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Logging tape quality

Started by Quebecnewf, October 29, 2018, 05:33:00 AM

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Quebecnewf

This is just an observation . My first logging tape seemed to be better quality than the ones I am buying now. Had my first tape for about four years then lost it. Now it seems I am lucky to get two seasons out of a tape. All the numbers wear of or it kinks and finally breaks . Is it just me or has anyone else noticed this ?

Quebecnewf

nativewolf

Noticed as well.  US Tape was sold a few years ago.  My two newish ones lost half of screws in the cases within 2 months.  Tapes kinked, ends broke within a month, etc.
Liking Walnut

Wudman

Do you wrap the tag end of your tape?  I wrap from my nail to the zero mark with duct tape or good quality electrical tape.  It certainly helps with longevity.  Then again, I don't cruise much these days..........leave that to the younger contract guys.  My problem seems to be a big bubble developing in my clinometer.  I have 4 hanging on my board at the moment. 

Wudman
"You may tear down statues and burn buildings but you can't kill the spirit of patriots and when they've had enough this madness will end."
Charlie Daniels
July 4, 2020 (2 days before his death)

mike_belben

Ive never had a logging tape despite always kinda wanting.. I cant really justify the price.  If you bust yours and are in a bind, a busted old carpenter tape or new chinesium one with a sheetrock screw tapped through the metal an inch or so from the edge works pretty good and usually stays in the tape. If it backs out of wallowed hole i just move it an inch.

  I tacked a washer to the screw head to make a thumbscrew for unthreading it.  I tap it in with hatchet and then use hatchet to mark out the bucks with a notch.  Works well enough i dont bother going to anything else.  I also cut sticks to length and place them here and there when trying to get 3 logs out of a twizler tree.

Probably too hillbilly for the pros but we make do here. 
Praise The Lord

Quebecnewf

Quote from: mike_belben on October 29, 2018, 11:50:45 PM
Ive never had a logging tape despite always kinda wanting.. I cant really justify the price.  If you bust yours and are in a bind, a busted old carpenter tape or new chinesium one with a sheetrock screw tapped through the metal an inch or so from the edge works pretty good and usually stays in the tape. If it backs out of wallowed hole i just move it an inch.

 I tacked a washer to the screw head to make a thumbscrew for unthreading it.  I tap it in with hatchet and then use hatchet to mark out the bucks with a notch.  Works well enough i dont bother going to anything else.  I also cut sticks to length and place them here and there when trying to get 3 logs out of a twizler tree.

Probably too hillbilly for the pros but we make do here.
I'm not sure that would work for me . My tape hangs on my logging tool belt . Your in the bush , limbs , in my case " snow" . Lots of sap, harsh going . Sticks " here and there " . Tried that as well but found out most of the time when I was here the stick was " there" . 
 Some guys use chain saw as measure . Too slow and not accurate for me . Some guys use an axe handle as a measure . Something else to carry besides the chainsaw .for me when I'm cutting logs I need everything " with me" no time to look for an axe or a measuring stick , and a regular carpentar tape ...well it's just that a carpentar tape . Not that good in the woods.
Quebecnewf 


mike_belben

I dont disagree.  My situation is different.. Im never far from the machine that carried all the gear in.  My belt holds my pants and thats it.  Not very well either i might add. 
Praise The Lord

Southside

I agree the quality has gone down hill as of late.  I thought perhaps it was just me.  I used to get the double sided re-fills with diameter on the back but these days they don't last long enough to make it worth it.  It seems the steel is less forgiving to any sort of snag or slight twist that will kink it when before they would rebound from abuse. 
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

mills

Yeah, the one I have is on its last legs. I cringe at the thought of having to open it up again. Probably won't. They're extremely handy, but I'm not sure I will buy another one either. Can't count the number of times I had to gather up handfuls of tape to carry back to the truck. :(

Quebecnewf

I don't understand why companies think that lower quality will go unnoticed. It sucks.

