What is the deal with Pine and Chainsaws?

[blovell863]

I purchased a 5 acre parcel of planted pines in central Florida. I've been going through the pines and cutting down the one's that I don't want. Problem is, the chainsaw blade is only good for about 5 trees and then it's done. These trees are anywhere between 10" - 20" in diameter. I don't know much about chainsaws as I'm only 30 years old and this is my first piece of property, but I have cut down more than your average Joe using a chainsaw, so I somewhat know what I'm doing. My Dad bought a new Stihl saw not too long ago, so I'm borrowing his saw to cut the trees down. Not sure what size it is, but I would say the bar on it is close to 24" long. I have no idea why the blade is dulling so fast, but it's aggravating as can be. Yesterday I was out cutting and the newly sharpened blade (sharpened by a local professional shop) lasted for 5 trees, and then it started blackening the cut and smoke would start barreling out around the bar. This is a continuing occurrence, and I have a ton of trees left to cut and buck, so any and all help would be EXTREMELY APPRECIATED.

 

[rburg]

Is your oiler hole getting plugged by the pine resin? You will probably need to clean your bar groove out so oil can go down the bar. Pine itself should not be dulling your chain that quickly.

 

[Marshy]

Chains do not tolerate getting into dirt. If you are accidently cutting past the tree and just momentarily getting into the soil then your chain is dulled and needs to be sharpened. I suggest you post a picture of the cutting tooth so we can take a look.

 

[Conquistador3]

Is your oiler hole getting plugged by the pine resin? You will probably need to clean your bar groove out so oil can go down the bar. Pine itself should not be dulling your chain that quickly.

Agreed: check the chainsaw is oiling, and oiling properly.
Unless you are running a chain which is very close to be scrap heap material pine that size shouldn't dull your chain so fast.

A really dumb question now: are you bucking the logs immediately after felling? If so do you regularly hit the ground?

 

[bikemike]

I'd say turn up the oiler. Maybe find a high tack bar oil fpv from menards is very tacky and cheep. If your chain is dulled up fast ur cutting dirt or rakers may be too high and not allowing the cutter to bury into the wood

 

[Gypo Logger]

Could there be ingrown silt in the trees?

 

[Stihlbillie]

As mentioned above sap might be clogging the chain rails and oil holes. Sticky sticky sticky!

-chimpboy

 

[blovell863]

Thanks for all of the replies. I just dropped off 3 more blades to get sharpened and will pick them up this afternoon.

As far as bucking the trees, I originally started bucking as soon as they dropped, but soon realized that it wouldn't cut anymore trees so I stopped. Yesterday I had a blade that was sharpened right before I put it on, and cut down 5 trees in a row and on the 5th tree, it was a nightmare fighting the tree with the saw.

I always keep plenty of bar oil in the saw, but not sure how to check if it's oiling properly. Can someone please shed some light on this? I'll be heading out there this afternoon to pick up where I left off yesterday.

 

[pioneerguy600]

A saw that is oiling properly will use approximately one tank of oil to each tank of fuel. I set mine to run out the same time and clean the bar grooves along with the oil holes in the bar each day after cutting. Pine sap will build up quickly on the chain around here requiring the chain to be soaked in kerosene to soften and remove the sap before sharpening the cutters. The chains will turn dark and burn from this buildup but they are not dull, just clogged up.

 

[crzybowhntr]

Take your bar off and clean out the groove that the CHAIN rides in. I always use an old plastic putty knife but anything will do.

Check to make sure that the oil hole on the bar is clear of debris. Put the CHAIN back on and let the saw warm up a minute and hit the throttle while holding the nose of the bar an inch or so from a piece of wood and see if the oil is flying off the CHAIN and onto the wood.

 

[crotchclimber]

Thanks for all of the replies. I just dropped off 3 more blades to get sharpened and will pick them up this afternoon.

As far as bucking the trees, I originally started bucking as soon as they dropped, but soon realized that it wouldn't cut anymore trees so I stopped. Yesterday I had a blade that was sharpened right before I put it on, and cut down 5 trees in a row and on the 5th tree, it was a nightmare fighting the tree with the saw.

I always keep plenty of bar oil in the saw, but not sure how to check if it's oiling properly. Can someone please shed some light on this? I'll be heading out there this afternoon to pick up where I left off yesterday.

Most guys check to see if the saw's oiling by holding it up to some wood and running full throttle for a few seconds until you can see a line of oil sprayed onto the wood. The saw should use between half and one tank of oil per tank of gas (depending on how it's adjusted if adjustable). The oil helps keep resin from sticking to the chain. The other possibilities are a lot of grit in the trees' bark or improper sharpening that dulls quickly. I usually touch up my chain with a file after every tank or two. The 2 in 1 filing guide by Stihl or Pferd makes it foolproof and will save you time and money over taking your chains to a shop (who I've had bad experiences with).

 

[blovell863]

Thanks everyone! Got a lot of good advice here and learned quite a bit as well. I'm getting ready to head out in an hour or so and I'm going to make sure and clean out the grooves and check the oil splatter on a board or something. I'll report back tomorrow on what happens. Seems like a great community of people here. Thanks again.

 

[Chainsaw Jim]

Florida? I'd suspect a high amount of soil to be embedded into the bark of all those trees. Use a hatchet to knock the bark off where you're making your cuts and the chain will last longer. The shop you're going to may be overheating your chain with the grinder.
Lack of oil will smoke the bar and start melting plastic around the clutch drum. It'll cause the saw to bog out and not cut at all.

