Hickory - tearing my chain up bigtime.

[eriklane]

24" hickory I think, masively hard, fresh wood, cut the tree a month ago. I have full chisel chains and semi chisels, and even a skip tooth semi, and none of them make it thru the log more than 2 times without a total redo. Craziness. Anyone have this? Suggestions? Husky 394, 24" and 33" bars.

 

[Fish]

metal in the wood

 

[Slamm]

Use Stihl chain, we just finished bucking up about 40 of those hickory's most were 24" or bigger through the middle. I ran out of 20" chains and threw an old not very used Carlton full comp semi chisel chain ..... it lasted two cuts in clean shag bark hickory. The other three saws had full skip semi Stihl chain an we were cutting a couple of tanks through each before sharpening.

Chisel chain and hickory is a bad idea, it will rip the sharp corner right off of the tooth in about 3 fast spins.

Sam

 

[c5rulz]

Is this shagbark hickory that sat by a farm field or sand all it's life? The tree will be impregnated with dirt and be mighty hard on chains. I would stick with semi chisel rather than chisel chain.:msp_thumbup:

 

[cheeves]

Had a similar experience when I moved to Ohio in '81. Had been in the firewood business back here and had started using the old Zip Penn chains. Started cutting that Ohio hickory and found out real fast what a bad idea those ZP (Cutterr's Choice) chains were. Went down the local Stihl dealer and got some semi-chisel chain and stayed with them the whole time I was out there. Only way I could cut that Pig Nutand Shaggy bark Hickory and the Osage Orange, not to mention all the locust. Wood cutter's Paradise!!

 

[deye223]

we put up with that all the time over here sams rite stihl chain helps in a big way RMC that is

 

[palogger]

try filing your chain with so that the top plate is almost straight across, same goes for cutting frozen hard maple

 

[Anthony_Va.]

I think your wood must be imbedded with dirt. Trees near roads will get this and Hickory is bad for it.

I'm with Sam, semi chisel is better for Harder wood like Hickory and Hedgeapple. But I cut alot of Hickory and with full chisel chain and mine still hold up through a tank anyways.

If you're not getting through three cuts without having to sharpen then your wood has to be dirty.

I use Stihl and Oregon chain and the Stihl does hold an edge longer.

 

[gcdible1]

The bark on hickory seems to grab the cutters on the chain and the straplike structure of it will cause em to spark and pull away from the bar and bind up. A real pain but, the finished product is gold. High btu output and is very dense at over 4000 lbs a cord green. I cut some locust this year and love it! Hard as a rock and unlike hickory is ROT resistant. If u cut a hickory get it loaded, dont leave it in the woods until next time. Locust is very hot burning, dense stuff that will last for years laying outside on the wet ground. Splits great too!

Sorry to derail that post but they both sure eat chains!!

 

[outdoortype]

The bark on hickory seems to grab the cutters on the chain and the straplike structure of it will cause em to spark and pull away from the bar and bind up. A real pain but, the finished product is gold. High btu output and is very dense at over 4000 lbs a cord green. I cut some locust this year and love it! Hard as a rock and unlike hickory is ROT resistant. If u cut a hickory get it loaded, dont leave it in the woods until next time. Locust is very hot burning, dense stuff that will last for years laying outside on the wet ground. Splits great too!

Sorry to derail that post but they both sure eat chains!!

I with ya there. Hickory seems indestructable. It's hard as rock to crosscut
yet flexable. Hard has heck to split and heavy to cary to boot. But yet it wilts like a daisy if left on the ground.

 

[Evanrude]

Cut my first shagbark hickory a few years ago. It was a fence row tree. I learned really quick that full chisel doesnt cut it. Bad thing was I didnt have much experience cutting and couldnt sharpen chains all that well at the time. It was a pretty frustrating experience to say the least. Now, its semi chisel or nothing. That tree was a pain all around, splitting it gave me nightmares.

 

[eriklane]

Thanks for the replies, I did indicate I used semi chisels. The tree was not in dirt, was clean, on a 300 acre lot, no dirt or metal in the tree, no way.

I learned last week that 25 degrees is for hard wood, 30 for medium and 35 for soft. The other thing is that I always have oregon chains.

Sounds like Stihl chains are longer lasting? Sheite...The bark doesn't appear like shagbark, but I outta get a pic and put it here. WOod is real light almost yellow inside.

He had a MASSIVE one go down years ago, left it and I took rounds home but killed myself loading them. 36" across and all I could do to roll em on the trailer. Split pretty good except for the centers, and burned good too. Smelled great when splitting.

 

[Anthony_Va.]

Definetly cover your eyes too when your cutting shag. It throws bark at your face worse than anything else I've ever cut. The sournut Hickorys are pretty hard on the chain too.

You may not think it's a dirty tree but there can still be dirt in the bark. The dirt particles get imbedded in the bark over the years. It may not be the case, but I would at least try cutting in a different spot or try another tree.

