Stihl rapid duro chain

[Ted Jenkins]

I tried the Stihl infused chain and it will cut into very hard wood and keep smiling for awhile, but it does have a limit. A much more durable chain exists but it can be very pricey. Recently I watched a fireman whip his chain saw out and cut a 1'' steel peg at a gate because they did not want to hassle with a key. It took maybe 5 minutes and the gate was open. As I understand there is a wide array of chains exist up to $30,000 for one loop of chain. Some chains even cut concrete. The whole thing comes back to at what cost. For removing stumps what has worked well is to dig around the stump to remove dirt and rock then treat it with acid to go back at it with the chain saw after it has softened. From my experience is to buy a reel of chain for $200 to $300 and then you have enough chain to cut an occasional rock and not have to worry about a big loss.Thanks

 

[warsaw]

I bought a loop of picco duro lately. It might not ever need sharpening the teeth could chip. There is not too much length of tooth before the shape changes. I have not examined any rapid duro. It has not dulled noticeably on the battery saw but when I tried it with a gasoline saw two teeth chipped to the extent more than half the useable length was damaged. Some frost was involved, perhaps I hit the end of another piece of firewood instead of the side. Good luck with it. You can read the advice in this thread not to get it too hot. It works acceptable for cross cut or bucking and is pretty dismal for noodling. I have not yet really tried it in a limbing application. It would seem another section to replace cutters from would be something needed to actually wear out a loop.

thinking back .. circular saw blades i use on my table saw that are tungsten tipped.. do dull after a while, i cut up hard timber from demolished houses, a demolisher dumps off truck loads when i require it for nothing, saves him paying for tip fees, it's my main source of firewood
i like to be able to sharpen these blades myself, been looking at youtube videos
so i guess it would apply to tungsten chainsaw blades too, can't remember how long it would last untill it dulled [2 - 3 winters ?!]

anyway, i bought this property about 15 yrs ago, 1/2 acre - loaded with nuisance trees, so i bought my first chainsaw - a sweet husky 359 that hardly did any work for only 300 bucks, then once i thought i didn't need it any more i swapped it plus cash my way for a sweet 338 XPT because i figured i just needed that to up-keep the remaining trees & it's been a good all rounder. stoopid move really.. coz now i got about 4 more that needs to die, shoulda kept the 359 and bought any ol' small top handle.

there's a tree root that lifted a concrete section in my garage preventing me from locking the roller door. thought about using the tungsten blade to hack it up. but after reading the thread.. think i'll just lift the damaged concrete ..dig around the root, remove as much soil as i can and use an old 12" chain for the husky

 

[Mike Kunte]

In the last 3 months we have sold over 55 Rapid Duro chains. We sell them for $45 for the 23RD362E and $69 for the 33RD360E in Nova Scotia where the OP lives. The RD is not a chain for every one. We are particular in who we sell to.

The RD3 is not a softwood logging chain. The RD3 is not a run it dull until the job is done chain. The RD3 is not a chain for someone that has any ability to file, its cutting performance is slower than a regular chain.

Push a RD3 when dull and the carbide insert will come off.

We gave out some chain to various types of users to see how well they stood up and what the lifespan was.

We market the chain to people who cannot file and know that they can't. They love the chain. If they get a load of wood delivered on Sat and dull a normal chain they are done,and we are closed. Most can't even replace a chain. They buy the chain knowing they can block their 5 or 10 cords Sat and Sunday without trouble.

The other group buying the chain are small firewood operators cutting dirty skidder hauled wood. They get 7-9 cords of dirty wood done per grinding. We get 8-9 grindings per chain.

One thing is imparative with the RD3. Do not run it dull. It will lose cutters when it gets hot. We tell all customers to return when it first feels dull.

55 chains sold, 2 failures from not following our suggestions. The RD3 is a great chain when used properly.

Would I use one for a stump removal? No, there are better ways to remove stumps.

The problem is not poor chains but rather poor dealers who do not understand their products.

Hi Stihl Crazy,

Thank you for your candid approach. I'm currently helping my brother-in-law out on his farm where previous owners had cut and left bluegum (Eucalyuptus) stumps lying all around many years ago. We are now clearing them up by bucking them into disks for firewood. There are two main types - those which lie half-buried in the ground (the bottom rots and is covered in mud/sand) and those which lie above ground, and have semi-petrified. My BIL went through 3 chains in 20 minutes on the hardened wood, after which I suggested he try the carbide chains.

We are collecting the chains next week from our local Stihl dealer, but he gave us some telephonic advice regarding cutting speed which I'd like to run by you for verification. He suggested that very dry/hard/brittle wood should be cut at a very low speed (i.e. slow chain speed; as slow as possible). All the instructional videos I have seen (obviously for green wood) require the chainsaw to be running at full speed before engaging the wood. Reading up on carbide chains I am now careful of running them fas/hot. Obviously, this hard dry wood is a special case.

Do you concur with this approach? I would really appreciate your insights on this ons.

Regards,

Mike

 

[abdiver]

Mike I know about how hard Euch can get I have some that I need to cut up to splitter size. My stuff is fairly clean. How do you suggest I cut it up "Like what type of chain to use". Thanks (on the coast of Calif )

 

[tfp]

I cut almost 100% eucalyptus, and 95% of that is either dead standing or dead on the ground. Bluegum is easier than say ironbark or stringybark, which can have a lot of dirt in the bark itself. I use Stihl semi-chisel chains. I once used a full chisel chain to cut up a green ironbark and used 3/4 of the chain just to buck up the barrels. If there is any dirt on the outside I suggest you use a broom or brush to get rid of as much of it as you can. Make sure your rakers are set to the "hardwood" setting on your gauge.

Some examples of how long my chain has stayed sharp recently: Ironbark on the ground, dead for 60+ years, no bark, cut up one full tray load (ute/truck tray), 12 inches in length and from 10 to 16 inches diameter, sharpened before starting and once during. Stihl MS250. Did a Stringybark recently, bark still on but had ants nest behind it, had to peel off bark with a crow bar then brushed down the wood to get rid of most of the dirt. One sharpen got me through the main barrel, resharpened and did all the crown / leaders. Main barrel was 16 to 18 inches.

You guys might have different growing conditions or something compared to where I am, because i've never had stumps or barrels petrify and there are some stumps i've cut on a sheep station that have been dead since 1920 when they were cut for fence posts.

I run all my saws wide open, not sure what your dealer is suggesting with regard to chain speed. I run 7 tooth sprockets not 8. Maybe that's what he meant. Sounds like you're dealing with a lot of dirt as well. I would save the dirty parts until last and cut all the cleaner stuff first. Brush off as much dirt as you can. Do all of your top cuts first through clean wood then roll over the logs, brush off any dirt, then finish all of the previous cuts from underneath pulling up, so the chain is in contact with dirt on the wood for as short a time as possible.

Make sure your oiler is turned up to the max setting.

 

[Mike Kunte]

Mike I know about how hard Euch can get I have some that I need to cut up to splitter size. My stuff is fairly clean. How do you suggest I cut it up "Like what type of chain to use". Thanks (on the coast of Calif )

Hey, abdiver!
I have not used the carbide chains for a while now. On the Euc I've been having good results with the Stihl RM chain, which is the semi-chisel. It feeds well, cuts fast enough, and is easy to touch up in the field with a file.
Regards,
Mike