MS880 Sprocket

[Samsonwannabe]

I recently purchased a MS880 other than being a little slow on chain speed it cuts very well, plenty of power. It comes with a 7 sprocket drive. My question is what would a 9 sprocket do for it? Any help? It is used solely for tree work. Thank you.

 

[StihlyinEly]

Think of it like a manual transmission on a truck. The higher the gear, the faster it goes but the less torque it has. Same thing with changing out the sprockets. A 7-pin will give you a lot of torque/grunt in the cut, but chain speed will be slower than an 8- or 9-pin. Leave that long bar on and switch to an 8- or 9-pin, and chain speed will increase, with a resulting loss of torque.

The 880 is designed that way with the 7-pin because it's a very large saw meant for bucking and felling very large trees, so it has to maintain that torque with long bars buried in big wood.

You can surely put a shorter B&C on it and run an 8- or 9-pin sprocket, which will give you more speed and maintain torque. But why would you? It would just be a really heavy mofo cutting smaller wood. Best IMO to let the 880 wear its 48-inch bar (or longer) and do what it does best, and run 60-75cc saws in smaller wood.

 

[cat-face timber]

Think of it like a manual transmission on a truck. The higher the gear, the faster it goes but the less torque it has. Same thing with changing out the sprockets. A 7-pin will give you a lot of torque/grunt in the cut, but chain speed will be slower than an 8- or 9-pin. Leave that long bar on and switch to an 8- or 9-pin, and chain speed will increase, with a resulting loss of torque.

The 880 is designed that way with the 7-pin because it's a very large saw meant for bucking and felling very large trees, so it has to maintain that torque with long bars buried in big wood.

You can surely put a shorter B&C on it and run an 8- or 9-pin sprocket, which will give you more speed and maintain torque. But why would you? It would just be a really heavy mofo cutting smaller wood. Best IMO to let the 880 wear its 48-inch bar (or longer) and do what it does best, and run 60-75cc saws in smaller wood.

Could not agree more, perfectly said....

 

[Karl Robbers]

Think of it like a manual transmission on a truck. The higher the gear, the faster it goes but the less torque it has. Same thing with changing out the sprockets. A 7-pin will give you a lot of torque/grunt in the cut, but chain speed will be slower than an 8- or 9-pin. Leave that long bar on and switch to an 8- or 9-pin, and chain speed will increase, with a resulting loss of torque.

The 880 is designed that way with the 7-pin because it's a very large saw meant for bucking and felling very large trees, so it has to maintain that torque with long bars buried in big wood.

You can surely put a shorter B&C on it and run an 8- or 9-pin sprocket, which will give you more speed and maintain torque. But why would you? It would just be a really heavy mofo cutting smaller wood. Best IMO to let the 880 wear its 48-inch bar (or longer) and do what it does best, and run 60-75cc saws in smaller wood.

Agree totally.
I haven't done it personally but I do note that Madsens caution against the use of 9T sprockets on work saws as there is a greater risk of chain derailing and such.

 

[blsnelling]

I'm sure that 7-pin rim is a .404. That's about the equivalent of a 8-pin 3/8. An 8-pin .404 is huge, and a 9-pin even more so. I don't believe your saw would like that much at all. If you convert to 3/8, then go for the 8-pin.

 

[Samsonwannabe]

Ms880

Thank you for your help. It will be used with 48" bar felling big tree's. It is nice having some people to ask for help.