Is it 3/8 pitch or 3/8LP ?

[Old2stroke]

Unfortunately the chainsaw industry has ended up with two different chains that have the same pitch but are not interchangeable. Many homeowners I know have got into grief by not knowing the difference when they have ordered bars and chains off Amazon. To make it worse, many manufactures of cheap components don't either. I recently ordered a 3/8LP chain and received a 3/8 standard. Right now our Princess Auto (similar to Harbor Freight) has a selection of 16" and 18" bars from Forest King that are stamped on the bar as being .375" and they are all .375LP. There is some risk If you are looking for a cheap B&C to put on a saw so you can sell it, but if you have a saw that can only be sold for $80 and you already have some time and parts into for repairs, how much more do you really want to spend just so it can be sold?

 

[Lightning Performance]

Unfortunately the chainsaw industry has ended up with two different chains that have the same pitch but are not interchangeable. Many homeowners I know have got into grief by not knowing the difference when they have ordered bars and chains off Amazon. To make it worse, many manufactures of cheap components don't either. I recently ordered a 3/8LP chain and received a 3/8 standard. Right now our Princess Auto (similar to Harbor Freight) has a selection of 16" and 18" bars from Forest King that are stamped on the bar as being .375" and they are all .375LP. There is some risk If you are looking for a cheap B&C to put on a saw so you can sell it, but if you have a saw that can only be sold for $80 and you already have some time and parts into for repairs, how much more do you really want to spend just so it can be sold?

I buy whatever is close and takes standard driver lengths. Holes can be adjusted. If it does fit and they sell it much cheaper send those with the cheap saws was how most of us did it economical. Pro saws get pro grade parts not parts with pro names. Those bars and chains get even cheaper after people return them. Switching to lp on under 60cc tools is a win. Modified bar tails are fairly easy in lesser grades of steel. Working the tail on anything even Cannon bars is worth my time for the right price. A picture tells a thousand words. LP is pretty easy to spot based on side strap alone. The chain rivet pin almost touches the bar even when new.

 

[Coralillo Lo Pro]

Unfortunately the chainsaw industry has ended up with two different chains that have the same pitch but are not interchangeable. Many homeowners I know have got into grief by not knowing the difference when they have ordered bars and chains off Amazon. To make it worse, many manufactures of cheap components don't either. I recently ordered a 3/8LP chain and received a 3/8 standard.

It's only confusing at all under 20" - anything over 20" and 3/8LP bars and chain loops largely don't exist in the US and Canada. Not surprising a Princess Auto type store would mislabel things. And buying the cheapest stuff you risk dealing with people who have no clue/don't care, though when I've gone cheap on Amazon or Ebay I've always gotten what I ordered. If you look at 3/8LP it's unmistakably different as Lightning says. Correct bar/chain/sprocket combos have always been confusing for the average homeowner, in small saws there's 1/4, .325, 3/8LP, 3/8, people often don't even know what sprocket is on their saw... Before I knew my stuff I found the chainsaw industry was deliberately confusing in their offerings and make no attempt to simplify matching up bar/chain/sprocket/drive link numbers. Probably to sell more gear by mistake. The 3/8 vs 3/8LP thing is no more confusing than anything else.

 

[Franny K]

To start with anyone calling it .375 pitch doesn't understand that 1640 drive links per 100 feet divides out to something different maybe .367 or so. Both of these you get 1640 drivelinks on a 100 foot package generally a spool.

Oregon devised the letter system for this at least that must be some of the reason S=3/8lp in 0.050 gauge.
.
Oregon trademarked low profile and Stihl trademarked picco. If you get 63 code Stihl it is the 3/8lp equivalent. In Stihl the digit 2 designates standard 3/8 and the second digit the tenths of mm gauge but it will be like 1.3mm total. So if you are going to pay retail and bring a loop for an example and have time to have a loop made Stihl is really the best way to go.

On the bars the use of "stock photo" that doesn't correctly show the number of rivets at the nose and whether the sprocket tips are rounded or pointed is another issue. A single rivet tip will be the lp. Rounded tips are the lp or picco compatible whether in 0.043 or 0.050.

There is mini .325and mini 1/4 now as well but those have 0.043 drive link gauge as opposed to .050, .058, or .063. In mm that is 1.1, 1.3, 1.5 1.6.

 

[Old2stroke]

Not surprising a Princess Auto type store would mislabel things.

Not PA's fault, all labeling on package and bar was done by the manufacturer. Of course, no point in trying to explain the fault to customer service and anyway, most customers would be looking for a replacement bar for a Poulan and even though the bar is mislabeled, they would end up with the right one.

 

[Old2stroke]

The 3/8 vs 3/8LP thing is no more confusing than anything else.

Not for us, but the average homeowner who knows nothing about chainsaws, thinks either chain should work.

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

Avg dont even know what saw they own expect for brand name.

I start talking chain and mise well be talking in a foreign language. So much more to chain then just those 2.

Just some older stuff.

 

[1hp]

one of the reasons i sold my Stihl pole saw is the odd chain it used. replaced it with Echo. 3/8 lp.

1/4" PICCO™ 71 PM3

 

[Coralillo Lo Pro]

Not for us, but the average homeowner who knows nothing about chainsaws, thinks either chain should work.

