Stihl Chain vs. Oregon

[2000ssm6]

Right now baileys has the best price for chains hands down.

Mike

Might be the cheapest site sponser, not the cheapest overall. I like the 2 for 1 deal at other places better.

 

[gallegosmike]

Remember that old saying "Your mileage may vary". I live in a geographically isolated state. I live next to the largest city in new mexico. We only have a handful saw shops in albuquerque. They all pretty much royally stink! There is not much price difference between shops in my local area for chains. A year ago I called a local shop for a price quote on a 28" husky large mount bar, plus a chain. One of the shops gave me a quote of $120.00 for the bar(cheesy oregon power match bar) and $45.00 for the chain(again, cheesy oregon skip chain). I am not to cheerleading for baileys, but their price for a power match bar is $66.95 and woodland pro chain(30RCS-93)is $19.95. It is a simple choice on where I am going to spend MY money with. The savings of $78.10 is alot of money!

Some of you lucky souls have dealers that will sell saw merchandise at a fair price. I do not have such a luxury in my local area. If I want to feed my "CAD" habit. Baileys and other online dealers is how it is going to happen! I have ranted before about how bad my local dealers are, so I will not bother saying anymore!

Again, My .02

Mike

 

[cedarhollow]

I am pretty sure I just got ripped off, until about 6 moths ago there were 2 stihl dealers within a mile of one another, one of the stores now carries echo, shindowa and husky, but no more stihl. the other place charged me $38 for a 33RS 72 20" chain. isn't that about 10 dollars more than what it should be.

 

[user 122190]

I'm sure there is a difference, but the biggest factor is YOU. In my training days, I could destroy any chain in record time and with ease. Now the damn things last forever. If it's only a few bucks, I go with the factory name chain. I run both Husky and Stihl chains on my Stihl saws. It's all good.

 

[fields_mj]

I am pretty sure I just got ripped off, until about 6 moths ago there were 2 stihl dealers within a mile of one another, one of the stores now carries echo, shindowa and husky, but no more stihl. the other place charged me $38 for a 33RS 72 20" chain. isn't that about 10 dollars more than what it should be.

Yup, you got hosed. My local dealer charges $24 for an 18" loop of .325 RSC. A 20" loop of 3/8 is a tad more, but either way you were taken to the cleaners. Make sure you don't go back, and tell all your friends so they don't either. That guy needs to be run out of business.

 

[longbowch]

I am pretty sure I just got ripped off, until about 6 moths ago there were 2 stihl dealers within a mile of one another, one of the stores now carries echo, shindowa and husky, but no more stihl. the other place charged me $38 for a 33RS 72 20" chain. isn't that about 10 dollars more than what it should be.

Just ordered a four pack of Oregon 72lgx72 off of eBay....came out to $13.75 a chain.

 

[user 122190]

Yup, you got hosed. My local dealer charges $24 for an 18" loop of .325 RSC. A 20" loop of 3/8 is a tad more, but either way you were taken to the cleaners. Make sure you don't go back, and tell all your friends so they don't either. That guy needs to be run out of business.

A husky full skip chisel 84links is $19.99 at the local hardware store. I should go buy more. But the last one I bought 2 years ago is still running fine, and the spare hasn't even been opened yet.

 

[Pioneer]

My favorite is Stihl RS in 3/8 (full chisel). Comes razor sharp out of the box, and holds an edge well. The Stihl dealers around here sometimes have a 50% off the second chain sale, this brings the price down to a few dollars a loop of what Home Depot wants for cheap Chinese chains.

 

[Full Chisel]

Yup, you got hosed. My local dealer charges $24 for an 18" loop of .325 RSC. A 20" loop of 3/8 is a tad more, but either way you were taken to the cleaners. Make sure you don't go back, and tell all your friends so they don't either. That guy needs to be run out of business.

You're getting hosed too... $18 around these parts for a 23RS 72 loop

 

[Ted Jenkins]

Possibly I am missing something here. I have at least a dozen Stihl brand chain loops left over from different bar set ups and some spares. These chains have performed well. Personally I do not like chisel bit chain for any use because they are so slow. After considering how they last maybe 20 to 30 minutes of cutting and then need to be sharpened. So almost all my chains are semi chisel bit. Stihl chains last longer than most stay sharper than most and cost in some situations more than ten times the cost of my other brands of chains. I recently bought a 100' reel of 3/8'' semi chisel bit for $50 and discovered it works about 75% as well as any Stihl chain I have tried. After making a couple of loops of 93 DL they proved to cut well for at least an hour. So am very pleased with my new chains. My question is since any body can make a loop of chain any size in under 10 minutes why would some body bother to call a dealer for a loop of chain knowing you are going to get taken advantage of? There are many brands of chain that at least come close to the quality of Stihl or the same quality as Stihl for half the cost. The biggest problem I have with Stihl are the dealers. With Stihl you can not go to the computer and order anything you want and have it shipped to your door. With every thing else I buy I go online and and order the part I need and a few days latter there it is. Thanks

 

[user 122190]

I recently bought a 100' reel of 3/8'' semi chisel bit for $50 and discovered it works about 75% as well as any ....

