What Brand/Type chain should I buy?

[Bluegill2]

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 get a much better edge using a file! With just a light touch up every couple tanks to keep sharp. I hate cutting with a dull chain!!!

 

[Bluegill2]

Stihl chain is good, but I like Oregon LGX & LPX better. Worth a try. Seems the new Oregon stuff is better than it used to be.

 

[phoenix94]

Get a Timberline Sharpener and forget about sharpening woes. A little pricey but well worth the money.

 

[Capricious]

I buy the cheapest chains I can find, and consider them to be disposable, sharpening them with a file a few times before discarding them.

I use chainsaws to clear brush, cutting off small trees @ ground level, down in the dirt and the rocks.

No sense in spending a lot of money on a chain.

 

[Oldpath05]

Been here and there, over hill over dale, under and over, looking into chainsaw chain brands,+&- cause I'm thinking of buying 100' reel, .325 pitch, I'm familiar with Oregon, Windsor and Carlton saw chain. Seams like Stilh chain gets the most stars, didn't know Stilh made chains and never heard of Laser saw chin either. I guess I have more net working to do, on what brand and where to buy, right now Stilh chain sounds good, I'll see if I can find a web site that sells it, maybe Ebay.

 

[ultrarunner]

I probably would be ahead if I bought in bulk...

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Seems like every fall my Stihl dealer has a 2 for1 sale on saw chains. It's hard to pass up a deal like that, so I buy enough to last for the next year. They're good chains and last a long time if I stay out of the dirt and rocks, and I've had pretty good luck using an Oregon sharpener when they get dull. So much so that I may just skip the next sale

 

[Oldpath05]

I'm going through 2-3 saw chains/year,100' might be a little much, think I'll re-think this, maybe 50' is more inline of what I would go through in the foreseeable future, but now I don't know if anyplace sells saw chain in 50' rolls, and then the chains would have to figure out to be more than $5.00 cheaper then going to the saw shop, vs. make home made loops worth it.

The chain I bought a couple weeks ago was $18.00+, not bad, but I had to have my son pick it up on Fri., cause Sat. the nearest saw shop (15 min. away)shuts down at 12noon, in the afternoon I need a chain to cut wood, Sat morning I'm just to busy getting breakfast, doing net working and catching up on the very important post on TBN forum.

 

[eddie48]

I know that Oregon and Windsor both sell 25 ft coils of chain. Don't know about the other brands. I have used Windsor for years and like it.

 

[Will_C]

My brother considered making our own loops, but our calculations showed that we would only save a dollar or two compared to the prices we pay for chains by taking advantage of mail order and our yearly trip to the NYS Woodsmen's Show- we get 20" Stihl chains for $15 and 16" Oregon chains for $10. We buy around 10 of each size and it gets us through the year.

Will

 

[Oldpath05]

I know that Oregon and Windsor both sell 25 ft coils of chain. Don't know about the other brands. I have used Windsor for years and like it.

I give up trying find Stihl saw chains online so my next choice is Oregon chain. My 550 Husqvarna I bought 2 years ago now came with semi-chisel Husq chain and it broke only half used up and the other ones, not sure what they was, they cut ok, but this new Oregon chain,(full chisel) is really cutting awesome, I forgot what full chisel cut like and the little holes in the drive link seams to be getting more oil on my bar, but I cant find 25 ft. chain rolls online all I see is 100 ft. rolls, maybe it requires more Sat. morning net-working.

 

[Oldpath05]

My brother considered making our own loops, but our calculations showed that we would only save a dollar or two compared to the prices we pay for chains by taking advantage of mail order and our yearly trip to the NYS Woodsmen's Show- we get 20" Stihl chains for $15 and 16" Oregon chains for $10. We buy around 10 of each size and it gets us through the year.

Will

That's I don't want to get into, saving dollar or two on one chain, taking 15 min. of time to make a loop, 5 min. if I spend $175.00 on a good saw chain breaking-spinner tool.
What's the mail order site you buy chains at, $15.00/20"chain sound like a really good buy for Stihl chain, I've been using .375, 72DL, .058 gauge, and this new Oregon full chisel chain I put on last weekend is really cutting great. I think Bangor has a woodsmen show coming up, but 65mi. away and 5 hr. of time, and the crowds, I have crowd phobia.

 

[dgeesaman]

I probably would be ahead if I bought in bulk...

Check the numbers for yourself.

I have a chain breaker and spinner on my workbench that I inherited, so zero investment required. Based on the cost of bulk chain alone, I won't save enough any money compared to thrifty shopping for loops.

 

[Oldpath05]

Found one place online called Frawleys Saw Shop, they sell Oregon loops and 100 ft. rolls, I did the math on the rolls and it figures to about $5.00 savings for me, on the .058ga., .375p, 72dl, and that loop here cost $18.00. Also 72dl is just under 4ft. of saw chain for one loop, I use 2-3 loops/year, that will take me a while to go through that, a grand savings $125.00 in ten years or so, WOW! Then if I figure in climate change, global warming, end of the world in ten years, and bigfoot still on the loose, I'll stay with buying loops, 2-5 at a time.

But if I buy 100' of Forester brand saw chain that everyone says is junk, my savings would triple, then again if I have to file on every tank full of gas, I'd waste more time and have to buy more files, this Oregon chain I'm using now, after 4 tanks of gas, I still haven't filed it yet, and I've cut through some muddy branches, still cuts fast.

 

[crazyal]

In the past I've bought Stihl chains off of ebay. Often I find a 5 or 10 pack that'll save about $5 off the price per chain. I don't cut as much now, maybe 6 cord a year, so 10 chains is too many. Now I usually just buy them one or two at a time and have a spare just in case. I can usually find either the RS or the super L series for less than $25 with shipping for a 24" bar. My local dealer comes close to matching it but their hours make it hard for me to get there without making a special hour long trip).

 

[ultrarunner]

Is there much of a performance difference between RS and super L series?

 

[94BULLITT]

Is there much of a performance difference between RS and super L series?

RSL in stock from is not faster than RS. I've compared the 2 and other people have compared them and there is not a difference in the way they perform out of the box.

 

[crazyal]

I was told by my local guy that the Super L cleaned itself out better when cutting large diameter trees. I couldn't tell the difference so I've never spent time trying to get one over the other.

 

[Oldpath05]

So far, six chainsaw fill-ups on this new Oregon chain (full chisel), and haven't had to sharpen it yet, it's still cutting faster then my last several Simi chisel, no name brand, and Husqvarna chain ever did, right now I'm sold on the Oregon full chisel chain, with the fancy little holes in the drive links.

When I do find a Stihl saw chain, it's a .050 gauge, not for me. I run .058 ga., I tried .050 ga. several times in the past, and seems like the thinner drive link like's to jamb in between the sprocket nose on the bar, ruining the sprocket nose/bar/chain/day/mood.

 

[crazyal]

Stihl make very few .058 chains. My local dealer carries them, I think the large Husky chainsaws use .058. Since he sells both Stihl and Husky he stocks them but the other Stihl only dealers near me don't. Even finding .058 Stihl chains on-line is much more difficult than .050 or .063.