JohnWilliamson062
New Member
As a homeowner with some rentals I do a little saw work, but not much. I used to have an 18" bar Craftsmen "commercial" grade saw when I lived on a farm and dropped trees for firewood. Also experienced with several Stihl saws that were considerably better. Where I am now it just doesn't warrant the gas saw as I almost exclusively use it for suburbian pruning, so I went with a Ryobi 40v that uses the same batter as my string trimmer power head. I have a 10" pole saw there also. I am pretty happy with its performance especially considering I have no issues with it if it sits all winter in the garage without running it dry in the fall. The noise difference is nice also.
Took my chain to the local Ace for a sharpening and it sure was sharp when I got it back, but ten minutes later it was dead. Might as well have tried cutting with a bike chain. Had to run it 5 hours with the factory edge before it got dull. I am guessing they got it hot and annealed the edge or it was only very shallowly case hardened. Not 100% sure they even harden the edge of saw chains though. I considered resharpening it myself, but since it started out nice and sharp then faded fast I am thinking that won't be a fix.
So, on to my dilemma. A replacement chain is not available any of my usual sources and I can only find it online for $25 + shipping. I can get a replacement chain for my 10" Ryobi pole saw for a mere $7. The saw isn't too powerful and I was thinking I wouldn't mid just dropping it down to 10" like the pole saw so it could use the same chains. This lead me to the obvious thought that I don't really need the chinsaw at all. Anyone know if I can get a 10" bar for it? Am I crazy thinking I can get by with a 10" expand-it pole saw? It seems like that might be pretty hard on the powerhead. Is there any way I can use this as an excuse to purchase the Stihl battery saw? MSA 200 I think. I plan on purchasing a Sthl powerhead when the Ryobi dies and slowly upgrading all components as they wear out. Hoping they have a battery powerhead by that point.
Took my chain to the local Ace for a sharpening and it sure was sharp when I got it back, but ten minutes later it was dead. Might as well have tried cutting with a bike chain. Had to run it 5 hours with the factory edge before it got dull. I am guessing they got it hot and annealed the edge or it was only very shallowly case hardened. Not 100% sure they even harden the edge of saw chains though. I considered resharpening it myself, but since it started out nice and sharp then faded fast I am thinking that won't be a fix.
So, on to my dilemma. A replacement chain is not available any of my usual sources and I can only find it online for $25 + shipping. I can get a replacement chain for my 10" Ryobi pole saw for a mere $7. The saw isn't too powerful and I was thinking I wouldn't mid just dropping it down to 10" like the pole saw so it could use the same chains. This lead me to the obvious thought that I don't really need the chinsaw at all. Anyone know if I can get a 10" bar for it? Am I crazy thinking I can get by with a 10" expand-it pole saw? It seems like that might be pretty hard on the powerhead. Is there any way I can use this as an excuse to purchase the Stihl battery saw? MSA 200 I think. I plan on purchasing a Sthl powerhead when the Ryobi dies and slowly upgrading all components as they wear out. Hoping they have a battery powerhead by that point.
