Carbide Chains and Advice

[r1stgei]

First off I would like to thank all of you guys for your great posts. I'm new to this forum and have been reading over the past year different advice topics and advice from you pros.. I grew up In the bush of northern Ontario and never knew how many bad habits and mis advice I have received regarding safe techniques and PROPERLY felling trees. I'm still learning ... so bare with me.

Most of the trees I have been cutting seem to be pretty dirty once they hit the ground. Most of the terrain is rock, sand, etc up here. I notice my Chains are getting beat up quite a bit... anyone using carbide Chains for Dirty wood? Are they worth the extra $$. I don't put the bar in the ground with my saws and I am very careful where I'm working but it seems like my Chains are getting dull after felling and bucking. I do a quick sharpen every other tank in the field and take the Chains off afterwards and sharpen them on the bench.

Any thoughts? Also how long should a chain last (if taken care of) with extended use?

Thanks in advance.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Den]

Welcome. Beautiful country up there in Canada. Been wondering about carbides myself, kind of interested in hearing some feedback.

 

[Little Al]

The company I service saws for Money makiing outfit fall & process some ****** wood We use semi chisel chains which last a fair time, depending on if it's hard/soft wood I alter the top plate angle & raker height The problem with carbide is standard sharpening kit is a no go so you would need at least 2 or more chains if you want to have more or less ongoing cutting as it"s a specialist job to sharpen multiple chains & outsourcing sharpeniing =big money Again dependent on the size you can buy a chain from Huztel for little money several DIY sharpenings & sling iit as the cost is very little

 

[r1stgei]

Thanks for replying so quickly... yah a 20" carbide chain (stihl) is around 70$ CAN ... and then the diamond took to sharpen it with is 15$.... To be honest. I don't think I'm good enough to deserve to use a carbide chain. Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Coldiron]

I have some carbide chains and unless it's really dirty wood I wouldn't use them, they're way too slow cutting. I don't know if it's just the type of chain that I have. (It's the RS3 from Stihl.) They work well if you are in really dirty conditions, I've hit rocks and concrete chunks with them and they're still cutting. They are a pain to sharpen, I use a Dremel tool and a Diamond Burr. Seems to work okay just don't overheat the carbide tips when you're sharpening them, if you can put some coolant on there while you're sharpening. I would just recommend using semi chisel, seems to work the best for mildly dirty conditions. You can buy a lot of semi chisel chains for the price of one carbide.

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk

 

[LoveStihlQuality]

I usually don't time to hand file in field. I just change chains and do my sharpening after dark. Once chains have little left, use those for stumps and dirty work and then toss in scrap metal bucket.

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

 

[r1stgei]

Thanks again for all the help!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Matt Hogden]

I love them mate. Yes they arr a bit slower than normal chains, but factor in that you dont spend the time swapping out blunt normal chains and they are not too bad. Plus you are railways cutting with a sharp chain. I use mine for firewood cutting on Australian hardwood

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[d1hamby]

Most of the stigma associated with carbide chains seems to be the old idea of how expensive they are. With new automated production most of the carbide chains are way more cost effective than the steel chains for your most used machine and bar. Buying the carbide chain is still difficult because shops tend to discourage you from buying them and reputable companies that make the chain make more money if you stay with the steel chain. Some of the not so reputable companies try to sell you plated or coated carbide chains and are a complete waste of your time and money. You only want to buy brazed on carbide tips, just like you find on radial saw blades. You'll never find a good plated or coated carbide radial saw blade. The rescue chains are not made to be cost efficient wood cutting chains, so stay away from them unless you are using an actual rescue saw for cutting through metal and glass. Rescue chains are still very expensive.

 

[wde_1978]

I have Stihl Picco Duro 3 and Stihl Rapid Duro 3 loops, one each.
Each has a couple hours of cutting time on them.

The Picco Duro 3 is still flawless, the Rapid Duro 3 has a couple chipped carbide inserts.

As long as You don't hit any stones or nails these SPD3 & SRD3 chains really hold their ground.

I run the Picco Duro 3 on my small 40cc Sachs-Dolmar 108, and the Rapid Duro 3 on my Dolmar PS-6400.
The chains have a semi chisel tooth geometry.
They cut a little bit slower than a regular chisel tooth round filed chain, but are extremely smooth.









