Chain for Australian hardwood

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Here is some Carlton chain, that works fine in hard dry euc.

View attachment 931643



here it is in use before the picture above was taken.

View attachment 931644

Is that A3 Carlton?

 

[Mike Gudgeon]

The first one is from a bloke far more knowledgeable than me about redgum and ironbark etc, the second is 46RS by me for green silvertop ash,ie not terrible hard. Still it is a bit aggressive, trial and error is the way to go eh

Interesting that your mate's cutter has what looks like the same angle on the inside and outside, I mean he hasn't angled away from horizontal on the 'tilt'. Grinder?

 

[trains]

Is that A3 Carlton?

Going by memory, I think it is.

 

[joe.snow]

This is how it currently is from hand sharpening and pretty much what i was using on dry gum.

 

[Dennisthemenace]

Is that A3 Carlton?

I think all Aussie stuff gets softer when it gets to NZ, take Rugger for example..... sad lol

 

[trains]

Looks good only comment would be to round over the front of the rakers a bit more to a smooth radius, helps with the smoothness of the cut.

 

[tfp]

Semi chisel, clean gullet, 2-in-1 file guide definitely hard on rakers. I got a full chisel chain with a new saw by mistake recently and it was very clear I should stick with semi for what I use my saw for (dead dry oz hardwood most on ground most without bark). Might try .404 one day...

I sharpen often because that fine hardwood dust can really test Stihl air filtration.

 

[Dennisthemenace]

Interesting that your mate's cutter has what looks like the same angle on the inside and outside, I mean he hasn't angled away from horizontal on the 'tilt'. Grinder?

Dunno about tilt but Stihl always call for 0 deg. Anyway, trial and error is the go I'd say

 

[Mike Gudgeon]

Dunno about tilt but Stihl always call for 0 deg. Anyway, trial and error is the go I'd say

Yes, for wood But no matter how I try I just can't work out the best angles for women. Fun trying though

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Going by memory, I think it is.

Good stuff that- down to the last 25' roll I have!

 

[trains]

Good stuff that- down to the last 25' roll I have!

not bothered trying the newer brasil made, have a good bit of the usa made 100' roll left.
Softer than stihl, its easier on files, and holds its edge well I like the geometry of it, and the husky roller guide works well on it, was good value when it was available.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

This is interesting, I’ve cut Aussie firewood for person use for a few years and like the .404 chain but I’ve always had it on my 066 saw. What do you mean when you say slow moving? I’ve usually had high revs on to keep the chain cutting fast, am I doing it wrong?

Some what you are doing it wrong. The bottom line is what are you cutting and when. I am possibly more familiar with Aussie wood than you. Now you are very confused. Here in California we have more Euc than most would imagine. I have been asked to perform tree removals around businesses from time to time. When cutting semi green clean Euc easy peasy. When cutting wood in the desert that is dry not so easy. I have been hired by tree companies and other professionals just to cut their wood because they can not. One time I worked on some trees that were eight feet in diameter that were dry and sandy. Very tough job. I only use semi chain for all around use. With not super dry clean wood you can use chisel chain. If you have dry dead wind blown Euc that is 20 to 30'' or more a older 404 slower chain speed saw will give you the best results. Thanks

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Some what you are doing it wrong. The bottom line is what are you cutting and when. I am possibly more familiar with Aussie wood than you. Now you are very confused. Here in California we have more Euc than most would imagine. I have been asked to perform tree removals around businesses from time to time. When cutting semi green clean Euc easy peasy. When cutting wood in the desert that is dry not so easy. I have been hired by tree companies and other professionals just to cut their wood because they can not. One time I worked on some trees that were eight feet in diameter that were dry and sandy. Very tough job. I only use semi chain for all around use. With not super dry clean wood you can use chisel chain. If you have dry dead wind blown Euc that is 20 to 30'' or more a older 404 slower chain speed saw will give you the best results. Thanks

That is a bold statement- we too have lots of various species of Eucalyptus that grows here and I cut plenty of it- but just because they are Aussie trees, does not mean they grow the same as they do in Australia- there are over 200 species of Eucalyptus and yes, I have been to California and seen Eucalypt trees there, but when it comes to cutting Australian trees in Australia- I will bow out to local knowledge and sure I won't claim to know more about their trees grown in their conditions.... because I too have never cut their trees in their backyard!

