Chainsawing In Winter

[DougA]

It like a hint of fried food, mixed with the smell of 2 stroke exhaust...kid you not.

Hmmmm! I'll try it as soon as the weather warms up a bit. I've got some bacon grease left over from Xmas cooking that should work well. Too cold today for me to cut wood and I plowed the driveway for the first time this morning.

 

[saskwoodburner]

Hmmmm! I'll try it as soon as the weather warms up a bit. I've got some bacon grease left over from Xmas cooking that should work well. Too cold today for me to cut wood and I plowed the driveway for the first time this morning.

Just dribble a tablespoon of fat into your muffler exhaust port while the grease is still liquid. You'll have your very own redneck aroma therapy happening once you go cutting.

Okay, I'm not exactly sure if that would really work, but would be funny to mess with a buddy if it would.

 

[DougA]

Just dribble a tablespoon of fat into your muffler exhaust port while the grease is still liquid. You'll have your very own redneck aroma therapy happening once you go cutting.

Okay, I'm not exactly sure if that would really work, but would be funny to mess with a buddy if it would.

We could market it and be billionaires by next week.

 

[Eborsisk]

The manual for this Stihl 023 i am borrowing says it should have a baffle to redirect air over around the cylinder in cold weather, but there is no baffle in there. It mentions the possibility of the carbs icing over- has anyone actually experienced that, at what temp, and what were the symptoms?

 

[BigFir]

I know

I absolutely love the cold and envy how cold it gets up by you all. I guess the grass is always greener though. I'm sure you all are ready for winter to be done come the end of the season.

The grass is never green in Sask. It is always frozen!

 

[Ashful]

The manual for this Stihl 023 i am borrowing says it should have a baffle to redirect air over around the cylinder in cold weather, but there is no baffle in there. It mentions the possibility of the carbs icing over- has anyone actually experienced that, at what temp, and what were the symptoms?

Carb used to ice up in one of my old saws (Echo 510EVL, I think). Have not experienced it in the Stihls, but I do flip the baffle when it's cold.

 

[saskwoodburner]

I know

I absolutely love the cold and envy how cold it gets up by you all. I guess the grass is always greener though. I'm sure you all are ready for winter to be done come the end of the season.

That cold weather sure gets the stove running I tell ya. But yes, when spring rolls around it's nice to finally hang up the gloves and look at the stove for 3 months.

 

[DUMF]

Nobody here cuts in warm, never mind hot weather. Easy to get around a woodlot on frozen ground, pull logs out on light snow,....and NO BUGS.
Did I say "no bugs" ? Besides cutting is hard fun work; not with thick chaps, pouring sweat, and slippery hands. Sure, cut in cold.
There is too much to do in spring, summer, early fall besides chainsawing.
Just say "no" to hot cutting.

 

[Lake Girl]

cut in cold

I think the question was how cold??

 

[DUMF]

I think the question was how cold??

Don't matter Girl. In Quebec they build boats outside in winter.....then again, they're Quebecois.
Seriously though, all northern region logging and our firewood work has always been done in winter.
All you have to deal with is cold, which is easier than heat ( did I say "bugs' ? ). Ever try to hold a chainsaw with
wet, slimy gloves ?

 

[three feathers]

Bugs? Here in the winter its not the bugs you miss its the copperheads and rattlers. Love to cut when its too cold for them.

 

[Lake Girl]

Same here ... just had to throw that out there as the Hubby did cut in winters when we first got married (commercial diver until freeze-up). No bugs, access to and through muskeg areas. Too cold is not great either as at -40/-50 below, machines are more of a problem.

 

[DougA]

I think cutting in extreme cold is great unless you are a softie like me.

 

[Sean McGillicuddy]

Don't matter Girl. In Quebec they build boats outside in winter.....then again, they're Quebecois.
Seriously though, all northern region logging and our firewood work has always been done in winter.
All you have to deal with is cold, which is easier than heat ( did I say "bugs' ? ). Ever try to hold a chainsaw with
wet, slimy gloves ?

Or try to focus your vision thru the swarm of gnats/ noseeums / fly's !
Did you say Bugs?

 

[DUMF]

Or try to focus your vision thru the swarm of gnats/ noseeums / fly's !
Did you say Bugs?