The carbide tipped loops I have are nice, but for very dirty wood I'd recommend TriLink chisel.
They are cheap, cut crappy without modifications, but for whatever reason the ones I got from Germany are oblivious to bucking logs embedded in mud.
To make the TriLink loops cut properly I cut off the tie strap shark fins and re-set the rakers to about .030.

 

[d1hamby]

Apparently your making the TriLink with Guardlink chain into TriLink professional or TriLink with bumperguard chain when you modify it. This in your opinion works better than the Duro 3. I'm going to have to get a loop of TriLink professional to try. I'd like to have another steel loop. Has anyone else had any experience with TriLink?

 

[wde_1978]

I wouldn't go as far as claiming that the TriLink is better than a carbide tipped Stihl chain!
But, the TriLink that I have is quite resistant to dulling through dirt, sand and mud , and even if it gets dull it can be touched up in the field with a regular file. On top of that the TriLink loops are extremely affordable!

Now, I like the Stihl Picco & Rapid Duro 3 a lot!
But their high price makes me worry more than when using a regular steel chain.
Carbide tends to chip when hitting anything hard, that makes it difficult, even impossible to properly resharpen a loop with damaged teeth. It was suggested to me that replacing the damaged teeth is the only feasible option to properly rehab a damaged carbide tipped loop.

To conclude, for everyday's dirty work I suggest getting a few TriLink loops, chisel, semi chisel or both.
They're cheap, and can be sharpened easily and cheaply too.
In my case semi chisel doesn't behave much better than chisel in dirty wood, but cuts quite a bit slower, so I suggest chisel.

For felling/bucking trees/logs that are clean or only infested with sand or dirt without stones a carbide tipped loop is great.
No need to sharpen for a whole year so far in my case. But they are expensive and require special tools to be sharpened.
I plan on purchasing a diamond laced file to keep an edge on my carbide loops, no idea how that'll work out!

 

[d1hamby]

I use a Milwaukee 12v variable speed rotary tool, similar to a dremel, with a diamond burr bit for sharpening all my chains. Easier and faster to use and keep different sized bits with me since they are so small.

 

[Del_]

Don't forget that carbide dust is a serious health risk.

 

[d1hamby]

Only to those that snort it.

 

[Franny K]

I bought a 55 drive link loop of Stihl picco duro. I think it cost like $45 to try it out. I did not have too much success getting the original performance back with the small dremmel type 5/32 diamond cylinder on a 1/8 inch stick. Once a tooth gets chipped the next one in line on that side is the most likely next tooth to chip. It was not too much different in a cross cut or bucking cut but diagonally through knots like my idea of limbing was significantly less pleasing results than normal chain. Probably better for lower chain speeds, the chain stayed immaculate until I took it off the battery saw.

Perhaps one should get more than just one loop in the exact sixe you plan on using.

Actually how long the carbide insert is may vary with brand but it is an insert not the whole length of the top plate.

 

[d1hamby]

Did you free hand sharpen or use a jig with dremel? Did you adjust the rakers?
I have the same chain. I try to only use the carbide chain when bucking and limbing away from the garbage around the bottom of the tree. I use my steel chain in case of barbed wire fence and junk in the first 4-5 feet of the tree. My steel chain is longer, cheaper and much easier to fix. I save old cabide cutters for swapping out with a Granberg break-n-mend and use new straps.

 

[Franny K]

I did not use a jig and I do not lower the depth gauges until the top plate has been significantly shortened. I used the chain for lowering a stump that had been flush cut but not low enough that mowers would pass over every time. It was basically clay/mud nearby but I had picks and shovels but no power washer. I have done similar before with .325 chain and was expecting more. The advertising says up to 4 times more life kind of doubt I got four times the life of a chain I could buy for $300 a 100 foot roll of. If you wear out the chassis one has to wonder how a carbide chain will get more life at all.

 

[d1hamby]

I usually get more than ten times the life out of carbide chain over steel chain. I'm dealing more with sugar sand and high silica in the wood than dirt and clay on the wood. Not sure if this makes a difference. Don't forget the raker angle decreases as the cutter is sharpened. This will definitely make it cut much slower.