Try some Stihl chain and see if it helps. I also recommend the semi on hardwood like Hickory and Hedge, locust, etc.

 

[Sprintcar]

I know I'm gonna get yelled at for this but believe it or not;

Oregon 72V Vanguard for pignut and shag. Something about the curved rakers or so it seems. Works good for real dirty wood also.

Go ahead, start yellin, I gots thick skin.



Sides that I got 100 feet for nothing.

 

[Eecho]

I cut ten cord of smooth hickory with a semi chisel 141 husky homeowner saw off the shelf at lowes with 3/8 low profile without a hitch . I dulled only after five tanks . Think smaller bite worked really well along with working it up wet is the best method . We cut it for smoker bbq places here and wet is somewhat preferred by some of the guys for a longer burn in the pit smokers. Osage orange is some of the worse stuff ive encountered by far and it does far better with depth gauges set higher the let less tooth in . Try cutting and sharpening an leave one chain with depth gauges set to 15 thousandths instead of 25 if you want it to hold up also file the chain dont grind . The reason behind that is the hollow grind it makes in the top plate making it stay sharp as it cuts . I hate semi chisel chain personally but in these cases it does have its purpose. Stihl chain is harder so buy good files and the use of a filing guide such as a granberg or oregon hold your angles true. But I filed at 30 on top plate degree with no problem what so ever in hickory. Osage is a whole other story id sooner hit my self in the thumb with a hammer then fix chains after bucking that . I ve use rsc through hickory and osage both as long as my depth gauges arent low as factory spec says.

 

[Eecho]

I know I'm gonna get yelled at for this but believe it or not;

Oregon 72V Vanguard for pignut and shag. Something about the curved rakers or so it seems. Works good for real dirty wood also.

Go ahead, start yellin, I gots thick skin.



Sides that I got 100 feet for nothing.

I can agree with that the small chain has seen it at my wood pile as well . I know ive read that .325 is better then 3/8 in hardwood and it makes sense 20" 3/8 has usually 70 ,72 drive links with fewer cutters then say .325 with 78 drivelinks in a 20" bar . More drive links more cutters to span the stock equals less damage on each cutter . I only know that because of using small saws in a pinch to grab a load before a snowstorm hits and my larger saw being a pain when you need it .

 

[dingeryote]

erik,

Pick up a loop of Stihl RMC. or get on the horn and get a loop of Baileys woodland pro/ Carlton SC.

Oregon semi-chisel isn't much better than thier LGX/LPX for holding an edge in the shagbark or anything that isn't really clean for that matter.

You're still going to have issues with the Shagbark mangling chains though, as there is no way around it. The bark holds grit and dust like crazy, and in itself is harder than just about any wood to begin with. For angles, plain old 30 on the SC holds up as well as any I have tried.


I got into a bunch of shagbark this year. Stuff is all 20-30" and was growing on the edge of a farm field before I had to skid it out through sand.
I tried the pressure washer route...don't bother, it might work on Red Oak and maple, but forget it on shagbark.
Just gotta grit the teeth, Make a half dozen bucking cuts and if the chain is falling off, stop and touch up.

ETA.
Just caught your last post. Wood is light yellow inside and heavier than hell for size? Sounds more like Black Locust than shagbark.
Pics?


Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[eriklane]

#1-there is NO dirt in the wood-standing live tree, middle of nowhere on 300 acres, don't tell me it's dirty, it's not.

#2-I do think its not shagbark-I saw one of them last night and this isn't that, I noticed some roundness in the branches, smooth even. The bark looks like typical bark, not shag.

#3-So, it's common knowledge that Stihl SC is a longer lasting chain than Oregon? This is probably tru then of all Stihl chains?
Gonna pick one up tonight.

 

[CTYank]

#1-there is NO dirt in the wood-standing live tree, middle of nowhere on 300 acres, don't tell me it's dirty, it's not.

#2-I do think its not shagbark-I saw one of them last night and this isn't that, I noticed some roundness in the branches, smooth even. The bark looks like typical bark, not shag.

#3-So, it's common knowledge that Stihl SC is a longer lasting chain than Oregon? This is probably tru then of all Stihl chains?
Gonna pick one up tonight.

Didn't see anyone mention dirt in the WOOD. Rather, in the crevices of the BARK. Relax.

When this is done, likely you'll be able to ID hickory by smell. Once the chain hits the wood. Not to mention that hickories, black locust, and osage orange are pretty easy to ID by bark alone. IMHO. And, I've never laid eyes on osage orange.

 

[mdavlee]

I would think semi chisel would work better. I've cut up some hickory to use in the smoker and cooking pit lately and been using square and round full chisel. I can get it to last a lot more than 2 cuts. A tree in the middle of nowhere can have dirt splashed up on it by a hard rain or real dry time with wind.