What Brand/Type chain should I buy?

[Bluegill2]

Husky is a good brand. But dont be fooled. They make lesser models to meet lower price points and they just arent the same. Stihl does the same thing

Yep, best to educate yourself on all the different models. That's why I mentioned the other models above.

 

[jack707]

Hey bluegill2 the 455 rancher should be all I need! the 555 looks good also but the price is to high.

 

[94BULLITT]

There is nothing wrong with a saw that is a non pro saw especially for a homeowner. A non pro saw is usually bigger, heavier, and less powerful than a pro saw with the same size engine. A pro saw will run forever, a mid range or occasional use saw should do a lot of running. I have 4 pro saws and one occasional use saw. I love the occasional use saw. It is great for cutting up something small or limbing a tree. One of the next saws I want to get is a mid range use saw. I plan on building it so it will out cut a pro saw of the same size.

 

[Bluegill2]

Hey bluegill2 the 455 rancher should be all I need! the 555 looks good also but the price is to high.

Yes Jack, it should and isn't a bad saw. The 555 is more saw, so it's expected to be more money. Compare the 455 to the 545.

 

[kenmac]

if you buy the 455 rancher, Only buy with a 18'' bar if the chain is 3/8 . I have an old rancher 20'' 3/8 chain ,and it's all my rancher wants

 

[mccash40]

Back to the chains for a minute, I have a mystery that maybe someone here can help me with. I have a Stihl farm boss 290 and have been using Stihl safety chains with it for a while. I saw some new Oregon, non-safety chains on sale and bought several. They said they fit my saw. Yesterday I put the new chain on and within 10 minutes the front roller froze up on my bar. In addition, the chain was stuck a bit when I pulled it off the bar. I switched bars and again, a freeze up. I freed the rollers with WD40 and switched back to the Stihl chain and had no problems. Then I tried the Oregon chain again and loosened it up a bit on the bar and it worked OK. Any comments would surely be appreciated. I have a lot of firewood to cut before snow flies. The oiler doesn't put out a ratio of 1:1 vs a tank of gas. Could that be the problem? The bars are fairly new. Other than this I can't figure out what's wrong. I did notice that on the Stihl chain, there was a hole in every link and on the Oregon chain there was a hole every other link?

 

[TomSeller]

Back to the chains for a minute, I have a mystery that maybe someone here can help me with. I have a Stihl farm boss 290 and have been using Stihl safety chains with it for a while. I saw some new Oregon, non-safety chains on sale and bought several. They said they fit my saw. Yesterday I put the new chain on and within 10 minutes the front roller froze up on my bar. In addition, the chain was stuck a bit when I pulled it off the bar. I switched bars and again, a freeze up. I freed the rollers with WD40 and switched back to the Stihl chain and had no problems. Then I tried the Oregon chain again and loosened it up a bit on the bar and it worked OK. Any comments would surely be appreciated. I have a lot of firewood to cut before snow flies. The oiler doesn't put out a ratio of 1:1 vs a tank of gas. Could that be the problem? The bars are fairly new. Other than this I can't figure out what's wrong. I did notice that on the Stihl chain, there was a hole in every link and on the Oregon chain there was a hole every other link?

Can you still see the size markings on the side of your bar (towards engine) and do they match the new Oregon chains?

 

[mccash40]

Yes, and the markings on the bar and those on the chain box are identical. .325, 1.6mm, 0.063", 67.

 

[newbury]

Back to the chains for a minute, I have a mystery that maybe someone here can help me with. I have a Stihl farm boss 290 and have been using Stihl safety chains with it for a while. I saw some new Oregon, non-safety chains on sale and bought several. They said they fit my saw. Yesterday I put the new chain on and within 10 minutes the front roller froze up on my bar. In addition, the chain was stuck a bit when I pulled it off the bar. I switched bars and again, a freeze up. I freed the rollers with WD40 and switched back to the Stihl chain and had no problems. Then I tried the Oregon chain again and loosened it up a bit on the bar and it worked OK. Any comments would surely be appreciated. I have a lot of firewood to cut before snow flies. The oiler doesn't put out a ratio of 1:1 vs a tank of gas. Could that be the problem? The bars are fairly new. Other than this I can't figure out what's wrong. I did notice that on the Stihl chain, there was a hole in every link and on the Oregon chain there was a hole every other link?

