hedgeburner said:
I like cutting wood in the summer I would rather be deer hunting or sitting by the stove in the winter the only downfall to summer cutting is the poison ivy,oak, and sumac crawling up my dead trees. Anyway forget about that just bi@#***chin
!! I have heard that if you drop a tree in the summer and let it set a week or so the leaves will pull the sap out of the tree thus stopping the rapid dulling of chains. Does this work? THe reason I ask is I have about 5 hedge trees I need to drop and cut up so that I can have a clear path to some of my other seasoned wood and having chains sharpened at $6 bucks a piece will get old in a hurry!!
Hedgeburner, I also like to hunt deer but still much prefer cutting wood during the winter months. We always start cutting right after deer season.
Believe it or not, poison ivy can still get you in the winter! Don't believe me? Just cut through some ivy vines and have that sap and sawdust on you then rub your hands on it. You will become a believer in not time at all. However, the good part is you usually have gloves on in the winter months.
Now for cutting wood and leaving them a week (or better two or three weeks). There is just a little bit of truth to this...but not much. It will take some of the sap from the tree okay, but it certainly will not season that wood. Actually, it makes very little difference whether you cut the wood right away or wait the 2 or 3 weeks from our experience. Cut the tree in the fall or winter and you have a much better situation altogether as there is much less sap then.
Now for the dulling of chains. It is not sappy wood that dulls chains! Dry wood will dull a chain much, much faster than sappy wood.
Now at $6.00 for sharpening a chain, you can save yourself many, many dollars very quickly. As one stated, a dremel tool works great if you don't want to file. I bought one at the local Stihl dealer for $25 and it sharpens the chain fast and saves my hands. Northern Tool also sells a sharpener that is basically the same thing. The larger units for a workbench work just as good but no better and cost a lot more.
If you are worried about not knowing how to sharpen the chain, the tool has a gauge on it to show you the proper angle. A couple seconds on each tooth is all it takes and you will learn fast while saving a lot of dollars. They you won't even have the expense of taking the chain to the shop to have it sharpened.
In short, cut your wood, split it, stack it and let it season. Do not depend on a few leaves to remove the sap. Better to let nature do it and cut the trees in the winter months. Besides, it is much more comfortable doing that hard work when the weather is cool rather than sweating all summer cutting wood. Excellent exercise during the winter months also.