Protein

 

[Eborsisk]

Chitin

 

[BobUrban]

Winter mix bar oil is not necessary until it gets really darn cold. Like well below zero cold and then stored outside overnight type stuff. Just like any petroleum lubricated internal combustion system it's the first few moments or even seconds the engine starts that does the most wear while getting oil to the top of the system(think auto on a bitter morning). Once warmed up the saws and other internal combustion motors are happy to be running cool. Bar oil warms up too. Just don't start ripping into that logs as soon as you pull the cord and all will be fine.

My best guess is that extreme heat is way harder on a saw with no radiator system than any temp in the opposite direction. You will burn one up much quicker than freeze it.

I cut 99% of my wood in the winter because the ground is frozen and you can always put more clothes on but you can never take enough off. Especially w PE

 

[Diabel]

The cold does not bother me when cutting. My lot is in a snow belt and usually by mid Dec I have 2-3 feet of snow on the ground, this makes it harder to move around and more dangerous.

 

[salecker]

Hubby has been out in -40 cutting (he was lots younger) ... skidders and other equipment were more of a problem than the Stihl chain saws. He did bring them in every night though. Mentioned that limbing was a breeze as branches would just explode off when you dropped the tree.

I'v done the -40 as well.Splitting wood is easy at those temps as well-58C was the coldest that i have had a machine running ,it was a Polaris 600 RMK.You had to remove the drive belts while they were warm.Then once you got the engin running after sitting a while you would but the belt on warm.

 

[DUMF]

The cold does not bother me when cutting. My lot is in a snow belt and usually by mid Dec I have 2-3 feet of snow on the ground, this makes it harder to move around and more dangerous.

Yup, it is the amount of snow. 2' is about the limit for safety and bother harvesting. The machines and me don't do so well in deep snow.
Cold is not a factor, but wind is when dropping trees.

 

[Zack R]

I think I had my first encounter with carb icing yesterday. It was about 30F outside, humid and light snow. Pulled the saw from the garage and it started/ran just fine for about 10 minutes then it stumbled and wouldn't start again. Fuel was on the low side so I added some and still no start. Tried starting enough times to eventually flood it and after removing the sparkplug and drying things out I could get it to run but not rev well, eventually stalling again.

It was about dark so I called it a day and will take a look again this afternoon. Hopefully I can get it running well and plan to fine tune the carb for the colder conditions (20's and 30's today, low will be around 10-15F).

Has anyone made a makeshift cold weather kit for a Husqvarna 365 Special (same case as a 372XP)? Any example photos would be helpful. Not sure if these kits are still made for these saws or if these kits even help with carb icing. My modern Stihl MS211 has a small tab that you can turn that allows warm air to reach the carb to prevent icing. I tried the MS211 in the same conditions and didn't have an icing problem.

 

[peakbagger]

All of my huskys have that tab in the air cleaner box that you open or close in the winter to pull in warm air. Never had carb icing issues up in NH even though I cut down in low temps.

 

[VirginiaIron]

I have never giiven it much thought unless it was crazy cold where i thought ice and rock hard wood might damage my chain. I neve r used a winter blend chain lube but have noticed the oil seemed like molasis or honey. I think once the engine warms there is no problem with lubrication.

 

[Ashful]

I've never owned a saw without a summer/winter pre-heat shutter, but I've read some conflicting info on when you should make the switch. Compounding this issue is the fact that Stihl had a typo in some of their manuals, equating +10C to +14F, as the recommended temperature to close the shutter. We know +10C is closer to +50F, and that carb icing can happen at this temperature, and it seems insane to wait until it's +14F (-10C) to close that shutter.

The same manual says I must be sure the shutter is open (for fresh air) at any temperature above +20C/+70F, to avoid overheating the engine. Easy enough. This implies the shutter could be run in any position at temperatures in the 50F to 70F range, which is nice, as I do a lot of sawing at those temps.

However, the Stihl site instructs us to close that shutter at any temperature below +40F, which is right in the middle of the numbers given by my manual. Bottom line, I suspect it depends on the exact fuel mix you're running, as I know all the major brands fiddle with their summer/winter blend boiling points, throughout the year.

 

[Diabel]

Interesting old revived thread.

This shutter thing got me interested. Would the MS360 have such thing? If so, where....thanks.