Frozen log DULL a chain?

[DennisArrow]

The other day had my "wood cutting" buddy over to get rid of a fallen tree. Spent a moment of time to show off my new chain sharpening rig that Santy brought me from Northern Tool. Yes, less than 10 minutes had his 18" Sthil ready to rock and roll.

Working on perhaps a 20" oak tree that had been down for perhaps a month. The root ball was completly rotten and eaten up as was most of the tree. Not the fall apart type of rot but the early stages. Temps over the last couple of weeks has been down in the teens with highs in the low 20's. Stock water is frozen solid if not on a heater device. So am assuming that the moisture of the log was frozen solid also.

The question: The freshly sharpened chain zipped through the first 20" cut like butter; but on the second cut started throwing off powder and it was obvious that it had gone dull. Will a frozen log do this? OR is it a problem with the sharpening technique?........thanks Guys.............Dennis

 

[Egon]

Sharpen it again and see what happens.

Did it hit the dirt after cutting through the first time?

 

[Lloyd_E]

There may have been a piece of metal in the tree... old wire, stray bullet etc.

 

[jinman]

As Egon indicated, dirt kills a chain very quickly. I carry a wire brush to clean dirt off the outside of the trunk before I make my cuts, especially on felled trees that have been laying on the ground or near the root ball. It has always amazed me how little dirt it takes to dull a chain.

BTW: I doubt that ice or a frozen log had anything to do with the saw dulling. After all, they use chainsaws to do ice sculptures and to cut blocks of ice.

 

[20 20]

I cut frozen logs all the time, so to answer your question, no a frozen log will not dull a chain. You had to have hit something.

 

[Tig]

Agree with the thought that there is dirt in this rotten tree, or maybe you hit something.
If it was happened to me I would also suspect sharpening technique. Sharpening is easy to do wrong. The results will be as you describe.
I find frozen logs cut much better than soaking wet ones. Clean wood will not dull your chain quickly no matter what.

 

[Western]

Dirt will also play heck on your bar. I notice I get more mileage from a custom bought chain over the "packaged" chains, some will dull faster than others too..

I agree with the guy's, I would think the log may possibly not have even been frozen in the middle. A tree that old could have had allot of junk in it.

 

[DennisArrow]

Thanks guys about the thoughts of crud and junk in the log itself and that my bud probably went in the dirt.......that is pretty much what I was thinking actually. The chain that we sharpened was on its last leg as the grinder went all the way down hitting the fixture "chain stop" and into the curve of the chain.................
It did cut straight; but just went dull in the second cut...........YES......he probably hit something as I was not watching the second half of the first cut........THANKS guys....God bless........Dennis

 

[20 20]

Not sure what type of chain you use but IMO stihl outweighs competitors. I used an oregon chain ONCE. Not that I dislike oregon, and in a bind I have no problem using them but the Stihl chain is way better, just MO

 

[PILOON]

Chain saws are what is used to cut holes in ice nowdays and they never go dull doing that chore.

But then heat is bad on blades and of course cutting ice water keeps the blade 'water cooled' . LOL