One thing to watch for is that if you switch to a special ripping chain it
may no longer be an anti kickback chain. Just something to watch for.

Also you didn't mention what saw you used. I have used smaller saws for
cross cutting without a problem but they are slow on ripping everything but
the smallest logs. I bought a larger saw with more power and now regularly
rip and cut logs as big as I can haul easily, it still isn't as easy as
crosscutting. But with a sharp chain it really does move through the wood.

Also you didn't mention how long your bar was. Your logs should be shorter
than the bar length so that your chips can eject better.

Have Fun.

"Bob Daun" wrote in message
et...
Since I know a lot of people cut up their own bowel wood, I have a
question.
I was cutting up some pieces from a downed Maple tree in my son's backyard
last week. The pieces were already about 15-20" lengths and I used his
chainsaw to slice these down the middle to provide more useful starting
pieces and allow me to carry them by myself up to my car. In doing this,
I
noticed that it was much harder to saw the pieces down the middle than to
cross cut them. Is this typical? If so, are there chain designs which
would cut better when cutting a block vertically down the middle as
opposed
to cross cutting?