning and then got stuck into the firewood again. Nights in the low 40's and day temps in the mid 60's are just right for this sort of thing.

Perfect weather for putting up wood Scuba, we're having the same temps here in my area of the U.P., and I'm putting up firewood myself. Could you tell me a little bit about those teeth on your tractor bucket? Are they readily available, weld on or bolted?

Good deal, Michael. Can't ever have enough wood.

looks like work....

Glad to see you are properly supervised

The bases of the teeth are weld on and the teeth themselves are pinned to the bases. You can change them out for different styles. Thes are rock teeth that I got together with the bases at the local Caterpillar guys in Knoxville. i welded them to a flat bar, that is held on the bucket with two bolts in the side of the bucket. They hook under the bucket as well, so those 2 bolts are not taking up any of the break out force when digging of ripping stuff. It makes a difference of night and day when you want to move some dirt. They are also rood for ripping out briars, blackberries and the likes. Its an easy little project to build and when not needed, undo the two bolts and pull the strip of the bucket ....... I leave them on 90% of the time and only take them off when I wand to do some finer grading.

Nice tooth bar scuba. I bought the Heavy Hitch tooth bar for my john deere 1025r. It makes a world of difference

Very Nice Tools

The heavy hitch one is a nice one for sure, but it was A : out of my budget as it is pretty pricey and B: they did not make one to fit the bucket of my tractor.
So I got out the plasma cutter and welder and made my own at a fraction of the price they want for theirs.

But you are right it makes a BIG difference having that thing on there. I read that it would improve things a good bit but was surprised of how much it really was.
I guess for the little 1025R it is even more noticeable as it has a lot less weight than my YT235 to push the bucket into the dirt

you are right scuba it is pricey for what it is. but i didn't have the equipment or materials laying around to build one and just figured by the time i bought the materials and messed up 2 or 3 times i would be money ahead buying one. lol

Probably right but then you would have the equipment to build other projects.

Sounds good in theory but the one minor detail I forgot about Is I don't have the time to build and make things so even with the equipment available it would not get gone in a timely manner.

I fix and make stuff for a living , so tools are at hand anyway and the knowledge how to use them as well i suppose. And this is really a quick and dry build. I don't think I even broke out a tape measure and just just and welded it together as is. 30 minutes later I was digging with it.

Thank you Scuba, you have a wealth of mechanical knowledge! I will be be putting one of those together this winter for my mx4700. I'm planing on digging out my barn floor next summer so I can pour it with concrete. Those teeth could make a big difference in breaking out the compacted surface. Also I've noticed your making great progress in the land lubber department. Lol😀

Digging the step into the hill where I am going to build the house was only possible because I have this tooth bar on the tractor. Its sandy clay, full of rocks or all sizes. When its dry, I cant put a scratch in the stuff with just the straight edge of the bucket.
As far as the land lubber part goes. Considering that up to 3 years ago all I grew of a long time was barnacles on the bottom of my boats, I am quite pleased with the results so far. Growing up in rural Germany did help and its a bit like riding a bike. It comes all back to you when needed. Ya never really forget things that one learned in the past.

Amazing

Pic of the saw is making me tired.
Is it front heavy?
Tell me it sports 32" x 3/8 x .050?
If so we have something in common.
Though mine mostly runs 24.

Its a MS661 and it balances out nicely ( is level when held with one hand ) with that Tsumura light bar. The bar is a 36" X 3/8 X .063 running a full comp chain that I grind round using a CBS disk. The saw is ported and I emptied the muffler of all unnecessary gubbins. It is actually more nose heavy with the 25" Stihl bar on it. I also have a 36" Stihl bar for it that I use for milling as it is very uncomfortable to use it for anything else. I have other saws, but this is the one I pick up over 90% of the time unless I do trail maintenance and have to walk a lot cutting just thin stuff along the way. Then I pick the little Husky 440 as I can use that with one hand working overhead etc. With the 36" bar i can buck logs without bending over too much, so I find it less tiring to work with than a smaller saw with a short bar. I have not picked up my 380 in over a year. When felling trees ... there are not many that i have to cut from two sides on my property with that bar either, making life easier on that front as well.
I don't have to sling that saw around for 8 hours a day every day. If I had to do that, I would probably use a slightly smaller one. But I get more done with a tank of gas using this one than a smaller saw. That again works out to be less tiring for me in my situation.

Did you do the engine work yourself?
Your thoughts before and aft, powerband etc?

I've done 4-cycles but not 2s yet.
My newer saws are bone stock, the oldies are far from stock.

Yes I did that myself. The 661 is not as high raving as the smaller saws but the mods did bring up the torque a good bit. The hardest part is getting the jug on and off ..or getting to it with all that is in the way. The rest is pretty easy . On the exhaust side of things, I dig welded a bit of stainless pipe on the exhaust exit as the hot gases were blowing onto the top of my chain cover plate. So to re direct those gasses forward id put the pipe on there. Added benefit of that was that it directed the sound forward as well to some extent. ... Still ,ear plugs or muffs are a must with this puppy.

You might check at rural king and see if they have a longer bar for that saw. That one looks like it barely reaches thru any of the logs you are sawing up ?? Just saying.......

Its about being able to stand up straight .. ish while bucking logs as my back ain't quite what it used to be. I can work longer with this setup than I can with a shorter bar on a smaller saw. I have them, but don't use them as this is easier on my back.
Also I find it hard to discus the virtues of different bar length with someone who’s tool of choice for pruning trees is a bass boat

It's always interesting to see what scuba1 comes up with.

Ok with that being said, you folks have to realize that this old Kraut is a moron and is learning a bunch of the land lubber things by trial and error. Sometimes I manage to incorporate way more than one error per trial. The things that I come up with in this process are things that WORKS FOR ME ... They may berry well not work for you. So if you wan to copy any of the things that I do, have at it, but you are on your own with that. Most folks know a lot more than I do with almost anything on land. so you'll be better off looking in their direction for advice. Now add water and its a different matter. Just be aware of that.

Joking aside jbyrd63

The stuff I am cutting up for firewood is mostly the tops of the trees I fell. For the bottom bits I have to cut from both sides at times even with that bar.



For the Wright Brothers, here is what I meant with welding a piece of stainless pipe to the exhaust exit to deflect the hot gases from the chain cover plate.


And its definitely turning to fall more by the day. More so with the cool nights now.

I got exactly what you said scoob,
wish you were closer I'd hire you to weld and mill on mine.

I KNOW tools can be improved.
Have three saws here that are trying to melt the brake flag off.
And on sites this big, there's always someone, usually less experienced,
who claims the factory set up is the best.

PS The big bar I mentioned is made for stihl,
but my big saw is husky.
YOU CAN'T DO THAT LOL

Probably back to cutting tomorrow for me.

I can recommend the Tsumura light bar. It took me some time to get ahold of one but the steel of those is head and shoulders above anything else I have tried out. I have probably wore out 5 or 6 chains on this bar now and have not had a file on it yet to dress it. Looks like it did on day one. I'll never buy anything else. I do not do a lot of bore cutting so don't know how the tip will hold up to folks that bore cut every hard wood tree they stumble across. But it looks fine to me and they are exchangeable as well. Time will tell.

That reminds me, I have to give jbyrd63 his saw back