My wood.......................

[WoodMann]

My main tres are pinon pine as is native to the area which is dotted with Ponderosa. Many of you may be familiar with the Bark Beetle onslaught of a few years ago. Due to this I am the beneficiary of a good many trees, here's the thing and probably a good one at that. Many of these trees dead trees seem to have become seasoned by themselves as when I cut them the bark practically falls off by itself or is very very easy to remove and there doesn't seem to be a big need for drying. Big question here is- does the wood become harder as it seasons? My saw gets chewed up prety good from just a few of these.
Main thing that brings me to ask this is because I cut down a tree earlier today and it seemed soft and much easier and faster to cut thru than the other afforementioned trees, yes- pinon as well. Also when I split the cuts the what I believe to be the dry ones take a little more effort- hand operated slpitter, and almost 'snap' apart whereas these from this morning the wedge kinda sank in a little bit then a split formed and the wood came apart. Would pictures help? Like I said, what I believe to be the dry stuff has a healthy thud to it, I swear you could make furniture or a baseball bat with this stuff..................

 

[jebatty]

Never thought about wood getting "harder" when it dries, but green wood for me always splits easier than dead or dry wood, and frozen green wood splits the easiest. As to the chainsaw dulling quickly, based on where you live you might be getting sand blown into the bark as the tree grows, gets trapped in the wood, and is abrasive when it's cut. Where I live we have red oak, sandy soils, and windy, and our oak has sand in the bark/wood - tough on the saw.

 

[stanleyjohn]

Here in the north east i recently cut several dead trees made up of mostly oak.This wood to me seems already seasoned!the bark falls right off and the wood seems very hard (almost petrified)and dry.I seem to be having the same problem as you cutting this wood with my chainsaw.At times the wood seemed to smoke rather than cut.I replaced the chain with a new one with same results.No problem cutting green wood!just the dead stuff.

 

[Todd]

I've seen the same problem with the dead Black Locust I've been processing recently. It's very hard and tough on the chains. You can also tell a difference when splitting. The dry or real dead stuff can be a pain compared to the green wood. I think it may very some from species to species but it seems most types cut and split easier when their a little green than fully dry.

 

[BrotherBart]

Long dead standing trees eat saw chains like popcorn.

 

[billb3]

green is easier to cut, shape, whittle and turn.

IIRC, has to do with water and cell structure.
Like a fresh apricot being easier to chew than dried.



We're losing red oaks here to some fungus/bacteria and other stresses and the ones that have lost a lot of bark and are 90 % or more dead are hard as nails. Even with my chain sharp and oiler on full blast I'll get a puff of smoke out of the chain near the end of the cut.

 

[stanleyjohn]

Since we all are talking about how our chainsaws take a beating with dead wood and i have cut over a cord of it already!Im hoping this wood will burn good next winter.

 

[BotetourtSteve]

IIRC, has to do with water and cell structure.
Like a fresh apricot being easier to chew than dried.

Exactly. Water = Lubrication, plus when wood dries, it condenses (shrinks) as well, creating a denser material.

IMO, black locust is the king of tough cuts when dry, not a breeze even when green.

 

[WoodMann]

Thanks guys- I feel alot beter now, was starting to think I was some oddball with my chains being eaten up seemingly regularly. At any rate, it dows burn nice and like I said in the my last post, this stuff in solid enough to make furniture out of..................

 

[jeffman3]

I am cutting dead and downed old growth elm. Stuff is dead and dry, but not "seasoned". It burns OK, but I am looking forward to next year when it's truly seasoned. Most have less then 30% bark left, but it is eating chains like nobodies business! I know the problem is sand and dirt, but not much I can do about it, except just keep changing the chains for a sharp one. I have one chain on the saw and try to keep a sharp one for replacement in the saw box. I can usually get about 1 1/2 pickup loads cut before I have to change the chain. I need to get both chains sharpened as of right now, so I need to get them to the shop. Yes.... I know I could do it, but they don't charge much to sharpen the chains and they do a great job.

 

[Dave_1]

Hi Jeff,

Used to do the same until forced to learn to use a file.
Neighbor had some dead standing hickory that he wanted down, problem was that he didn't say that it was hickory. :bug:

Since it was free it seemed like a no-brainer. But the trees would dull my sawchain in 4-5 cuts.
I'd swapped sawchain & get the same result. So loaded the 10 cuts & went to the hardware store for a file.
Until I got @ half way up those trees about 3 cuts & I'd have to hit the chain with the file.
Yup, it took forever but the wood burned longer.

fwiw do yourself & sawchains a favor.

Do not cut dead hickory & get the right file for your sawchain & touch it up after 10 or so cuts.

It will make your cutting easier & sawchains last longer. ;-)

 

[WoodMann]

Just popped into my head this question. Is there a better chain out there that I can get?

