Stihl 36" Light ES bar looking for work.

[James Sawyer]

There's a bar shortage in my area especially with Light weight bars... picked this up after the 1st of the year. I had to drive 40 miles to get, its slim picking if you want a Stihl light weight bar these days in PNW! Had my eye on getting a new saw back in December but things didn't work out and with the 1st of the year price increase and availability today is the day. The decision is MS661R and its in stock. Glad I bought the bar when I did because there are none now and I would've had to settle for the Oregon lightweight bar had I waited. I guess I'll find out if the accessories I want are in stock. WC 3-point dogs, thicker bar plate, bumper strip, WC universal exhaust port, but I haven't decided if I want to go with a Max-Flow air filters.

 

[Woodslasher]

I found a lightly used one at my local dealer for $100, I was pretty stoked. As for the MaxFlow filters, I've heard nothing but good things about them.

 

[James Sawyer]

Finally got my MS661R Friday. Ran it thru a couple heat cycles, before putting it thru several light easy cuts on a 20" tree, let it idle to cool it down between cuts. Carried it up the hill to this blow down and warmed it up pretty good before making this cut ...hey it cuts, I like the saw!

The dealer I bought the saw from didn't have any Full Comp. .063-gauge chain...totally sold out, the only thing he had was square grind. Not the best filer on SG... I have couple 32's; anyway, bought a couple full skip round chains... was the only thing he had. In general, I grind my chains and rotate them out and don't run much skip chain. On the way home thinking about it... I didn't want to run that round chain. There's another shop not far out of my way. I bought some Oregon .063 FC chain; he was out of Stihl chain. I ran these cuts with that FC.

I got some more break-in to do and it wasn't to bad on weight for me. This hill has some grade had to switch back and forth a couple times to get up to this blow down... it was about 300 yards up the hill.

Boy, saws, bar and chain around here is sometime hard to get. I would have liked to bought couple more chains, but I spent way too much at the 1st shop. I ordered WC 3-point dogs for this MS661R and for my ms361. Plus, MS361full wrap handlebar set, chain guard. Plus, a Buddy headed to Dallas this weekend to buy MS462 and his picking me up a 28" .063 light weight bar, they had two he's buy the other. No one has Stihl light weight bars near me i found. Sure, like these lightweight bars. Bar oil is $78 a case now.

 

[Squareground3691]

Some practice and square chain isn’t that hard , it’s all about keeping the same repetition , once you learn the angles , it will come without much thought.

 

[James Sawyer]

Several years ago, I bought a couple square grind chains (105 drives) just to try. I had 3 big cottonwood blow downs that year and I really like the performance of sq chain, but I never could get it sharp to cut like it did. It just takes too much time to hand filing to have it not cut better than my chisel chain. I finally took them to the shop and had them ground, haven't use them since. I have retired logger neighbor that run a falling service and he has an older Square Grinder. He'd grind my chains if I asked but haven't, he don't want to sell his grinder when I was really interested in going to Sq chain. Just can't justify buying a $1500 Simington besides, I usually have to drag these logs. But Square chains is where it at, you can tell the difference. Maybe when I retire on a nice day, I'll get my stump vise out and I'll learn how. I do wish I had the time and knew how! I have a lot of respect for you guys that can hand file sq chain, I'm not the only one that can't!

 

[Squareground3691]

Several years ago, I bought a couple square grind chains (105 drives) just to try. I had 3 big cottonwood blow downs that year and I really like the performance of sq chain, but I never could get it sharp to cut like it did. It just takes too much time to hand filing to have it not cut better than my chisel chain. I finally took them to the shop and had them ground, haven't use them since. I have retired logger neighbor that run a falling service and he has an older Square Grinder. He'd grind my chains if I asked but haven't, he don't want to sell his grinder when I was really interested in going to Sq chain. Just can't justify buying a $1500 Simington besides, I usually have to drag these logs. But Square chains is where it at, you can tell the difference. Maybe when I retire on a nice day, I'll get my stump vise out and I'll learn how. I do wish I had the time and knew how! I have a lot of respect for you guys that can hand file sq chain, I'm not the only one that can't!

It’s actually not that hard , some practice and it becomes a repetitive motion, once you achieve ur angles depending on the wood being cut , but dirty wood you will have a bad day , that why most people use round chain or semi- chisel chain for that , but square chain is the fastest. Just a filed example.

 

[James Sawyer]

Squaregrind36 I can always use some advice because when I was kid and could have learn this stuff from my dad... well I was a kid. Lots of opinion on sharpening I know what I do may not be right. There's always better way! Most of what I learned is on my own, so I'm sure there's faults. Guy like you... I always appreciate your time and wisdom!

My dad was a faller, never owned a grinder so he hand file a lot until late in his career. Dad also picked up his chains at the shop drop box, he rotated out his chains on long bars. Just depend on time I'm sure... sometimes he only sharpen one side of the chain so never understood totally why but I'm sure it was all about BF on the grounds for that day. He got paid by the scale, not by the day. Back then I was taught to hand file, but I was never that good at it... I got by. My dad didn't explain things well enough and I wasn't smart enough to ask the right questions. It wasn't like I could carry my saw up the hill every time I need to sharpen... besides, I would've had my butt chewed for coming up there. We ran mostly round skip chain back then. I wish I'd paid more attention. He talked about the filing birds tail and switched to a bevel file about the time I was in High School, think about it now he must have been running sq chain. I wonder if they even had sq chain back in the 70's?

So, do you use a 3-corner file, I see you're down in the gullet on a pretty new chain? Also, I see you're down on the strap as well...so you're back and down a lot. When I tried ... I wasn't down so much and I used a bevel file. When I got to a tooth that was hit on corner more, I had to come off the stroke to clean it up. Just because I don't have any experience with sq I kept the riders at .025, instead of .030 I use on chisel chain. I cut mostly Douglas fir, working with dad after he retired we cut a lot of madrone which isn't to bad when it's wet.

In general, I check or take the riders down every other time... just depends on how much I sharpen off the tooth. Like I said I mostly grind so just depends how I set the stop to clean up the chain. The riders are all done by hand, after I sharpen the whole chain. I move to a bar chucked in a vise. I check the riders with a gauge, count the strokes and try to keep consistent and only check with a gauge once in a while until the chain is done. I don't worry about those other cutters being back more on those hit teeth, i figure that keeps the chain from jumping not that FC chain is that jumpy like full skip. On the grinder I sharpen a couple teeth then paint the strap on that 1st tooth with a "uni paint marker" on the stump well sometimes it hard to tell what tooth I started with after you run the chain thru the chain guard... at least it is for me. I run mostly Stihl chain so it little hard on files so being not the best hand filer I stick to the grinder for that reason. I don't like changing the setup on the grinder so never use it on the riders.

Your chain corner look great ... that chain must really throw nice chips? What brand of chain do you run? Stihl chain is getting expensive so i'm thinking about going to Oregon... these last two chains I bought noticeably cheaper. That Oregon chain I ran the other day cut nice. I have loop of Husk x-cut on a smaller saw I bought to try but haven't ran that chain much. I have a couple loops of Carlton on MS201, I like that chain ... I'd buy that chain again! But in general, I run yellow chain it seems to hold edge a bit longer in clean wood.

You got me thinking about sq chain thou.... boy that chain cuts nice. I might have to throw a loop on just to compare it again. Thanks for sharing! At one time I was all hot to switch over to sq chain but when you can't sharpen it ... I losted interest.

 

[EchoShindaiwaMakitaDolmar]

Sweet saw- need more pics once she has all the upgrades bolted on!