Frozen Wood Considerations

[Maul]

Seeing how the full weight of old man winter is upon us here in the northeast and I have a bit more firewood to cut. My question is, what if any special considerations / precautions should I take when cutting icy or frozen wood. Thank you in advance for your input.

 

[Newfie]

Be careful you don't slip and break your a$$!

I hear a lot about running different chain and the like. I haven't noticed any difference when I'm cutting in January or July.

 

[bwalker]

I run the same setup as I run in the summer except if its really cold and snowy I will block off half of the fan intake with duct tape. Stihl sells a plate to accomplish the same thing, but duct tape is cheaper and easier to remove. BTW I actually like cutting in the winter better. No bugs, sweat, and the wood splits easier when frozen.

 

[eyolf]

A long time ago some sawyers used to have a "winter chain" set-up...basically just careful not to drop the rakers more than .020-.025. Frozen soft woods cut as hard as harder woods, and you really notice grabbiness (spelling?) in the winter.

As a firewood processor, you possibly have already noticed how deadfall cut different...them dry oak, ash, or hickory poles cut harder.

 

[Gypo Logger]

Its not so much that the wood is frozen, it is the wide range of temp. that the saw chain is subjected to. Snow is very good at accomplishing this. Chain breakage only becomes a problem if your bar, chain and sprocket are already battered.
John

 

[johncinco]

Nice day out

Is that a recent pic or an older one from October near you? I watch the weather and thought you guys were up to your arm pits in snow already. Do you work all winter long, or have to stop when it gets too deep and cold. We get the snow, but it either evaporates or melts off most of the before it could cause too much trouble. Half the time I have enough trouble getting enough snow to snowmobile. Of course watching the weather up there must be hard, as The Weather Channel thinks all weather stops at the US border and they simply block out anything going on up there, at least for us. Anytime I try to see when the northern wind will come down I have to watch world weather on the news. Now that I know where British Columbia and Nova Scotia and a few others are, its fun to wonder what different people are doing outside. JB

 

[JimL]

Re: Nice day out

Originally posted by johncinco
its fun to wonder what different people are doing outside. JB

Freezing their asses off

 

[logcutter429]

At least when its freezen out it keeps ya from lollygagen around the gas an oil jugs.

 

[John in MA]

Re: Nice day out

Originally posted by johncinco
its fun to wonder what different people are doing outside. JB

Doing a carb rebuild in the snow after finding out the '60s-vintage snowblower's bowl valve seat had fallen apart. "Hmm, why's the tank empty and what's that smell?"

 

[fun_chopper]

Do you guys have the problem of the snow washing and/or watering down your bar, and your chain running dryer than usual? I have tried everything short of using tar in my oiler..I typicaly us the cold wx oil, but it its good about halfway up the bar, and by the time my chain rounds the nose its almost dry..It drives me nuts. Other than that I love cutting in the winter, we usually bet the beer on a last tree drop. Mark the fall zone in the snow (not yellow!) , and the worst hit buys the beer!

 

[Tony Snyder]

Good hard chain like Carlton, in semi chisel cutter shape, will stay sharp a little longer in frozen wood.

I have just two suggestions don't cut your firewood below 30 F or above 85 F; you will make life a lot easier for yourself.

The pro loggers, of course have to do otherwise.

In our area many of them switch to semi chisel in the winter; Either Carlton, Oregon or Windsor.

 

[JimL]

We don't change a thing around here. Toss some deisel in the baroil and thats it.
same chain, same equipment, nothing different really.

 

[homelite360]

yeah you gotta run a lighter bar oil like 10w or throw a little diesel or keroseen in the mix. i usuauly grind the top plate to 25 degrees cause you will get longer life out of the edge in that hard stuff

 

[stihltech]

oil

In the summer we keep a big pile of 30 wt oil and a couple cases of 10 wt. Now we have big pile of 10wt and a few cases of 30.

Anybody ever have the spur wheel separate from the worm on an 045 or 56 in the winter? That is why we sell 10 wt.

 

[JimL]

Happened to my 038 a few weeks ago. Good thing I had a spare.