The Forestry Forum

For tornado & hurricane demo and debris removal, would Oregon PowerSharp chains last long enough to be practical hitting nails, electric wire, etc accidentally but perhaps semi-regularly, or is a carbide chain what I need? We use sawzalls, but they're not nearly as fast through 2x4s nor as mobile as chainsaws.

I just read Logging^3's thread on carbide chains but didn't want to hijack.

powersharp works but doesn't last very long.






















The powersharp works but doesn't last very long.  The teeth brake off when hitting nails.  I used them cutting up a barn roof.





the






the teeth brake off when hitting nails,

What size saw do you want to use? The Powersharp is 3/8 lo-pro for small saws under 40cc, it would work for small occasional demo work until the teeth break. Oregon was developing it in .325, it may be out now.
Carbide tip is much better but only available in 3/8 full comp for 60+cc saws. That is if you can stand the price.

I'm with the Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church's Disaster Response Team. On the Early Response Teams we send out, some other conferences permit chainsaws but we currently do not. I'm hoping to change that. Some ERT duties include debris removal such as after the Rowlett TX tornado (I lead one of those teams). I was hoping the ease of sharpening and lower cost of PowerSharp chains would offset their short life vs carbide chains.

I don't exactly know the size of carbide-equipped chainsaws our work would dictate. Our sawing could include wall studs with electric lines, brush/shrubs/trees, wooden fences, etc.