Chain saw engines must ingest a lot of saw dust and they still last a long time. Saw dust must not be very abrasive to engines. It probably burns a bit during combustion and blows out the exhaust.
Abrasiveness of sawdust to chain saw engines
- Thread starter ledslinger
- Start date
- Status
Every chainsaw I've owned has had a pretty comprehensive air filter. The intake downstream of the filter is always pretty clean provided the filter is maintained.
My Husqvarna chain saws have excellent air filters. They also have a system where the flywheel moves air through a channel, and the heavier particulates move to the outside via inertia. That way, the filter is not "force fed" particulate laden air. The inside of filter is always 100% clean and dust free.
Chainsaws ingesting sawdust will gall the piston and look like it was ran lean on the intake side. I good working order, they DO NOT ingest much saw dust. Don't know where you got the idea they must?
The nylon screen type of filter doesn't get everything. I've switched to a flocked type which gets more, but needs to be replaced more often. For normal fire wood cutting with a sharp chain, their isn't much dust as the chain should be spitting out large chips, and the wood is green.
Other forms of use and abuse kill chainsaws long before particles getting past the air cleaner will.
Flock type is best for dry wood or any wood , mesh are more for winter use when the flock type can freeze up . If the flock filter gets real grimy just use some dish soap (I use simple green) , a tooth brush and give it a good scrub . Rinse and dry with towel and let air dry .
Green wood is not so bad but for certain ingesting any fines of wood dust will cause wear .
Green wood is not so bad but for certain ingesting any fines of wood dust will cause wear .
Last edited:
Yah OK. By the simple change of using a 32:1 mix, instead of the manual's 40:1; my'77 041 Farmboss is on its 2nd air filter. I soak it in a little gas every so often. I don't use it as much as I used to when I heated with wood. It starts after a few pulls when waking up from a long nap. Maybe the extra oil softens the sawdust and burns it safely
The intakes on all my saws are all very clean, my bigger saw (Stihl 044) has a ton of use on it and the factory air filter does an excellent job of filtering out the saw dust. Buy a commercial/professional grade saw and you get commercial grade filtering. The cheap home owner occasional use saws don't have as nice a setup but they are only built to run a few hundred hours over the course of a decade where a pro level saw will see thousands of hours.
Originally Posted By: boraticus
Non-issue.
Chainsaws are designed with suitable filters to deal with sawdust.
I've got a couple 1980s Jonsereds with the screen type filters. Both still running like the day I bought them and they've seen a lot of saw dust.
No it is an issue . Ingestion of sawdust and dirt (which is in and around the wood and area you are cutting) will cause more wear . How much depends on conditions and for most saws will not be an issue but I have tore down many saws that are victims of ingestion that has caused wear/damage .
Run a cement saw with a poor filter set-up and see how long it lasts .
Non-issue.
Chainsaws are designed with suitable filters to deal with sawdust.
I've got a couple 1980s Jonsereds with the screen type filters. Both still running like the day I bought them and they've seen a lot of saw dust.
No it is an issue . Ingestion of sawdust and dirt (which is in and around the wood and area you are cutting) will cause more wear . How much depends on conditions and for most saws will not be an issue but I have tore down many saws that are victims of ingestion that has caused wear/damage .
Run a cement saw with a poor filter set-up and see how long it lasts .
You're over-reacting.
If the saw has a properly functioning factory air filter, it's a non-issue. My Jonsereds saws are over 30 years old and have cut more cords of wood than I could possibly count. They're still using the factory installed filters and they're still running strong. I guess in another eighty or ninety years, the saws may begin to show indications of the deadly "abrasive sawdust" wear. In the meantime, I won't be loosing sleep worrying about it.
Oh, and by the way sawdust from wood is worlds apart from sawdust from concrete saws. The comparison is apples to oranges.
Why do so many participants of this site grow molehills into mountains?
Originally Posted By: nitehawk55
Originally Posted By: boraticus
Non-issue.
Chainsaws are designed with suitable filters to deal with sawdust.
I've got a couple 1980s Jonsereds with the screen type filters. Both still running like the day I bought them and they've seen a lot of saw dust.
No it is an issue . Ingestion of sawdust and dirt (which is in and around the wood and area you are cutting) will cause more wear . How much depends on conditions and for most saws will not be an issue but I have tore down many saws that are victims of ingestion that has caused wear/damage. Run a cement saw with a poor filter set-up and see how long it lasts .
If the saw has a properly functioning factory air filter, it's a non-issue. My Jonsereds saws are over 30 years old and have cut more cords of wood than I could possibly count. They're still using the factory installed filters and they're still running strong. I guess in another eighty or ninety years, the saws may begin to show indications of the deadly "abrasive sawdust" wear. In the meantime, I won't be loosing sleep worrying about it.
Oh, and by the way sawdust from wood is worlds apart from sawdust from concrete saws. The comparison is apples to oranges.
Why do so many participants of this site grow molehills into mountains?
