chain for the 46

[Ryan Willock]

what chain would ya'll run on a 46 with 28" bar in hard woods, semi-skip, full comp or full skip anyone tried or running woodsman pro bars???

 

[treeclimber165]

I've always run full comp Stihl RS chain. (I think that's the right name) Round ground chisel tooth. With the 28" bar, you will have tons of power to spare using that saw. Down here, we have Live Oak, which is about the densest, hardest wood I've ever seen. Ran two 046's all summer with 28" bars and couldn't bog them with a sharp chain.

 

[Ryan Willock]

thanks brian, i took your advice and got a new ms460 single port muffler (d@mned epa) it came w/20" bar so i switched it out with one of my 36's that had a 28". was running skip chain on that for obvious reasons, put the 46 in some 22" red oak yesterday and was thinking that after i open up the port if it would run full comp.
is there any advantage to buying a walkerized muffler than opening it up myself???

 

[treeclimber165]

I ran two 046's this summer, an older pre-EPA type and a newer one. The older one had absolutely no baffles in the muffler and two outlets. The newer one had an interior baffle and only one small (3/8") outlet. I cut off half the interior baffle and widened the outlet hole quite a bit. I was careful not to open the outlet so much that the screen wouldn't cover it. The screen will help prevent sand from being scavenged up when making stump cuts. After doing this it ran as well as the older style saw, maybe better.

For a more technically engineered muffler, Walker's would be a good bet at $35 plus shipping.

 

[Tony Snyder]

Some around here are using semi skip starting at 28" bar length. Thats what I sell it for anyway, 28 and up. I keep the bulk Carlton chisel 3/8, .058 for the Jonsereds.

 

[Ryan Willock]

modified the muffler on my dad's 021 two weeks ago and wow what a differance!!!! opened up one of my 36's today and that made a big differnce, so ya'll think semi skip huh???

 

[treeclimber165]

Except for specialized applications, I think most who use semi-skip do it because they can't file a chain well. I have no problem touching up a 28" full comp chain with a hand file on the job, takes about 7 minutes unless it's rocked out real bad. About the time it takes for a cigarette break.
If you dislike hand filing in the field, use the semi-skip and you have less teeth to sharpen. If you keep full comp sharp, it will cut faster.

 

[Ryan Willock]

full comp it is then!! hand filling in the field doesn't bother me at all, i have a stump vise that makes it sooo painless to sharpen

 

[StIhL MaGnUm]

Brian,

I use semi and full skip chisel chain because they pull the chips out faster than the full comp,not because I can't hand file a chain.Are you a arborist or a Logger because most loggers I know tend to run semi and full skip chains for the same reason especially when making big stump cut's,and alot of my arborist friends tend to like the ful comp chain because they tend to be doing alot of limb work etc...but I say use what best fit's your needs.

Rob..

 

[Ryan Willock]

talked to baily's today and ordered a couple of 28" loops of full comp to tryout in some oak

 

[StIhL MaGnUm]

What did you order the Woodsman Pro or some Oregon,I prefer the Oregon chains myself I've been thinking about trying a loop of that Woodsman Pro stuff I think that is Carlton chain anyway..Good luck.


Later Rob...

 

[Ryan Willock]

woodsman pro and yes it is carlton chain. i have been using it for the last 4 months and so far i like it, half the cost of stihl chain

 

[rahtreelimbs]

Full-skip Full-chisel, good stuff. Rich.

 

[Ryan Willock]

d@mn the nails!!! bucking a pine this morning with the 46 and hit a nail that i didn't see when looking the tree over for those nasty little things, through the chain

 

[StIhL MaGnUm]

Ryan,


I hate when that happens most of the time it's the homeowners smart idea to pound a 12 penny spike in the tree to hold their yardsale sign,they just don't think about the tree cutter...


Later Rob............

 

[Ryan Willock]

yep, brand new chain to had to file half the cutters down to get the chain back to normal

 

[StIhL MaGnUm]

Ryan,

How are your new chains working out for ya ???,I heard you got a set of dogs for the saw as well,I got a set of those dogs from Baileys for my 385XP I has to do a little grinding to get them to fit though,other than that they're wayyyy better than stock ones....


Later Rob....

 

[Ryan Willock]

chain cuts real good, dogs were bit bigger than i was expecting, i really like the way the 46 goes through oak ready to start felling with it, cut down a couple of smallish pines with it but just don't have anything worthy of it really i have however put it in those dead oaks i was talking about

 

[StIhL MaGnUm]

Ryan,


I'l have some worthy tree's to cut up pretty soon that you can test out that 046 on probally within a week or two...


later Rob...

 

[Ryan Willock]

cool, we did a job today and this morning i thought about brining it but thought na, why bother won't be cutting anything that big.... could have used it on the stump nice sized one to
great rob just let me know