chains .050" gauge and .058" gauge

[dirtmod454]

I am currently running an .058" guage bar on my 372xp. I have some new chains laying around that are .050" guage. My question is whether it is ok to run the .050" guage chain in my .058" bar?

Thanks
Ben Rulison

[Rocky_J]

Yeah, they will technically fit. But in reality there will be a lot of slop and the chain will more easily track crooked in the cut. It will be more difficult than usual to make straight cuts, especially if your filing is not even or if the teeth on one side are duller than the other.

[lonewolf]

If you want to use up your .58 chains buy a .50 bar and use them up. If you have enough to wear the bar you could then run .58 chains on it. I had a cutter working for me that started with .50 and worked his way to .63 then threw em out.

[arojay]

I've mixed up chains a time or two and when I put the .50 on a .58 bar it didn't cut worth spit.  The first time was probably 6 or 7 years ago and it took me a while to find out what was wrong, so when I did it this past fall I knew what was wrong right away.

[Al_Smith]

I suppose perhaps a person could put say an .058 chain on a worn out .050 bar and get away with it . Who am I to say how a person runs their equipment ?

Bear in mind though that usually  a bar that worn will have the slot wallered out in the bottom plus the rails will be worn down enough the drivers are likely ridding on the bottom of the slot . They will run but the bar and chain will get hot as a firecracker .

If a person were overly blessed with an abundance of .050 chain and wanted to use it up just buy another bar . Depending on the bar mount Baileys often have them on sale for a pretty reasonable price .

Ha,I once got an old Mac off E-bay with a 24" hardnose on it .The danged chain had been spun up with a combination of full skip and semi skip using part .050 and part .058 on a .058 bar . Talk about a Frankenstein chain ,wow . :D

[SawTroll]

I suppose perhaps a person could put say an .058 chain on a worn out .050 bar and get away with it . Who am I to say how a person runs their equipment ?

Bear in mind though that usually  a bar that worn will have the slot wallered out in the bottom plus the rails will be worn down enough the drivers are likely ridding on the bottom of the slot . They will run but the bar and chain will get hot as a firecracker .

If a person were overly blessed with an abundance of .050 chain and wanted to use it up just buy another bar . Depending on the bar mount Baileys often have them on sale for a pretty reasonable price . ...

I agree - have run .063 chain on a worn out .058 bar - and it works OK for streight down cuts for some time, but not for anything else.

.050 on a .058 bar will wear both the bar and chain excessively, and likely cut crooked in the process...... smiley_hanged

[lonewolf]

I'm not suggesting you should do this just saying you can. I personally would buy .50 bar and use them up or trade them for .58 chains. It's not worth the headache to fight a saw that doesn't cut. I have a couple of people that take my saw chains that I consider junk and  cut firewood with them. I won't waste my time with a bar or chain that doesn't work correctly. If you look at the cost of a bar and chain it is IMO not much compared to the $ loss in production when using faulty supplies.

[dirtmod454]

Hey guys....Thanks for the great info. I will try to trade the 0.050 gauge chain for 0.058 chains at my local shop or else buy another bar.
Thanks again
-Ben Rulison

[ErikC]

  I took a bunch of .050 gauge chain in a trade one time, but I run .063. I had 6 or 8 loops, brand new chains in the boxes still. I took them in to my saw shop and they spun me some .063 loops the same size, and traded strait across. One more reason to deal with a local saw shop and get to know them.