I think Levrluvr has it figured, but other suggestions are good to. I run two ProMacs and a big Stihl, and on really hot days any can have issues. One item I've not seen mentioned is to always operate with sharp chains. Most of my heating issues have happened when I'm about to wrap things up and I'm trying to finish with a chain that should be sharpend or swapped out. One finds himself actually leaning on the bar or really bitting with the dogs to force cutting when the chain isn't up to the task. Switching to a sharp chain has a significant affect on heat build up, because it cuts way back on the effort (both friction and fuel consumption) a saw must put out to make progress.
Unless you are an exception, most home owners are using chains that woodsmen would not be caught with. When working up firewood loads, I do everything in my power to avoid cutting dirty wood or letting the chain cut into the soil. Mostly that means taking a peavy along, making partial cuts through logs, rolling them over, and bushing off dirt or prying out embedded stones etc before finishing. If there is enough material around, I will spread it out along the fall line and drop the tree on old limbs and such so it's not touching the ground at all. That really speeds up my cutting. A really sharp chain is like a laying on of the hands for a seemingly poor performing saw. If one even thinks it's cutting poorly, it is, and it's time to sharpen up.
At times saws can be quite frustrating, and I'm sure that saw grimlins do actually exist. I nearly had a load worked up this summer, and my saw quit. Swapped it out, and it still wouldn't start even after an hour's break. A couple days later as I was about to break it down, I thought "what the hell," gave it tug, and it fired right up. Worked just fine for the rest of the summer.
Last edited by 1minute; 11/21/10.