 

[dcummings]

I'm not chainsaw genius, but I am still on my first Stihl chain, have learned to sharpen it pretty well (through some trial and error AND asking people who know . . . or even better, WATCHING them!), and two years later am still cutting effectively with the same chain. When I started sharpening my cuts started to curve and I realized I was really sharpening the teeth on one side much more effectively than the other (flipped the bar just to make sure IT wasn't bent). Corrected that. Also learned to pay attention to the lines on the file guide (get one and also make sure you get the right sized file) so you're running it across at the right angle. Possible to sharpen in the field, but better to affix saw to your bench (or bar in a vise) so that saw doesn't move around. After a good round of cutting I just put it on my bench, sharpen it when I get a chance (by giving each tooth maybe 3 or 4 strokes), and put it back in the cabinet, all sharpened up, and sleep well until the next time I need it

I've heard that the mechanical sharpenings you can get at the chainsaw shop also temper / harden the teeth so that you can't sharpen them yourself any more (at least not as well). Anyone have experience with that?

 

[WoodMann]

I think I've got it now, I broke down and bought a couple rat tail files and a depth guage and a flat file with depth guage and I'm getting healthy chips and curls of wood...........

 

[mtarbert]

I am cutting dead and downed old growth elm. Stuff is dead and dry, but not “seasoned”. It burns OK, but I am looking forward to next year when it’s truly seasoned. Most have less then 30% bark left, but it is eating chains like nobodies business! I know the problem is sand and dirt, but not much I can do about it, except just keep changing the chains for a sharp one. I have one chain on the saw and try to keep a sharp one for replacement in the saw box. I can usually get about 1 1/2 pickup loads cut before I have to change the chain. I need to get both chains sharpened as of right now, so I need to get them to the shop. Yes.... I know I could do it, but they don’t charge much to sharpen the chains and they do a great job.


I don't know about grinding a chain Tempering the cutters.Sounds like a wives tale. Or a dull file. For me....I take 5 strokes (freehand) with a Round file on each tooth everytime I need gas. I cut 15-20 cords of oak and hickory a year and get my chains Shop sharpended once or twice a year. There is a chain with carbide cutters that someone on the net sells for trees that have lots of sand or other abrasive material that will ruin an ordinery chain. I will check where they can be purchased.

 

[jpl1nh]

I'm kind of wondering about this sand in the tree thing here. I cut a lot of dead, much of it lying dead. Trees can't take up sand, they do take up and store silica in their cell walls. Whatever plants take up from the soil has to pass through cell membranes on it's way into the plant and the only things small enough to pass through cell membranes are materials in solution, basically salts. Silica is taken up by plants in solution. Certain plants accumulate more silica than others and it toughens cell walls making them very hard. I agree dead wood is very hard and tends to dull saws quicker. Lying dead often has soil clinging to it from being on the ground and it can certainly dull saws in a hurry. There also may be the "splash factor" where soil is splashed onto the trunk by the rain near the soil line. But I think the bottom line for dry dead wood dulling saws faster is BotetourtSteve's explanation of poorer lubrication due to lack of water in dead wood.

 

[mtarbert]

I have to disagree with the Silica post. I have cut lots of center splits of oak on a Band Saw and have seen many Sparks coming off the blade. There is an abrasive getting Into the wood some how

 

[WoodMann]

Whatever the case, I have attained a higher level of undrstanding now- it sems. I was always sharpening below the top edge of the tooth while now with the guide- directing proper 30*n angle and holding the file about 20% above th top. Man- now this thing jams..............

 

[mtarbert]

I you are having problems with the file jamming...turn the direction of your cutting action. Turn the fils around and pull it (the file) . Remember a file only cuts in one direction.When cutting with a file push (or pull) in a single motion. Then on the back stroke don't let the file touch the work. That rapid back and forth action ruins a file and will make your father yell..........it did mine

 

[WoodMann]

I'm happy with the results. 4 of 5 strokes one way about every tahnkfull. Here's a pic...........

 

[Outdoorsman]

1) As a tree drys the wood contracts and is much denser.

2) When the bark comes off the wood develops small surface cracks. Wind blows and dirt gets into the cracks. This eats chains fast.

3) even if there's no dirt, the drier & much denser wood generates much more heat than does green wood. If you're bucking hard, the chain dulls in fewer cuts due to how hot it's getting. Take it a bit slower & the chain goes through a bit more wood before dulling.

All I know to do to help chains keep a edge is to open up the adjustable oiler on my saw wide open. I also run a bit thinner oil to increase oil volume, this is all you really can do if your saw lacks a adjustable oiler. Yeah, it still smokes sometimes.

edit:

If I know I'm going to be cutting a number of trees of this type, most of all hickory or oak I take 3-4 chains for a day of cutting with me. That's the best way of all to deal with standing long dead trees.

But standing cured hardwood trees are about as good as it gets in my opinion. By standing cured I mean trees that have been standing dead for 3-4 years. Burn just great! ! Also reduces the need for splitting the wood as without the water content you can handle large portions easier. When cutting with a buddy who has a ODWB, if it's standing dead and we can lift it, it doesn't get split.

Although, the 029 listed in my sig did die this way. Had cut about 3 cords of dead Elm & then started in on a dead shagbark hickory....about the 4th cut the clutch blew & took the auto oiler with it....traded it on my 460.