logging

[Dead Horse]

I agree. I skidded 40 cord of logs off my property this year, average skid distance over a half a mile. I used my Husky 288 to cut the whole bunch up, dressing a total of two chains perhaps 5 times each.

I have years, nay decades, in firewood cutting experience and have never had a situation so described.

Knowing how to actually sharpen a saw chain is a basic element of firewood production, though.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

My turn to jump in I guess with the little that I have learned over the years. Dragging logs will get them dirty especially if they aren't lifted up to be dragged. Or if they roll along as you drag them. Usually when I am on the ground cutting I have my plastic splitting wedges in my pocket to either "A" keep the bar from getting pinched and "B" to scrape dirt and crud off of where I am going to make a cut. Full Chisel chain when sharp cuts like crazy. It also dulls quick when you are using your chainsaw as a trenching device by hitting the ground. Another thing I have learned is Oregon brand chain is typically a softer metal of chain and can dull quicker. Over the 40+ of years of cutting wood I have learned the secret that chainsaws are excellent metal detectors! Nails fence spikes rebar my saw seems to find that stuff..
So keep your chains sharp when you can. My brother lives out on the coast of Washington. All of the trees seem to suck up sand which really dulls the chain in a hurry..

 

[R_Walter]

Trees here (Pinon and Cedar) seem to absorb lots of wind-blown sand and dirt. Does tend to stretch and dull chain. You just need to keep a file with you to sharpen the chain(s) occasionally.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Trees here (Pinon and Cedar) seem to absorb lots of wind-blown sand and dirt. Does tend to stretch and dull chain. You just need to keep a file with you to sharpen the chain(s) occasionally.

Cedar up here also tends do be "dirty". As Arrow mentioned, a semi-chisel chain stays sharper longer in these conditions.

 

[Deadman]

My neighbor dragged these logs with a ATV, so both ends were in the dirt and rolling around. It was ASH logs, and they were so embedded with dirt that it was impossible to saw them. I could see fire flying when I was cutting them in the woods during the day (in the shade of the trees of course). My dad told me to stop, but I insisted on getting them cut up. After a few chains, we both knew it was our only option to dump them in the woods. :laughing: It was a small pile, but still wasted.