Splitting with Chainsaw

[albinoguitman]

I have a Stihl MS271 20" .325 .050 What would be the best chain for "splitting"? I think its typically called ripping but every time I look up ripping I find milling chains, and I'm not looking to make lumber just fire wood. I can't afford a splitter yet but I've got some large pieces of wood I'm planning to split. Would a full chisel chain be the best for chunking out large logs?

 

[TheJollyLogger]

A good sharp semi chisel works just fine. Just keep cleaning the shavings out.

 

[Brushwacker]

I do most of my knotty rounds through the worse knots , layed down length wise. Most any style full or semi chisel cutter chain has worked well for me. Skip tooth probably is better for the chip or in this situation noodles clearance and works also very well for normal cuts in big wood. I wouldn't reccomend safety chain with large bumper links but it would do it ok if you ground them down . Skip isn't as much available as full comp in .325 as 3/8 but it can be found or u could go 3/8s. Your saw would do the job but you would make wood faster if you had a larger saw. My dad use to do his that way with an ms180 in his old age but the bigger the better. I usually prefer 64 to a 95cc saw if i have much to do but I handsplit most and most trees 1 cut through the worse knots and hand split the rest. Large diameter usually 2 cuts with a few exceptions.
I would buy a large saw before a splitter unless you have extra help manning the splitter.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I do some ripping with my chainsaw,

just use a sharp chain and adjust the angle of cut to get the longest chips.

SR

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

The best chain would be a sharp chain. I’m a full chisel user although whatever ya got will do the job. I only run semi chisel for really dirty wood which I don’t encounter too often.

 

[ericm979]

Cut along the length ("noodle") 80% or so through and then use a splitting maul to split the rest of the way. That keeps the chain out of the dirt. You're splitting the wood along its weakest orientation so it usually takes just one hit. It doesn't matter much what chain you use for this, all will cut fast. Your biggest problem will be clearing the long chips out of the clutch cover. Watch for chips clogging. Cut with the bar nose down a bit to make shorter chips that clear easier.

I do this for rounds that are too big to go on the splitter. It's not good for splitting wood down to stove size though, cutting on small pieces of wood is not safe.

Milling is cutting across the ends of the wood fibers. It's the slowest cutting direction.

 

[fields_mj]

As others have said, use what you have but keep the chain sharp. Noodling produces really long chips so a semi-chisel helps keep things from getting clogged up as fast. Unfortunately, it's also going to cut just a little slower.

Its best if your bar is at least 2 inches longer than your firewood. Keeping the nose out of the cut helps the saw cut faster.

For some saws they make a clutch cover that's flared out at the bottom. The idea is to help with the discharge of chips. For most cutting, it's pointless. For noodling, I've found it to be very useful.

At the end of the day, a 271 is small for noodling. It WILL get the job done, but it will be slow. Better than beating your brains out with an 8lb maul though. I bought my 064 (used/rebuilt) specifically for noodling. I was cutting on a farm that had been select logged. Tree tops were down in the ravines where there wasn't much room to work. The 064 with a 28" bar and 404 chain made a great combination for that job. If I were doing it today, I'd get a G660 with the same setup. Also keep in mind that on the used market you can generally find a 27 ton splitter for around $500. Or at least you can around here during the off season.

 

[albinoguitman]

Thank you all. Very help full. I am going to talk to a buddy that does 3D Printing and see if he can scan my clutch cover and flare it for me. Sounds like that will be the biggest help ... and being patient.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

You're making this way too complicated, it's really not that big a deal.

 

[albinoguitman]

You're making this way too complicated, it's really not that big a deal.

Thanks for your opinion. I'll take that into consideration the next time I ask a question.

 

[blades]

You can make your own skip chain out of regular full comp chain. Just grind out every other set of teeth. your small saw will work this way just a bit slower and a lot less problems with chips loading up. another hint on this is to only take the top of the teeth to be removed off as the leaving the side plate ( what is called a scratcher chain) the side plates help clean out the cut so it will not bog down/ jam up as much.

 

[rocketnorton]

long noodles will plug it up easier
adjust angle of bar to wood while cuttin and youll see diff
foot long noodles make fer good pics, but also a brake when they get piled in there
my bar tip is usually in bout 2x it's width b4 the back end starts cuttin
usually get 2-3" noodles that clear out pretty good

i prefer inboard clutch saw for that kinda cuttin

 

[fields_mj]

As others have said, use what you have but keep the chain sharp. Noodling produces really long chips so a semi-chisel helps keep things from getting clogged up as fast. Unfortunately, it's also going to cut just a little slower.

Its best if your bar is at least 2 inches longer than your firewood. Keeping the nose out of the cut helps the saw cut faster.

For some saws they make a clutch cover that's flared out at the bottom. The idea is to help with the discharge of chips. For most cutting, it's pointless. For noodling, I've found it to be very useful.

At the end of the day, a 271 is small for noodling. It WILL get the job done, but it will be slow. Better than beating your brains out with an 8lb maul though. I bought my 064 (used/rebuilt) specifically for noodling. I was cutting on a farm that had been select logged. Tree tops were down in the ravines where there wasn't much room to work. The 064 with a 28" bar and 404 chain made a great combination for that job. If I were doing it today, I'd get a G660 with the same setup. Also keep in mind that on the used market you can generally find a 27 ton splitter for around $500. Or at least you can around here during the off season.

I said that wrong. I ment to say semi-skip, not semi-chisel.

 

[EchoRomeoCharlie]

Don't need a different chain to noodle rounds.

Get a splitting axe. Cheaper, faster, quieter, great work out. I only really noodle the really nasty rounds.

 

[fields_mj]

Don't need a different chain to noodle rounds.

Get a splitting axe. Cheaper, faster, quieter, great work out. I only really noodle the really nasty rounds.

Good point. I think we all have assumed that the OP plans on splitting most stuff by hand and is only looking for advice on how to use his saw to "split" rounds that are not feasible to split by hand. If you don't already have a Fiskars, get one. My recommendation would be an X27 which has the 36" handle. The other option is the X25 which has a 28" handle. I prefer the longer handle because it means if I should ever miss, or something should go wrong, the axe will hit the ground before it hits my shins. I also spit most of my stuff sitting on the ground. Guys who like the X25 tend to set their rounds on top of a splitting block first. Using a splitting block has it advantages, but it's one more time that I have to lift everything and I intentionally try to minimize how many times I have to lift each piece of wood.

It might also be a good idea to invest into a Fiskars ISOCore splitting maul. I have never used one, but they seem to work well. I bought my splitter a couple of years after the ISOCore came out. I already have a 6lb and 8lb maul, so it didn't make sense to spend money on something that might be better. If I can't split it with one or two hits from my X27, it goes on the splitter. If its nasty enough that I don't really want to split it with my splitter, or big enough that I can't safely lift it, then I use a chainsaw. On rare occasion, I may hit something once or twice with a maul but only because its easier than starting the splitter in the middle of January for the one or two pieces I couldn't split with an axe. By the way, a lot of wood splits easier when its 15 degrees below freezing, especially with an axe. That doesn't help much when you're trying to split it in June so that it will dry fast enough to be ready when winter gets here, but it's something to keep in mind.