8 tooth or 7 tooth rim sprocket for milling?

[glennschumann]

Does it make a difference? I've been running 8T on my 066 with a 42" bar / 36" mill, and a properly sharpened skip tooth chain seems to work fine. I picked up some (insanely cheap) Oregon LGX chain (non-skip tooth) and I'm worried that at 42", I'm going ot have trouble pulling that through 30+ inches of oak.

Can any of you tell me your experience with 7T vs. 8T rim sprocktes? Do I get better pulling power with a 7T, or is it just a rumor?

I now sharpen my own chain after a dealer "messed up" one of my expensive chains and I'm very carefull with the depth of my rakers... not too deep, so that part of it is taken care of.

One of these days I hope it doesn't matter.. I've got a 2nd 066 so I hope to set up a double ended bar some day... vroom vroom! Know of any used double ended bars for sale?

To the collective wisdon of AS, I offer my thanks,

Schumann

 

[Haywire Haywood]

From what I have read, going from 8 to 7 tooth will gain you about 18% in torque while sacrificing the same amount of chain speed.

Ian

 

[Rooshooter]

7T vs 8T

Hi Glenn
That's a bit like asking which gear pulls best on a vehicle 1st or 2nd, I find the saw cuts much better using a 7T particularly when running a full compliment of cutters. The 8T gives you an increase of abt 14.2% in chain speed as compared to the 7T but the 8 has a tendency to bog down more.
I run 7T on all my saws ( tried 8T ) and use an 088 for vertical milling with a 42" bar running Carlton B3RM10/ST 404 skip chain and an MS880 50" & 72" running Carlton B3EP for crosscutting, I prefer the 7T even though the chain speed is slower when cutting hardwood.

Laurie

 

[Jim Shockey]

7 or 8 tooth

I can't honestly say wich is faster on the big hard wood. I will run 8 tooth on the 66 when I am slabbing because it isn't cutting a full cut most of the time and it is in a lot of white wood. On the 084 cutting the cants I run 7 or 8 tooth depending on the width and hardness of the oak. Sometimes it just seems like the chain just will not get the saw dust and chips out of the cut fast enough and puts a lot more pull on the saw. Go to the 8 pin and it seems like you get a lot more chips and is a little faster cutting. There is a fine line in there sepurating the different chain speed compared the cutting speed. I think I have got it figured out until the next time I mill a log , then it is as clear as mud again,so I just go slow so I don'tmess up the saw . Jim