 

[Mattyo]

Everyone here so far seems to be concentrating on the oil /bar issue. However, chains do not retain sharpness forever, and usually, they become dull way before you'd like, for a number of reasons. You need to be touching up a chain at least once per tank of fuel (a good rule of thumb). Keeping the chain sharp will mean less visits to the shop to have them ground. If you don't know how to sharpen a chain, it sounds like its either time to start learning (and asking here is a GREAT place to start) or time to break out your wallet and buy a bunch of chains, and as SOON as one even starts to dull, throw a new one on. You can buy Oregon chains on ebay in packs of 10 for usually less than $15 each. buy them, use them until they start to dull, then put them aside and bring a bunch to your dealer to sharpen...that's your second option.

best of luck and be safe.... don't cut w/ a dull chain, just stop

 

[pioneerguy600]

Local conditions will determine how quickly a chain dulls if the operator just keeps the chain in the wood and out of the soil. Here in NS,Canada we can cut a full day/8 tanks of fuel and still have a sharp chain. We have no gritty dust, a damp climate keeps dust out of the air, our wood is clean and grit free so a chain stays sharper longer than one used in a dusty climate. Also trees that get flooded on a flood plain often pick up grit and some species of trees are natural grit traps, they draw grit up through the pores along with the water they need to grow. It`s up to the operator to know if the chain is sharp and producing chips and when the chain starts to dull the chips start getting finer, more like dust.

 

[Mattyo]

Local conditions will determine how quickly a chain dulls if the operator just keeps the chain in the wood and out of the soil. Here in NS,Canada we can cut a full day/8 tanks of fuel and still have a sharp chain. We have no gritty dust, a damp climate keeps dust out of the air, our wood is clean and grit free so a chain stays sharper longer than one used in a dusty climate. Also trees that get flooded on a flood plain often pick up grit and some species of trees are natural grit traps, they draw grit up through the pores along with the water they need to grow. It`s up to the operator to know if the chain is sharp and producing chips and when the chain starts to dull the chips start getting finer, more like dust.

This !!!

"It's up to the operator to know if the chain is sharp "

 

[grizz55chev]

Sharpening takes practice, and a sharp file.

 

[stubnail67]

Ok i have a question... did you drop five trees so you made only 5 cuts? or did you drop them and cut them up as well? sharpen the chain in the field....Pine trees are hard on a chain....Also like others said if you hit dirt its done.....how about a pic of the bar on the saw? You will want to make sure its oiling like others said turn the oil all the way up....I sharpen my chain any time it starts to even act dull.....if the bar is smoking stop if you can and check you have bar oil and hit it with a file......Don't ever try to cut when the bar is smoking..... Make sure your not pushing it forward so hard you partially engage the chain brake as well..... The saw will let you know there is an issue..... good luck and Safe cutting.....

 

[blovell863]

Man, you guys are awesome! I picked up my 3 Oregon blades from the shop yesterday after work and went to the house and did a deep cleanse of the saw. Cleaned out all of the gunk around the sprocket as well as all the silt inside the bar itself. Found the little hole where the oil comes out of the saw and onto the blade, and it was free of debris. Put the newly sharpened blade on and went to work. This time I was able to cut through many more trees before the blade went dull. I would say 10-15 trees per blade before it went dull, so that's a huge step in the right direction compared to the 5 I was getting. One thing that I'm still not sure about is, when I was cleaning the saw and after I put the chain on, I laid a shop towel on the ground to test the oil splatter coming off the blade. There was none. But the bar was getting oil but I'm not sure if it's oiling properly. There was no oil splatter line on the towel, but oil was in the bar groove, and it was also building up around the housing of the saw near the blade. I figure a properly oiled saw would spit out a line of oil when you point it towards the towel on the ground, and this wasn't the case. I think I need to figure out how to get it oiling properly? Or is it already?

 

[Marshy]

Man, you guys are awesome! I picked up my 3 Oregon blades from the shop yesterday after work and went to the house and did a deep cleanse of the saw. Cleaned out all of the gunk around the sprocket as well as all the silt inside the bar itself. Found the little hole where the oil comes out of the saw and onto the blade, and it was free of debris. Put the newly sharpened blade on and went to work. This time I was able to cut through many more trees before the blade went dull. I would say 10-15 trees per blade before it went dull, so that's a huge step in the right direction compared to the 5 I was getting. One thing that I'm still not sure about is, when I was cleaning the saw and after I put the chain on, I laid a shop towel on the ground to test the oil splatter coming off the blade. There was none. But the bar was getting oil but I'm not sure if it's oiling properly. There was no oil splatter line on the towel, but oil was in the bar groove, and it was also building up around the housing of the saw near the blade. I figure a properly oiled saw would spit out a line of oil when you point it towards the towel on the ground, and this wasn't the case. I think I need to figure out how to get it oiling properly? Or is it already?

Please, please stop calling the chains blades. The proper terms are bar and chain.

Let me ask you, if you filled up both the gas and bar oil at the same time and ran the saw until it was out of gas, how much oil is left in the tank when you refill it? Ideally it should use 3/4 to nearly all of the bar oil per tank of gas. If the oil is running out of the clutch area of the saw and not off the chain like you described the bar might have some crud between it and the mount and the its not making a good seal to the bar. Someone else will be along shortly with a better idea Im sure.