Hardest wood on chain

[Steve NW WI]

Steve,

Check out this thread.
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=112879&highlight=multicut

New chain from Oregon. It's 'spensive but is faster than RM/RMC and holds up as well or better so far, and files easy.

Sand? we gots sand!!! LOL!!

Agreed on Elm. I have never considered elm tough at all. Long dead or not.
Cuts about like Red Oak here.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

Dinger, saw that thread. I'm gonna see if my local dealer will get some in for testing purposes. If not, any of our friendly sponsors carry the stuff?

My sand's not quite as bad as yours, but not much organic matter here either. Without pulling some paperwork, I want to say +-3%. Nice for scouring tillage tools, bad for scouring chains.

I suppose I should have said "dead standing weathered elm". When its been standing for years and turns grey. I cut a ton of elm too, seems like a 70% or better die off in the last few years. The bark has to have come off quickly after it dies so its not rotten. Some of that stuff gets nearly petrified.

That's the stuff. Not sure what part of the state you're in, but WC/NW WI and EC MN saw Dutch Elm Disease make another pass here lately. Lots of elms standing bark-free. I've got 3 cords of the stuff already cut this year, and I haven't officially started cutting yet LOL. The good news seems to be a lot higher survival rate on the elms, perhaps they are getting some resistance?

PS - fenceline box elders here get cut off above fence level. They have a bad habit of growing right through fences. I keep an old chain for cutting them off at the ground, then they go to the burn pile, not worth the aggravation when cutting "junk wood".

 

[Kemper]

What is the hardest wood you cut?
Mine is scalybark/shellbark hickory. The wood is tough enough,
but the outer bark will booger up a chain almost as fast as
fence wire.
The wood is real good for barbeque pits and grill wood.
I haul some of the small limbs up & cut them up with a carbide
tip circular saw and mix them with charcoal on the grill.

I will agree on the shellbark hickory, that bark will sure dull a chain,always has dirt and sand behind the bark.

I cut alot of dead red elm here and it is hard as a rock but sure burns hot!

Osage orange cuts fairly easily when it's green but if it's dead you will go through the chains pretty fast...

 

[bartlanz]

Hardest thing I've cut to this point has been railroad ties... and hitting wire or spikes in it that you didnt notice is never good...

 

[Milo]

Ironwood- lives up or down to its name
Mesquite- customers like it better than oak
Juniper- dirty

 

[stihl sawing]

Blackjack oak and hickory for me.

 

[bitzer]

Dinger, saw that thread. I'm gonna see if my local dealer will get some in for testing purposes. If not, any of our friendly sponsors carry the stuff?

My sand's not quite as bad as yours, but not much organic matter here either. Without pulling some paperwork, I want to say +-3%. Nice for scouring tillage tools, bad for scouring chains.



That's the stuff. Not sure what part of the state you're in, but WC/NW WI and EC MN saw Dutch Elm Disease make another pass here lately. Lots of elms standing bark-free. I've got 3 cords of the stuff already cut this year, and I haven't officially started cutting yet LOL. The good news seems to be a lot higher survival rate on the elms, perhaps they are getting some resistance?

PS - fenceline box elders here get cut off above fence level. They have a bad habit of growing right through fences. I keep an old chain for cutting them off at the ground, then they go to the burn pile, not worth the aggravation when cutting "junk wood".

I'm in SE. I've got about 15 cords of dead elm on the ground. Some good sized elms took it this year. Biggest was solid up to 8' off of the ground where it split into two trunks and was close to 75' tall. The stump was 36"x48". It seems like nearly all are dead or dying lately.

I cut a lot of boxelder too. It goes into the outdoor wood boiler on top of good hardwood as a filler. Just garbage trees, dangerous and ugly.

 

[jra1100]

I think the absolute worst I ever cut was a huge Willow which was in my front yard. It was about 50 inches in dia. and the bark was full of sand. This was before I found AS and I had some rather small saws, and it took forever to get the thing cut up and hauled to our city dump. Next, in no particular order are Osage Orange, Ironwood, and dead standing Red Elm. The White Elm are pretty soft, but the Red Elm will cause sparks to fly. I think that all of the last 3 are pretty close to each other in hardness and abuse of chains. All are good fire wood, Ironwood being least among them in my opinion. Willow is just junk wood IMHO. Most of the time it won't burn unless soaked in gasoline for a month and then lit with a grass burner. I haven't had a chance to cut Locust, but the Shagbark Hickory that we have here isn't all that bad compared to the 3 listed above. If I had to have only one wood to burn it would be Red Elm, hands down. It's a bear to split, but that's why I have the Log Boss splitter. JR

 

[redunshee]

In the Northeast, shagbark hickory and Hardhack or as its called Ironwood( actual name in the books is Hophornbeam) is extremely hard. I've seen saws spark cutting shagbark hickory. Man is it good heating wood, though .

