What Is A Bucking Spike And How To Use?

Their names are endless: Bucking spikes, dog teeth, bumper spikes, felling dogs, dawgs—you name it. They’re the chainsaw’s back-bar spikes. These pets are nuisances for some.

Chainsaw bucking spike help woodworkers, but are they necessary? Bucking spikes, which are optional on chainsaws, give the sawyer stability and leverage by anchoring the saw. This is very helpful for cutting firewood or larger logs.

They have drawbacks. Let’s explore bucking spike’s purpose and limitations so you may decide if they’re right for you.

What Is Bucking Spike?

Bumper Spikes are sharp metal spikes at the saw’s base make sawing easier and more controlled. Then pivot the bar downward to guide the chain into the cut. Upgrade your saw’s bumper spikes if they don’t work. 

Bucking spikes are a type of chainsaw accessory that is used to assist in stabilizing the saw against a tree or branch.

Bucking spikes are not only an excellent safety element, but they also help relieve any weariness that may be caused by excessive motion. This IS a wonderful characteristic for folks who use a smaller or larger chainsaw for extended periods of time.

Purpose Of Bucking Spikes

Chainsaws are powerful, high-energy machines that we take for granted. Controlling this energy is harder when they’re bigger. As the saw’s engine spools faster, momentum raises the bar, which might create kickback if the chainsaw tip touches something. Here comes the bucking spike.

• Bucking spikes allow the sawyer to secure the chainsaw into the tree or log, giving them great control and precision.
• The chainsaw can be levered to cut more forcefully using the Bucking spikes as an anchored fulcrum.
• Bucking spikes lessen the risk of kickback and increase operator safety. Operators need additional safety gear even with dogs.

How To Install A Bucking Spike?

These are the basic steps for installing bucking spikes on your chainsaw:

1. To begin, remove the cover from the clutch and loosen the bar.

2. Conduct an internal cleaning of your chainsaw.

3. Secure the bucking spike’s enclosure with bolts and place it outside the cover.

4. After that, you give it a push upward so that it stays within that groove.

5. Make sure that each of the bolts are as tight as possible to secure the bucking spike.

6. Replace the cover on the clutch mechanism. Just keep in mind that you should begin with your chain and that it should be placed inside the bar. Ensure that the chain is properly secured and that it is not causing any obstructions. Be careful not to overtighten it.

7. Put the pieces of the chainsaw together.

How To Use Bucking Spikes Right?

Learn how to use the bucking spikes on the saw as a pivot point when felling or bucking. This technique will make it easier for you to control the saw and make it work better, all while making you less tired.

When you cut with the bottom of the bar, the chain saw moves away from you. When you cut with the top of the bar, the saw comes back toward the sawyer.

Cutting with the bottom of the bar makes the work go faster and makes the sawyer less tired.

Always keep the chain of the saw from getting dull. This will keep people from getting tired for no reason and reduce the chances of kickbacks and barber chairs.

Keep the chain off the ground and away from the rocks.

Use an ax to trim the bark away from the area to be cut on uprooted trees with dirt and rocks in the bark.

Which Kind of Bucking Spikes Should You Use: Single or Dual?

There is no doubt that installing two bucking spikes on a chainsaw; one on each side of the bar will improve the sawyer’s ability to maintain a firm grip and maintain control.

On the other hand, not all chainsaws are built to accommodate the attachment of two bucking spikes. If the model of the chainsaw was not intended by the manufacturer to be equipped with two bucking spikes, then the saw will require significant modification in order to be outfitted with the attachments.

 It is best to consult the owner’s handbook of your chainsaw to determine what attachments are compatible with your specific model.

What Teeth Size Should You Use?

There are two sorts of bucking spikes: small-toothed and large-toothed. One’s choice relies on what they’re cutting.

For Large Trees

Larger trees with thicker, softer bark, like cedars and pines, employ larger teeth. The saw’s long teeth cut through the bark without slipping. With larger logs, they can also give the sawyer extra leverage over the cut by sticking out further.

For Small Trees

However, smaller teeth are better for thinner, harder bark and smaller trees. Larger spikes won’t help if the tree bark is thin or hard to penetrate, thus shorter teeth will expose more of the bar.

Advantages Of Bucking Spikes

• Bucking spikes perform at larger timbers. As logs grow in diameter, the sawyer’s pressure on the saw is spread across a broader area, reducing pressure per square inch.
• The operator can apply pressure more consistently and readily by securing the saw with bucking spikes and using it as a fulcrum to leverage it.
• The same approach can be utilized to considerably minimize workload and fatigue from continual cutting operations like firewood chopping.
• It’s crucial to make every cut as easy as possible because cutting a thousand times will wear you out, even if the logs are small.
• Using the bottom of the bucking spikes to bear into the log and lever the bar into the cut, the sawyer can cut through a cord of wood like butter.

Disadvantages Of Bucking Spikes

• When you add bucking spikes to your chainsaw, you lose a little bit of cutting length on the bar, but this can be made up for by using the right size teeth.
• The biggest problem with bucking spikes is that they create a space where small sticks and brush can get stuck as the chain pulls the material toward the dogs.

This is a big thing to think about if you use saws a lot in your yard, which is why many small chainsaws for homeowners don’t come with a bucking spike.

Think about these problems before you decide whether or not to use them.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)