Hand Tools and Machinery for Country Living

[j44ke]

Okay so I will preface this by saying I am an idiot. I've been using some Silky tree saws around the property, and they are great. Plus tons of exercise. And they aren't a noisy chainsaw, so it is just me and my heart rate out in the woods. A month ago, I saw one of their big saws on sale - the Katanaboy 500 - so I bought it. Big saw, really sharp, amazed NYPD let me carry it on the subway.

Today I went to try it out. A maple tree (red maple I think) split mid-trunk and fell across one of the old farm roads. 10-11" dia. Top half went quickly - a lot of fungus so maybe not good wood there - then I hit some really hard dark, almost black wood towards the center. I flipped the saw around and cut up from the bottom - better clearer wood than top - until I ran into the dark stuff again. So then I used the axe to cut through the dark wood bit by bit.

I don't think it was as simple as heartwood just being denser than the surrounding wood. Some kind of injury or infection, probably the same thing that weakened the tree and caused it to snap. The surrounding wood was no trouble. But the black wood was really hard. Like the sap had petrified or something.

I assume a chainsaw would have gone right through it?