My worst assumption before becoming a chainsaw addict, just dealing with them as the average guy, was they were a crude simple cutting device with not a lot to them. There's an infinity of knowledge involved in everything chainsaw well beyond the grasp of the average homeowner, and yes, the industry can be confusing. I think Stihl went with the Picco designation to try to eliminate confusion for people using Stihl gear. But for that matter there are also reasonably knowledgeable chainsaw people who use 3/8LP chain who insist you can run it on on standard 3/8" bars and sprockets, and you can, it just wears out the sprockets quicker from the mismatch.

 

[Franny K]

one of the reasons i sold my Stihl pole saw is the odd chain it used. replaced it with Echo. 3/8 lp.

1/4" PICCO™ 71 PM3

Could have just bought the sprocket and spring washer kit 6 tooth or go to the ht250 parts sheet and get 7 tooth.

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

I like that stihl mini cutter 1/4" stuff on the under powered small cc stuff.

Compared to normal 1/4 chain of old I took off saws from folks.

 

[Patrick62]

a few years ago, as the tech in a hardware store I had a customer drop off a mess of 3/8 chains that he wanted "shortened" to match a 3/8lp loop for a small saw.
My reply was "that isn't going to work" and "I am not gonna do it"
I don't think that the 30 something cc saw he had could pull it, and not sure it would have even cleared the clutch cover...

 

[Lightning Performance]

To start with anyone calling it .375 pitch doesn't understand that 1640 drive links per 100 feet divides out to something different maybe .367 or so. Both of these you get 1640 drivelinks on a 100 foot package generally a spool.

Oregon devised the letter system for this at least that must be some of the reason S=3/8lp in 0.050 gauge.
.
Oregon trademarked low profile and Stihl trademarked picco. If you get 63 code Stihl it is the 3/8lp equivalent. In Stihl the digit 2 designates standard 3/8 and the second digit the tenths of mm gauge but it will be like 1.3mm total. So if you are going to pay retail and bring a loop for an example and have time to have a loop made Stihl is really the best way to go.

On the bars the use of "stock photo" that doesn't correctly show the number of rivets at the nose and whether the sprocket tips are rounded or pointed is another issue. A single rivet tip will be the lp. Rounded tips are the lp or picco compatible whether in 0.043 or 0.050.

There is mini .325and mini 1/4 now as well but those have 0.043 drive link gauge as opposed to .050, .058, or .063. In mm that is 1.1, 1.3, 1.5 1.6.

I have both one rivet nose bars in 043 and 050 lp. 0.366 is the pitch for lp.
Picco is undoubtedly the best chain and has the least stretch. On 35 or 42cc tools the 050 lp chain works fine. 20" is about the limits. 24 lp bars are far and few between.

 

[Old2stroke]

My worst assumption before becoming a chainsaw addict, just dealing with them as the average guy, was they were a crude simple cutting device with not a lot to them. There's an infinity of knowledge involved in everything chainsaw well beyond the grasp of the average homeowner, and yes, the industry can be confusing. I think Stihl went with the Picco designation to try to eliminate confusion for people using Stihl gear. But for that matter there are also reasonably knowledgeable chainsaw people who use 3/8LP chain who insist you can run it on on standard 3/8" bars and sprockets, and you can, it just wears out the sprockets quicker from the mismatch.

Yep, a 3/8 LP will "work" on 3/8 sprockets but the drive links on a 3/8 will not fit into the 3/8LP sprockets.

 

[Old2stroke]

I have both one rivet nose bars in 043 and 050 lp. 0.366 is the pitch for lp.

How do you get this pitch spec? Pitch is defined as the distance between centers of any three rivers divided by two. In a 3/8 pitch, it's 3/8" or 0.375" if you don't like fractions.

 

[Lightning Performance]

How do you get this pitch spec? Pitch is defined as the distance between centers of any three rivers divided by two. In a 3/8 pitch, it's 3/8" or 0.375" if you don't like fractions.

Fractions don't bother me. Get yourself some calipers and do the math on an lp chain. It is slightly shorter then you think

 

[Coralillo Lo Pro]

Well, this part has been confusing for me and now I finally get it. I always heard LP/picco was actually .367 or .366 or .365, but as was already explained in this thread, it's not just LP/picco chain - all 3/8 is just approximation like "2x4". Regular 3/8 chain is actually the same (.366 or so) when you put calipers on it - I just checked mine - and both come in 1640 links in a 100 foot roll. That's why some people on here note that you say 3/8" the same way you say 2x4 in lumber because everyone who knows knows what 3/8 means in chain, but you shouldn't say .375 (though people and the industry commonly interchange 3/8"/.375" all the time) because it's not. The mismatch then between them I gather is only due to the drivers being shallower in LP - why the drive links of 3/8 will not fit in an LP sprocket, but 3/8LP can imperfectly fit a 3/8 sprocket.

 

[Old2stroke]

Fractions don't bother me. Get yourself some calipers and do the math on an lp chain. It is slightly shorter then you think

Well this has been enlightening, all these years I have just checked with a machinist rule and if it was close, I just assumed it was 3/8" right on, so thanks for the clarification, not sure it is at all important but good to know.

 

[Rooshooter]

The 3/8LP chain is actually .365" pitch as opposed to the std 3/8 which is .375"

 

[Coralillo Lo Pro]

The 3/8LP chain is actually .365" pitch as opposed to the std 3/8 which is .375"

Had been my belief before but learned from this thread, verified by measurement, that std 3/8 is also .365, not .375.