I am going to try another plan this winter . My partner ( wife) will have the tape on her belt . When I need a measure she will pass the end of the tape to me instead of me to her . I am thinking because I am doing all the chain saw work and am more " in the thick of it " this should make it easier on the tape .

I will keep the old battered, and soon to fail one , on my belt just in case .

oh well at least I've solved the problem of what to get her for Christmas.

Quebecnewf

Skeans1

One thing I've noticed is the spencer tapes and refills don't seem to like the shorter lengths much, seems like they always break at 17' for us almost never out at a 37 or a 41. A big help is to wrap the first foot or two with electrical tape, if I do my refills will last a long time if I don't I'm lucky to get a few weeks out of them.

Quebecnewf

Will try the tape idea on my next one . Either way it's a tool I need . Just have to put up with the shortcomings until someone makes a better quality one .

People will pay for quality . We used to sell a brand of commercial rubber clothes to the commercial fishermen . Factory went overseas . Quality went to hell. Now that brand sits on the shelf and the fishermen buy the more expensive , by a long shot , rubber gear made in Norway .

It's a lot more expensive up front but cheaper in the long run because it stands up to the job .

Quebecnewf 

lxskllr

Quote from: Quebecnewf on October 31, 2018, 07:12:25 AM

It's a lot more expensive up front but cheaper in the long run because it stands up to the job .

Quebecnewf
It's also less frustrating. I hate using junk. It's like a thorn prick all day long. Nothing that can't be dealt with, but it makes life suck a bit more. I'm not a logger, but almost all the tools and supplies I use on a daily basis have gotten worse over time. From power tapes, to lumber crayon, to hub tacks. I have solutions for some of them, but they're only temporary. In some cases, I'm down to one company that's only a design/supply decision away from making junk like the rest of them.
I don't mind spending money for something decent, but there aren't many companies worth giving my money to. I have zero brand loyalty anymore.

chep

I've had great luck with the EIA (original Windsor tape) made in Sweden. Comstock logging (ff sponsor) has them in stock. I can't stand Spencer tapes or husky tapes.  I have a tape splicing kit that comes in very handy. We cut most logs from 8 ft to 16ft and it tends to wear the end of the tape out over a course of a year or so. So I have old tapes or refills that I use to splice in a new section if it gets a kink etc

mike_belben

This thread has reconfirmed my decision to.never pony up for a logging tape.  For the money id expect a lifetime of service.  Guess I'll stick to my $3.99 tape and sheetrock screw for a while yet. 


Lets hope china doesnt start producing carhartts.
Praise The Lord

John Mc

Quote from: Skeans1 on October 31, 2018, 06:19:05 AM
One thing I've noticed is the spencer tapes and refills don't seem to like the shorter lengths much, seems like they always break at 17' for us almost never out at a 37 or a 41. A big help is to wrap the first foot or two with electrical tape, if I do my refills will last a long time if I don't I'm lucky to get a few weeks out of them.
Does it still wind back in OK with the tape on it?
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

John Mc

Quote from: Quebecnewf on October 30, 2018, 09:03:31 PMSome guys use chain saw as measure . Too slow and not accurate for me . Some guys use an axe handle as a measure . Something else to carry besides the chainsaw .for me when I'm cutting logs I need everything " with me" no time to look for an axe or a measuring stick , and a regular carpentar tape ...well it's just that a carpentar tape . Not that good in the woods.


If I'm just measuring firewood, I don't use a tape. Twisting the chainsaw to use the bar as a measuring stick gets old really quickly, and is too slow. My firewood gauge looks like this:

   

   

I just played with a friend's magnetic stick-on firewood gauge. It seemed handy, but just another thing to carry (and lose). I've seen a telescoping version that might fit in a pocket on my chaps, but was never interested enough to order one.