 

[CR888]

Rainfall plays a big part in how hard and dense our trees can be.

 

[rogue60]

That is a bold statement- we too have lots of various species of Eucalyptus that grows here and I cut plenty of it- but just because they are Aussie trees, does not mean they grow the same as they do in Australia- there are over 200 species of Eucalyptus and yes, I have been to California and seen Eucalypt trees there, but when it comes to cutting Australian trees in Australia- I will bow out to local knowledge and sure I won't claim to know more about their trees grown in their conditions.... because I too have never cut their trees in their backyard!

From what I've seen California has some of the softer gums and wherever they got the seeds they are **** lol
He's wrong with the slow speed and .404 think he's confused it's not slow speed it's grunt to pull .404 in our hardwoods.
If the saw has the grunt and revs it will cut fast in hard timber like our Box trees and Ironbarks.
066/660 395 running 20-25inch bars .404 is very common for full-time firewood cutting here.

 

[rogue60]

My dad in his early 70's retired hardwood cutter/logger does firewood now so he doesn't get bored.
For firewood he cuts Ironbark/Box and some Spotted Gum. His saws are ms661 running .404 20 and 25 inch bars.
He'd rather run 066/660 but sadly you can't buy one of the most reliable saws ever made anymore.

Here's some of the nasty hardwood over 50 years dead standing ring barked hardwood he cuts and splits for firewood.
For his age he puts some of the armchair internet cutters to shame.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

From what I've seen California has some of the softer gums and wherever they got the seeds they are **** lol
He's wrong with the slow speed and .404 think he's confused it's not slow speed it's grunt to pull .404 in our hardwoods.
If the saw has the grunt and revs it will cut fast in hard timber like our Box trees and Ironbarks.
066/660 395 running 20-25inch bars .404 is very common for full-time firewood cutting here.

That combination used to be common here as well- when we were still able to use a chainsaw in anger against Native trees.

Think most all of the Gums in California came from the guy that designed Golden Gate Park and other plantings within the San Francisco region, then they probably just gathered up the Gum Nuts and scattered them around the State.

 

[rogue60]

That combination used to be common here as well- when we were still able to use a chainsaw in anger against Native trees.

Think most all of the Gums in California came from the guy that designed Golden Gate Park and other plantings within the San Francisco region, then they probably just gathered up the Gum Nuts and scattered them around the State.

I remember when I was a kid dad was cutting for one of the big mills up north, the forestry would come out bush gathering seed with a shotgun to shoot down branchs full of seed and being very selective and only getting seed from the big healthy old growth hardwoods.
This seed being the next generations of mill logs, I don't think whoever got the seeds for California was this selective lol

 

[Mike Gudgeon]

I don't think whoever got the seeds for California was this selective lol

lol Maybe they forgot the shotgun shells and had to buy seeds from Jo Blo down the pub.

 

[rogue60]

There is no secret in cutting our hardwoods it's easy to cut it's all to do with the chain keep it sharp and sharpened correctly for our timber! how they sharpen for softwoods overseas doe's not apply!
If ya just farting about even a ms211 will cut a boot load of firewood in short order with a sharp chain lol



Personally for me if ya have a **** tonne to cut that's when 90cc plus and .404 shines. Yes 3/8 also works fine but it just means you will be doing double the sharpening than with .404
This is an Aussie ms660 .404 RS and hard-nosed bar seems to cut Aussie hardwood fine to me and it's not even a slow revving gear drive go figure...