When you are using a chainsaw chain, it can be dull due to many reasons. But how do you know whether your chainsaw chain is dull? If you are new to tree cutting using a chainsaw, it is important to know about this. Because you may not have time to check the chainsaw chain every time. So if you see one of these 08 signs, you should check the sharpness of the chainsaw chain.
01. Saw Chips Turn into Powder

When we use a chainsaw, we can see-sawing chips. Those are a bit large particles. When the chain is dull chips turn into smaller particles and contain more dust in the chips mixture.
So when you see this, you should check the chainsaw chain first. Sometimes decomposed trees will provide the smaller saw particles. That is not a dull problem. It is a wood problem.
Chips sizes are varied with the chain size. So make sure every time whether the chips belong to the same chainsaw.
You can see different size saw chips when you cut a dry tree. Due to the dryness, chips will break easily.
02. Slower Cutting Speed
Cutting speed is very important for the chainsaw. Because it can save fuel and time efficiently. If you feel your chainsaw cutting speed has reduced, check the sharpness and other factors mentioned here. Then you can realize the chain is dull. More than that, only the sharpness of the chain will not cause the cutting speed.
Sometimes chainsaw bar or the chain can be bent due to unexpected damages. Hence we can observe slower cutting speed chainsaw.
Sometimes chainsaw cutting speed will reduce when it is overloaded. So you had better use a high-capacity chainsaw with proper CC for the task.
03. Need to Apply too Much Pressure

When your chain saw is dull, you have to apply more thrust (pressure) to cut the wood piece. Due to the slower cutting speed, you may think to apply more pressure to force it more. Normally, we do not need more additional pressure to cut using the chainsaw.
Self-weight and sharpness can drive a chainsaw properly on its cutting path.
If you tend to apply additional pressure rather than regular usage, it is time to sharpen the chainsaw. When you thrust more, you can observe heat is increased, and smoke has risen quickly.
04. Smoke Rise from Chainsaw Chain
When a chainsaw chain is dull, you can see smoke has risen from the chainsaw chain. So let’s see what is that happening?
When a chainsaw chain is dull, its all sharp edges have become blunt.
Due to this, it does not cut the wood piece properly. As a result, cutting teeth tightly scratch the surface without cutting it. Due to the friction between wood and chain, both temperatures has increased. Hence we can see smoke has risen from the chain.
These are the 06 Reasons for chainsaw chain smoking. So you had better know all of these facts when you use it.
05. Consume a High Amount of Fuel
If your chainsaw consumes a high amount of fuel, it is time to check the sharpness of the chainsaw chain. When a chainsaw chain is dull, it takes too much time to cut a wood piece and as a result fuel consumption will increase.
When you use fuel for chainsaws, you should use a proper chainsaw gas oil mix ratio in order to gain maximum and safe power.
06. Round Cutting Edges On Chain

Cutting teeth are on the chain saw chain. Cutting teeth should be clean and sharp. After so many wood sawing, we can observe cutting teeth corner edges turn into a round shape. When it turns to a round edge, we can’t expect a proper cutting process.
So you have to sharpen it properly.
07. Burning Marks on Wood
A dull chainsaw chain can make burning marks on the wood. So let’s see how is this happens. When a chainsaw chain is dull, it does not cut the wood piece properly. Cutting edges tend to scratch the wood piece instead of cutting it.
So heat goes up and we can see burning markets on the cutting surface. As well as when you cut harder trees, you can observe this due to the hardness of the wood. So always identify the reason for the problem.
08. Heating Up Chainsaw Bar
A dull chain can increase the heat of the chain and engine. When the chainsaw is operating under high thrust with dull chain, first chainsaw bar, and chain heat are up then it used continuously, we can see, chainsaw engine also heated up due to continuously using.
So it is important to sharpen the chainsaw every time. If you observe one of these signs in your tool, start the chainsaw chain sharpening.
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