SliverPicker
ArboristSite Guru
About a month + ago I authored a post here about carbide chains. I was interested if anyone had tried one and what their opinion of them was. Grande Dog piped up and offered me a complimentary 20" loop if I would promise to post an honest review of the chain when I was done testing it. Needless to say I took him up on his very generous offer.
After using the chain to delimb, remove root wads and top approximately 120 tons of dead and mostly blown down lodgepole pine here is my review.
Out of the box I noticed that the chain had what looked like small, flat chips of metal adhering to the cutters of the 3/8 pitch, 050 gauge 72 link chain. The surfaces of the cutters where still smooth, but the carbide parts where plainly visible. The chain looked and felt razor sharp right out of the package. One of the cutter points actually "stuck" to my thumb as I was inspecting the new chain due to being so sharp. I installed the chain on my saw and threw the saw in the skidder to start work. On the first cut I noticed that the chips the chain created where thicker and kind of wrinkled up compared to chips from a sharp high speed steel standard chain. The carbide chain was obviously slower through a cut than a standard chain. I would say the cutting speed was approximately 15-25% slower. Not long into the day after I had worked up maybe 15 trees I hit the dirt with the saw for a small fraction of a second. The chain went from "acceptably sharp" to utterly, won't-cut dull instantly. Upon inspection of the chain I could see that the cutting edges had all come to resemble saw blades. That is, they where now very jagged and rough. I swapped out the chain for a sharp standard chain and went about my business.
The next day I had the carbide coated chain sharpened and ready to go again. The night before I put the chain on my Speed Sharp Star grinder with a properly dressed standard pink ceramic wheel using 55º 25º and 10º down angles. I took only the tiniest amount of material off when I sharpened the chain. The rakers were not touched. This time the chain cut noticeably faster than it did when new, but still a bit slower than a standard chain. I would say it was about 10% slower than a standard chain after this grinding. The chips produced where still wrinkled up, but a bit less thick than with the factory sharpening. The chain remained serviceable for most of the day before needed to be swapped for a sharp chain. When removing the now dull chain from the saw I noticed that it had dulled in the same manner as the time the previous day when I had hit the dirt with it. The cutting edges had become jagged and rough.
When using the carbide coated chain I practiced the same care to avoid obvious dirt on limbs and butts as I used with my standard chains. I didn't go out of my way to "test" the chain through obvious dirt clods. Many of the trees I was working up had been on the ground for some time and as such there where many branch staubs that had been impaled it the dirt. I would lift the butt ends of the trees off of the ground with the skidder grapple and then cut the root ball, branches and top off of the tree.
Unfortunately my tests where not scientific enough to come to any single conclusion about this chain. Every once in a while I would get a single HSS steel chain that would remain serviceable for an entire day or nearly an entire day. The same was true of the carbide coated chain. Sometimes a standard chain would become dull after just a few trees. The same was true of the carbide coated chain.
I was interested to find a chain that would stay sharp longer than a standard chain. Under the conditions that I tested the chain I could not detect any increase in service time between sharpenings for the carbide coated chain compared to a standard chain.
I will continue to use the chain unless Grande Dog wants it back, of course. Perhaps over a longer period I will develop a different opinion of the chain.
Many thanks to Gregg for the complimentary chain and the opportunity to test it.
After using the chain to delimb, remove root wads and top approximately 120 tons of dead and mostly blown down lodgepole pine here is my review.
Out of the box I noticed that the chain had what looked like small, flat chips of metal adhering to the cutters of the 3/8 pitch, 050 gauge 72 link chain. The surfaces of the cutters where still smooth, but the carbide parts where plainly visible. The chain looked and felt razor sharp right out of the package. One of the cutter points actually "stuck" to my thumb as I was inspecting the new chain due to being so sharp. I installed the chain on my saw and threw the saw in the skidder to start work. On the first cut I noticed that the chips the chain created where thicker and kind of wrinkled up compared to chips from a sharp high speed steel standard chain. The carbide chain was obviously slower through a cut than a standard chain. I would say the cutting speed was approximately 15-25% slower. Not long into the day after I had worked up maybe 15 trees I hit the dirt with the saw for a small fraction of a second. The chain went from "acceptably sharp" to utterly, won't-cut dull instantly. Upon inspection of the chain I could see that the cutting edges had all come to resemble saw blades. That is, they where now very jagged and rough. I swapped out the chain for a sharp standard chain and went about my business.
The next day I had the carbide coated chain sharpened and ready to go again. The night before I put the chain on my Speed Sharp Star grinder with a properly dressed standard pink ceramic wheel using 55º 25º and 10º down angles. I took only the tiniest amount of material off when I sharpened the chain. The rakers were not touched. This time the chain cut noticeably faster than it did when new, but still a bit slower than a standard chain. I would say it was about 10% slower than a standard chain after this grinding. The chips produced where still wrinkled up, but a bit less thick than with the factory sharpening. The chain remained serviceable for most of the day before needed to be swapped for a sharp chain. When removing the now dull chain from the saw I noticed that it had dulled in the same manner as the time the previous day when I had hit the dirt with it. The cutting edges had become jagged and rough.
When using the carbide coated chain I practiced the same care to avoid obvious dirt on limbs and butts as I used with my standard chains. I didn't go out of my way to "test" the chain through obvious dirt clods. Many of the trees I was working up had been on the ground for some time and as such there where many branch staubs that had been impaled it the dirt. I would lift the butt ends of the trees off of the ground with the skidder grapple and then cut the root ball, branches and top off of the tree.
Unfortunately my tests where not scientific enough to come to any single conclusion about this chain. Every once in a while I would get a single HSS steel chain that would remain serviceable for an entire day or nearly an entire day. The same was true of the carbide coated chain. Sometimes a standard chain would become dull after just a few trees. The same was true of the carbide coated chain.
I was interested to find a chain that would stay sharp longer than a standard chain. Under the conditions that I tested the chain I could not detect any increase in service time between sharpenings for the carbide coated chain compared to a standard chain.
I will continue to use the chain unless Grande Dog wants it back, of course. Perhaps over a longer period I will develop a different opinion of the chain.
Many thanks to Gregg for the complimentary chain and the opportunity to test it.
