Can't a guy buy a decent chain locally anymore?!

[Philbert]

Personally, I LOVE guys who toss out dull/damaged chains with lots of life left in them, especially, if they toss them my way! I hate to see things wasted and get a lot of satisfaction out of rescuing/salvaging used/damaged/abused chains.

A lot of rental shops put a new chain on each saw rental, and build it into the price, so that a customer cannot claim that they rented it with a 'bad' chain. Some of these single-use chains end up on eBay. A few Home Depot employees told me that they cannot afford to sharpen chains, even at their wages, compared to what HD buys new chains for.

Different ways of looking at things.

Philbert

 

[slowp]

I go to the SAW shop about a mile south of Madsen's for chain. I haven't had to buy any recently, but they usually sell it at a two for one price. which would work out to around $14 each. Yes, sometimes the cutters are the same where they put it together. I've never noticed any difference, and you can use them as a reference point for where you start filing the chain. Both saw shops in Chehalis are geared towards outfitting timber fallers, so they have to have good stuff and have it readily available.

In return for such good deals, I give them my business when I'm buying a bigger ticket item like a weedwhacker or my pruning saw. They also do the work on my saws.
We're pretty spoiled here.

 

[wyk]

If you use skip and semi skip it's hard to get them even. I quit trying after having a small pile of extra cutters.

I go to the SAW shop about a mile south of Madsen's for chain. I haven't had to buy any recently, but they usually sell it at a two for one price. which would work out to around $14 each. Yes, sometimes the cutters are the same where they put it together. I've never noticed any difference, and you can use them as a reference point for where you start filing the chain. Both saw shops in Chehalis are geared towards outfitting timber fallers, so they have to have good stuff and have it readily available.

In return for such good deals, I give them my business when I'm buying a bigger ticket item like a weedwhacker or my pruning saw. They also do the work on my saws.
We're pretty spoiled here.

I actually like it when I have a pair of cutters together. It's easy to keep track of what's been sharpened. The chain will work fine. Worry about more important things.

 

[himiler]

If you are hiring cutters (people who run saws) that can't sharpen a chain, you might want to rethink you hiring practices and business model.

I agree with the philosophy to best use resources in the most cost effective way. In construction we "waste" a lot of stuff that others find valuable. It may make sense to hire one of the guys or some other person (high school level kid) to gather all the chains back at the shop & sharpen em up. Heck, it probably would pay to go ahead and invest in a grinder at that point.

To the OP, 71 cutters versus 72 cutters at 10,000rpm . . . it's a visual thing only. I don't think you could ever really notice the difference. Someone on here had a tagline that said a sharp chain beats out all the saw mods or something to that effect. How true! We go on page after page looking for the right oil or air filter, etc., but precious little time on what actually gets the job done.
Steve

 

[Franny K]

It is 18 cutters pointing one way and 17 pointing the other way with a pretty wide space where the one is missing at least for that side.

 

[himiler]

It is 18 cutters pointing one way and 17 pointing the other way with a pretty wide space where the one is missing at least for that side.

Thanks for the correction.
Still, it's spinning at 10,000 rpm, I just have never been able to tell the difference even with my smaller top handle saws with 12" bars.

 

[SawTroll]

.....

When I call the store and let the nice man who helped me know that the guy in the back is spinning chain one link off he tells me they do that all the time, they can't just waste all those odd links.
......

That is simply not acceptable practice!

 

[066blaster]

The guy that does that is selling firewood and cutting 100+ cords a year if I remember right. He figured 2-3 cord a chain or something like that. It's in a thread he did a while back. I could see how a 2 minute chain change is quicker than a 10 minute file job.

but just think of the wasted time cutting with a dull or (not sharp chain). or what if you hit the dirt after 5 minutes of use. also it has to take some time to make the chain and deal with selling it. i sharpen my chains 15 times or more with a grinder. 15 chains x$7 $105, 1 chain sharpened 15 times $15 i guess if you cant sharpen a chain it's an option though..

 

[mdavlee]

I don't remember all the details so without a working search I can't find the thread.

 

[Philbert]

without a working search I can't find the thread.

As a general approach, I search AS via Google. I type in something like "Arboristsite Philbert Chain Salvage" to find even posts/threads I have participated in.

Philbert

 

[mdavlee]

I tried that looking for something and didn't find it. I just give up on it.

 

[farmerdoug]

I think my post was removed for some reason. This was from 12/14/12 - my last purchase:

100 foot spool Stihl RSLK - $239 - 1,640 drivers 50 guage 3/8 .1457 per driver X 84 drivers = $12.24 per chain.

 

[farmerdoug]

In my area I run 3-4 cord per chain. If it starts getting dull I set it aside to sell for $7. I sell the chain in batches of 10 loops or so. I try to sell these chains to someone who owns one of those $2,000+ Silvey grinders.

Great business deal from me and a great deal for them.

I don't tolerate a grabby or "off center" chain. The chain needs to be sharpened perfectly and the only tool that can do it to my satisfaction is a Silvey Grinder. With my system I can't justify the $2,000. If I was rich I would get one, but I'm not.

 

[farmerdoug]

I have an Oregon drivers license, so the sales tax does not apply to me.

 

[himiler]

At $20 an hour 10 minutes is worth $3.30, 20 minutes is worth $6.60.
The real cost is in lost production. If you're making $50 a production hour then that's $8.30 for 10 minutes and $16.60 for 20 minutes. That would pay for a chain because you know if you stop for any reason it's going to me a minimum of 20 minutes before things start up again. That's minimum!
If it's my son-in-law it's more like just break and go on to lunch.

 

[mdavlee]

You can buy a new Simington grinder from Madsens for around $900. The silvey swing arm was $700 for years. I see your point but I don't like the way new chain cuts so I sharpen most before use.

 

[farmerdoug]

The reason this forum is valid is it allows people to do things differently. Nothing wrong with being different. In some of my forums people love chopping down trees with really expensive/sharp axes. They accuse me of being lazy/wasteful because I use a chainsaw. There will always be someone who thinks you are lazy because of your methods.

Some people get a real kick out of sharpening chains. I get a real kick out of running a chainsaw. Let the chain sharpeners enjoy their job and the chain saw runners enjoy theirs.

 

[Acornhill]

My in town dealer once a Poulan dealer now a Stihl dealer really does not spin chain anymore, they will order you what ever you want already made from stihl. I try and purchase all of their leftover stock. I really want their break and spinner since I have 4 rolls of chain now.

 

[Acornhill]

I have one chain that has 3 cutters going the same way in as row.

 

[Philbert]

I have one chain that has 3 cutters going the same way in as row.

They wanted to be sure you cut 'right' and that nothing was 'left'?

Philbert