Wow! Hickory!

[vatmark]

So we had 2 trees taken down. They dropped them and we are cutting them up. One tree was a hickory and the other an oak. We have worked with oak before and it was never a problem. We worked on the hickory today to get it cut into rounds. Wow is that stuff hard. It tore up a brand new chain after cutting 1 round. The chain saw would start smoking before we even got through the round. It took us forever to only do a few sections of the tree. Our son sharpened one of our older chains and that did a little bit better than the brand new chain but we called it quits after a while and will probably have to sharpen the chain at least 2 more times to get the entire tree done.

 

[MEngineer24]

So we had 2 trees taken down. They dropped them and we are cutting them up. One tree was a hickory and the other an oak. We have worked with oak before and it was never a problem. We worked on the hickory today to get it cut into rounds. Wow is that stuff hard. It tore up a brand new chain after cutting 1 round. The chain saw would start smoking before we even got through the round. It took us forever to only do a few sections of the tree. Our son sharpened one of our older chains and that did a little bit better than the brand new chain but we called it quits after a while and will probably have to sharpen the chain at least 2 more times to get the entire tree done.

Makes some great firewood if you’re patient to let it season! Smells even better on the smoker though!

 

[Grizzerbear]

Depending on the species, more so pignut than scaly bark for example, hickory bark can really be hard on a chain itself. I've found if the hickory tree has been down for say 8 months or so.....the bark will normally peel right off the tree before cutting. Now I know some folks can't always let a tree lay that long but if you can it really is worth the few extra minutes to bust it off before cutting. Cuts down on the mess in the house and the little grub looking flat and round headed borers that eat the wood beneath the bark. It's some.......if not the.....best firewood and smoking wood on this here earth.

 

[ohlongarm]

So we had 2 trees taken down. They dropped them and we are cutting them up. One tree was a hickory and the other an oak. We have worked with oak before and it was never a problem. We worked on the hickory today to get it cut into rounds. Wow is that stuff hard. It tore up a brand new chain after cutting 1 round. The chain saw would start smoking before we even got through the round. It took us forever to only do a few sections of the tree. Our son sharpened one of our older chains and that did a little bit better than the brand new chain but we called it quits after a while and will probably have to sharpen the chain at least 2 more times to get the entire tree done.

Something seems amiss, I cut all this mostly hickory with only two chains, yes sparks were flying but no problems. are you sure you were getting oil to the sawblade? Good luck. Some rounds were three feet.

 

[Jags]

Nothing should be "smoking" while running your saw if things are correct. Double check your bar oiling and chain sharpness. I have cut plenty of hickory and even harder osage. Sparks? Yes. Smoking? No.

 

[JamesGuido]

Smells even better on the smoker though!

i'll agree 1000%
smoking pork belly into bacon using hickory with apple is Amazing... you should save some hickory for your grill

 

[Simonkenton]

I had to give up on hickory, i cant split it.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Hickory is a hard wood. if your going threw chains it may have metal or is dirty. Your saw shouldn't do that. Id also check the where on your bar also. At the end of the day.. your still just cutting wood.. the primary reason for dull chain is dirt,metal stones, grit.. Iv cut cords of Hickory.. never did that to me.

 

[MongoMongoson]

I have found that green hickory cuts easier than stringy dead standing ash. I scored some perfect sized hickory this last spring. Tall, straight, just over 20" at the base. It cut beautifully. We only have shagbark around here, that I have seen, so I have no experience with other hickories.

I have never come across any dead, dry hickory that I needed to cut to length, but I imagine that would be much harder to cut. That seems to be true of most actual hard hardwoods. ironwood is like that. It cuts fine when green, when dry it is a different story. My dad always said that's when you use the manual bar oil pumper, when you are cutting ironwood. I found a sharp chain works even better .

Softer hardwoods, like box elder, are the opposite. When green my saw can't clear the chips fast enough so it chokes itself on chips. Dry, it cuts just fine.

 

[wishlist]

I cut alot of shagbark , to me the worst is when you first start making a cut the scaly bark chips off and can hurt the legs . With shagbark I find dirt is causing dull chains sooner . Cutting near ag fields is worse than when I’m more in the woods . Still don’t pass on it tho and it will season quicker than oak .

 

[Flame On]

I cut a huge amount of shagbark both fresh felled and standing dead and I don't remember having trouble with the saw. Now splitting, that can be a pain. Shag can be stringy. Burns like a dream and that smell...

 

[vatmark]

The professional taking the tree down had issues as well so it wasn't just us. I do not know what type of hickory it is. It's not shagbark. It's also not a huge diameter tree. Not looking forward to splitting this stuff.

 

[wishlist]

That looks like pignut . Good firewood !

 

[Woodsplitter67]

That looks like pignut . Good firewood !

I agree.. iv cut a number of cords of it and never had issues

 

[Woody5506]

I cut a bunch of shagbark a few years ago with a whimpy ms211 and by the end of it yes things were smoking. The saw is just simply too underpowered for that tough of a wood. Also it was a 90 degree day so that was bad enough.

Fast forward to now, running a ms261 through hickory has not been an issue. Not sure what you're using for a saw but if it's underpowered it is probably taking a beating cutting that stuff.

 

[vatmark]

I cut a bunch of shagbark a few years ago with a whimpy ms211 and by the end of it yes things were smoking. The saw is just simply too underpowered for that tough of a wood. Also it was a 90 degree day so that was bad enough.

Fast forward to now, running a ms261 through hickory has not been an issue. Not sure what you're using for a saw but if it's underpowered it is probably taking a beating cutting that stuff.

It is a Stihl MS 250.

 

[Woody5506]

It is a Stihl MS 250.

power wise that's in between the 211 and 261 but I wouldn't say for sure that's the issue. Really just a brutal wood to cut.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

one of the fastest ways to beat up a loop is to force it through the wood..

 

[vatmark]

one of the fastest ways to beat up a loop is to force it through the wood..

We didn't force it through hence why it took forever.

 

[heavy hammer]

Hickory is great wood. Check the bar maybe it is slightly pinched.

 

[Smokeyhollow]

I personally don’t care for hickory. Most of my wood comes from triaxle log load and if there is any hickory you can bet the bark is full of rocks and mud and will waste a lot of time sharpening chains between each log. I usually let the load set a few weeks before cutting in hopes of rain cleaning off the logs but it doesn’t help much. I’ll take a load of beech and red oak anyday over hickory.