Chainsaw Sharpening and Safety.

Few tree care professionals and experienced homeowners would disagree that one of the most frustrating experiences can be oiling and fueling a chain saw, have it start readily and run well, yet once the chain touches the wood it appears to be removing wood at the pace of a elderly carpenter ant with poorly fitting dentures.

Obviously, poorly sharpened chain saws are an efficiency issue on a professional tree crew — creating lost time in wood cut either far too slowly or in interesting shapes — but they are also a safety issue. Beyond the simple fact that irritated chain saw operators are probably not focusing on what they should be — the cutting they are doing with the chain saw itself — poorly sharpened saws take a toll on a person’s body creating muscle fatigue and other physical issues that could easily result in the operator not having the strength, reaction time, or remaining energy reserves to react or deal with an unexpected occurrence.

Additionally, a dull chain that takes longer to complete a cut or an improperly sharpened chain that makes it difficult to line up cuts precisely can both lead to an operator being in a dangerous position or situation for too long — resulting in tragic consequences. The most ready solution to this problem is properly sharpened and maintained chainsaws. Properly  sharpening a chain saw requires attention to detail and consistency of both  angles and pressure, along with an understanding of how a cutter tooth on a chain removes wood.

I offer some helpful hints to the mystery of chainsaws:

Depth gauges

The depth gauge, (sometimes referred to as the “raker”) is one of the most important areas in sharpening a chain saw effectively. But it is also the one most often neglected or ignored, possibly due to the fact that, to the casual eye, it may seem to have nothing to do with the angles or cutting surfaces of the tooth — yet it plays a role of vital importance. The depth gauge determines how large a “bite” the cutting part of the tooth takes, so it must be filed in conjunction with the cutting parts of the tooth. If the depth gauge has never been touched while the cutting surfaces of the tooth have been filed again and again to perfection, the saw will cut poorly (if at all), emitting a cloud of fine sawdust as the tops of the depth gauges gnaw away at the wood fiber. The untouched depth gauges are preventing the finely sharpened cutter teeth from ever coming into contact with the wood or getting any “bite” at all.

Conversely, if the depth gauges have been taken down too much in relation to the cutter teeth, they will be getting too large a “bite.” This causes at least vigorous chattering and vibration while cutting in hardwoods, and often leads to vicious kickbacks as the too large “bite” stops the chain for an instant, causing it to attempt to turn within the chain, and throwing it back toward the operator. Kickback happens so fast, if the operator is tired, the chainsaw is headed for an eye, or ear or what ever is in the way.

Cutter teeth

The cutter teeth — the ones that actually remove the wood after being properly set up, are the workhorses of a finely tuned chain, repeatedly chiseling out chip after chip of wood as the cut is made. The point or starting corner of the tooth begins the cut by entering the wood, the top plate and attendant angle begins to chisel a chip of wood down into the gullet as the side plate of the tooth separates it. Interestingly enough, this design for modern chain saw teeth is based on observations made by a logger of a beetle’s jaws and teeth in removing wood, while the fellow was on his lunch break. This logger, Joe Cox, later went on to found Oregon Cutting Systems.

General sharpening guidelines

The appropriate-sized file should always be used for individual chains, as files that are too small or too large will not only incorrectly sharpen the chain, but also damage and possibly weaken the structure holding it all together. This information should be available from the manufacturer or on the box the chain comes in, but a general rule is that the correctly sized file should protrude 20 percent or 1/5 above the cutter tooth. Cutter teeth should be filed from the inside of the bar out, and, for efficiency, all teeth sharpened on one side prior to filing the other. The typical filing process would begin with sharpening all the cutter teeth using an appropriate file and gauge; and afterward, going through with the appropriate depth gauge guide and a flat file and “tuning” each depth gauge to each cutter tooth. Bench vises will hold the bar and saw immobile during the sharpening process while still allowing the chain to rotate freely.

Be safe, keep kids away and wear protective gear when using a chainsaw.

 Kim Syrel is a Licensed-Consulting Arborist  

A Celebration of Trees

A Celebration of Trees

Wadsworth Mansion, Middletown                                                                                                                                                        4-26-2012

I recently attended a fundraiser at the historical Wadsworth Mansion which sponsored the event for the Restoration of Trees that were damaged in late 2011. Specifically, to donate trees to the Wadsworth Mansion and the Kerste DeBoer Arboretum, both of which lost many old trees due to last year’s storms. Having maintained the plant material at the Wadsworth Mansion for many years, I was saddened by the loss of so many trees, especially the two feature elm trees that stood in the rear of the building. www.wadsworthmansion.com

Deborah Moore, executive secretary for the Mansion, asked me if I would consider donating a tree in lieu of Arbor Day, which falls on the last Friday in April of each year. I said I would be happy to and with the help of Family Tree Care; we purchased a ‘deer resistant’ juniper and planted it the day before the fundraiser in honor of Arbor Day and to add to the many trees that are to be planted at both Wadsworth and the Arboretum.

The evening event was enjoyable with many in attendance.  There was food and drink and everyone made small talk about this and that. The guest
speaker was Ted Esselstyn, Co-founder of City Bench, who offered a slideshow presentation about his company. A company that salvages urban trees; trees that would otherwise be firewood or pulverized into mulch. These trees are brought to Family Tree Care where they are stored until they are ready to be cut into slabs, the first part of a multi-process fabrication. After about a year, a new, hand-crafted piece of furniture is created. www.city-bench.com

A gemologist, James Sipperly, was on hand to exhibit a collection of various gemstones, one being a rare, yellow-quartz, which was donated for the raffle.  There was also a wooden ‘trencher’ donated by City Bench, which can be used for carving and serving food on.

