The Forestry Forum

Well I found a steel tree today. Went through 6 sharp/tooth set blade's on one log today and needed to change 6 more time's but made a few cuts with each dull blade. I could put a sharp blade on and make one cut OK, but it would start slowing down on the second cut, by the 5th cut the blade would be smoking and not hardly cutting at all. I used 2 blades to square/remove bark, then 4 to saw it into 2x boards(glad he didn't want 1x boards). I was cutting app 20" wide on each cut. I used about 5 gal of blade water/lube. It was a 36", base section of a live yellow pine. I hit no nails and hardly no dirt. Why??? I cut the same kind of tree's a few days back---1600bft with 2 blades and hit a nail with the first blade. This tree seem to be Super hard on the last 3ft of the log. The 3ft that would be closest to the dirt--I am talking after the bark was removed. Is it possible that sand gets caught in the bark and then the tree grows around the sand? In other words has some sand in each grouth ring. This tree was right beside a sandy dirt road. I didn't count the rings but was probably 50 years old. There has to be a reason for a softwood tree being this hard-------Any Ideas????? Randy

  Could the tree be exceptionally sappy gummy or just hard or both? Density? I think it can be a downward spiral as far as heat generated and the consequential dulling effect to a blade.

  Could there be some adjustment that is off and running the blade ever so slightly into a guide block or the like? Deflecting it into something underload? I had an instance where my Powermatic variable speed metal saw got some metal shavings behind the throat plate and it pushed throat plate forward closer to the blade ever so slightly and into the hardened plate. I was just getting used to the new (to me) saw an hadn't worked out the bugs yet. Cost me several blades at $30 each. I think the learning curve cost over one hundred on that deal. Sounds like it could be something of that nature.

                    REID

  Sounds like a distinct "Fat Lightered" Pine. They's HARD. What brand blade ya using??? 

I am using Wood-mizer Blades. I got app. 30 when I got the mill a few months back. I hadn't got busy enough to have used these up yet, so I hadn't bought any new ones yet.  This tree was harder to cut than any oak I have cut. Lets say it took 3 minutes to make the 16ft cut, probably half of that time was spent on the bottom 3 to 4ft of the tree. It was HARD. OK got to go saw that Poplar "Bridge" boards :D. Randy

I have heard loggers tell of buying trees close to an old railroad track that were close to impossible to saw.  They said that the soot from the steam engines ended up in the wood causing it to be abrasive.  I don't know if it is true, but they swear to it.   

I have sawn some logs that were just extremely hard on blades.  Shagbark hickory is one that normally dulls the blades fast.  The bark is so hard that the debarker cannot cut through, especially if you let it sit for a year before sawing.