Non-hunting chainsaw question . .

. .figured response would be better here. If it's in the wrong place one of you mods feel free to move it elsewhere.

Anyway, I've been wanting to get a chainsaw to do some work on the 120 acres I hunt on but haven't had a really good reason to spend the money. Well Ivan took care of that and I've got a HUGE oak down next to my house, missed the house though. Got an 18 Poulan today and was working well for about an hour then the chain got VERY dull.

Going to get a tool to sharpen the chain with but I'm wondering how long can you typically use a saw before needing to resharpen and what can I do to try and maintain the sharpness for a maximum amount of time. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated.

chainsaw

Hay gawg go buy a hardwood chain for your saw sounds like it came with the standard soft chain for pine. A good chain will last several hours and a good saw driving the chain will help. I use a 270 Huskavarna this is a working saw your poulan saw is for limbing the tree. Good luck and be safe wear chaps and safety glasses!

Other than hitting an imbedded nail or piece of barbed wire or digging it into the dirt, I can do some serious cutting for 5 or 6 hours before my saw gets really dull.
Take your chain to a good saw place and let them look at it. They may want to change it to a more agressive cutting type. The manufacturers don't want the average joe homeowner,who uses a saw very rarely, to get hurt so many new saws come with poor chains that throw out small pieces of sawdust where a good chain will scare you the way it will cut flakes of wood out of a log.

Spare chain can be handy

I've found that rather than try to sharpen the chain myself when it got dull, I just get a couple extra chains made for each saw. Then, when your chain gets dull, just swap the dull one out for a new one and get back to work. Takes less time than sharpening, and you don't have to worry about not filing right.

Good advice given.

Have a spare to rotate and always request a "Hardwood" chain when making the purchase.

Since most places like Home Depot and Walmart are braindead on even knowing what a "hardwood" chainsaw blade is, y'all know any good outlets around middle Georgia where you can get a "hardwood" chainsaw blade? I got an oak at my dad's I gotta take care of and there is a shortage here of most everything. Thanks.

I think I'll have someone sharpen it . .

. . and buy me an extra hardwood chain or two.

I know the major part of the tree I won't be able to handle but I should be able to get everything after the main trunk splits. That'll leave about 30 foot of tree I'll have got get done by someone else.

I keep an open account at a chain saw shop and have 7 contract loggers on the dole all have lots of saws a couple use a chainsaw as their only felling tool. One uses a Husky with a west coast bar and it is turbocharged and makes 8 horsepower yet I've never heard of a "hardwood" chain. Someone please enlighten me cause I'm sho losing a lot of money otherwise. :

Sounds like she just got dull. Mighta hit a nail, rock, the ground or anything. Get you a file and sharpen it. When it gets dull again, sharpen it again. Soon you'll be able to sharpen a chain that'll last awhile. Like learning to sharpen a knife. A guide is a good help.

If This Is Your First Time With A Chainsaw Read All Manueal. You Can Get Hurt

My neighbor cut trees,as a side job,after he cut one for me.I told him I'd run to depot and get him a new chain.He also said that their chains are too soft.you can buy a file to sharpen it and practice on the cheap chains,but if you don't do it right,you won't be able to make a straight cut

Never heard of a "hardwood chain" either Timberman.Been fooling with chainsaws on the farm a long time.I need enlightening also.
MCG,I would guess like someone mentioned you let your saw chain touch the ground at some point.Only takes a split second to turn the edge and make it dull.
Also like someone said the size chain your saw uses is most likely the smallest size.I don't think you will get a larger chain because the size of your bar and saw.It is not made to pull the larger chain.
I was told by a dealer once that the small saws were only an 8 hr.saw.Made to do trim work and the weekend warier.Made to run a total of 8 hrs.and then throw it away.I have had several.They cut real good as long as the chain is really sharp.You can buy another one cheaper than working on it.

Cal, when you say an 8hr saw . ..

. . . do you mean the entire saw is only good for eight total hours or the chain is only good for 8 hours? I can see throwing the chain away but chuncking an entire piece of equipment after 8 hours seem a little ridiculous. My weedeater and leaf blower don't take that kind of abuse but I've bet they've got over 100 hours on them each.

Hmmm...I would definitely need to see the saw in action. Tell you what, MCGDawg. You should head down my way with that saw and cut up the two oaks and two pines that Frances knocked over on my place, and THEN I can give a fair and balanced assessment of that saw!

I tend to agree with CAL on this one. His eight-hour statement may be stretching it a little, but it makes the point: You get what you pay for. I have owned several Poulan saws in the past and I can attest that they are for the weekend warrior limb trimmer. The reason your chain dulls quickly on the Poulan is because the saw will not handle a chain with an aggressive enough bite to do any substantial work. Therefore, the chain that it will handle must work considerably harder to make the cut - by this I mean that each tooth must make more revolutions around the bar and through the wood in order to make the cut. This equates to slower cutting time and quicker dulling time on the chain because each tooth has made more cuts.

Unless you purchased a pretty substantial Poulan saw, I would speculate that your saw does not produce the HP or the RPMs needed to use a more aggressive chain. Also, a more aggressive chain will probably require a different bar to match the width of the chain - again this is something your Poulan probably will not handle.

