The first cut into the tree for the notch and lookee what I found... I was scraching my head cuz it slowed way down and I was thinking, "I just sharpened this chain a couple days ago before I put the saw away, maybe I don't deserve to own a file"... I re-sharpened the chain and had to use about 12 strokes per tooth and I was puzzled at how dull it was. I finished the notch and dropped the tree when I saw what had happened. Murphy's law hits me dead square in the ... After seeing that I had to sharpen the chain one more time just so I would believe it was sharp again. It's a full chisel Stihl chain on my MS391 and it seems no worse for wear after a good sharpening. I couldn't make a cut like that again if I was trying... not that I'd ever want to...
Wow, ya couldn't lined that up any better with a laser. Glad the chain survived. I agree with Eric VW frame that one!
And id be thinking....seriously! Couldn't have measured and cut that one just a quarter inch to the left or the right? BUT NOOOOO!!!!!
Probably were some, but it was partly sunny out that day and I was more concerned with dropping it just right. This dying tree was next to our driveway, 30' from the attached garage and next to the power line feeding the house. The other garage is just 6' away and the garden shed is right behind the tree too. I had it tied off to the tractor and wedged it. There was just a slight back lean to it so I was sweating all that since there was about a 15* window of where I needed it to drop. Then during that first cut of the notch I was getting pizzed and confused cuz the saw was cutting so dawgone slowwww. That's when I started thinking that someone should take my file away cuz I must have really done a HORRIBLE job sharpening it last time!!! One of my great nephews was out helping me that day and I told him, "man this thing is cutting slow, what could possibly be wrong?" That's when I took it over and sharpened it and could tell the chisels were dull as a butter knife... Then we finished dropping it right where it needed to go and the saw was cutting like normal again. It's a MS391 so it's not a power house, but no slouch either. Also, the nail was on the far side of the tree from me towards the tip of the bar. Anyway, I'm sure there were sparks, but I sure didn't notice them at the time. If my nephew noticed them, he didn't say anything. He was back away pretty far cuz this is the first time he had ever been with me to drop a tree. (22" or so, not HUGE, but big enough to do lots of damage if it didn't go by the plan) The picture is kinda wonky, cuz its off my phone and close in pictures tend to be a little like a fisheye lens effect. It looked to be a 16 penny framing nail and judging by the look of if was probably shot in there 10 years ago when we had the house built... If I'd have seen one of them do it, he would have been immediately told to get off my property... When I was a kid I saw my Dad go ballistic on a dude that was nailing a political sign on a Walnut tree at the edge of our yard. I learned a whole bunch of new words that day! Obviously Dad voted for the other guy...
I think I'd send a pic to Stihl, they might use you to "Endorse" their chains!!! Who knows... maybe a book deal, movie, sitcom, outdoor channel show... Wow! Everytime I've hit a nail I usually "trash" my chain!
Wow! That sucks and is kinda cool all at the same time. I've heard from others you can go right through a nail because they aren't hardened, but I'm sure no one ever cut one like you did! I've hit screws while milling and they cause severe damage.
Been there, done that, but can't say I've ever slabbed a spike so well. Looks like the tree spent quite a few years growing around the rusty part of that spike.
This reminds me, my grand daughter has a pretty good sized ash tree on her place that has some fence staples in it, along with a roll of fence wire hanging off the staples. I keep forgetting to take a hammer and crow bar with me, so i can pull them out. But, i'll bet ya there will be more in there. So, i'll take an old axe so i can knock the bark off before i start cutting.
I have to add this, was at the grand daughters today with our grandson. Our grand daughter came out and was talking to us, she bent over and said, ''look at this'' and picked up about a 12'' round, cut short, it was part of a fork of another tree. INSIDE the fork/round was a bunch of thin rusty metal, i had cut completely through it a couple of wks ago, with my saw, and never slowed down. Looked like some one had left a can of some sorts, like maybe a metal coffee can in the fork of the tree, and it had grown around it. obscuring it from sight, it seemed to be sort of crushed , but, still had a slight round shape. Now, this is the worst thing i've ever cut with my chainsaw, and no camera today. The tree was black, and had a 3'' hole in the center, obviously what ever it was had been there for a long time.
