SMC Made me do it

[Mark Stutz]

;) Look what you made me do ;) A year ago I would have never paid any attention to a truck loaded with tree trimmings! As I was driving home tonight, I passed a crew just cleaning up the sidewalk, and stopped. The guys said the load was destined for the chipper, so I asked if I could have some. He couldn't believe that I actually wanted some! "It's Silver Maple" he said, "and it's Green" He even helped me load it, shaking his head all the time. :)
Now Iv'e got all this extra work to do with the chainsaw! ;) You guys have to take all the Blame. It would have never happened if I wasn't a member of SMC! :D

[Jim Becker]

He who keeps his eyes open gains just rewards. Silver maple is very nice to turn; silver maple burl is even better if you come across some of that!

[Brian Hale]

Nice haul Mark!
I've got several silver maple trees aropund the house and we had to have one very large limb trimmed off a couple years ago as it was hanging over the house and scrapping the roof. The limb (~20 diameter) sat next to the wood pile till i cut it length wise a few weeks ago. It is beautiful spalted wood! The log is now in the basement...

Brian

[John Miliunas]

Hmmmm...Maybe we DID make you do it, but it don't look like it took a whole lot of arm-twisting! :D Nice score and the price is definitely in the right range! :cool:

[Greg Mann]

This brings up a problem I have and I'm looking for some wisdom. I have a beautiful old Oak tree that has lost its health in the past year. It is near the edge of my lot but in full view from our living room. I had planned on growing old watching this tree but I am guessing it is dying quickly. While I would obviously prefer to see it return to health I don't think that is in the cards. It now has multiple large gnarly limbs that are obviously dead. If/when I have it cut down I would like to salvage as much lumber as I can but am pretty clueless on how to go about that. Please don't suggest this is a DIYer because I have cleared enough timber to know this one is beyond me. Tell me what you think.
Mark, I don't mean to steal your thread but I think this is a related topic that may help many of us with the potential to do what you did.

Greg

[John Shuk]

First kill that poison Ivy. Just cut the vines with a machete and put roundup on the FRESHLY exposed ends right away. Next call a tree guy they may be able to help the tree. There are some pretty good treatments if you get them early enough. If you have to take it down go to the WOOD MIZER web site and see if there are any portable bandsaw mills nearby. you might get lucky and have someone come out and mill on site.

[Greg Mann]

First kill that poison Ivy. Just cut the vines with a machete and put roundup on the FRESHLY exposed ends right away. Next call a tree guy they may be able to help the tree. There are some pretty good treatments if you get them early enough. If you have to take it down go to the WOOD MIZER web site and see if there are any portable bandsaw mills nearby. you might get lucky and have someone come out and mill on site.
Thanks for the tip, John. Saving the tree is what I really want to do. I will look for a good tree guy here in SE Michigan and see if he can help. BTW, anybody know a good one in my area?:)

Greg

[Mark Stutz]

Wouldn't you know it! As I was cutting into the second piece... I hear this horrible racket :eek: Even with hearing protection! There was a large nail about 3 inches in .:mad: There was no staining, and no hint on the surface.
Since I'm new to this, is there even any point in trying to sharpen/salvage this chain, or is it toast?

[John Preston]

I bought a $6.00 file with guide for sharpening my chain, found in the chainsaw section of your local box store or wally world. If you're looking to cut through everything like butter, I wouldn't recommend it, but if you suspect that some #$%^$% person put more than one nail in that tree, and you don't want to screw up a 15.00 sharpening it's worth it. But I would consider a good metal detector sweep first. Dulling a chain is one thing, the pieces that come flying out during that is another.

[Andy London]

Wouldn't you know it! As I was cutting into the second piece... I hear this horrible racket :eek: Even with hearing protection! There was a large nail about 3 inches in .:mad: There was no staining, and no hint on the surface.
Since I'm new to this, is there even any point in trying to sharpen/salvage this chain, or is it toast?

Great find Mark, I would go back for more but then again I have a problem when it comes to wood....wife thinks I need help as we have enough wood from finds to keep us turning for years but I just can't stop dragging it home :confused:

With respect to the chain, more than likely you can file it down, as long as there are no teeth missing you can still use the chain. Depending on how long it was in contact with the nail it can be quite a chore to get it right again, just keep your angles the same on both sides. If there is teeth missing, for $18.00 get a new chain.

I would encourage you to get a metal detector, I picked one up from Lee Valley, it wasn't very expensive. I was however cutting a Maple Burl the other dat and hit a piece of metal wire inside the burl that the detector did not pick up.

Silver maple is beautiful to turn and around here it quite often is curly. My son just turned 8 mortars in Silver Maple (Curly) hold smokes they are nice.

Have a Great Weekend.

Andy