The Importance of a Sharp Chain for Chain Saw Operation By Tanner Bartee, Academy Trained Safety Tailgate
We’ve all heard the saying that a sharp knife is a safe knife and a dull knife is a dangerous knife. What about your chain saw chain? Can a dull chain to make your life harder and make it more difficult to complete cuts? Or, does a dull chain actually significantly impact production effi- ciency and safety? Let's dive a little deeper into it. WORKER FATIGUE A dull chain contributes to worker fatigue in many ways. First of all, a dull saw cuts poorly and is working against you. It pushes back, causing you to force the saw to make it cut. You should never have to force a saw or pretend it’s a handsaw. Fatigue also affects your mindset and decision-making ability, which can lead to complacency. For example, a tired climber is less likely to want to climb higher to get the proper tie in point to have a good rope angle. That same climber may decide to cut the limb where he is at instead of where
EXCESSIVE HEAT ON THE SAW, BAR AND CHAIN Dull chains create friction, and fric- tion creates heat. Heat creates a host of preventable problems. Hot chains dull easier, and they stretch. Heat can also cause the bar to warp. Excessive heat will lead to the bar-tip sprocket mushrooming and splitting. The fine sawdust caused by a dull chain will eventually pack into the tip of the bar resulting in the bar tip sprocket seizing up. Excessive heat encourages dirt and debris to stick to your flywheel fins, which are es- sential for your saw to breathe. You will also experience excessive wear on the guide-bar rails which will lead to premature bar replacement. All of this overworks the saw which can lead to the engine overheating and catastrophic engine failure. EXECUTING THE CUT While executing any type of cut, from a face notch to a back cut, a dull chain
it should be cut at the tip due to fa- tigue. Overall, fatigue will lead to complacency and an increased risk of injuries and taking shortcuts. QUALITY OF THE DUST AND CHIPS Many people don’t realize that a dull chain produces a fine sawdust. Your saw should be producing chips, not dust. Chips are too big to get into the saw. Dust, on the other hand, can get in just about everywhere and cause several issues. Perhaps most obviously, it will clog the air filter and may eventually enter the engine. But it doesn’t stop at the air filter. It sticks to the saw body, air filter, fins, bar, chain, sprockets and bar-oil holes and impedes the func- tion of all moving parts. It also sticks to your body and can become a respi- ratory irritant. Tanner Bartee, Academy Trained. All photos courtesy of the author unless otherwise noted.
The fine sawdust caused by a dull chain will eventu- ally pack into the tip of the bar resulting in the bar tip sprocket seizing up. Excessive heat encourages dirt and debris to stick to your flywheel fins, which are essential for your saw to breathe.
Having a sharp chain significantly impacts safety, worker health, quality of work and production efficiency.
42 | ArborTIMES Spring 2023
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