Fellin Feller
ArboristSite Member
Not meaning to cause any controversy, but this is interesting to watch. 
Best Chainsaw Chain?
- Thread starter Fellin Feller
- Start date
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I find that new chains cut like crap. Once I work my magic in sharpening them it’s way faster in cutting.
I gave my son a new bar with a hultz chain China so far so good I have noticed some teeth were hard to file. Time will tell.
I gave my son a new bar with a hultz chain China so far so good I have noticed some teeth were hard to file. Time will tell.
Fellin Feller
ArboristSite Member
I wish you could show me, I never been any good at it. I do have a granberg jig that helps me a lot.
If you look at minute 3:38 the Oregon chain is 72lpx not the model that is more recent and readily available 72exl. His Upstart chain is more banged up out of the box than the loops I got in a 6 pack tightly packaged for shipping. Generally Stihl chain is the best which I think holds true here. The exact model Stihl chain is not called out or visible in the picture of the box.
The cutters can and generally are sharpened before being attached to the rest of the chain so those claiming to make improvements especially significant ones on out of the box, well they must be the exception. At least for chains that are not banged up in transit or assembly as appears evident in some of the close up pictures.
The cutters can and generally are sharpened before being attached to the rest of the chain so those claiming to make improvements especially significant ones on out of the box, well they must be the exception. At least for chains that are not banged up in transit or assembly as appears evident in some of the close up pictures.
Having seen the video, I would agree that what is being tested initially is the factory sharpening, not the quality of the chain. The before and after one tank comparison might speak more to chain quality, but still would be affected by sharpening geometry.
Here are the differences (absolute first, and as a proportion of the time required for the first cut second) from the video:
Minute 4:35 shows the Husqvarna chain in this test is H46 from the era when Orgeon made the chain for Husqvarna.
Upstart holds up fine in
real world use I find it comparable to Oregon.
After a couple of hand files
Or even on the electric sharpener.
I've ran the 72dl .50 full chisel
For 4 year's
It's well worth the 9.00 a loop shipped I paid
It's more now I think.
32.00 per loop plus tax for Stihl 72dl last I checked locally
Screw that.
You can junk a chain anytime
In yard tree's.
real world use I find it comparable to Oregon.
After a couple of hand files
Or even on the electric sharpener.
I've ran the 72dl .50 full chisel
For 4 year's
It's well worth the 9.00 a loop shipped I paid
It's more now I think.
32.00 per loop plus tax for Stihl 72dl last I checked locally
Screw that.
You can junk a chain anytime
In yard tree's.
Get a file n guide. First I hog out the gullet with a larger deeper radious I file lower under the upper cutter. Follow the angle of the tooth and up hill. Next I use the file n guide on the upper cutting edge. Once the gullet is done correctly it’s one pass with the file n guide at gas ups if it gets dull. It takes time to get the gullet right at first. Having the chain razor sharp means you can drop the raker a tad.
unknwn
ArboristSite Member
I've found a Stihl 3/8 dealer boxed yellow rated chain just didn't stretch appreciably -if- it's kept out of the dirt.
I finished up low-hundred plus run of (average)10"+ cuts on a silver maple downed by 60-mph winds, went through a gallon pf HomeDepot house brand chain oil with an 036 and didn't HAVE-TO take up any excessive slack to speak of. Honest
I just stopped w/ that saw because a bit of visual scrutiny revealed the -MANY- years-old 18" bar was showing a pronounced burr & was starting to show chipping along the rails, and the factory rim was due too.
After filing practice on a pile of .325 chains I scored with an ES eBay bar, I will be giving that 3/8 stellar performer how ever much time needed to bring it back to pre-maple sharp ! I've been gathering -choice- files, proper filing guides, and a WORLD of super advice & knowledge @ Arboristsite forums. Thanks ALL !
I ended up ordering and fitting similar model chain for my other (smaller LP-equipped) ranch saws.
If I'm spending MY money on saw chain, Stihl it will be !
I finished up low-hundred plus run of (average)10"+ cuts on a silver maple downed by 60-mph winds, went through a gallon pf HomeDepot house brand chain oil with an 036 and didn't HAVE-TO take up any excessive slack to speak of. Honest
I just stopped w/ that saw because a bit of visual scrutiny revealed the -MANY- years-old 18" bar was showing a pronounced burr & was starting to show chipping along the rails, and the factory rim was due too.
After filing practice on a pile of .325 chains I scored with an ES eBay bar, I will be giving that 3/8 stellar performer how ever much time needed to bring it back to pre-maple sharp ! I've been gathering -choice- files, proper filing guides, and a WORLD of super advice & knowledge @ Arboristsite forums. Thanks ALL !
I ended up ordering and fitting similar model chain for my other (smaller LP-equipped) ranch saws.
If I'm spending MY money on saw chain, Stihl it will be !
I don't actually think we can take much out of that video, it's too outdated for one, and he wasn't using the same grade of chain for all. The carbide shouldn't have even been tested, and running "pro" chain vs safety chain is never a fair comparison. Stihl is currently my favorite, but they got greedy with price, oregon was second, but the last batch seems softer then normal. I still have yet to get a few loops of the new husqvarna chain to try out. But as Bill says, never been super impressed with a factory grind. I'll run them till dull (ish) then get the file out. Literally just did this with a stihl chain equipped saw for a friend this past week. Went and ran a tank through his new saw and had to stop after a handful of cuts and file the chain. Much happier after that.
unknwn
ArboristSite Member
"...the carbide shouldn't have even been tested..."
explain please
It's an outlier in the test data, and a specialty chain at that. Not something the average user would ever come in contact with, and not something most professionals would use outside of specific circumstances. Just doesn't belong, and didn't add any appreciable information to the test.
While I agree the carbide should be considered in a class of it's own & can't be compared against the others, it's place in the testing serves to educate those who wouldn't otherwise know how differently they perform.
While I wasn't surprised by the carbide chains cutting speed I was by how significantly it dulled.
I'd be interested in seeing the test extended to a round of cutting after they have all been consistently sharpened
Would also be interesting to see how the Oregon powersharp setup stacks up in the same tests... That & carbide is what some homeowners turn to in leu of learning how to sharpen or paying a shop every time their chain gets dull
Hi Franny, do you know who makes them now? And where? Thanks.
Homeowners are just going to run the chains, as they come, out of the box. Anyone who knows enough to sharpen a new chain, to better than factory, isn't who that video was aimed at. Seemed like a fair test to me.
The best chain saw chain?
The one that never goes dull, even when you till with the bar, cut rocks, steel nails in tree trunks, barbed wire, steel pipes used for fence posts the grew inside the tree. That’s the chain I want, lol
The one that never goes dull, even when you till with the bar, cut rocks, steel nails in tree trunks, barbed wire, steel pipes used for fence posts the grew inside the tree. That’s the chain I want, lol
They built their own factory in Sweden. The full size 3/8 is called something like C83 and C85 in 0.050 and 0.058, they have a .325NK offering and a 3/8lp offering. So far the C are chisel and the other semi chisel. More choices are to be expected.
