chain for dirty wood

[bookerdog]

My brother in law clear some land and piled up the junk wood for me to cut up. I have about 50 cords of maple and white fir to cut up. It all been dragged around and is dirty. What do you guys like chain wise to use for dirty wood

 

[trimmmed]

Oregon DG works for me

 

[Lobo]

Stihl RM is what I use.

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

I also use Stihl RM or RMF.

Jeff

 

[Fireaxman]

I've got the same problem. 22 nice oaks, but we had to drag them out of the swamp with a dozer. Tomorrow morning I'm going to borrow a high pressure wash down unit from my neighbor to see if I can blast the stuff off and save my chains some grief.

 

[SawTroll]

There was another tread on this issue quite recently;
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=20594&highlight=dirty+wood :angel:

 

[bvaught]

Carbide tipped chain on solid nose bar.

 

[Mange]

Semi-chisel, is the way to go in my opinion.

 

[sawdust]

semi-chisel stays sharper longer in gritty wood, imo. 50 cords?, sounds like the perfect excuse to get carbide chain, and a good chain grinder if you don't already have one. Have fun!

 

[Lobo]

semi-chisel stays sharper longer in gritty wood, imo. 50 cords?, sounds like the perfect excuse to get carbide chain, and a good chain grinder if you don't already have one. Have fun!

Just happenned to have that same discussion at the Sthil dealer.
He claims the best way to go is RM or semi-chise over carbide. Carbide costs more, is not as efficient when it starts to dull, far more difficult to sharpen vs semi-chisel which is not expensive, real easy to sharpen, cuts great in dirty wood, keeps its edge fairly well under those conditions. According to him cost and efficiency wise it is a far better value than carbide.

 

[Mange]

Yep, that is why I think semi chisel is the way to go.

 

[WRW]

Just happenned to have that same discussion at the Sthil dealer.
He claims the best way to go is RM or semi-chise over carbide. Carbide costs more, is not as efficient when it starts to dull, far more difficult to sharpen vs semi-chisel which is not expensive, real easy to sharpen, cuts great in dirty wood, keeps its edge fairly well under those conditions. According to him cost and efficiency wise it is a far better value than carbide.

My experience is that carbide is not near as efficient as semi-chisel even when the carbide is sharp.

 

[njforestfire]

Carbide not worth the cost compared to chisel. More cost effective.

 

[chainsawworld]

cutting in dirt is a difficult task for any saw chain.
to help understand why, you need to know how saw chain works. the function of the point is to pull fiber for the side plate to cut. once the point is beat down, the chain wont cut. the point on chisel is very squared off and forward. easy to lose when into forgien objects such as dirt and steel. semi is more relaxed and rounded, easier to maintain in nasty conditions. don't believe that the smei will stay sharp and is invincible. dirt is very unforgiving and will wipe out any chain.
as far as carbide goes, most carbide is full chisel. it will lose its sharpness and good luck trying to get the point back with a hand file.
i use the laser brand chain and have outstanding luck with it. besides the cutter being longer than most other brands(which means longer life) it is easy to hand sharpen but has good stay sharp capabilities.
i just recently got into some maple that i had to take a wire brush to the bark to make way for the bar and chain to reduce dulling. marty

 

[deadtrees]

I usa an adze (sp?) to chip or peal some of the dirt fillled bark off in the line I want to saw. I can not always do it but I cut so the dirt side of the log is the side where the chain exits the log . At the powerhead. This way the dirt is not pulled through the entire cut.

 

[ontario026]

I have cut 14 1/2ton truck loads of mixed hardwood in the last 2 weeks or so, all of the logs were skidded out behind my atv and through a couple mud holes to get them to a location reachable by the trucks. The logs were all quite dirty by the time I cut them, My Stihl RS chain seemed to work well, using my timberjack to keep them off the ground helped as well, until I hit the steel of the timberjack, that dulled the RS in a real hurry.... I have never tried semi-chisel in the dirty wood tho....

 

[Lawn Masters]

I prefer Chipper chain for extremely dirty wood. Carlton made 3/8 chipper as current production chain last I checked.

 

[ray benson]

More info searching Bucking Tricks:
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=12452&page=2&pp=15

 

[canguy21]

Yesterday I took part in a demonstration of a rescue or quick vent attachment for fire departments. The bar has a slot to accomodate a depth guage and it is equipped with 3/8 carbide tip chain.
I cut a pallet full of nails, 14ga galvanized sheet metal, a roll of roofing material, drug it through the dirt then cut a log!!! Went completely against the grain to abuse a saw like that Took the corners off some cutters but it kept going.
Oregon DG or DP work well in dirty wood but are almost non-existent now. Not really suitable for today's high speed saws and too slow in frozen wood.

 

[WRW]

canguy21,
Which brand were you demoing? I saw a tape on one brand and that was one of their selling points...it took around a minute to cut through a 20" log and I swear at places it looked like it was burning it's way through.

Hard cutting through that log with a depth guide on?