carbide chain-day 1

[burlman]

This morning I picked up a new chain put out by stihl. has a solid carbide tooth welded to the saw teeth. wasn't cheap, $120.00can. for an 18 in. bar. I have 4 tandem loads of maple that had to be skidded on to a gravel road from a land clearing job last fall. I started with a regulsr chisel chain, on average I sharpened twice to a tankful of fuel. very time consuming. So I ordered one of these new chains and tried it out this afternoon, ran six tanks of fuel, and still cutting fine. It cuts a bit slower than what you are used to with a regular chisel chain, but this special application, dirty skid way work, and root cutting. says to be careful about hitting solid objects, as nails or solid rock, as you will break off the tooth. can be resharpened at a shop with a diamond wheel. I'll keep at it and see what happens when the weather clears

 

[kellog]

Reply to Burlman

Burlman, thanks for doing the experimentation for us. I have avoided a carbide blade on my cordwood saw because I cannot sharpen it, but I bet it would last a long time (same as a circular saw blade where I almost always use carbide). It will be interesting to know what you find out.

 

[A100HVA]

This morning I picked up a new chain put out by stihl. has a solid carbide tooth welded to the saw teeth. wasn't cheap, $120.00can. for an 18 in. bar. I have 4 tandem loads of maple that had to be skidded on to a gravel road from a land clearing job last fall. I started with a regulsr chisel chain, on average I sharpened twice to a tankful of fuel. very time consuming. So I ordered one of these new chains and tried it out this afternoon, ran six tanks of fuel, and still cutting fine. It cuts a bit slower than what you are used to with a regular chisel chain, but this special application, dirty skid way work, and root cutting. says to be careful about hitting solid objects, as nails or solid rock, as you will break off the tooth. can be resharpened at a shop with a diamond wheel. I'll keep at it and see what happens when the weather clears

let us know if the guide bar wears out faster

 

[A100HVA]

Burlman, thanks for doing the experimentation for us. I have avoided a carbide blade on my cordwood saw because I cannot sharpen it, but I bet it would last a long time (same as a circular saw blade where I almost always use carbide). It will be interesting to know what you find out.

go for the carbide cordwood saw you'll love it

i did couple years back,and when i saw the difference i wondered why i waited so long:monkey:

 

[kellog]

reply to A100HVA

A100HVA,

Not sure why I haven't done it either. I get about 3 cords to a sharpening with the steel blade (clean wood). It takes me about 15-20 minutes to sharpen it with a file.

How many cords do you get with carbide? Any issues hitting hard things in the wood? I occasionally run into nails or barbed wire. I imagine the carbide would just cut though small steel stuff like a circular saw hitting a brad.

Convince me to do it PLEASE.

 

[A100HVA]

I have about 125+ cords so far with no sharpening and shows no need of it.
my only contact with metal resulted in the replacement of half of the total bits needing replacement. other than that its a great addition

let'er rrrriiiiiippp

 

[kellog]

Reply to A100HVA

A100HVA,

125 cords!!! You convinced me!

 

[A100HVA]

A100HVA,

125 cords!!! You convinced me!

i am glad i could help you
you'll be glad you switched,i am

if you look in my picture i posted on the right side of the infeed trough you will notice 2 of the three bolts holding the wooden rub piece bent,thats what removed half of the teeth:bang:

 

[beelsr]

let us know if the guide bar wears out faster

carbide's on the saw tooth, not the drive link tooth. The bar has no idea there's carbide doing the cutting....

 

[A100HVA]

carbide's on the saw tooth, not the drive link tooth. The bar has no idea there's carbide doing the cutting....

i got a funny feelin' the guide bar will see the difference with carbide chain

 

[WRW]

This morning I picked up a new chain put out by stihl. has a solid carbide tooth welded to the saw teeth. wasn't cheap, $120.00can. for an 18 in. bar. I have 4 tandem loads of maple that had to be skidded on to a gravel road from a land clearing job last fall.

There is the perfect description of the need for carbide.

 

[stumpguy]

i got a funny feelin' the guide bar will see the difference with carbide chain

can you explain the logic here?

