Tips for trees with metal

[MattFL]

Next weekend I need to take down a really large Bischofia tree (dead from a lightning strike) that is unfortunately full of nails, screws and bolts buried where you cannot see them, from tree houses over the years. Can anyone suggest a metal detector made for this purpose, or any other tips for getting through the project? I've got a few chains and a good sharpener, but the less metal I hit the better. The saw is a Stihl MS361.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Powergel? With a long enough fuse to get you out of the county?

You need to spray out your cut lines, scan those with a good handheld pinpoint metal detector (small wand type) and if they show clear- only cut the paint lines.
Even better- let some other mug ruin a few chains- pass this one up...... say your saw is broken.

 

[Mad Professor]

That's where the worn out chains I saved with the cutters starting to snap off come in handy. For metal and for stumps.

 

[Huskybill]

Ditto on saving those old wornout chains and bars too. I hit a steel pipe once with a brand new 404” chain. Next I was cutting in a forest, no living things around, no houses, no buildings deep in the woods. I bucked the tree up and went to split it, a 10” long purple color showed up in the wood, a few more splits showed up an old iron eye bolt. Happy I didn’t hit it when bucking.

 

[MattFL]

Thanks guys for the replies. The local tree company wanted $5k to remove it, I can buy a lot of chains for that so I'm going to give it a shot. Do you have a favorite metal detector?

 

[mike-s]

Fein makes reciprocating saw blades up to 37" long.

 

[svk]

1) Use the metal detector around the felling cut. Then drop the tree.
2) Starting at the top, work your way back down the tree until you get to the highest point where there might be nails.
3) As the other guys suggested, paint lines and then scan those areas with metal detector. If you remember which side the ladder may have been nailed to, I’d try to complete all of my cuts 3/4 of the way through then cut the danger zones last with your worst/cheapest chain.

FWIW if I was going to do this I’d go on eBay and order several loops of chain from Archer. They are VERY reasonably priced, cut well, and ship from Minnesota or Western Wisconsin. They always ship same day and I’ve often had them in my mailbox the next business day.

 

[Tobystihl]

The easiest way to find exactly where the metal is located, is to start cutting with a brand new chain, works every time for me!

 

[huskyespañol]

Supongo que los clavos estarán en la parte superior del árbol por lo cual no tendrá problemas en derribarlo, una vez derribado en vez de usar una motosierra puede usar una radial tardará mucho más pero a cambio no destrozara ninguna cadena

 

[Mad Professor]

Powergel? With a long enough fuse to get you out of the county?

You need to spray out your cut lines, scan those with a good handheld pinpoint metal detector (small wand type) and if they show clear- only cut the paint lines.
Even better- let some other mug ruin a few chains- pass this one up...... say your saw is broken.

"Powergel? With a long enough fuse to get you out of the county?"

Bombs????

We still can own firearms though, it's a right. Not like Brits, Kiwis, Aussies

Are bombs /making legal there, still ?

We Americans, were advised that the most bang fer buck, by the USDA , to use ammoinum nitrate and diesel fuel...... For blowing up stumps and rocks. Most bang for your buck.

Until someone blew up a Federal Buliding

What is new down south?

 

[mike-s]

Until someone blew up a Federal Buliding

You can still get/make/use Tannerite.

 

[MattFL]

1) Use the metal detector around the felling cut. Then drop the tree.
2) Starting at the top, work your way back down the tree until you get to the highest point where there might be nails.
3) As the other guys suggested, paint lines and then scan those areas with metal detector. If you remember which side the ladder may have been nailed to, I’d try to complete all of my cuts 3/4 of the way through then cut the danger zones last with your worst/cheapest chain.

FWIW if I was going to do this I’d go on eBay and order several loops of chain from Archer. They are VERY reasonably priced, cut well, and ship from Minnesota or Western Wisconsin. They always ship same day and I’ve often had them in my mailbox the next business day.

Thanks for the tip on Archer! Only $12 for a chain compared to about $30 for the Stihl brand, I'll pick a few up. Do they actually hold up OK, and not wreck the bar or clutch sprocket? My bar does not have a sprocket tip if that makes any difference. Also I ordered a pulse induction metal detector (better penetration than VLF type if I understand correctly..) from Amazon, hopefully that will help. The tree is really big so I'm going to rent a bucket lift and work from the top down. The trunk measures about 5 1/2 feet across where the metal appears to begin so it's definitely going to take some work..

 

[Mad Professor]

Thanks for the tip on Archer! Only $12 for a chain compared to about $30 for the Stihl brand, I'll pick a few up. Do they actually hold up OK, and not wreck the bar or clutch sprocket? My bar does not have a sprocket tip if that makes any difference. Also I ordered a pulse induction metal detector (better penetration than VLF type if I understand correctly..) from Amazon, hopefully that will help. The tree is really big so I'm going to rent a bucket lift and work from the top down. The trunk measures about 5 1/2 feet across where the metal appears to begin so it's definitely going to take some work..

Old worn chains are free. Mine still cut great, I file them until I loose a cutter or two. Those will tell you quick when you hit metal, you'll loose a few more cutters. Then move up or down in a new cut, hopefully without metal, using another sharp but, "dead chain".

 

[svk]

Thanks for the tip on Archer! Only $12 for a chain compared to about $30 for the Stihl brand, I'll pick a few up. Do they actually hold up OK, and not wreck the bar or clutch sprocket? My bar does not have a sprocket tip if that makes any difference. Also I ordered a pulse induction metal detector (better penetration than VLF type if I understand correctly..) from Amazon, hopefully that will help. The tree is really big so I'm going to rent a bucket lift and work from the top down. The trunk measures about 5 1/2 feet across where the metal appears to begin so it's definitely going to take some work..

I’ve not had any issues in my limited use with Archer nor have I heard of any. And I’ve done a lot of cutting with Rotary and Trilink brands of chain which are comparable value priced brands with no issues.

 

[Yukon Stihl]

Carbide chain

 

[catbuster]

Carbide chain

They’re slow in wood and if you hit a solid piece of metal you’ll knacker the teeth, and probably take some off. Been there, done that, it’s why they use the 046, 460, 461 & 462 with a 20” bar for Stihl’s “rescue” saw, the Jonsered 2171 “cutter’s edge” and a similar size Husqvarna as the “ventmaster.” Great for vent work and opening up a garage door, but if you hit a lag bolt, it’s game over.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Spent 30 odd years as a commercial carpenter- "glued on" carbide saw teeth and nails do NOT play well together.
If you hit steel, odds are at best you will chip the cutter face off- at worst you will break off the entire carbide section of at least one tooth- possibly several.

 

[John Lyngdal]

Hopefully you don;t have eco-warriors in your area, as they started using ceramic spikes in trees around here to thwart logging.

 

[MattFL]

Quick follow up; the metal detector has been excellent, the only nails I have hit so far are when I got too close to where the metal detector told me there were nails, and fortunately I was going slow due to the metal detector warning and haven't completely wrecked a chain.. yet. Also I tried one of the archer chains and it works quite well. Only about 2 tanks of gas on it so far. It stretched enough to need adjustment 2x on the first tank which seems normal for a new chain, but isn't stretching unusually fast on the second tank. The angles on the cutting teeth appear to match the original Stihl chain so the Stihl sharpener I have seems to work fine with it. Thanks again for the tip on those!

 

[Jasonrkba]

Couple teenagers, file and a sharp ax.



PS. Supervised of course.