Cutting techniques...

[LD1]

I agree that mosst of his advice is good. #1 tho is totally wrong. Touching dirt (unless it is rocky) does NOT "instantly dull the chain". It will shorten the time before you have to resharp but with care you can hit dirt and still keep cutting for a long time.

I guess there are a few things that can determine HOW you interpret this:

First, I am used to ALWAYS running full chisel. Semi-chisel (semi-round) and chipper (round) chain can tolerate a little dirt.

Second, is how you interpret what "sharp" and "dull" means.

To me, a sharp chain will pull its own self through the wood with NO added pressure from the operator or dawging in and pulling up on the rear handle. And to ME, a dull chain will NO longer pull itself along.

BUT, what I just described as a "dull" chain WILL still cut wood of you put pressure on or dawg in. But that is bad practice as both the chain and bar will NOT last as long. The chain/bar get hotter than normal, which has less than desired results on life expectance.

On the other hand, some people believe that a chain is only dull when it absolutly will no longer cut no matter how much you try to force it. I am NOT one of those people and that is bad practice.

But I can tell you from experience, that once a chisel chain touches dirt, even for a fraction of a second, it will no longer pull itself through the wood.

You did have great advise about slowing down though before you exit the cut. A very slow chain speed when/if hitting dirt wont hurt it, but at WOT, you're done.

And again, this is with chisel. I dont use anything but, so I can only comment as to what I have heard/read. I dont know what the OP is using either, but given the two saws, MS250 and MS290, I am betting it probabally isnt chisel. But it is still good practice to treat dirt like it were steel. And chainsaws DONT cut through steel

 

[massey990]

I guess there are a few things that can determine HOW you interpret this:

A big factor with hitting "dirt" is actually how much sand/grit is part of the "dirt" sand is nothing but little rocks. Clay etc. does much less damage to a chain/bar than earth with more sand etc. Either one can clog the oil ports on a bar though.

 

[LD1]

IMO, the point is moot.

It is as simple as....DONT HIT THE DIRT. In MANY years of cutting firewood, downed trees, tops, etc to the tune of 25-30 cord per year, I have NEVER been in a situation where I HAD to go into dirt. There are ways/techniques around that. Hence: why the OP is asking questions. And simple answer is...NO its NOT ok to cut into dirt.

Well, I guess I shouldnt say never, because cutting stumps/roots below ground level is a different story. And even when clearing ALL the dirt possible, you have to change chains VERY frequently.

Fortunatally, we dont cut stumps very often.

 

[Grant1994]

I agree with LD1 I hate it when the chain will no longer pull itself through I feel that that is bad for the saw and unsafe for me if I am putting a lot of effort into the cuts I will become fatigued faster. One thing I did find on line is the use of a peavey with a log stand attached... Does anyone have any experience with that?

 

[LD1]

I agree with LD1 I hate it when the chain will no longer pull itself through I feel that that is bad for the saw and unsafe for me if I am putting a lot of effort into the cuts I will become fatigued faster.

Excellent attitude to have:thumbsup:

One thing I did find on line is the use of a peavey with a log stand attached... Does anyone have any experience with that?

Yes. I think I mentioned it im my firsr post. They are excellent for the smaller stuff. The stuff that is too big to pick up by hand, but not too big.

I find anything over about 16-18" just becomes too difficult to pull up on the stand with that type of peavy. But if you get one without a stand, or removable stand, they will work for larger stuff, but 3-4 foot stuff, you really need a tractor, or a LOT of guys to move around.

 

[Grant1994]

Okay thank you I think I will try that because a majority of the trees I plan on cutting for firewood are around 12-20". So the peavey should work for those. I apologize I forgot about that from your first post

 

[LD1]

Okay thank you I think I will try that because a majority of the trees I plan on cutting for firewood are around 12-20". So the peavey should work for those. I apologize I forgot about that from your first post

No apologies necessary. It was a bit of a long post. I usually try to refrain from making such log posts, because I personally dont like reading them etiher. But there was SOOOOO much to cover

If the majority is under 20", I think you will really like the peavy

 

[tungularafishcamp]

Not sure what kind of saw pulls itself thru wood?

After many years of using of using a crosscut saw for my firewood, I decided to upgrade to one of those newfangled chainsaws:cool2:

The guy at the store said I could cut a couple of cords ez in a day but try as I might I could only cut 3/4 a cord and I could beat that with my crosscut ez

Took it back to the store and complained and the guy showed me how to sharpen it so I tried it again and after really working really hard I barely cut a cord the next day

I took it back in wanting my money back. The guy took the saw and pulled a little rope thingy and the saw let out a puff of smoke and made a loud roaring sound! "What the he// is that noise I asked him" :confused2::confused2::laughing:

Rick

 

[Grant1994]

I appreciate all the info I wanna learn as much as I can! And LD1 you seem to have tons of experience with this stuff so another question I have for you is how to store my firewood? We bought a wood stove about 3 years ago and have been playing around with different ways of storing it and haven't figured out any great ones yet... Any suggestions??

 

[massey990]

Not sure what kind of saw pulls itself thru wood?

After many years of using of using a crosscut saw for my firewood, I decided to upgrade to one of those newfangled chainsaws:cool2:

The guy at the store said I could cut a couple of cords ez in a day but try as I might I could only cut 3/4 a cord and I could beat that with my crosscut ez

Took it back to the store and complained and the guy showed me how to sharpen it so I tried it again and after really working really hard I barely cut a cord the next day

I took it back in wanting my money back. The guy took the saw and pulled a little rope thingy and the saw let out a puff of smoke and made a loud roaring sound! "What the he// is that noise I asked him" :confused2::confused2::laughing:

Rick

old joke and PC cleaned up, but still funny :laughing:

reminds me of the one about the "two guys" fishing and the outboard falls off and sinks