 

[unclemoustache]

Silver maple.

Well, one silver maple in particular that had grown around a concrete post. It's still in my neighbors yard, and occasionally a fire is built underneath it in the hopes that it is dry enough to finally burn up. No luck yet, and it's been over a year.

 

[rms61moparman]

Dead Osage Orange (we call it hedgeapple around here)
Dead Mulberry will spark a brand new chain
Anything (maples in particular) hollow in the center and full of that composted "wood dirt" stuff will dull a chain as quickly as a gravel driveway.
Dead Honey Locust the tree with the 4"-5" thorns growing out of it. Makes great firewood but hard as hell on chains and I never can seem to cut one up without getting a thorn and they take forever to heal.


Mike


.

 

[davec]

Well Teak of course...and Brazillian Rosewood.....

Oh you meant things that I've cut.... Nevamind

:biggrinbounce2:

 

[ms290]

the worst on chains here in north east oklahoma is black jacks. THEY EAT CHAINS:chainsawguy: but red oak and just oak in general is a dream. cuts like butter.

 

[ROOTSXROCKS]

This is a piece of inclusive wood from a 6"x8" Crotch that broke out of a very old live oak It chimes like a tuning fork when you hit it, and will wipe out a good band saw blade after an hour of resawing. I made the Hammer below and it has been used extensively pounding in pavers and a few other used the surface is barley indented. Even the 1/8th inch veneer I sawed off is like spring steel. and absolutely beautiful spiraled and twisted.

 

[injun joe]

thats an easy 1. most will laugh at me or mock me lol but it would have to be a few cottonwood rounds. the new chain spat out almost nuthing but dust with the exception of an occasional chip. or mountain mohagony. the chain had to be sharpened again after cutting this little piece.

 

[dingeryote]

thats an easy 1. most will laugh at me or mock me lol but it would have to be a few cottonwood rounds. the new chain spat out almost nuthing but dust with the exception of an occasional chip. or mountain mohagony. the chain had to be sharpened again after cutting this little piece.

Joe,

With the soil composition you have out there in Nevada, it wouldn't shock me one whit if some Balsa trees weren't petrified while standing.

That inclusion is too cool. Ever think of doing some sanding on it to bring the colors out?

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[MCW]

Worst I've cut was a long time dead River Box (I'm pretty sure) tree near Dareton, New South Wales in Australia. I was helping a mate cut firewood on the floodplains and he gave me this dead old tree about 3 foot in diameter while he took on a dead Redgum.
I have never, ever seen anything like it. It took 3 chains just to get it on the ground and these Carlton semi chisel chains were absolutely wrecked. That was on my 7900 on a 32" bar so swapped to the 3120 and .404" Carlton chipper. In the end after wrecking a heap of chains (my mate chimed in with his 880 and gave up quick smart as well) we only had 3 rounds and they were unbelievably heavy. This wood sounded like tool steel when you hit it with a hammer. His 30 tonne hydraulic splitter wouldn't touch it.
To top it off there was also some termite dirt in the centre. 90% of that tree is still laying there and will stay that way till the day we die...

 

[splitpost]

standing ironbark thats been hit by lightning

 

[Terry Syd]

Sledge hammer option

Out in the Western Region of NSW (Australia) they ring-barked the trees (gum, ironwood) to open up the land for grazing. Those trees are still there after more than 125 years - yeah, it's dry out there.

The termites nibbled away at what ever they could find that was able to be chewed on and left their termite sand in the cracks. The dry hardwood itself looks like marble when you get it cut. That's the problem, getting it cut.

It is hard work in the hot sun trying to cut it, and when you have to spend far more time in that sun sharpening the chain then cutting, you know there has to be a better way.

Now when I go out there and I need some top quality firewood, I use a sledge hammer on the easy pieces - and wear safety glasses to prevent injury from the shattering wood. Best wood I've ever burned.

 

[stinkbait]

I believe that the hardest wood that I ever cut was a well seasoned 36" chestnut oak.

 

[ROOTSXROCKS]

That inclusion is too cool. Ever think of doing some sanding on it to bring the colors out?

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

I used a combination of a hand held planer and a tungsten grinding disk to take off the included bark. what is left is smooth.