When I'm using a saw that doesn't have my gizmo on it, I sometimes grab a stick in my left hand and grip the front handle with the stick hanging out 16". sometimes I eyeball it and do "OK", but if the diameters of the logs I'm bucking vary, my eyeball calibration tends to vary right along with it (a 20" diameter log ends up getting cut a good bit longer than a 6" diameter log).
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

Skeans1

Quote from: John Mc on October 31, 2018, 09:41:58 AM
Quote from: Skeans1 on October 31, 2018, 06:19:05 AM
One thing I've noticed is the spencer tapes and refills don't seem to like the shorter lengths much, seems like they always break at 17' for us almost never out at a 37 or a 41. A big help is to wrap the first foot or two with electrical tape, if I do my refills will last a long time if I don't I'm lucky to get a few weeks out of them.
Does it still wind back in OK with the tape on it?
Yeah you put maybe three wraps pulled tight no issues. 

roger 4400

Paul, What I use is a wooden rod, 100 inches long with a 2 in. angle screwed to one tip  and a colored tape at 50 in. So I can easily make 100 in. 150 or 200 inches logs and do not care about any tape. Good luck ( going tomorrow  deer hunting the weather will be bad on friday. ) Take care Roger 
Baker 18hd sawmill, massey Ferguson 1643, Farmi winch, mini forwarder, Honda foreman 400, f-250, many wood working tools, 200 acres wooden lots,6 kids and a lovely and a comprehensive wife...and now a Metavic 1150 m14 log loader so my tractor is a forwarder now

Quebecnewf

I bit the bullet and ordered one from Comstock . The one made in Sweden . We will see how long it lasts the wife .

Quebecnewf 

Ed_K

 Your idea of your wife holding the tape is a great idea.
Ed K

quilbilly

I second the short lengths as bad for a Spencer tape. We use Spencer's and as long as we are bucking 24+ we get a year+ out of each tape before a refill. We almost never have to buy a new case though, we've gathered a bunch throughout the years. I couldn't imagine using a Carpenters tape. That sounds hard and annoying, even on short wood.
a man is strongest on his knees

Plankton

Not sure if quality is dropped since I bought a pile of refills a few years ago and havent been logging as much so havent used them up.
I will say the electrical tape on the first 2 ft extends tape life significantly once I started doing that I rarely broke tapes. I also put 50 ft refills in a 75 ft case for faster rewind so tape helps with the snap into the case.

Stoneyacrefarm

Plankton,
I've done the same as you with the tape for the first couple feet to make them last longer. 
Only thing I do different is I use the heavy duty clear shipping tape. 
That way you can still read the numbers. 
It doesn't last as long as electrical tape but the good stuff stays on for quite a while. 
Work hard. Be rewarded.

Quebecnewf

all good info guys. I really like the idea of the clear packing tape. The more I think of it the more  I like the idea of the wife having the tape on her belt.

Its just as easy for her to hand me the end of the tape to measure as what it is for me to hand her the end of the tape to measure.

Most of my problem is coming from the fact that I am using the chain saw and the wood is very gummy.

this gets all over the tape and sometimes it does not retract as it should. with part of the tape hanging out it is easily damaged. There is also the fact that I am in amongst the limbs a slash doing all the limbing . .


I will keep the old one on my belt just in case I need it...


Quebecnewf

Skeans1

Quote from: Quebecnewf on November 01, 2018, 02:07:52 PM
all good info guys. I really like the idea of the clear packing tape. The more I think of it the more  I like the idea of the wife having the tape on her belt.

Its just as easy for her to hand me the end of the tape to measure as what it is for me to hand her the end of the tape to measure.

Most of my problem is coming from the fact that I am using the chain saw and the wood is very gummy.

this gets all over the tape and sometimes it does not retract as it should. with part of the tape hanging out it is easily damaged. There is also the fact that I am in amongst the limbs a slash doing all the limbing . .


I will keep the old one on my belt just in case I need it...


Quebecnewf
During our wet season with a ton of mud I'll get the guys 100' tapes with 50' refills it'll allow the tape to still retract we'll being gummed up.

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