Chain Opinions

[lxskllr]

I like Stihl chain, and am looking at ebay for reels. There's a couple pretty good deals on lopro green chain. Didn't really want green, but maybe being Stihl will make up for it? Or should I just be patient, and what I want will eventually show up? Playing with it back and forth in my head. If nothing else, it could be good beater chain. Stihl quality at Chinese prices. My vine cutting task has been thrashing my chain. About ready to toss one, and I have three more I'm not hot on before I get to my good chain...


The question is would you buy non preferred style of your preferred chain? This stuff is 33 rm2. Think that's better than whatever Oregon is in yellow chain? Alternately, is there any other chain, possibly NOS I should keep my eyes open for? Also looking for semi chisel 3/8, but my big saws haven't been getting as much use lately, so I have a good bit more time to wait on exactly what I want.


Sub question... Think the price is good cause it's green? IOW, if the chain I really want shows up, will it be as good a deal, or not so much?

[Hooterspfld]

I've been happy with the Archer chain I bought off ebay. I paid $69 for 25' roll delivered. Used it to mill white oak without any problem. On a 16" bar you could get 5.5 chains out of that for $13/chain ish.... 

[lxskllr]

I'm looking at $11.30 per 57dl chain. The hardware store will spin loops of Oregon for ~$15. I've thought about getting Chinese chain for beater duty, but I'm reluctant. I've had pretty bad luck with Chinese tools. Archer has had... Positive might be overstating things, but acceptable reviews. I don't think anyone's said they felt ripped off by it.


edit:
Question might be for naught. The description contradicts the numbers. Says picco in the description, but the number should be 63pm2 I believe. It also gives the stock number. Guess I'll look that up.

[Hooterspfld]

gotcha, at 57 drive links a chain, your at like $9.85 a chain. I was getting 3.5 chains out of a 25' roll that cost me $69, the stihl dealer wanted $40 each chain, so it made sense for me. I use the same chain on my 362 and 661 so with the roll I can make what I'm needing at the time. I'm no fan of buying Chinese, but after runing the archer chain on a 36" bar, I was impressed. 

[Hooterspfld]

"impressed might be a bit much". I felt like it was an affordable alternative that met my needs. Safety was the biggest concern for me, but it took a beating and cut well enough. Another concern with the milling was I was worried about the heat expanding the chain and having to constantly tighten... Didn't happen, Archer claims their chain is heat treated which I would tend to believe. If you're getting Oregon chain at $15 bucks a chain, the price difference might not make as much sense, but for me I don't or haven't found local prices that compare with what you've got.  

[deminin]

I cut about 6 or 7 cords of wood/yr/ to feed our outdoor wood furnace.  I have pretty much settled on Stihl RS chain.  It cuts fast, and so long as I don't hit any dirt/rocks, I can usually cut for hours before the chain needs any sharpening, etc.  I buy 18" .063 gauge, 325 pitch at our local Ace Hardware for about $16.    

[lxskllr]

 I buy 18" .063 gauge, 325 pitch at our local Ace Hardware for about $16.    

That's a really good price. Last loop I got at the dealer was $44. 3/8 RM 84dl .050

[Pine Ridge]

I run Oregon lpx or lgx , usually a little over 20 dollars tax included for 20" chain, 3/8 50 ga. 44 dollars for the chain you mentioned is extremely high I would think.

[lxskllr]

44 dollars for the chain you mentioned is extremely high I would think.

I thought so too. I bought a loop of RS previously, and I /thought/ it was $35, but I may be misremembering. At that point, it didn't matter much to me. I wasn't anticipating increased cutting. I figured a chain would last >year. I've gotten into woodcutting more, and I'm using more chain, though more on my smaller saws than my big ones.
I have a 25' reel of Stihl lopro for my little saws, but I've been mostly using Oregon loops that I've accumulated, or came with the saws. The vines I've been working on are hard on chain. I'm about ready to scrap one I've only used for a month or so. That's what got me looking. I don't want to use my good Stihl chain for vine duty, but I figure if it's cheap enough, why not?

[DudeWithTrees]

I wont use anything labled Forester.  Ive broken six or seven of those before the first sharpening.  

Ive run Stihl, Husq, and Oregon chains wih great results.  Wore the teeth out without them breaking.

[lxskllr]

Who makes chain anymore? Is it just Stihl and Oregon for "serious" chain?

[sawguy21]

They are the major players. Husqvarna started making their own a few years ago.

[lxskllr]

I have a pack of Husqvarna chain that said it's made in Canada. I figured that was Carlton(They were Canadian, right?), who was subsequently bought by Oregon(parent company is Blount?). Was that made made by Husqvarna in-house?

[sawguy21]

I think they make their chain in Sweden. You are probably right about yours being rebadged Carlton.

[HolmenTree]

Husqvarna made chain is slowly making its way into the North American market, leaving the heavy duty 3/8" chisel for last.
All the Husqvarna chain I've bought over the years is rebadged Oregon LPX, LGX with Husq stamped on it.

But the new Husqvarna Swedish bar and chain plants are going through some growing pains. They can supply the European markets but not enough production yet to meet the full North American market.

Stihl had the same problem,  by 1970 they had already manufactured sawchain for over 40 years but was all absorbed by the European market.
In 1970 they opened up a new Stuttgart, Germany sawchain factory which increased their production by 60%, making chain available for the North American market for the first time.
And what an introduction it was, that was the year they introduced the Oilomatic sawchain.

Omark/Oregon lost a customer and gained some competition. As last pic shows in 1970 they offered improvement to their chain too.

Before 1970 in North America

  
1970 and on.