Stihl is notorious for tuning their bars/chains for minimum oil usage, perhaps in response to EPA problems. I've two "USA" model 660's which I put high output oilers on so I could safely CSM without an auxillary oiler. The same saws are sold in Australia with the high output oiler's as default.

I don't know if they sell a high output oiler for the 290. You might need to stick to Stihl chain if you can't up your oil output.

 

[mccash40]

I went to a Stihl dealer today, and got some answers. The Stihl chain has a grove in the side of the links as well as a hole in the bottom of every link. The Oregon chain is flat on the side and only has a hole in every other link. If what newbury says about Stihl's oil output being minimal, then I can see where the Stihl chain would move the oil along the bar more efficiently than the Oregon chain. The Stihl chain is $2 more, but I guess it would be worth it to keep the bar oiled. I found that if I ran the Oregon chain a bit loose, I didn't experience any freeze up, but I also bought a Stihl chain. Better safe than sorry. Mystery solved, I guess. :confused3:

 

[LD1]

For only $2 more the stihl chain is worth it. Not just for the oiling, but stihl has the best cutters hands down. they last longer.

 

[94BULLITT]

For only $2 more the stihl chain is worth it. Not just for the oiling, but stihl has the best cutters hands down. they last longer.

I agree. Their bars are good too.

 

[TomSeller]

I once had an opportunity to tour an Oregon Saw Chain plant in Portland, Oregon. I asked the plant manager what was the best chain, thinking he would say Oregon over Carlton or Windsor (all Blount chains). He said Stihl did. I asked why, he said it mostly was due to the higher chrome content. We were doing business with Blount at the time, so it wasn't like some tour group with a tour guide and loose lips. The guy knew everything about the place and the saw chains they made.

Oregon is good chain, but you might want to line it up with an Oregon bar.

 

[yomax4]

I have read a lot of posts on other forums about sharpening degree. My standard stihl 33rs or rsc yellow label chains have the line etched on the cutters to show what degree to sharpen. I use an electric sharpener. So, The cutters are between 25 and 30 degrees according to the marks. My question is, What if that angle is altered one way or the other? I need a more aggressive chain to cut the way I want to. Standard full chisel is goo and skip tooth is ok but there has to be some way to get better chips flying. I use an 039 and an 044 mag. Both 3/8 050 72. Any ideas on changing the degree? Some use 60 degrees? wow...

 

[94BULLITT]

I have read a lot of posts on other forums about sharpening degree. My standard stihl 33rs or rsc yellow label chains have the line etched on the cutters to show what degree to sharpen. I use an electric sharpener. So, The cutters are between 25 and 30 degrees according to the marks. My question is, What if that angle is altered one way or the other? I need a more aggressive chain to cut the way I want to. Standard full chisel is goo and skip tooth is ok but there has to be some way to get better chips flying. I use an 039 and an 044 mag. Both 3/8 050 72. Any ideas on changing the degree? Some use 60 degrees? wow...

You can lower the rakers a little to make it cut faster.

 

[yomax4]

I do run my rakers pretty shaved. I was just wondering if I was missing out on something with a steeper cut angle.

 

[LD1]

Steeper cuts faster but dulls quicker. Its a tradeoff. Any angle you change to make it faster dulls faster as well.

 

[yomax4]

Good info. It doesn't seem to matter what I cut, Chains dull quickly. I use a bench top electric sharpener. Would a file make a better edge? Sick of continuous grinding..

 

[94BULLITT]

Good info. It doesn't seem to matter what I cut, Chains dull quickly. I use a bench top electric sharpener. Would a file make a better edge? Sick of continuous grinding..

I like Stihl chains. They cost more money but they stay sharp longer and last longer. Filing the chain won't make it last any longer. Also don't get the tooth hot when you grind it.

 

[cruz54982]

I have cut my own fire wood for over 30 years , tried different saws , chains , angles etc. I agree stihl has the best chains and the steeper the angle the quicker to dull but for me I use 60 angle with 30 for the face and a little extra off the rakers. care not to touch anything but wood helps a lot -not dirt rocks etc. I never have to force my saw into wood and would rather sharpen more often than fight to get a cut.(dry dead oak only for over 15 years )( my 2 cents worth hope it helps.)