Purchased Dougherty Turbo Saw (3 point) - First Experience with Video

[christophercale]

Meow

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Drooooooool...... :licking:

What an awesome rig....way out of my price range! :hissyfit:

 

[Piston]

That's a really good point MG. I have been looking for over a year on craigslist off and on for a Turbo Saw. I keep hoping to come across one but haven't yet. I did see that there was one for sale in TX a month or two ago, way too far from me but the posting was already deleted. I imagine the resale would be pretty good on these saws as it's hard to find a used one. I'll keep looking for the time being but eventually I have a feeling I'll have to bite the bullet and buy new.

I believe this would be one of those implements I would never sell. My only concern at this point, is my land is very hilly, not incredibly steep, but almost none of it is flat. I wonder if I'd come across a lot of issues using it on hilly property.

 

[Piston]

That's a really good point MG. I have been looking for over a year on craigslist off and on for a Turbo Saw. I keep hoping to come across one but haven't yet. I did see that there was one for sale in TX a month or two ago, way too far from me but the posting was already deleted. I imagine the resale would be pretty good on these saws as it's hard to find a used one. I'll keep looking for the time being but eventually I have a feeling I'll have to bite the bullet and buy new.

I believe this would be one of those implements I would never sell. My only concern at this point, is my land is very hilly, not incredibly steep, but almost none of it is flat. I wonder if I'd come across a lot of issues using it on hilly property.

 

[My Gym]

I have been a bit **** about flush cuts so the fields could be used for haying. to get a very flush cut the blade angle to the ground is important. I have tried to get the areas putting green smooth. If I were doing a lot on hilly land and had rear hydro, I would get a hydro top link to adjust on the fly. It is also important how the blade angle changes raising and lowering the 3-point.

I too looked on Craig's list for a used turbo saw and the only one I found was virtually at price of new (just a savings of sales tax and shipping) with no warranty. I found a dealer that had one on display at an AG show. Purchased at the show and saved delivery.

If you have a need for it, your neighbors probably do too. It is not an item that you will use every day. You will quickly run out of trees and have other things to use the tractor for. It would be a good item for shared ownership.

 

[KSCOHunter]

CAUTION. I purchased a turbo saw and was generally pleased with the results. To be fair, I was cutting large cedars and was probably pushing the limits of the saw. However, after about 30 hours, the saw was binding a lot and I tried to rotate the carbon blade tips. I heated the tips as instructed on the web site and found them essentially impossible to unscrew. The Dougherty rep said that they changed the design to include specially made lock screws to keep the tips from coming loose. News flash...They indeed do not come loose...ever. My advice is to assume you will get about 40 really good hours and then the saw will be a great boat anchor. I am going to do my best to return the saw. I know...good luck.

 

[Piston]

CAUTION. I purchased a turbo saw and was generally pleased with the results. To be fair, I was cutting large cedars and was probably pushing the limits of the saw. However, after about 30 hours, the saw was binding a lot and I tried to rotate the carbon blade tips. I heated the tips as instructed on the web site and found them essentially impossible to unscrew. The Dougherty rep said that they changed the design to include specially made lock screws to keep the tips from coming loose. News flash...They indeed do not come loose...ever. My advice is to assume you will get about 40 really good hours and then the saw will be a great boat anchor. I am going to do my best to return the saw. I know...good luck.

Do you mean that the saw was binding because something was bent? Or because your teeth were too dull and it wasn’t cutting well, and therefor binding in the tree?

So the issue you are having is that you can not get the teeth off to rotate them?

 

[My Gym]

The cutting teeth are wider than the disc on a turbo saw. If the saw is binding it is not the teeth. I have owned a turbosaw for 4 years. It is like a chain saw, if you are having to back hard or it is not making wood chips as it cuts. Then the teeth are bad. I rotated my teeth because nearly every one was chipped by hitting T posts, electric fence posts, and inbedded barbwire. Yes the teeth are put in tight. I bent and broke 3 allen wrenches changing only about 1/2 of the teeth. I ended up using an impact wrench, and an impact grade allen socket with a propane torch to heat the locktite.

If the saw binds. It is because you are cutting at an angle and wedging the blade into the cut. If you are cutting large trees and the tree falls twards the cut. The tree will pinch the blade , stall, and bind the blade. Adjust your top link on the 3 point so that you are making a level cut. On larger trees make sure the tree lean is away from the saw. Or!!! Increase RPM and backup faster.

 

[christophercale]

My experience pretty much matches that of poster "My Gym". The only exception being that I had no problem backing out the bolts on the teeth to rotate. Yes, they were very tight. I had to use an allen socket and socket wrench to gain enough leverage to back out the bolts. I rotated my teeth 3 times before deciding to get a new set.

When I ordered the new teeth, I also ordered new bolts and lock washers. This is where I encountered my first problem. The bolts would not seat tightly enough to hold the tooth firmly to the blade. I spoke to a gentleman at Dougherty and he stated that they had changed the lock washers. I told him that they did not work for me and that I needed the old style lock washer. He sent the old style lock washers to me, and all was good after that.

Regarding the binding, I've had that happen also. Primarily with dull cutting teeth, or when I was coming in at a weird angle, or if the tree was large and pushing down on the blade after cutting into it deeply.

What I started doing on larger trees (12 inches or more), is I'll raise the saw up to where the PTO shaft is almost level with the ground, then make a first cut through the tree and use the hydraulic grapple to push the tree backwards as it's being cut. After the tree falls, I'll lower the saw to the ground and lop it off at ground level. For me anyway, this makes the ground level cut much easier and reduces binding.

 

[Piston]

For you guys that have had the saw bind, can you simply pull ahead and pull the blade right out of the cut without issue?

Of course I’m thinking about a chainsaw binding, and how difficult that can be to get out of the cut. I assume this is much different than what one experiences using the tree saw???

 

[christophercale]

For me anyway, when the blade binds, I'm usually going full throttle on the tractor and I race to disengage the PTO. At least on my tractor, the PTO will continue to rotate at full speed while the blade is firmly locked up in the tree. Thank goodness for the slip clutch on the saw.

I've always just been able to pull forward to disengage the blade from the cut in the tree. I have not had a situation yet where I could not pull the saw away from the tree. Now, having said that, I'll end up locked in a tree next time I go out cutting.