Desert hardened Aleppo pine

[davidwyby]

I did some testing the other day and never got around to posting vids. I have a thread for eucalyptus, so here is one for Aleppo pine. Ponderosa and others will probably end up in here too I reckon.
Questions, comments, suggestions, fire away.
I tried a wood comparo video previously that you can find on my YouTube channnel, but I chose too small of diameter wood and the ported saws just ate it all.
I didn’t take any video but I was doing some ignition parts testing with my 61/266 and 266 recently, 24” and found the eucalyptus is actually easier to cut or maintain chain speed in because it is so hard the chain doesn’t bite. What works in it is too grabby in the Aleppo. The difficulty with the eucalyptus is dulling chains.

As I recall the 395 is running out of the box stihl square with the rakers taken down to .040” and a 7 pin.
2166 first run of the mill oregon full comp full chisel 24”. Then 28” skip…slow but improved from before @huskihl ported it. Then my phone overheated…the 6100 did well with oregon 24” OTB square with the rakers down some but missed that. Incredibly smooth. I don’t recall now what chain is on it in the vid. Probably std oregon full comp full chis 24”. Or maybe the square without the rakers down yet.

@huskyboy here are some samples. Will get out and do some more comparing to green wood when I get some and it cools off more. It was over 90…

Older vid :

Still older, 36” skip. Anxious to try some 36” .404 square…full comp I think/hope.

 

[davidwyby]

Now for some ponderosa. This came from the mountains where there is more moisture and it’s semi punky…it seems everything here in the desert just becomes hard…like toothpicks.

Round skip :

2166 with the rakers down too far, 28” F/C round.

Oregon square :

 

[Wilhelm]

Dude, You make those saws look bad and the chains dull!

Also, You are running Your chains a little bit too loose on a couple saws shown in the videos.



All those saws are turning too fast for that stuff You're cutting.

P.S.:
I never knew pine could be "slow-wood"!

 

[CR888]

Dude, You make those saws look bad and the chains dull!

Also, You are running Your chains a little bit too loose on a couple saws shown in the videos.



All those saws are turning too fast for that stuff You're cutting.

P.S.:
I never knew pine could be "slow-wood"!

His saws are fine. This idea of saws going to fast is just rubbish. I don't think you have ever cut hard wood to make such claims. Not that ANY of the wood in this thread is dense at all. But modern high speed chainsaws cut the hardest wood species on earth just fine.

 

[davidwyby]

On the Aleppo: there are a bunch of them dead around town. When they get sick, they fill up with pitch. After they stand dead a few summers, the pitch hardens. If you think about how hard and springy a toothpick is, that’s what it’s like.


splitting or attempting to. I split with power usually.

 

[jacob j.]

On the Aleppo: there are a bunch of them dead around town. When they get sick, they fill up with pitch. After they stand dead a few summers, the pitch hardens. If you think about how hard and springy a toothpick is, that’s what it’s like. https://youtu.be/wnnjJOxgWugView attachment 312788

I went to a bunch of fires down in your area in the mid-late 90's and cut some rock-hard Pinyon Pine also. We didn't run into much Aleppo but Pinyon laying out in the desert for a
few years seems to get a similar consistency. We cut some Ponderosa in SW New Mexico that was hard stuff too.

 

[davidwyby]

A climate with moisture rots wood…here it petrifies.
The Aleppo is not native, they are planted in town.

 

[Wilhelm]

. . .
This idea of saws going to fast is just rubbish. I don't think you have ever cut hard wood to make such claims.
. . .

OK, I will try remember to not ever make a comment in regards of hard wood again since I obviously have no clue.

Yes, I have seen Your smiley.

Have a beautiful Sunday.

 

[davidwyby]

@Wilhelm I forgot the loose chain thing…I once read that running chains too tight cold on startup is hard on the bar tip sprocket…so I generally put a chain on snug but not too tight, very little resistance to roll it by hand, so the side plates contact the bar, but so that the drivers cannot be pulled out of the bar. Then I readjust once hot- and it was definitely some hot cutting! A lot of these were new and first cuts, so they were still stretching/wearing in.

 

[davidwyby]

I am working on an idea for a wood field hardness tester. Something anyone can buy at the hardware store. Like a plumb bob and a 3’ piece of PVC. Drop the bob down and see how big of a hole it makes. But it would be nice to see if it bounces too. I need to do some experimenting. Then drop in some fresh pine lumber, some green athel pine, and some of this various dry hard stuff.

 

[Wilhelm]

@Wilhelm I forgot the loose chain thing…I once read that running chains too tight cold on startup is hard on the bar tip sprocket…so I generally put a chain on snug but not too tight, very little resistance to roll it by hand, so the side plates contact the bar, but so that the drivers cannot be pulled out of the bar. Then I readjust once hot- and it was definitely some hot cutting! A lot of these were new and first cuts, so they were still stretching/wearing in.

My comment was just an observation, not criticism!
I run mostly 20" bars, but also 24" & 36" - bars over 20" seem to require a little more tension.
And yes, new chains stretch/settle within their first couple cuts and require readjusting.

 

[Wilhelm]

I am working on an idea for a wood field hardness tester. Something anyone can buy at the hardware store. Like a plumb bob and a 3’ piece of PVC. Drop the bob down and see how big of a hole it makes. But it would be nice to see if it bounces too. I need to do some experimenting. Then drop in some fresh pine lumber, some green athel pine, and some of this various dry hard stuff.

You are in the metal industry, do You have a mobile/hand held hardness tester?
I wonder what readings it would show used on wood.

In regards of Your idea, use a transparent pipe with lines marked on it to see and record the "bounce"?!

 

[Wilhelm]

Some of the more afordable ones maybe

https://www.pce-instruments.com/eu/measuring-instruments/test-meters/hardness-tester-kat_40059.htm

 

[davidwyby]

We have a large old stationary hardness tester.
Those handhelds are interesting. I wonder if one for rubber/plastic would work for wood.
I should have made a separate thread for this. But then again it is pretty directly related to the point of the thread.

 

[Wilhelm]

At work we had a hardness tester looking like a stapler.
Reset the scale, place it on the surface of the material to be tested, pull the trigger, read the scale.

It got neglected and tossed around till it finally disapeared.

 

[davidwyby]

That’s an interesting point. I will have to try a little less raker and dogs.

now that I think about it if you watch the 395 in the euc thread, it’s hard to tell because of poor camera angle, but once it gets through the outside, starts to bite, and I set the dogs, the rpm and the bar nose dropped in a hurry. You can tell the saw is using all the torque @huskihl built in.

 

[Gullet]

I cut some LARGE Arkansas (3-4 years seasoned) Hickory about 10 years ago that was nothing short of PETRIFIED!
Hardest wood I've ever cut (MS361).

Took a brand new Stihl chain with me with several sharp used back ups & thought there was something wrong with my saw!

Didn't cut as well as in the past? WTF?

It was just UBER hard wood, & I wasn't used to that!

Where I live, its ALL HARDWOODS, tough, tough wood that will show what a saw can do.

 

[davidwyby]

He’s something less painful and a little more encouraging to watch:

 

[P.M.P.]

He’s something less painful and a little more encouraging to watch:

you should change your handle to
Smooth operator

reminds me of a song...

 

[davidwyby]

I get no credit for that…wind that 3120 up and let it’s weight pull it down thru soft wood.

I like that song a lot better than the video, haha