Thread: File, file and more file.

Cool day yesterday… good day to work on those two 30+” oaks I put on the ground last month.

About 10 minutes in I hit a chunk of steel laying under one of the large limbs… damn, brand new chain too, but savable, just a few cutters nicked. Decided to install the longer bar and work on the trunk; first cut I hit fencing embedded in the tree, tore off over half the cutters… damnit, twice in less tan 30 minutes and one chain is now trash. Swapped out the chain again and moved up to the main crotch… can someone explain to me how a stone the size of my fist gets imbedded in the crotch of a tree some 15 feet in the air? DAMNIT! Three chains in less than 30 minutes… ???

I almost quit right there… but swapped the chain again (good thing I keep around a dozen chains). Actually manage around 5-hours of cuttin’ before I rocked another chain… all my fault, getting’ tired and made a mistake. So last night, lucky me, I spent over two hours with the files… and a box-o-beer. Amazingly only lost one chain, but shortened the lifespan of three others.

A fist sized stone in a crotch some 15 feet in the air… C’mon!

I feel your pain

For $30 the harbor freight sharpener saves a lot of labor getting a chain back in shape after you hit something. You still have to give it a couple of strokes with a file to get a good edge but better than the alternative.

I've had days like that too, Spidey. Not fun. Consecutive cuts on different parts of the tree cost me two new chains. Unlike you, I quit for that day.

Next time you cut will go better for sure. You may only rock TWO chains! hehheh

Ted

For a minute there I thought it was going to be an IRS thread.

One log 4 chains, many years back this one was pluged in various places with cement which it then grew around. Lucky me I found them all in about 30 minutes.

Man that bites. Too much hardware for one day. I can't figure how a rock ended up 15' high in a crotch. Unless someone threw it up there long ago and the tree grew around it.

We have several makeshift fenceposts here on the lot. The previous owners stapled barbwire to the trees to make a horse pen. I've been removing the wire and have cut down a few, above where the wire is sticking out.

I always worry that I'll come into a situation like you describe. Eventually my luck is gonna run out and I'll hit some hidden hardware.

Originally Posted by Fred Wright

Man that bites. Too much hardware for one day. I can't figure how a rock ended up 15' high in a crotch. Unless someone threw it up there long ago and the tree grew around it.

We have several makeshift fenceposts here on the lot. The previous owners stapled barbwire to the trees to make a horse pen. I've been removing the wire and have cut down a few, above where the wire is sticking out.

I always worry that I'll come into a situation like you describe. Eventually my luck is gonna run out and I'll hit some hidden hardware.

I hit a bullet once. Grabbed the chain, the engine kept pulling and broke the nose sprocket, then it threw it. So, bar and chain needed replacing.

I've hit barbed wire, too, but it cut it, luckily enough, it was rusty enough.

Originally Posted by Fred Wright

Man that bites. Too much hardware for one day. I can't figure how a rock ended up 15' high in a crotch. Unless someone threw it up there long ago and the tree grew around it.

We have several makeshift fenceposts here on the lot. The previous owners stapled barbwire to the trees to make a horse pen. I've been removing the wire and have cut down a few, above where the wire is sticking out.

I always worry that I'll come into a situation like you describe. Eventually my luck is gonna run out and I'll hit some hidden hardware.

Just came in from my wooding site. Got 2 trees to remove on a fence line. 2 wire bob stapled then hogwire below that some genius decided to staple EACH line wire. Some grown in. Worse, farmer wants a low stump left (4-8"). I figure to cut above all the wires then go back and try to cut between two of the hogwire line wires. Betting it won't work. DBH 24" or better.

Harry K

That sucks! I keep hitting hammer nails when cutting pine trees. Some folks are getting the resin this way.

Bummer

This is the weirdest thing I've hit in a tree. This was in a Ceder tree a real old Ceder I may add



It's about 10" and its square

I hate yard trees.

Originally Posted by zogger

I hit a bullet once. Grabbed the chain, the engine kept pulling and broke the nose sprocket, then it threw it. So, bar and chain needed replacing.

That's really strange zogger ... I've hit several bullets, including full metal jacket, and the chain rips right through 'em ... just copper and lead

The bullets I remember. Our father was a city cop, he and his buddies would hang a paper target on a tree at fishing camp for pistol practice.

I worry about hardware in trees here where there's been fencing and bobwire. People drive nails, kids build treehouses. Over the years, the tree grows over that stuff and you don't know it's there.

Heep hitting that metal guys and in a few years you'll be trained up for residential arboriculture cutting!

Originally Posted by Big L

That's really strange zogger ... I've hit several bullets, including full metal jacket, and the chain rips right through 'em ... just copper and lead

Hit it with my little 137 husky, small chain. No match for that slug. I have no idea where it is now, I split it out of that piece, but it's lost in my junk or I'd post a pic. It sparked for a second, then the sprocket went, then the chain came off, like real fast like. Went and bought a used set at the local shop for..I forget now, six or eight bucks. Maybe it was a steel core surplus round. I don't recall exactly, it was a little deformed, looked 30 caliber-ish.

Nine-wire boundary fence untouched for probably 20 years. More than enough time for birds to drop seeds that grow into decent sized trees swallowing at least two wires each tree. Like a tree cutters rubic cube trying to figure out what's stopping what from coming free. Never had a single day making it out of there without swapping out at least two chains. Essentially, cut above the fence then cut an inch or two above and below each wire so the resulting cookie can be hacked open with an axe (without breaking the wire) to reveal it's weapon of chain destruction, starting from the top wire down, one wire/cookie at a time. Kinda demoralising getting to the end of a hard day and looking back to see you've only cleared a max 150' of fence line and still have an hour or more chain restoration to do when you get home, only so you've got fresh chains to wreck the next day

Ahhh, I feel better already.