Spencer 75 ft Loggers Tape, 8ths, No Diameter

This Spencer loggers tape is a 75 ft spring-return tape graduated in feet, inches and 8ths, with no diameter scale on the back. It clips to your belt, hooks into the end of a log and pays out as you walk, so a sawyer can measure and mark cuts without a helper.

How a logging tape works

A logging tape is built for one person working alone in the woods. The tape lives in a case on your belt, and the free end has a sharp hook or nail. Drive the hook into the end of the log, walk down the log, and the tape pays out behind you. When you reach the length you want, mark the cut with your saw. A flick of the tape pops the hook loose and the spring pulls it back into the case.

Spencer is the name most sawyers think of when they hear original loggers tape. Their tapes have been a standard on landings and in firewood yards for a long time, and parts and refills are easy to find.

The case is the part you will notice most. A good one sits flat on the belt, does not catch on brush and lets the tape pay out smoothly at any angle. Spencer cases are built for that kind of daily use, which is why many sawyers have been wearing the same case for years with just a refill or two.

Why 8ths and no diameter

This version is graduated in feet and inches down to eighths, which suits anyone cutting to specific lengths for sawlogs, firewood rounds or customer requests. It has no diameter scale on the reverse side. Diameter tapes are useful for timber cruising and scaling, but if you only buck to length, a plain length tape is simpler to read.

A 75 ft tape covers most bucking work on tree service jobs and in the woods. You can measure a full trunk on the ground and lay out several cuts in one walk, which saves trips back and forth with the saw running.

Accurate lengths matter more than people expect. A mill may dock or reject logs that come in short, and a firewood customer who asked for 16 inch rounds will notice when half of them are 20. A tape takes the guesswork out of eyeballing cuts against the bar.

Using it on tree jobs

On removals, a logging tape helps when a customer wants wood cut to set lengths, when you are bucking sawlogs for a mill, or when you are cutting to fit a trailer or a log truck. Mark cuts with a quick nick from the saw or a lumber crayon, then come back and buck.

Never measure a log that is moving, rolling or under tension, and keep the tape and your hands clear of the chain when someone else is bucking. Hook the tape, step back, then call the cut.

Clip the case where it does not interfere with your saw hand. Many sawyers wear it on a logging belt with their wedges and a file.

On big trunks, lay out every cut before you start the saw. It is faster to walk the log once with the tape and mark each length than to stop between cuts, and it lets you plan around crooks, forks and defects so you get the most usable wood.

Care and refills

Let the tape rewind under control instead of letting it snap back, which wears the hook and the spring. Wipe off mud and sap now and then, and keep the case out of the chipper chute. When the blade finally kinks or snaps, a refill puts it back to work without replacing the whole case. See the Spencer 50 ft refill and confirm the refill length matches your case before you order.