Job includes Metal

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Altissimus

Altissimus

TreeHouser
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Jul 1, 2008
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southern Vermont
Been at this for awhile and thought I'd seen it all. Gerry's caution in his book covers it well , locally the large Sugar Maples or any old tree along the stone walls will certainly have barbed wire and staples.. Fell a forested Red Spruce next to a house yesterday as part of a bigger job , no giant mebbee 60' h 16"dbh. Was working it and the first cut up from the stump sparks and suddenly dull as f'shit as a framing nail was in there ! , no worries I accept it occasionally working residential. Figured I'd finish the job an be outa there in short order w the 372 before sunset (Hope's are dreams sometimes)... up near the top backchaining someunderneath limbs , godman sparks and I'm dull with a surprisingly bad attitude very quickly ...seems years ago some freaking terrorists had wrapped an old bandsaw blade around some limbs ... until I found it !!! , sucks but could have been much worse I guess. Finished it this morning.
 
Always sucks. Can usually hear the contact.
My least favorite was some chain like the stuff found on swing sets. Still wrecked my chain, 36” full comp.

I kinda like the pretty purple and blue staining that the wood picks up, usually just small areas in the wood. I’m guessing the steel or iron oxidizes differently when enveloped in wood.
 
That's why I like skip chains for quicker sharpening, and keeping a few spares so you can just swap chains and keep going.
 
Never used a skip chain aside from what came on my PoluanPros. I should have. My previous "big saw" was a 362cm with a 25" bar. It would pull it, but a skip chain would have been a better match. Never thought of it til I got my 661, and then it didn't matter.

Sucks about the metal. It's amazing(or not) how quick a saw stops cutting when you hit something hard.
 
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To me the biggest safety down was the broken pieces of Bandsaw I made ... could have easily come back right at me if I was using the other side of the bar. Chaps or Saw Pants , don't leave home without.
 
The steel's quality of the foreign object matters. I have cut some framing nails in theirs length without too much damages on the chain, others were cut through but dulled the cutters and once a drywall screw dead ended my cut.
I guess that the bandsaw's steel isn't on the smooth side.
 
You can get along with some sorts of lime stones. But the siliceous ones, like the concrete, don't give you a chance.
Last week I found two in a dead maple, alaping the stump. First side at the left, sparks ! I didn't seen that immediately because the stone was deeply embedded. Not worth to save the chain. I mounted a new chain, cut the first half in front of me as it seemed to be safe, then cut from the right side. Sparks too! I took a moment to file my chain, then cut from the front again. Sparks, of course, in two spots. Luckily, the fungi have worked on it a little, so I was able to break the remaining wood. The stump looked like shit but it wasn't to show.
 
Absolutely destroyed a top handle chain about 60' up a London Plane tree a good few years ago. Big lump of shrapnel from WW2 inbeded in it. Made me scratch my head for a bit.
 
People love putting stuff and junk in the trees.
Fences of course, very often, but rebar, angle iron or T post as a stake aren't rare either. Wires of different kinds are used to keep upright the shrubs and the flowers, as a washing line too. You have the rope wires as guys/holders for a leaning tree. I found a couple of S shaped hooks forgotten in a crotch, you know, to hang the basket for harvesting the cherries. Electric wires with steel tubing and brackets for lighting, I saw this before hand but that didn't prevent to touch it while cutting. Stacks of something, preferably steel, leaned against a low crotch and covered by hivy. Old fence wire netting piled at the stump or a new tree grows through it. Bunches of nails from an old kid's cabin...
Not worth a pic but fun fun fun...::?
 
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I have a red maple in the backyard with a cable in it. I setup a zipline for my daughter, and time got away from me. The tree ate the cable. The ends are sticking out, and I haven't decided what I'm doing with it yet. Leaning towards leaving it as-is for a marker when it gets cut after I'm dead.
 
Some stones in the stump, I can understand that. But in the air? In a horse chestnut at a crossroad, I found, no, my saw found a pocket (from an old rotten limb/cut) with a handful of small stones. No dirt, no sand, just the nut sized gravel. At 4 meters hight !:?
 
That didn't come to my mind !
But I would think that they were smart enough to not waste their energy to do this sort of stupid thing. I guess that they know the difference between nuts/acorns and stones, no? Or do they just want to play?
 
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