As I stated earlier, I have owned two Poulan saws myself and my father has owned one. All three are in the bottom of the landfill now. I would suggest something orange - Husky or Steele are both good saws and you can get a good one for around $300. There is a reason why most all of the power companies and tree crews use these saws - they are dependable and get the work done!

BTW - I now have a Husky Rancher 500 that is five years old. Last Friday morning I put a new chain on it and went to work cleaning up after the storm. Friday, Saturday and Sunday I cut up eight pine trees between 10 and 15 inches, six poplar trees between 12 and twenty inches, two wild cherry trees, 3 red oaks that were all about 18" and one water oak that was about 26 inches. I never changed the chain or sharpened it. I would highly recommend this saw!

Good luck and be careful.

AgE

PS - I have never heard of a hardwood chain either?

Lesson learned I guess . ..

. . . 90% of what I would use it for wouldn't need it running for more than 10 minutes anyway. I'm the prototypical weekend warrior. However, expecting it to handle the majority of this tree that fell in my yard may be asking too much of it. It was the best Poulan Lowe's had but that probably isn't saying much. Took it around the corner at lunch to get it sharpened at a place that sells Husqvarna's and they seemed to be MUCH more substantial saws. Probably more than I need at this time for most of my uses BUT one I'll definitely look at as my needs change.

One thing folks here and others keep telling me "keep it out of the dirt". Cut many of the logs laying on the ground and I won't make that mistake again.

I agree that if you are a Professional cutter who cuts four or five days a week, you need to buy the biggest professional saw you can buy.

I bought a sears (Poulan) 18" saw in 1978. I have a wood burning stove and I have cut a bunch of free wood for it in the last 25 years. I am on my third bar and probably sixth chain that I wore down to wear it could not be sharpened again. It has never quit on me and I have never done anything to it other than routine spark plug,filter cleaning etc.

As far as chains go, there are definately more than one kind. You can go to a good chain shop and buy one that will really dig in and cut. They are more easy to kick back on you if you do not watch what you are doing.

For Example of different cutting designs.http://www.baileys-online.com/WPsawchain.htm

I don't know guys...

Back in the early 90's when I had a woodburning stove, I bought an 18" Sears (Poulan) saw. I had a 5 acre woodlot and not only cut enough wood to heat the house thru the TN winters, but also cut, split and sold more truck loads of hardwood in Knoxville than I could count over a 5 year period.
This saw has never failed to start or cut. Its over 10 yrs old and still runs on the original sparkplug - heck, I've never even taken the cover off to find out where the sparkplug is located.

I'm on my 3rd bar and have run thru many many chains. I do agree on the quality of the chains though. Find an equipment dealer that sells Stihl saws and get your chains there. They have a more aggressive tooth and cut and last longer than the HomeDepot type chains.

I don't fool with sharpening my own though. I keep multiple chains and let the equipment dealer sharpen them and just swap them out when dull.

My bet is the saw hit the dirt or a some metal embedded in the tree.

There's no doubt it hit the dirt . . . .

. . and the folks where I had it sharpened (picked it up 10 minutes ago) let me know in no uncertain terms that was what caused the problem. Got a spare chain in case my stupidity takes over again and hopefully I'lll get a lot more use out of it. Going to give up on sharpening my own as they only charge $5 a pop to sharpen them, they're 3 miles from my office, and the girl working the counter was not at all hard on the eyes.

A "Hardwood" chain is just a term given to a standard chain, meaning NOT anti kickback. Most all of the chainsaw maufactures do not even make these chains anymore, only the anti kickback type. If you look at the link in between the cutting links you will find a raised link. This raised link keeps the saw from kicking back by slowing down how much you can cut. The "Hardwood" or "Non anti kickback" chain will not have anything in between the cutting links therfore it will cut much faster and more efficently, however it will kick back if not used properly. Stihl, Husky and maybe a few aftermarket chain companies make these chains to fit just about any saw. Any good small engine shop should be able to make you a chain for around $15-20 while you wait. Just take your chain for reference

OR: Redneck approach, take a flat file and file down the links in front of the cutters. I do not recommend doing this as some chain are not strong enough and it might break under load.

Also, whenever you sharpen your chain you should take a flat file across the point directly in front of the cutting tooth and file down about .010 or close to ten swipes with the file. Any shop will do this with a machine but if you sharpen your own this will help tremedously.

Follow as the others said about not hitting dirt, rocks, nails, etc... and keep the oil level above half full when using the saw on its side and you can expect one hard days use out of each chain ie. 8-10 hours.

Good Luck and be careful! I used to work at a big small engine shop and have had three fingers become very familiar with a sharp chain. Luckily I didn't lose any.

Buy the cheapest saw you can find and when it tears up through it away and get another one im in the stumpgrinding buisness i use to spend a lot on saws some times they sit for a while then the expensive ones wouldnt run so i buy the cheap poulans and you cant kill this one its lasted a whole lot longer than 8 hrs just keep an extra bar and chain you can buy 4 saws compared to one husky Good luck!
STUMPMAN