My question is since any body can make a loop of chain any size in under 10 minutes why would some body bother to call a dealer for a loop of chain knowing you are going to get taken advantage of?

100' of chain is a few lifetimes of chains for me (~25 chains for my 24" bars?). No thanks! I'll pay a few bucks, support my saw shop, and let them warehouse all my chains for when I need them.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I am pretty sure I just got ripped off, until about 6 moths ago there were 2 stihl dealers within a mile of one another, one of the stores now carries echo, shindowa and husky, but no more stihl. the other place charged me $38 for a 33RS 72 20" chain. isn't that about 10 dollars more than what it should be.

That's about what they are here, maybe a bit less. We carry Oregon and it's $26.50 for a 20" loop.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I'm sure there is a difference, but the biggest factor is YOU. In my training days, I could destroy any chain in record time and with ease. Now the damn things last forever. If it's only a few bucks, I go with the factory name chain. I run both Husky and Stihl chains on my Stihl saws. It's all good.

I made a chain for a customer 2 weeks ago, it's been back 3 times now broken apart! He also killed a brand new bar and sprocket. (Yes correct chain).

He insists on using some rancid nasty waste oil for lube, I'm sure that doesn't help at all.
Last time it came back the teeth where so chewed up it would have cut better with the chain on backward!

First time it was fixed for free, I chalked it off to a defect in the chain (broke a driver in 1/2).

 

[user 122190]

That's about what they are here, maybe a bit less. We carry Oregon and it's $26.50 for a 20" loop.

I once read of, or watch a video on a couple that moved to some remote part of AK, and what I remember and was shock at, was just how resourceful they had to become as everything was sky high expensive. A can of Campbells chicken noodle soup, was $5. Consider this 20" loop is in AK, $26.50 seems like a deal.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I once read of, or watch a video on a couple that moved to some remote part of AK, and what I remember and was shock at, was just how resourceful they had to become as everything was sky high expensive. A can of Campbells chicken noodle soup, was $5. Consider this 20" loop is in AK, $26.50 seems like a deal.

It's not quite so bad now with the internet and places like Amazon, although they still often won't ship.

Before it was a lot of the "Alaska price". Don't like it? Go elsewhere... oh... that's right, there isn't elsewhere.

With Amazon, I had 4 steel wheels (30lbs each) shipped for free, 50lbs bags of dog food, a 15ft long pole to clean my solar panels, etc, but they won't ship a set of 2 tap wrenches (to fit on ratchets), a windshield wiper arm for a skid steer, coloring books, etc. No rhyme or reason.

Chain is around $100 a roll in shipping, so that's the reason it's expensive.

 

[fields_mj]

Possibly I am missing something here. I have at least a dozen Stihl brand chain loops left over from different bar set ups and some spares. These chains have performed well. Personally I do not like chisel bit chain for any use because they are so slow. After considering how they last maybe 20 to 30 minutes of cutting and then need to be sharpened. So almost all my chains are semi chisel bit.

Not sure what you're cutting, but I'm cutting mostly hickory and red/white oak using full chisel chain, and I normally cut about a cord before I actually need to sharpen. I end up sharpening when I refuel just to stay in the habbit. One or two strokes per tooth does it. If your chain is dull in 20-30 min, you're doing something wrong.

 

[CoreyB]

Hmmm I use a lot of Oregon because it is easier and cheaper for me but really don't feel stihl is tons better. I do think it is better. One thing Oregon does have is the .325 nk. The more I use it the more I like it. After sharpening the txl it is growing on me. I may try the 16" txl on my 6100 this weekend lol.

 

[Full Chisel]

Not sure what you're cutting, but I'm cutting mostly hickory and red/white oak using full chisel chain, and I normally cut about a cord before I actually need to sharpen. I end up sharpening when I refuel just to stay in the habbit. One or two strokes per tooth does it. If your chain is dull in 20-30 min, you're doing something wrong.

He must be cutting skidded logs and doesn't bother to clean off the dirt clods. I've cut many truckloads of firewood (same stuff you're cutting...hardwoods) on one sharpening.

 

[Full Chisel]

I love how easily Oregon takes a sharp edge but that's pretty much where the list of advantages over Stihl chain ends for me except for the price. But I get my Stihl loops at 10% over cost through work so they are still cheaper. The mark up on chain is outrageous in some places...I can understand it in low volume areas I suppose.

 

[CoreyB]

Hmmm I use a lot of Oregon because it is easier and cheaper for me but really don't feel stihl is tons better. I do think it is better. One thing Oregon does have is the .325 nk