r/Wildfire • u/theAsianCrawfish • 13h ago
Discussion Square ground chain
I was wondering y’all’s thoughts on square ground chain in a wild fire setting. I personally don’t have any experience with it, but we’ve all seen the videos of it being objectively faster cutting through wood. All the resources I’ve worked with use round, myself included. My main concern would be field sharpening and hitting rocks or metal. Does square need more work to get back into order once the corner gets knocked off? Is field maintenance even viable without vices? Could you keep a square grinding sharpener back at station and then run round filed chain once you ran out of square? I currently run round filed chain, but in the pursuit of cutting faster and spending less time under the tree I’d like y’all’s input
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u/Rustyjager70 13h ago edited 1h ago
There’s a reason it’s not the standard for wildland. There’s a reason it’s the standard for west coast timber cutting. Yes, it cuts the fastest. But field sharpening is not easy - it’s doable - but not easy like just curling the tips back on a rocked round ground and getting back to work.
It’d be like taking a Ferrari muddin’
Contd: Round ground skipped is easy to file and “chattery” but we mainly use it for limbing, brushing, and bucking rotten logs on the fireline anyway. Carry a square ground for felling if ya really want.
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u/Correct-Condition-99 12h ago
Rapid micro, or rounded chain is not as aggressive, but maintains a better cutting edge over time. Also easier to give it a little love in the field, IMO.
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u/abq-nighthawk 12h ago
You’re shaving maybe 10 percents worth of speed for efficiency. They are aggressive but Not worth it for the maintenance… most square grounds are used by loggers only making face and back cuts to make quick turn arounds for yarders, and they are highly experienced at sharpening with a square file. But again, not gaining much. Just go with a full skip semi chisel. More durable and longer lasting, and require way less maintenance during sharpening
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u/timberwhip 7h ago
I cut timber for a living and have worked on felling mods on fires for the last 15 years . I only run square grind chains in the woods or on fires. That said, round chain really makes the most sense on fires. Working on fires is hard on chains , the ash and dust is abrasive . Round chain is easy for anyone to touch up . Hand filing square chain is time consuming and difficult to do if you aren’t well practiced. Actually few professional fallers hand file anymore, almost all of them sharpen chains with a grinder . You’re best off sticking with round , keep extra files with you and touch them up when you’re staging
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u/Orcacub 12h ago
Old felling boss here. Only people I saw using square chain were commercial fallers hired as falling modules, and only when cutting green trees or clean snags. They were obsessed with keeping the chains sharp and would switch to round grind chain if plan was to work dusty, dirty, ashy wood for a significant amount of cutting. I suppose some IHCs with dedicated falling saws for big wood might run it. But I think for everyday fire use round is the preferred.