ng_reader wrote:
Using my Poulan "Wild Thing" chainsaw this weekend, and a lot of
burnt wood where I made my cuts.

Don't recall the chain being so bad, but a new one --- on Amazon ---
is $20.
My question is, is that the definitive answer of an unsharp chain? Slow
cutting and burnt wood?

And, as a follow up, if I may, youtube showed me how to sharpen with
a tool. Doesn't look that hard, but if the tool is as much as a new
chain, well, you do the math.

thanks in advance.

The wood smokes and the saw doesn't cut worth squat (your symptoms) if the
chain is on backwards.

Might be something to check...