The evening came to a close with desserts and coffee. It was my first time, after many years on the ‘outside’, that I was able to enjoy the inside of the Wadsworth Mansion, with its marble fireplaces and coffered ceilings.  A nice place, which now needs more trees. If you would like to make a tree donation or offer support in other ways to help with tree plantings, give a call to the Mansion,  860-347-1064.

Kim Syrel, Licensed-Consulting Arborist

Family Tree Care

The Copper Beech

A few days ago, Karl Nollenberger and I went over to the United Church in Durham, the site of one of the oldest Copper Beechnut trees in Connecticut. We were there to donate time and materials to reduce the compaction around the root zone of the beech.

We applied approximately 3 yards of compost material around the tree and surrounding area and then injected the tree with an organic fertilizer. The injection process we use provides three key benefits, it aerates the soil thus breaking up compaction, provides water 6 inches below the surface and fertilizes all at the same time.

A month ago, we had our tree crew climbing the beech tree and removing deadwood. They elevated the tree by removing some lower branches that were interfering with pedestrians and vehicles.

Visit our link to this beautiful, ancient tree.

Durham Beech Tree Preservation

Family Tree Care returns to care for Durham’s historic Beech tree.

We had the great honor of pruning the large European Copper Beech at the congregational church on main st in durham last week.  The Beech reportedly,originally came as a sappling from England in the late 1800′s along with two others, which were shipped to St. John’s Catholic Church on Main Street in Middletown.  They lost one shortly after it was planted and it had to be replaced.  That’s why the Durham tree is a bit bigger than theirs. The Church building itself was built in 1847 and the Fairchild House on the other side of the tree was built in 1741.This magnificent specimen when last measured was 184 inches in circumference, had reached a height of 62 feet and a spread of 92 and half feet!  Enormous, have you stopped and seen this tree? What a wonder large trees like this are.  The current Connecticut champion European Copper Beech is located in Fairfield and measures an amazing 256 inches in circumference, 104 feet tall and a spread of 104 feet.  I look forward to visiting this tree, perhaps its owners will let me climb it and care for it as the church members are doing!

Boxwood Blight

It seems that each year there is a new, destructive, insect or disease that can attack our landscapes. It is a disease that can kill your boxwoods. Boxwood Blight is a new and serious disease of landscape boxwoods. Based on what I have investigated and have read online at various internet sites, there is no cure at this point if susceptible boxwoods have the signs and symptoms of the fungus.

Some Background:

Boxwood blight, caused by a Cylindrocladium fungus, was discovered in the mid-1990’s, with plant pathologist in the U.K. first identifying this fungal disease. It  has been found through Europe and New Zealand and now it has jumped continents currently found in Virginia, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

The most susceptible species appear to be English and American or common boxwood, although many species of boxwood are susceptible to infection. Initial symptoms appear as dark or light brown circular spots on the leaves which then grow and colonize all the leaf surface of the plant. The leaves fall off and within a few weeks you‘re left with a bunch of bare branches. Some plants will survive the onslaught but will look soo bad that aesthetically they would be considered unacceptable and be removed. Even in well-established plantings, if an infected plant is introduced, the disease will rapidly spread to otherwise healthy shrubs.

Boxwood blight is spread primarily by water (rain splash, irrigation, runoff, etc.) and by the movement of plant material in the trade. The best management strategy at this point, before more is known about this pathogen, is to not introduce any boxwood from unverified sources, either into the nursery or landscape.

The Latest news:

It has been discovered by the Connecticut Agricultural Station that there is a new host of the fungus Cylindrocladium , Pachysandra. It can harbor the same fungus that causes Boxwood Blight and raises the concerns that pachysandra has the ability to infect boxwoods and vice versa.

A new fact sheet by a colleague and good friend, Dr. Sharon M. Douglas has put out a website link with color photos to help identify this new disease and also discusses strategies about how to minimize its impact. The fact sheet is titled Boxwood Blight–A New Disease for Connecticut and the U. S.

I  wanted to let our readers know that if you are concerned that your boxwood plants might have boxwood blight, information about how to send or bring samples to the Experiment Station for diagnosis can be found at: http://www.ct.gov/caes/cwp/view.asp?a=3756&q=442802&caesNav=|.

Kim Syrel is a licensed-consulting arborist

VOLUNTEER PRUNING OF A SASSAFRAS FOR THE GUILFORD LAND TRUST

My son Jake and I recently did a quick pruning job on a tree on water street in Guilford.  One picture shows me in the midst of climbing the tree and the second photo shows the finished product with the pruning cut.  The volunteer work came about out of my participation on the board of the Guilford Land Conservation Trust.  The trust shares a border with this homeowner who was concerned about a large broken limb on this tree overhanging his driveway.  Family Tree Care llc believes in giving back to the communities that it works in, we are passionate about trees!

WINTER TREE WORK

Brrrrr, it is cold and crisp and clear out there this morning. We were downtown in Guilford this morning pruning some large sugar maples, pine and some other trees. Luis, Ramiro and Mario were all climbing while Chris was pruning out of the bucket. My hat is off to those guys for climbing in the cold wind. Winter is a great time for pruning because the trees are mostly dormant, it is also much easier to evaluate tree structure as well as see deadwood when there aren’t all those leaves in the way. A trained eye can easily spot deadwood from bark coloration and the presence or absence of buds. Sometimes it can be tricky with recently dead branches as the buds may be present but dried up. This can be spotted by the coloration of the buds, dead dried up buds will appear darker in color.

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!