Tips for cutting through moss covered bark

[Sodbuster]

I need to take down a bunch of Honey Locust that are starting to clog my property. The problem is that most of the trunks are covered in moss which is filled with dirt. I can usually make it through about one or two small trees, (just downing them) so two cuts, and my chain is toast. Any ideas or techniques I can use to get around this problem? Thanks

 

[Jon1270]

Wow, that doesn't sound fun. I've never had to deal with that, but if you've got a lot of this work to do then maybe a carbide chain would be worthwhile.

 

[Hogwildz]

Scrape the moss off first. Or if the moss is more on one side, spin it around so that the moss is on the bottom.

 

[Sodbuster]

That's what i was thinking too Hogz, I'm going to take a hatchet and make a ring to cut in. Man is that thorny stuff nasty to cut.

 

[SeanBB]

Try this. When the chain has blunted use it to pre-cut only the moss where you are going to cut. A blunt chain should cut through moss easily. When all the pre-cuts have been made use a sharp chain to finish the job. It will take a bit of time but so does sharpening the chain every two cuts. Or maybe remove the moss with a wire brush? Obviously only where you are going to make the cut.

 

[snavematt]

I cut a lot of Locus on my property usually downed or standing dead/half dead, I use a hatchet to knock off the bark where Im going to start my cut and try an get as much as I can off. 99% of the locus in my piles have no bark now

 

[Babaganoosh]

How far is it away from a water hook up?

If it's close use a power washer.

 

[Sodbuster]

How far is it away from a water hook up?

If it's close use a power washer.

Great idea, but way too far for a water hook up. I'll try several of the suggestions to see what works the best.

 

[jetsam]

Bring two saws. Put your stumping chain on the small one and use that one to girdle the trees where you're going to cut.

 

[maple1]

Wire brush?

I've used that a couple times on a windfall, to cut the trunk off up close to an upturned root ball that had dirt all over it. Not sure how it would work here....

 

[Bad LP]

There's an idea. Wire wheel and a cordless grinder.

 

[mark cline]

When you make your cut, run the chain so that it comes out of the wood then through the moss. Turn it over like Hogwildz said .

 

[maple1]

Ya, after I wrote about wire brush, I had a second thought about a wire wheel in a cordless drill.

A bigger wheel in a cordless grinder would be even more capable, if you've got a cordless grinder - should buzz around a line of cut in no time. I repainted my winter steel wheels last spring, and wire wheeled them first with a Red Greened wheel + corded grinder setup. It spun that wheel like 2x what the specs on it said to (like, 10,000rpm vs. 4500), but it sure peeled stuff off in a hurry. It also kicked off bits of wire too though, some of which periodically showed up over the following months in most unexpected places & ways. Ouch...

 

[Tar12]

You can start by getting a carbide chain and girdling every single one of them up waist high or past the point of moss in advance.Give it a year and the bark will fall off. That locust will last a long time standing dead.A lot less hassle.What type of chain do you currently run?

 

[Sodbuster]

Standard Husqvarna H30 chain.