Joe, keeping the chain sharp is one of the most important jobs in chainsaw maintenance. Unless the Dolmar's chain had been resharpened until there was nothing left, or it had been used blunt so long and so forcefully that the chrome had stripped completely off, fixing a very blunt saw only takes about half an hour with an electric sharpener (including the jointing step, which is the slowest part of the job). I used to touch up the chain after every use of the saw, and that only took maybe ten minutes. Each time you use the saw the job's not finished until you've cleaned and sharpened it, and checked the chain tension. Never use a blunt chain - you'll strip chrome off from near the cutting edge, and then you'll have to grind it back much further to get it sharp again. When you've ground it all the way back so there's nothing left you have to buy a new chain, and that's painful, so frequent touch-ups are much more economical than letting it get really blunt.
You probably know that nearly all blunting of chains happens from hitting something other than wood. With vertical cuts it's usually the ground.
