Skip chain on short bars

[STIHLTHEDEERE]

Hey kid, skip chain is rubbish on anything but underpowered saws run by people with the clueless 'longer is better' mentality trying to grind their way through 3 foot diameter logs, where they should be running the proper size engine to do a proper job with 10 times less effort all-round. A 20" bar running skip chain is greenhorn stuff.

i run a 20" bar,and all i run is skip chain.cuts quickly,less teeth to sharpen. and lets see,i have been the woods since i was old enough to walk,about 30+ yrs. i am been no means a pro logger,nor do i claim to be. but i would say i am a well seasoned cutter. my 460s' and 660 are anything but underpowered,my 362/20" full skip is by far my favorite.

 

[smokinj]

My 260 with a 16" 3/8" and sharp chain cuts like a champ. Maybe his chain is dull, or he is really leaning into it.

He could always do a mild muffler mod; that would help a bit.

I agree that if he thinks the 260 doesn't have enough power, it won't matter what chain he has on it. Time to man up and get a bigger saw!

+1 I would say leaning into it. I couldnt get use to the 260 3/8 set up I am to aggressive on the saws.

 

[Philbert]

+1 on the .325 and sharp cutters. This works on thousands of MS260's. He can go to narrow kerf or low profile chain if he wants a little more cutting power without bogging down, but he should not have to with that saw.

What kind of sprocket is he running? I have to wonder if he went to 3/8 and a high speed sprocket because of what the 'big saws' run instead of what is best for that saw.

Going to skip will make it grabby and builds on his problem rather than solving it. They do put skip chain on some cheap, big box saws that have no power, but those are junk to begin with.

Philbert

 

[056kid]

Hey kid, skip chain is rubbish on anything but underpowered saws run by people with the clueless 'longer is better' mentality trying to grind their way through 3 foot diameter logs, where they should be running the proper size engine to do a proper job with 10 times less effort all-round. A 20" bar running skip chain is greenhorn stuff.

A 20'' bar with skip chain has been doing the job for us hardwood cutters since skip chain was invented. There are guys that can put over 200 tons of wood on the ground in 8 hours with their 20'' skip setups.... greenhorns, right . . . . . . . . .

 

[mdavlee]

A lot of hardwood loggers use a 20" bar on a 460 or 660 with skip chain. I don't really like it on bars that short as it is really grabby when limbing.

 

[isaaccarlson]

I have a 20" skip chain from before I did the muff mod....

I still use it because there are less teeth to sharpen. have to keep the rakers LOW to get it to cut as fast as the full comp.

 

[dingeryote]

It's gotta be an Right Coast thing. :greenchainsaw:

Naw,
We got every kind of Coast here, and it's got nothing to do with having the ability pronounce the letter "R". The guy is looking for somethin free.
My Guess is a Dutch Farmer...

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[alderman]

There are guys that can put over 200 tons of wood on the ground in 8 hours with their 20'' skip setups.... greenhorns, right . . . . . . . . .

Heck out here they do that with one tree.:

 

[056kid]

Heck out here they do that with one tree.:

Dont make me more envious than I allready am. . .

 

[MCW]

Nothing wrong with skip chain. Highly underrated by those who have never used it. I see no problem at all using it on shorter bars but as Brad mentioned is is a basic bandaid fix for a 260.
I agree that using it on a 16" bar on a 260 is sorta stoopid but hey, less teeth, less work for the saw. It will also wear better than .325"
I fitted a 32" bar to a mate's 029 with 50% of the cutters removed and although it wouldn't win any races it would cut and the oiler would just keep up. If I didn't do this my mate would have had to buy a bigger saw which with a young family he couldn't afford it just for the odd larger tree. If he had no saws but needed a 32" bar I'd say buy a 7900/460/372 etc.
I have compared skip and non skip on 32" bars and there is very little in it as far as cutting speed goes on my 7900's.

 

[jd548esco72]

i got two bar and chain set up for full skip.one is a 25 inch solid bar with stihl full skip and the other is a 20"winsdor with wp fullskip.

the 25 is on one of my 460 bore/044s cuts very well and fast. though this saw certainly ain't lacking for power. it can pull a full comp with no problem either.

the other 20" is on my 57cc shindaiwa it was a bit boggy in the big stuff with only 4hp. the 20"with the skip is faster than it was with the 16"& full comp.in the bigger hardwoods.

the 25" limbs better than the 20" i noticed you got to have the RPM up to limb well with the 20"

i can't see a reason to run a skip with a 16"--there just ain't going to be enough teeth there to cut well.

i ran the 20"skip setup on the ms440 for
a day or two and then ran it with 20" full comp.

on it there wasn't any improvement in cutting speed either way.

i will likely keep the skip on the 20"shindaiwa. i may or may not keep it on the 25"stihl. i will likely run the skip on 28" and longer.

 

[woodyman]

Nothing wrong with skip chain. Highly underrated by those who have never used it. I see no problem at all using it on shorter bars but as Brad mentioned is is a basic bandaid fix for a 260.
I agree that using it on a 16" bar on a 260 is sorta stoopid but hey, less teeth, less work for the saw. It will also wear better than .325"
I fitted a 32" bar to a mate's 029 with 50% of the cutters removed and although it wouldn't win any races it would cut and the oiler would just keep up. If I didn't do this my mate would have had to buy a bigger saw which with a young family he couldn't afford it just for the odd larger tree. If he had no saws but needed a 32" bar I'd say buy a 7900/460/372 etc.
I have compared skip and non skip on 32" bars and there is very little in it as far as cutting speed goes on my 7900's.

Were you running a 7 or 8 pin on the 7900 with the 32" bar when testing the skip and non skip?

 

[MCW]

Were you running a 7 or 8 pin on the 7900 with the 32" bar when testing the skip and non skip?

I have run an 8 pin by accident with non skip semi chisel and it pulled it surprisingly well but when I made that comparo in hardwood I was running a 7 pin. Both were Carlton semi chisel 3/8"
To be honest they are that close in performance I have loops of both in the same box of 32" chains and I don't care which one I grab - I can't notice any difference until it comes to sharpening them

 

[rubberducky]

I agree with 056

Skip chain on normal length bars, an utter waste of time and energy, skip chain cuts like crap, you've got to force the bar and it's harsh and blunt no matter what you do to it, might as well be using wally-mart safety junk :deadhorse:

Thats why you take your flat file and lower your rakers down alittle.

What do they teach you over there in NZ any way??

I agree with 056........A skip chain will cut just fine if it is sharp. Also just as 056 said, a little trick is to file your rakers, which makes any chain cut better. The more you sharpen your chain the smaller they get, therefore you file your rakers down every other or every third time you sharpen it....doesnt have to be alot, couple good strokes and your cherry. But like I said before if your chain is sharp, it's going to perform. You can sharpen a chain all you want but, if you aint doing it right.......uhmm it aint going to cut through butter.