Cutting Ice

[Huck]

This may be a little off the subject but I need a little advice from some chainsaw experts. I would like to know if there are any special safety concerns, teqniques, or maintenance practices with cutting ice with a chainsaw. I live in northern Minnesota and spear-fishing Northern Pike is a passtime for me. I've heard of people cutting ice with the chainsaw but never talked with anyone who does it. It's got to be faster than my ice chisel! Also, what is the best way to get the ice block out of the spear hole?

Thanks for any info you can offer!

Paul

 

[sonny]

I have never cut ice to go fishing. But have cut ice around the bank so the cows could drink. No special way to cut. We used hay hooks to get the ice out. I guess you could go buy ice hooks to get the ice cubes out.

 

[Kevin]

I`ve cut ice many times for beaver trapping but my advice is ...don`t.
Too hard on the saw.

http://icesaws.com/

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Come on, sonny, ice in So Cal

 

[Huck]

I guess I'd better leave my Husky in the garage if it's hard on the saw. I'll blow the dust of the Poulan; maybe if I'm lucky, I could accidently drop it down the hole!

 

[tony marks]

glad to hear the answers . always thought that be a bad thing to do to a good saw.does seem like there would be a different chain for cutting ice . that is if many do it.

 

[Kevin]

One method that is generally used is to place the saw face tight to the ice so that there is no bar above the ice and giv`r.
If it`s too cold your saw will freeze up.
Not real healthy for the saw.

 

[Walt Galer]

Howdy,

Back many years ago, there used to be a special icecutting chain, made by special sequencing (fewer elements) of a scratcher chain. There was also an ensalage chain and a cloth cutting chain! None of these ever proved to be really worth it.

I have cut both ice blocks and lag jams in the water using older, slower saws. The problems from the cold water are just too destructive on a high speed modern saw. The chain gets relieved of all lubrication, (unless you use a liberal amount of floor wax for chain oil) and the thermal fatigue of the plunge into ice water, causes the chain to develope cracks in the bottoms of the chain parts. A large amount of water tends to get pumped out the side cover, and all over the engine, which is not good on an air cooled engine, or for ignition modules!

If you can come by an old Homelite such as an XL-12, it could be a good saw for your purpose. Usually these are in pawn shops or junk shops for $50 or $75. Most any chain will work, but not well. An 85 topsharp chain is best if you can find any of this obsolete stuff. (.404 topsharp). It does not even have to be sharp! If you are cutting a large ice block, tongs is the only way I know to get it out of there without getting wet. (You should never cut a hole bigger than 12 inches if any small kids are apt to be around the area. They can fall through the hole. It's illegal here in Montana, for that reason).

Please do not use oil in streams or lakes! I used Johnson's wax.

Regards,
Walt Galer

 

[Walt Galer]

Howdy,

Sorry, that should be "Log Jams"!

Walt

 

[homelite360]

my grnadpa told me that they always used to use wright recopricating saws to cut ice back in the 60's he said they worked like a dream.

 

[Huck]

Thanks for the info!

Walt,

How should a person use the Johnson's wax, applied externally or poured into the oil tank and would'nt it plug up the oiler or the oil passages? Would a vegetable based oil provide enough lubrication at 10 degrees? I'm sure that would be environmentally safe as well.

Thanks,

Paul

 

[eyolf]

I've cut a lot of holes in the ice of Central Mn.

Northern Minnesota starts at a line from Two Harbors across towards E. Grand Forks.

I have used all manner of chain saws, but the older, slooower, gear drive saws with big chain work best...the slower the chain speed, the less water sprayed around. Walt is probably right about thermal stress on your bar and chain, but I used a different bar and worn out chain anyway...If I wreck a junk chain, who cares?

I find it too much work to try to lift the block out, so I push it down under the ice. I hit one with a snowmobile once, at a great speed, and don't want to do that again. Locally, there used to be a lot of controversy over just this subject...spear fishermen would normally set their block next th fish house and it would not cause problems, but what happens if the spear fisherman decides to move his shelter?

