Frozen wood

[Haywire Haywood]

I was out yesterday in windy 10ºF weather cutting some firewood. "Brisk" it was on that hilltop. I've never cut in weather that cold before and my round chisel chain proceeded to last about 10 minutes in that frozen oak. I changed out to a loop of Semi- and it lasted a lot longer.

Is frozen wood that bad or did I get into a rock or something and not realize it?

Ian

 

[dancan]

I was out yesterday in windy 10ºF weather yesterday cutting some firewood. "Brisk" it was on that hilltop.
Is frozen wood that bad or did I get into a rock or something and not realize it?

Ian

Nope , at that temperature you were just cutting brass balls off a monkey .

:monkey:

 

[Coldfront]

Frozen wood is hard on chains. After the last couple years of cutting as I go and sharpening chain like you said about every tank of gas. I cut my whole 10 cord logger load of 8 footer's this year before it froze and only had to sharpen my chain about 3 times. mostly red, oak, and ash. Unless you like a lot of sharpening, cut your wood before it freezes.

 

[Philbert]

What shape of cutter is best for frozen wood?

Philbert

 

[husky455rancher]

yup its the frozen wood. ive been cutting it the last couple weeks and it KILLS the chain no doubt.

 

[volks-man]

frozen wood kills chains even faster when the log has a dirt clod frozen to the back of it. even after you elevate the log.
ask me how i know.

on the bright side, frozen green rounds split easy!

 

[Haywire Haywood]

I'm cutting again tomorrow, so I went out and made sure I had a few loops of SC ready. Normally the SC loops are nail hangers.

Oh, I think I finally have the right situation for using the Timberjack. What I'm cutting tomorrow are long straight 8-10" stems with no branching.. maybe 40' long. Long enough to put the timberjack near the middle and not have to reposition it over and over and the logs are small enough to lift them without overloading either the jack or my back. I'll try to take a couple pics if it works out like I hope and I remember to take the camera.

Ian

 

[Philbert]

I'll try to take a couple pics if it works out like I hope and I remember to take the camera.

Why don't the saws have built-in cameras like our cell phones?

Philbert

 

[Haywire Haywood]

The USB ports would not be too tolerant of wood chips, gasoline and bar oil.

"What are you doing with that oily saw in my living room"...

"I'm downloading it and upgrading the firmware hon, be done in a minute. Did you get that new memory stick I needed for my 372?"

Ian

 

[dingeryote]

What shape of cutter is best for frozen wood?

Philbert

Stihl RM Semi-Chisel is the stuff. Nothing else I have tried even comes close.

It ain't the fastest cutting, but side by side with any other chain I have run, it will be faster after a Dozen rounds or so, and still cutting when others are shooting powder and heating the bar

Stay safe!!
Dingeryote

 

[Zodiac45]

IMO semi chisel on a hardnose bar is the best bet for frozen wood Ian.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Why a hardnose bar?

Ian

 

[KsWoodsMan]

Why a hardnose bar?

Ian

I wondered the same thing. I like to use a hard nosed bar if I know I will be getting in the dirt . We cut cedars flush with the ground and it is inevitable that you will get it in the dirt, the bark will be carrying some that close to the ground.

Frozen wood will let you know if your sharpening skills are up to the test.

 

[Mkarlson]

Been cutting on a semi-dead oak about 36" dbh for last two afternoons. Couple of the limbs were kinda punky and I noticed frozen punk is hard on the chains. Got the punky stuff done so I switched to a freshly sharpened chain to finsih the job and sure nough wasnt 2o rounds later and I was getting a bit dull. Didn't have a fresh chain so I decided to try my hand at filing(which I have almost 0 experience at). It lasted bout 6 rounds in about 30" section of the trunk. Thought maybe it was my filing maybe just the frozen oak.

 

[Philbert]

"I'm downloading it and upgrading the firmware hon, be done in a minute. Did you get that new memory stick I needed for my 372?"

Makes you wonder about the next generation of saws.

Programmable for different mixes, chain speeds, species, cutting conditions, etc?

Track how many chain feet have run or how many board feet cut, or give you all kinds of performance diagnostics?

Maybe an i-pod and Bose speakers to counteract/cancel noise generated by the saw?

I am happy when my saws start - but I bet we will be seeing digital displays fairly soon.

Philbert

 

[Brushwacker]

I don't believe clean frozen wood is that bad. Its the ice you hit in crevices and ya the frozen punky wood can get like a block of ice. If you knick the ground its much more unforgiving frozen also. I knicked the ground a couple times with the stihl rm a couple days ago and it wasn't worth using without a sharpening. I went back to the 660 with skip rs and finished with no problem (2 tanks of gas ) but I kept it away from the ground and watched carefully where I put the chain.

 

[Wet1]

I had to cut some frozen maple up for my father this weekend. He had a bunch of big rounds that needed to be quartered and the stump had to be taken down. These things have been sitting for a few years so I didn't think it would be much of an issue. I grabbed the 7900 which had some very sharp square ground full comp on it and the 3120 which had some questionable skip still on it... I figured I only needed to do the one 38" stump with the 3120 so I wasn't that worried about the chain.

The 7900 with the square ground on it cut incredibly for about 10 minutes, and then it went down hill fast. The chain on the 3120 was pretty much useless after getting 1/3 of the way through the stump. I didn't bring any other loops (or even a file) with me since I thought it would be a quick and easy job... well I never thought about factoring in these things would all be frozen and have a little dirt frozen to them. What a PITA. Well I learned a good lesson this weekend... Never leave home without the Silvey!

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Looks like I'm snowed out today. I waited for the ground to freeze because the mud was treacherous on that hillside and I didn't want 4000lbs of wood and trailer pushing me down that tractor path. Slip off the side and I'd have a 200 yd slide ending at a 10' drop off. Now I've exchanged 2" of mud for 2" of snow on top of the frozen mud. As much as I want to go out, I suppose I better stay at home. Bah. Going to unload the truck and unhitch the trailer now...

Ian

 

[Zodiac45]

Why a hardnose bar?

Ian

I wondered the same thing. I like to use a hard nosed bar if I know I will be getting in the dirt . We cut cedars flush with the ground and it is inevitable that you will get it in the dirt, the bark will be carrying some that close to the ground.

Frozen wood will let you know if your sharpening skills are up to the test.

yep just the abrasive conditions really. I always run the chain a hair looser on hardnose bars too. By the way we got hammered with snow too Ian. A foot on top of an icy slush barrier. Brutal on the snowblower and not much fun too plow either.

 

[Coldfront]

Excuse my ignorance but what is a hard nose bar? I'm thinking maybe a bar without the sprocket on the end?