Free Sample
The Complete Handbook of Chainsaw Accessories
A practical reference for professionals, businesses, and serious hobbyists: how to select, fit, maintain, and profit from the bars, chains, sprockets, and safety gear that decide how well a chainsaw actually performs.
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: Understanding Chainsaw Accessories
The Cutting System: More Than Just the Saw
A chainsaw is often treated as a single tool, but to understand accessories, you need to see it as a platform. The powerhead - the engine or motor, the crankcase, the handles, and the trigger - is the part that produces motion and vibration. Almost everything that actually determines how the saw behaves in the cut is an accessory. The guide bar is an accessory. The chain is an accessory. The sprocket that drives the chain is an accessory. The oil that lubricates the whole arrangement is an accessory. The file that sharpens the chain is an accessory. The chaps that protect your legs in a kickback event are accessories. All of these parts and tools are replaceable, serviceable, and, crucially, selectable. You can buy a single saw and radically change its character by swapping accessories: a short bar for limbing, a long bar for milling, a skip-tooth chain for softwood felling, or a carbide-tipped chain for cutting through dirty, abrasive wood.
This is the fundamental premise behind this handbook. Your saw's engine is a fixed asset, but the accessory system is a variable you control. Understanding that system is what separates a person who merely operates a chainsaw from one who uses cutting equipment as a precision tool. A chain the owner calls "dull" might simply be a wrong choice of chain angle for the wood being cut. A saw that "won't hold a tune" might