Originally Posted By: nitehawk55
Originally Posted By: boraticus
Non-issue.
Chainsaws are designed with suitable filters to deal with sawdust.
I've got a couple 1980s Jonsereds with the screen type filters. Both still running like the day I bought them and they've seen a lot of saw dust.
No it is an issue . Ingestion of sawdust and dirt (which is in and around the wood and area you are cutting) will cause more wear . How much depends on conditions and for most saws will not be an issue but I have tore down many saws that are victims of ingestion that has caused wear/damage. Run a cement saw with a poor filter set-up and see how long it lasts .
I get that wood pulp is abrasive and would eventually score a cylinder. It would probably be a dry, windy, dusty jobsite that would be more of an issue to the saw. If a saw is in proper working order with a sharp, properly oiling bar/chain, hogging out nice chips on live wood, wood dust shouldn't be an issue.
shady cardealers used to put wood sawdust in manual transmissions to quiet them down...
Originally Posted By: Jetronic
shady cardealers used to put wood sawdust in manual transmissions to quiet them down...
Over here they used banana peel.
shady cardealers used to put wood sawdust in manual transmissions to quiet them down...
Over here they used banana peel.
Originally Posted By: boraticus
You're over-reacting.
If the saw has a properly functioning factory air filter, it's a non-issue. My Jonsereds saws are over 30 years old and have cut more cords of wood than I could possibly count. They're still using the factory installed filters and they're still running strong. I guess in another eighty or ninety years, the saws may begin to show indications of the deadly "abrasive sawdust" wear. In the meantime, I won't be loosing sleep worrying about it.
Oh, and by the way sawdust from wood is worlds apart from sawdust from concrete saws. The comparison is apples to oranges.
Why do so many participants of this site grow molehills into mountains?
Originally Posted By: nitehawk55
Originally Posted By: boraticus
Non-issue.
Chainsaws are designed with suitable filters to deal with sawdust.
I've got a couple 1980s Jonsereds with the screen type filters. Both still running like the day I bought them and they've seen a lot of saw dust.
No it is an issue . Ingestion of sawdust and dirt (which is in and around the wood and area you are cutting) will cause more wear . How much depends on conditions and for most saws will not be an issue but I have tore down many saws that are victims of ingestion that has caused wear/damage. Run a cement saw with a poor filter set-up and see how long it lasts .
Well you go ahead and think what you want with mesh or screen filters being ok in dry conditions .
My job for many years was inspecting saws for failures or other issues and one issue seen was ingestion of sawdust/dirt thru improperly used filters or ones that had a flaw . This was with Stihl Canada in the technical Dept. so I do know a bit about what I'm saying and no I'm not over reacting , you have been lucky is all .
You're over-reacting.
If the saw has a properly functioning factory air filter, it's a non-issue. My Jonsereds saws are over 30 years old and have cut more cords of wood than I could possibly count. They're still using the factory installed filters and they're still running strong. I guess in another eighty or ninety years, the saws may begin to show indications of the deadly "abrasive sawdust" wear. In the meantime, I won't be loosing sleep worrying about it.
Oh, and by the way sawdust from wood is worlds apart from sawdust from concrete saws. The comparison is apples to oranges.
Why do so many participants of this site grow molehills into mountains?
Originally Posted By: nitehawk55
Originally Posted By: boraticus
Non-issue.
Chainsaws are designed with suitable filters to deal with sawdust.
I've got a couple 1980s Jonsereds with the screen type filters. Both still running like the day I bought them and they've seen a lot of saw dust.
No it is an issue . Ingestion of sawdust and dirt (which is in and around the wood and area you are cutting) will cause more wear . How much depends on conditions and for most saws will not be an issue but I have tore down many saws that are victims of ingestion that has caused wear/damage. Run a cement saw with a poor filter set-up and see how long it lasts .
Well you go ahead and think what you want with mesh or screen filters being ok in dry conditions .
My job for many years was inspecting saws for failures or other issues and one issue seen was ingestion of sawdust/dirt thru improperly used filters or ones that had a flaw . This was with Stihl Canada in the technical Dept. so I do know a bit about what I'm saying and no I'm not over reacting , you have been lucky is all .
Meh...
Saw engine will rather sieze due lean mixture because of air filter full of saw dust...than from saw dust alone...
Saw engine will rather sieze due lean mixture because of air filter full of saw dust...than from saw dust alone...
Originally Posted By: Kamele0N
Meh...
Saw engine will rather sieze due lean mixture because of air filter full of saw dust...than from saw dust alone...
How does a blocked filter generate a *lean* mixture?
Meh...
Saw engine will rather sieze due lean mixture because of air filter full of saw dust...than from saw dust alone...
How does a blocked filter generate a *lean* mixture?
No point in trying to educate on here , too many pros who don't need to listen or learn .
Take the filters off maybe they'll get more power that way . We don't need no stinking filters !!
Take the filters off maybe they'll get more power that way . We don't need no stinking filters !!
- Status
