Thread: chainsaws and nails

Originally Posted by Ivor

I have been given access to a silky oak in someones back yard and thought about buying an alaskan chainsaw mill to slab it. I know a couple of guys who refuse to touch such backyard trees becuase of what might be in them. So I was wondering how dangerous is it if you hit a nail in a tree with a chainsaw?

Nails are never much fun,particularly for the swing blade...the chainsaw doesn't really appreciate it either,star pickets,toasters,and wire can be a major too ...always mill backyard logs with the belief that there is something foreign in them,and proceed with caution..MM

Originally Posted by Ivor

I have been given access to a silky oak in someones back yard and thought about buying an alaskan chainsaw mill to slab it. I know a couple of guys who refuse to touch such backyard trees becuase of what might be in them. So I was wondering how dangerous is it if you hit a nail in a tree with a chainsaw?

I have hit dozens of nails and metal objects and my experience is as follows. There are nails, and there are NAILs and it may also depend on the angle and speed with which the cutters hit the object. Anything made out of soft iron embedded in hardwood will usually be cut right thru by the chain resulting in varying degrees of bluntness to the cutters but it would be unusual to break a cutter on soft iron. I have even cut through a 10 mm soft iron coach bolt and was back cutting after a quick touch up of the cutters. The things that make a real mess are the hardened steel fastenings like Tek Screws or tensile bolts which can easily break the cutters or even the chain.

It terms of danger while milling or cutting, hitting a nail is not really dangerous. Even if the chain breaks or comes of the bar, if the bar is buried in the wood, this will be a non event the chain just falls of and lays there. A nuisance will be that sometimes the chain can jam in between the bar and the wood and it is PITA to get out. If the B&C is out of the wood and the chain breaks then the chain may flick back but if your chain catcher is in place and you wear chaps then the most you will get is a bruise on the legs.

Nails and bolts are not that big of a deal compared to rocks (especially haredr stuff blue metal) and building rubble like bricks and glass since these cannot be picked by a metal detector. These are often tossed into the branch unions by kids and then the tree grows around them.

If the tree was a pine or a spotty I would avoid milling it, but for a SO I would take the risk.

I agree with Bob and MM, I've hit wire, nails, stainless and rocks, sometimes I wasn't aware until I lift off the slab and see the shiny bit surrounded by the black, other times saw gives a bit of a shudder and won't go any further, stones are about the worst I think.
I would try to find out a little of the history of the tree, Was there a kid with a need to bang nails into the tree? Did it get decorated with hanging baskets using bits of wire over the branches? etc.



Pete

Originally Posted by BobL

Nails and bolts are not that big of a deal compared to rocks (especially haredr stuff blue metal) and building rubble like bricks and glass since these cannot be picked by a metal detector.

Bob

Absolutely.

However my "Little Wizzard" only detects metal to a maximum depth of 20mm. So a nail snapped off at or near the surface will be detected, but one that was put in the tree in it's early years and now has a significant depth of timber covering it will not be detected.

Rocks are definitely the worst in my experience.

Regards
Paul

Nothing dangerous in hitting nails in logs - just frustrating at the amount of life you have just lost from that chain, and how long you now have to spend sharpening it