Husky X chain

[ehp]

how does everyone like it or not, first time I have ran it , It does cut ok but its seems pretty soft . I only get about 5 trees falling in bush and I got ti refile it and its files pretty easy on hardness

[Old Greenhorn]

I love the stuff and run it on all my saws unless I get 'stuck' with something. Just remember that chain has different filing angle on the top angle. The file is held at zero degrees or parallel to the floor. There is no 'drop angle' on the file. I file pretty often anyway so I don't notice that they wear faster.

[SkeeterKev]

I found C85 very hard not soft, it was hard to sharpen with a file.
It tried it on a new Husky a few years ago now. 
I am using Oregon EXL now and find it just right, easy to sharpen with a file and holds edge good.  EXL to me is about the same as the old LGX.

[ehp]

Filing is not a problem , trust me on that . The husky chain is not as hard as the good stihl chain which holds its edge far better , Where I cut everything is light sand so the trees pick up sand when growing . Most of the stuff I'm cutting right now is 36 to 40 inches on the stump and I get 3 to 5 trees before having to refile . I have been running the good stihl chain for years but bought some new husky saws and this chain came with the saws so thought I would try it 

[DHansen]

I agree with you ehp,  I have Stihl, Husqvarna and Oregon chain.  For my needs they are all working fine. On my 592 I have to sharpen every other refueling of the tank when I am cutting large wood that has been close to the ground.   The Stihl chain needs to be touched up less often in the same cutting situations.  But I can feel the difference in how the file grabs (bits) or cuts when filing.  My personal feeling is the cutters on the Husqvarna chain is just softer but sharpens easily.   For me it just means sharpening more often.  Annoying when you really would rather be cutting.  Just my non-pro thoughts.  

[ehp]

I cut mainly hardwood , today mostly bigger hard maple , 2 or 3 trees between filing , it cuts good but is pretty soft , very easy to sharpen back up , only takes about 2 swipes with the file

[John Mc]

I had normally used Oregon LGX chain (occasionally LPX). I did try Stihl at one point, and it worked well, but not well enough to justify the extra cost - at least for my use. (I like to buy from local dealers when possible, but the Stihl guy nearest to me always sells at full list price.) I was able to get LGX locally for decent prices, if I was willing to wait for a sale, so I stuck with it.

I've run a few loops of the Husqvarna X Cut chain. Not sure if it's my imagination or real, but it seems to hold up better than the LGX I was using. The X Cut seems a bit harder than the LGX chain, and also doesn't seem to stretch as much in the first few uses of a new chain. One problem when reading people's comments when they are comparing is that they often don't specify the actual chain, just the brand. "Oregon chain" or "Husqvarna chain". From what I understand, the old Husqvarna (such as H42) was just rebadged Oregon LPX. The new Husky X cut (C83) is definitely a different chain.

I have not used enough Stihl chain (and none in recent years) to know how the Xcut compares to the Stihl full chisel chain.

Also not sure how the Oregon EXL chain compares to the old LGX/LPX chain or he X Cut or Stihl chain. Tried a loop of it, but sort of lost track of it

I did find that the recommended angles for the Husky Xcut C83 were 30˚ top plate angle and 0˚ down angle. I had been filing all my full chisel chains at 25˚ top plate angle 10˚ down angle. I haven't played with it enough to see if I can tell much difference between one set of angles over the other on the X Cut chain. However, I did notice a pretty good difference on some other chain I used years ago - can't remember the brand, but they also recommended 30˚/10˚. I had been sharpening it at 25˚/10˚. When I saw the recommendation and tried it, it cut noticeably better. Have others experimented with this on the Xcut chain?

[Big_eddy]

I like the C85 Xcut chain. I have not used Stihl chain, but I've run a lot of Oregon EXL and LGX.  I was not a real fan of the H48 chain, but the new XCut I do like. It's all I've been buying for the last 18-24 months or so, although the are still a few EXL chains left in the pool.

I think the C85 cuts better than the H48 and EXL chains do, noting that I sharpen each at the recommended angles (I.e 30 versus 25). I haven't really noticed a difference in hardness or sharp-life, but then again, I'm usually cutting clean wood with the occasional dirty one in the pile, so hitting that one triggers resharpening more often than just volume. 

I have noticed that I tend to lose teeth off EXL chain when it gets close to end of life, whereas X-Cut will give up at a rivet. I'll keep running an EXL chain less a few teeth for another few cords, you can't do that once a rivet let's go.  But I do usually get down to the witness lines before that happens. 

Again, I haven't used Stihl chain to compare against.

[Greenie]

The chain I've been using - Husqvarna High Performance H30 looks like it's been discontinued at least on Amazon. I've been happy with the cost and longevity. I still have two new chains on the wall but will have to try something different eventually.