 

[EastwoodGang4]

local stihl dealer

The local stihl dealer refuses to sell carbide chains to firewood cutters.... he INSISTS that they only be used for search and rescue operations and christmas tree farms. :bang: figure that one out. also says the sharpening costs are quite high are they???? this guy is a p.i.t.a. sometimes won't sell yellow label chain to you without a fight.

 

[A100HVA]

can you explain the logic here?

IMO i think the added downpressure along with the carbide chain will lead to the bar rails becoming shorter sooner than regular chain use,again just my opinion.:monkey:

 

[TooTall999]

The local stihl dealer refuses to sell carbide chains to firewood cutters.... he INSISTS that they only be used for search and rescue operations and christmas tree farms. :bang: figure that one out. also says the sharpening costs are quite high are they???? this guy is a p.i.t.a. sometimes won't sell yellow label chain to you without a fight.

I'd find another dealer...this guy sounds like a first class jerk

 

[beelsr]

IMO i think the added downpressure along with the carbide chain will lead to the bar rails becoming shorter sooner than regular chain use,again just my opinion.:monkey:

added downpressure? the carbide would cut the crappy wood easier which would lead to lower "downpressure".

the leg you had to stand on was that is dirty wood that he's cutting so the added grit and crap would wear the bar down faster - but that would be happening no matter what chain he's using. in fact, wear might be accelerated with regular chain because _that would_ require more "down pressure" because it would dull more quickly and you would instinctively force the bar into the wood harder. which would cause the saw to bog down, etc...

when I cut dirty wood, I turn the oiler all the way up when I'm cutting and clean the bar & saw when I'm done. never really noticed a difference in wear...

just my opinion (and experience, albiet anecdotal)...

 

[burlman]

I think bars only take abuse when chains are not sharp and you tend to try and make the saw cut by leaning on the saw. when your blade is cuttingright just the weight of the saw should pull itself through the tree. I don't see why carbide would be harder on the bar, it cuts properly longer so you don't have a tendancy to force that saw till the next fill up, frequent light sharpenings are actually faster than less heavy corrective sharpening. If we ever get some decent weather, still snowing ere, and get rid of easter visits, we'll get back to evaluating this chain. I know already that I will always have one around. I collect alot of root burls and fluted stumps for my rustic furniture hobby, usually I spend alot of time digging and cleaning to save my regular chain form these low cuts, but I can see the carbide will save alot of frustration in this dept., I will keep and old bar for this purpose due to alot of grit getting into the bar rail.

 

[btlook1]

yellow label chain??

The local stihl dealer refuses to sell carbide chains to firewood cutters.... he INSISTS that they only be used for search and rescue operations and christmas tree farms. :bang: figure that one out. also says the sharpening costs are quite high are they???? this guy is a p.i.t.a. sometimes won't sell yellow label chain to you without a fight.

What exactly is a yellow label chain? I run stihl's however I don't buy chains from our local dealer...got a family member and we just split a roll of chain...ended up with 9 bucks to a chain I think we got 12 each...good deal!

 

[JUDGE1162]

I have run a carbide chain in the past, I cut 10 cords before I had it sharpen and only because I had it done durring a tune up, could have gone 10 more easy yes most shops charge more to sharpen and you need to find a shop with the right wheel but overall I think it saves money because even with the sharping cost 3 times as much as normal ($25) verus ($8) I only sharpened it once a year.

For a little cheaper chain also great in dirty wood try the Oregon Multi-cut chains I have had them last 5-6 cords before a sharpening in clean wood and 2-3 cords in dirty wood. You can sharpen by hand or with a normal grinding wheel my local shop charges me a few bucks extra to sharpen them because they say it take a little longer but with only one or two sharpenning a season A few bucks is no big deal.

 

[beelsr]

What exactly is a yellow label chain? I run stihl's however I don't buy chains from our local dealer...got a family member and we just split a roll of chain...ended up with 9 bucks to a chain I think we got 12 each...good deal!

yellow label is non-kickback prevention, i.e. "pro" chain.

green chain has the humps on the gap link to pevent the tooth from taking too aggressive of a bite.