Question For Canadian, Northern European, And High-Mountain Loggers

[Nitroman]

This is a question directed to those who cut primarily clean standing spruce, when it is hard frozen. By hard frozen I mean -29* C or -20* F.

What is a good chain for cutting this frozen wood, that usually will be sappy.
Reason: where I live (on the Kuskokwim River in SW Alaska), trees are not cut unless standing dead. And the best way to get to them is...you guessed it...in the winter when there is enough snow on the ground to go out with the snogo and a sled. So the wood is clean, and the tree will be filled with rosen and sap that is frozen rock-hard.

In the past, before I returned to university, I used a Husky with a 28" bar (I forget the model, it was quite awhile ago), and I had to turn the oiler up almost to max to keep the chain from getting gummed up. I have recently purchased a 394XP with a 36" GB roller-tip bar and I need a couple of chains; cost is not a consideration.

Now that I am out of school, I want to get back into the woods this winter.

Any comments appreciated regarding the chains or tips on the saw itself.

 

[Austin1]

I like cutting wood in the winter No bug's! or muskeg. I always keep my oiler turned up on my saw's. I find it more a problem in summer with the pitch it's like syrup and makes a mess of everything.
I just use every day chesel chain nothing speacial might want to keep the rakers set for hard wood though, but for me I never bother if anything I take em down a bit more.

 

[SawTroll]

Some people may think I could answer this, as I am well North of the Polar Circle - but I can't.

Minus 29 celsius is not too common here, thanks to the Gulf Stream.
I wouldn't even consider cutting the few times it is, and I seldom cut spruce, and sertainly not dead ones......

 

[Stihl Crazy]

I use 3/8 Oregon chain year round. For me it holds an edge better than Stihl chain. I just file alittle differently for the winter. That is when I am in the big Sugar maple and at -29 they can be somewhat hard.

 

[dadouthat]

I cut standing dead spruce for firewood, often at temps of -20 F and colder and I really don't see much difference between cutting hard frozen and warm weather stuff. Not enough for me to have different chains for cold and warm weather. Splitting is another matter. Despite what I have seen on the forums and from some tests that are cited, it does split much easier in extreme cold (the tests just weren't done at cold enough temps). As for pitch problems, adding some diesel to the bar oil for cold weather flow also seems to help out with the pitch problem. Finally, germX is good for taking pitch off your hands.

 

[Nitroman]

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the replies! Exactly the information I was looking for.

SawTroll, reason(s) for cutting the dead trees are usually weight oriented, for towing a heavy sled behind a snogo is dangerous, and summers can be mild and wet, so drying the wood can take forever.

A couple of chisel chains it is!

Thanks again!

 

[wood rat]

-20 I stay home. With even a small breeze the windchill is too much.

I did it once and once was enough.

 

[Nitroman]

Woodrat,

I understand that well too. Once the snow has fallen and freezes well, the sun will create a hard crust after a few weeks. Then it begins to get truly cold after January and the snow is hard enough that you can easily drive a snogo and sled without having the machine work too hard. It is simply the best time to get wood.

 

[pgg]

Reminds me of petrified logs dragged from old lake beds, some like rock, as you can imagine the chain just loves them