chain guage

minesmoria · October 26, 2004, 03:51:01 PM

Whats the difference in .50 and .58 chain guage.

Is there any advantage in one vs the other.

Kevin · October 26, 2004, 04:13:24 PM

The drive links are .008 thicker on the .058".
Less power to turn .050 and the .058 will probably take a little more abuse.

jokers · October 28, 2004, 02:44:03 AM

From my experience, the .050 and .058 are identical except for the thickness of the drive tang. The presets and ties straps are interchangable, suggesting to me that there is no added strength in the .058 but it may be marginally easier on drive sprockets due to the additional .008 of bearing surface. I believe that .058 exists primarily because certain European saw makers use it, much like the .063 on small Stihls.

I`m trying to standardize everything to use .050 whether it is .325 or 3/8, I don`t use .404. Some of the longer bars continue to use .063 3/8.

Russ

Kevin · October 28, 2004, 07:10:59 AM

There's most likely a transfer of heat from the link riding the bar rail to the driver so I have to assume the thicker .058"diver would dissipate heat somewhat better than the smaller .050"driver which would reduce wear to the bar and chain, how much is anyones guess.

jokers · October 28, 2004, 08:41:57 AM

Interesting point Kevin. I can think of all sorts of possible scenarios relative to the pros and cons of chain gauge but I haven`t tried to validate any of them.

Russ

Kevin · October 28, 2004, 09:46:59 AM

Another point to consider would be the bar rails themselves.
The question here would be ...if they use the same thickness of bar for .050"and .058" gauge chain are the bar rails themselves thicker with the .050" groove?

Bushwhacker · October 28, 2004, 12:43:43 PM

I'm wondering why my MS 250 uses .063 guage to run a .325 pitch chain on 16"bar? It's not a problem to me, just curious. Anybody know?

Kevin · October 28, 2004, 03:07:42 PM

I guess my first question would be ... is that what came with your saw when new or is that something the dealer or you replaced later on?

jokers · October 28, 2004, 04:17:32 PM

Based on my experience, all the smaller Stihls that run .325 come outfitted with .063 chain here in the northeast US. I`ve heard that the Canadian Stihls running .325 chain are outfitted with .050 chain. In fact, if you look at the Stihl USA site, they don`t even list .050 gauge .325 chain.

What`s your experience Kevin?

Russ

Kevin · October 28, 2004, 04:43:11 PM

I've just seen the .050" up here but that's not to say the .063" don't exist.
I don't have a .325 chain so I really haven't noticed.

pallis · October 28, 2004, 05:00:27 PM

Has anyone noticed if the .58 and .63 gauge chains work better in dirty wood than the .50 chain? I ask because I'm cutting standing, dead Pinon that is as dirty as it gets. I've got an Olympyk 951 that uses a .58 bar and chain, and it doesn't seem to jam up as bad as the .50 on my other saws. It could just be bar quality.