Thread: Cut vs split firewood

Originally Posted by Bill999

It makes sense that the cut ones are more heat dense as they will have more resin in the knots and discarded branch sites
trees just compartmentalize areas off if its no longer used or damaged, it gets filled with resin to block it off to protect the conductive tissue

Yeah, the tougher stuff that's saw cut tends to be a bit more of an issue to get going but burns longer for similar heat output. Never noticed any difference with ash residue so no real difference in that regard. I don't think it makes much difference if the edges are smooth and square versus lumpy, even with the surface area and whatever other calculations you want to overthink about it. After all pallets are nice and square and they when cut up are some of the best bits of kindling you can get.

I find with sawing rounds up, the oregon chains really lose their edge quickly and start pulling dust - Stihl chains are a lot better in that regard and keep their edge which cuts a lot cooler for longer. Also any crap in the bark when crosscutting seems to knock the chains about too. I don't see any issue with the same chains when felling, only doing the rounds. I'm bloody careful not to drop the tip into the dirt too.

Everything else about warming the saw up and keeping the temps down is gold standard advice - but I'm a little screwy about changing from 50:1 oil mix to something else when the saw isn't retuned. If you have a need for a stiffer mix I'd settle out at 40:1 and use it for everything so you can tune for that mix, as increasing the amount of oil changes the density and how the carb meters the fuel out. That 40:1 brew what I use on all of my 2stroke stuff - more from the fact that it's a lot harder to accidentally stuff the mix up and lean out a tool at 40:1 than at 50:1 especially if you mix your fuel in bulk amounts at a time. I saw a worker on a site I was on do just that mixing up for the next few days, put the oil into the drum and added the full volume of oil which filled the drum to the top rather than adding the fuel minus the oil amount making up 60L total mixed fuel. At leaner than 50:1 it was enough to lean out a couple of the saws and score the bores, I forget what the final decision was on what the actual mix ended up but I think south of 60:1...
Unhappy boss, tears were shed over that one. It wasn't bugger all lean either, a bit of a wake up call for everyone else how close some of the bigger gear runs with the leaner mixes.