I used a mirror to try to see what the block looks like under the ice once, as some people feel the block frightens the northerns away. It had been about a week since I had made my hole, and I could not find the block. I've since learned that it doesn't take very long for the block to disappear.

Good luck with your 5-tined fish-hook, Huck.

Did you hear about the Norwegian that put his spear house on the railroad tracks? Seems a Swede had told him he might catch the "Great Northern".

For all you folks not of the midwest, the Burlington and Northern railway Co. formerly operated a rail line here called "The Great Northern"

 

[tree monkey]

we used vegetible oil for bar oil. clamp a block of wood to the side of the bar with a c clamp to control your depth. don't cut all the way through the ice. leave about 1/2 inch of ice at bottom of the cut. this way you whon't have the water problem. baeak the block lose and push it under the ice.this is the best way we found.


later scott

 

[Gypo Logger]

Hi There, I have sawed thru ice a few times, and all I can tell you is that it is a riot. It happens very fast indeed not like it was Rock Maple or anything.
You may remember the show I put on for the 20 woodticks with my 088W with 21" bar and 3/8 chain on the creek. Well, just when I finished, I plunged that sucker thru 6" of ice to water line and aimed clutch side to the amazed spectators, with a 30 ft. fountain of spray, cooling them down. Ice is nice to slice.
John, the bigmouth, lieing showoff.

 

[Dagger]

Chainsaw story turns fish story!

I once was in a dealership not far from the shore of lake winibago wis. This dealer made rigs for the participants of theannual Sturgeon contest there..he used old gear drives but as the got scarce he uses new 6 cube saws or better. rigs em up with a skip tooth chain and long bars...files differently, all I noticed was a near square chisel top. he mounts them on a sled of his design that is 3 ft long..maybe longer. He drills the chain/clutch cover for a threaded grease nipple to which is a hose to the grease gun, mounted on the wrap handle, in which is a vegetable cooking grease..looked like crisco, dont know for sure. The they cut holes in the ice 2 ft wide and 6 or 8 feet long, with the sides dovetailed outward for better visibility in the thick ice. they spear Lake Sturgeon with a gig that to me looked more like a hay fork, with a leaded pipe handle 5 feet long, detachable from the fork end and secured with a seperate rope. When i was in his shop he had a sturgen hangin from a shop hoist with the hoist 7 ft in the air, and the fishs tail was curled on the shop floor. When i commented on the fish he told me rather reluctantly that ..so far it was only good for second place!

 

[sonny]

It gets pretty darn cold down hear. It was freezing yesterday.Got down to the low 70s burrrrrrr.

 

[Huck]

It's been an amazingly mild winter up here too sonny. I was just out fishing on Sunday and only 2 1/2 feet of ice on Lake of the Woods! I doubt if any logging trucks were hauling any pulpwood over the ice this year!

Huck

 

[Gypo Logger]

The only thing about ice fishing I dont understand, is what do you do with the ice after you catch it, can you smoke it, isn't it hard to light up.
John

 

[Tom Dunlap]

This one passed me by. I must have been on my annual week of meditation in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Feb. Its really hard to paddle up there in Feb so I bring along a saw to cut canals. Takes a lot of time.

For several years I did staff training for winter trip leaders. One of the stations was an open water ice rescue. I would cut holes in the ice with chainsaws. After soaking myself and the ignitions I realized that I should just score the ice and then chip it out like someone else suggested. I found that I could use a cordless drill to get a depth reading on the ice. Pushing the blocks under the ice is the best. In no time, the hole will freeze shut anyway.

I never had any problems with the chains cracking or the saws being damaged. I did ground out a couple with splashed water but they dried out overnight and went back to wood cutting with no problems.

I've noticed that some of the Norskies will cut long, narrow slots in the ice in order to troll. They walk back and forth trying to either stay warm or catch a big one.

Tom

 

[Bill G]

Just don't do what I did as a kid. I wanted to cut a hole in the river so I grabbed the Pioneer and headed out on the ice. I didn't want to go far so I stopped about halfway across the small channel. I plunged it in and it went good at first until I put the whole bar length in. The ice and water wasn't as deep as the bar was long. I got a face full of mud.

Bill