.050 Bar vs .063 pros cons

[HuskStihl]

0.063 is a larger number than 0.050. It must be stronger, tougher, manlier and overall better in every way. What bar and saw are we talkin bout anyway?

 

[SawTroll]

0.063 I'd a larger number than 0.050. It must be stronger, tougher, manlier and overall better in every way. What bar and saw are we talkin bout anyway?

 

[Homelite410]

Well, some times there is only the drive tangs that are different.
As far as I know it is not this way with Oregon chain, but I suspect it is with Stihl? I have no idea regarding other brands....

That's what I'm trying to say. Some chain has drivers that are necked down from 63 or 58. Some chain has drivers that are 50 all the way up to the rivet holes.

So all I am getting at here is that chain that is 63 around the rivet holes should be stronger than chain that is 50 around the rivet holes.

 

[SawTroll]

That's what I'm trying to say. Some chain has drivers that are necked down from 63 or 58. Some chain has drivers that are 50 all the way up to the rivet holes.

So all I am getting at here is that chain that is 63 around the rivet holes should be stronger than chain that is 50 around the rivet holes.

That is of course true!

 

[MCW]

This has been brought up quite a bit over the years. All I will say is that the only chains I have ever broken are .050" despite using .063" for the same amount of hours in the same timber on the same saws.
Talk to any full time hardwood faller in Australia and .063" is all they use as it will quite simply take more abuse. It is not so much that .063" chain can take much more of a tensile load than .050", it can just take more of a sustained hammering. I've never broken .050" chain straight off the bat, but with 20+ hours on a chain in Australian hardwood on powerful saws the .050" will give up the ghost first and I've seen it numerous times.
One of the main reasons I've seen for .050" failing more often under pressure is because it won't clear chips in the bar groove as easily and as mentioned earlier it doesn't carry as much oil around a bar as .063", particularly on longer bars.
In Australia .063" is standard on Stihl saws and .058" is standard on Huskies. I am one of the few people I know that regularly run .050" in standard 3/8" but that is because I came upon a heap of NOS GB bars in that gauge.

 

[redbull660]

"One of the main reasons I've seen for .050" failing more often under pressure is because it won't clear chips in the bar groove as easily and as mentioned earlier it doesn't carry as much oil around a bar as .063", particularly on longer bars"

these are my thoughts as well.

 

[MCW]

these are my thoughts as well.

Yep. I have had chips packed that tight in an .050" bar groove that you are hard pressed to move them with a paint scraper. Wood chips jammed in a .063" bar groove are rarely a problem. Timber species play a big part too.

 

[redbull660]

I have a old butter knife in my tool kit, I use to clean out .050 bar grooves.

 

[drumbum]

short saws-all blade works well.

 

[Homelite410]

I use this that my dad passed onto me when I started cutting wood!

 

[SawTroll]

Should work well for cleaning bar rails!

 

[MCW]

Those bar rail cleaners do work pretty well. I use a Vallorbe one but when you have Australian hardwood packed in the bar groove like concrete they sometimes meet their match

 

[Stormy]

Ordered a 28" bar in .058 assuming this was standard for our Husky 365. The Oregon chain selector for LGX and LPX says it's a 92 drive link chain, yet the same chains in .050 and .063 are 93 drive link. What explains the difference?

 

[Philbert]

Yep. I have had chips packed that tight in an .050" bar groove that you are hard pressed to move them with a paint scraper.

Maybe you could get some of your termites to clear out those chips for you?

Old reciprocating (Sawzall) blade wrapped with duct tape, or heat shrink, makes a nice bar groove cleaner that causes no tears if you lose it.

Philbert

 

[fearofpavement]

Ordered a 28" bar in .058 assuming this was standard for our Husky 365. The Oregon chain selector for LGX and LPX says it's a 92 drive link chain, yet the same chains in .050 and .063 are 93 drive link. What explains the difference?

That makes no sense to me. The number of dl are determined by the pitch, not the gauge.

 

[Stormy]

Makes no sense to me either. Ordered from Frawley's and they use the selector on their site, so I ordered according to it, but not without thinking I'm maybe gonna have to swap them for 93. I'll call them tomorrow, see if they have an explanation.

 

[XSKIER]

.063" will carry more oil down the bar channel. I like running it on 28" and up bars.

Will smooth .063 oregon drivers carry as much oil down a 28" bar channel as a dimpled .050 stihl oilomatic driver?

 

[MCW]

Will smooth .063 oregon drivers carry as much oil down a 28" bar channel as a dimpled .050 stihl oilomatic driver?

I have a funny feeling that there is more marketing involved with the dimpled drivelinks than actual practical benefits

 

[MCW]

That makes no sense to me. The number of dl are determined by the pitch, not the gauge.

Sometimes companies also make mistakes with their published DL counts too. Anybody who has trusted GB's published DL counts over the years would have sworn more than once after spinning up a few loops...

 

[Philbert]

Will smooth .063 oregon drivers carry as much oil down a 28" bar channel as a dimpled .050 stihl oilomatic driver?

The holes in some drive links are also supposed to help carry oil around the bar, as well as the dimpled tie straps.

They should just make them out of my dress clothes, as those always seem to attract grease and oil.

Philbert