Ancient One
ArboristSite Operative
Back to Dirty Wood
In the days when old growth leftovers were very abundant on the landings I would cut firewood with the 075 & 42" bar. Needless to say, dirty wood was common. Took a small adz with me and cleaned a path about 2" wide through the bark where I was making the cut. Any sand or gravel means instant dull chain, so with the big bars I did not like to dull a long loop. When cutting logs four to six ft in diameter, a few minutes cleaning the bark from a cut was well worth it. I usually took two saws and several spare loops for each. A sharp chisel chain, full skip, on the big bars cuts very fast through the big logs.
Back in the small woodyard where I would cut up a log truck load and I had a water supply, I used the gas powered high pressure washer to clean off the logs at the cut. 30 seconds with the pressure washer saved a lot of chains.
Any make of chain will dull fast in dirty wood. Clean up the cutting path. Cutting firewood with a dull chain loosens up things on the saw, wears out bars, sprockets, and chains and takes a long time to make a cut. Use lots of bar oil, and lube that sprocket nose at every tank fill up. My saws have both automatic and manual oilers, I set the auto to high and pump the manual a lot when making a big cut. Bar oil is cheap! And keep that chain out of the dirt when making the final cut!!!!! If the logs are small enough I use a peavy to roll the log after making about 2/3 of a cut. The bigger old growth had thick bark, 2" or so. I pounded in a couple of bucking wedges when the bar was down in the cut, this opened the cut to an inch or so at the top, letting me see when the chain started cutting the bark on the bottom: Time to stop!! Sometimes I had to roll a big log with a choker and the 4X4 pickup.
In the days when old growth leftovers were very abundant on the landings I would cut firewood with the 075 & 42" bar. Needless to say, dirty wood was common. Took a small adz with me and cleaned a path about 2" wide through the bark where I was making the cut. Any sand or gravel means instant dull chain, so with the big bars I did not like to dull a long loop. When cutting logs four to six ft in diameter, a few minutes cleaning the bark from a cut was well worth it. I usually took two saws and several spare loops for each. A sharp chisel chain, full skip, on the big bars cuts very fast through the big logs.
Back in the small woodyard where I would cut up a log truck load and I had a water supply, I used the gas powered high pressure washer to clean off the logs at the cut. 30 seconds with the pressure washer saved a lot of chains.
Any make of chain will dull fast in dirty wood. Clean up the cutting path. Cutting firewood with a dull chain loosens up things on the saw, wears out bars, sprockets, and chains and takes a long time to make a cut. Use lots of bar oil, and lube that sprocket nose at every tank fill up. My saws have both automatic and manual oilers, I set the auto to high and pump the manual a lot when making a big cut. Bar oil is cheap! And keep that chain out of the dirt when making the final cut!!!!! If the logs are small enough I use a peavy to roll the log after making about 2/3 of a cut. The bigger old growth had thick bark, 2" or so. I pounded in a couple of bucking wedges when the bar was down in the cut, this opened the cut to an inch or so at the top, letting me see when the chain started cutting the bark on the bottom: Time to stop!! Sometimes I had to roll a big log with a choker and the 4X4 pickup.
