Wanting a narrower chain for milling on my 460 rancher/husqvarna 555

[J D]

Your 460 is essentially a homeowner grade saw & the autotune 555 won't allow you to richen it up like you would preferably do for a milling saw... I still think you'd be better off trading one of your saws (probably the 460) for something a bit bigger & build a setup around that

 

[Up A Creek]

i was looking @ the knockoff 660s like this farrrrrmmac / neotec one https://www.amazon.com/FARMMAC-Chainsaw-High-End-Version-cylinder/dp/B0BR7WSYMY which comes to under 400 after the 80 dollar off coupon. My understanding with these is that you have to assemble them entirely yourself. I haven't done anything like that before and while I am sure that i could figure it out, I am also sure that i could screw it up royally. I dont know much about these china saws but I dont really trust the reviews on amazon. If they were as good of an option as the reviews would lead u to believe, wouldnt everyone be running them?

I'm not a chainsaw expert but I've been a mechanic for 24 years. I rebuild chainsaws and putting one together wouldn't scare me in the least.
I considered buying one of those as well but the probability of there being a manufacturing defect causing a vacuum leak to chase down or a carburetor issue kept me away from them.
If you have the time and patience it can be a great deal. I don't have the time to jump into another project right now and I don't know how trustworthy one would be in the long term.

I'm sure some of them go together Easy and will last a long time. Just more of a gamble with something like that. And very difficult to return if there is a problem. So for me personally not worth it.

 

[Up A Creek]

If you're only looking for an 18 to 20 in low-pro bar I think Granberg carries them now in the small Mount husky size.

 

[irhunter]

i was looking @ the knockoff 660s like this farrrrrmmac / neotec one https://www.amazon.com/FARMMAC-Chainsaw-High-End-Version-cylinder/dp/B0BR7WSYMY which comes to under 400 after the 80 dollar off coupon. My understanding with these is that you have to assemble them entirely yourself.

No...they are not all kit saws. The saw you posted a link to is an assembled saw (I am pretty sure). The companies which make knock-off saws in China do, in fact, sell them in kit form, too. Often calling them something like "complete parts kit":

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4041738628...8vj2pCqCtc3nrPj6WJEJ0Z6Q==|tkp:Bk9SR8LT_aXdYQ
The thing about the China saws that everyone can agree on: there are a gazillion threads describing peoples' experiences with them...bad, good, indifferent.

Roy

 

[cluelessmontana]

hey guys,

i havent updated in awhile because both of my saws are out of commission. I also can't find the parts i would need, with certainty, to do the conversion. I figured this would be easy but I guess not. If I knew exactly what sprocket and bar i needed to buy for either .325 narrow kerf or 3/8 low pro i would buy it.

Western Building Center has had my 460 rancher for 2.5 months out of the 6.5 months that I have owned it. Originally I sent it off after 4 months because it was no longer oiling and it took them 7 weeks to get the saw back to me, they said it was gunked up because I was using vegetable oil so I had to pay them 80 dollars for the repair, ok fine. Well, they put the saw back together wrong. As soon as i fired it up it was clanging and vibrating uncontrollably so I took it back to the local WBC store and the chainsaw guy there immediately recognized the issue and had to send it back to their shop. That was 3 weeks ago. I called today and they haven't even looked at it yet. So despite the fact that my saw had to be sent back to them because of their poor repair work, I get put to the back of the line. I will 100% never buy a saw from WBC again, and I may never buy a husqvarna again because the stihl shop in town has a mechanic onsite that does all of the work instead of sending it to a shop 3 hours away.

In the meantime, my husqvarna 555 started having issues where it will run fine for about 5 minutes and then just loses power and dies and wont start, but I dont want to send it off to the WBC shop for repair for obvious reasons lmao

 

[HumBurner]

Get a 266/272, 372, or 395 and call it a day.


044-066 if you'd prefer Stihl.

You'll blow up both those saws and components again and again doing any significant milling.



Older saws have more torque and less chain speed, generally, which is ideal for milling. Plus are often built like tanks.


Also, big box or generalized building center stores are notorious for not knowing much when it comes to brand-specific saws, even if they have a shop. Find a dealer, and a good/reliable one at that, if you aren't going to do your own repairs.

 

[cluelessmontana]

Get a 266/272, 372, or 395 and call it a day.


044-066 if you'd prefer Stihl.

You'll blow up both those saws and components again and again doing any significant milling.



Older saws have more torque and less chain speed, generally, which is ideal for milling. Plus are often built like tanks.


Also, big box or generalized building center stores are notorious for not knowing much when it comes to brand-specific saws, even if they have a shop. Find a dealer, and a good/reliable one at that, if you aren't going to do your own repairs.

i live in a pretty rural area. the closest big city is kalispel and it is 1.5 hours drive each direction. in the local 1000 population city, the husqvarna dealer ships there saws off to a repair shop 3 hours away. the stihl dealer has a mechanic on staff everyday of the week. i would love to come across a good deal on a 372,395,044,046,064,066 but its just not something that comes up for sale often and i cant afford to buy a new one of any of those saws. I had already planned on selling the 460 rancher when i got it back but they sent it back to me broken...

 

[HumBurner]

It's an 80-100mi drive for me, so I understand. There's other mechanics, but I wouldn't leave my saws with them........

It's been easier for me to order parts from people here than to wait for our main shop to get them in combined with the trip up and back.

There's a way, you just have to find it.

And many of those saws go up for sale here fairly often. Just keep an eye out.

 

[J D]

Given your situation I would say you're probably better off maintaining your own saws. There's a bunch of people here with wealth of knowledge that will gladly help you through just about any issue you could come across. If you're going to go that route it is usually easier to get new OEM Husky parts online, OEM Stihl parts tend to be harder to get without going through a dealer.
Anything m-tronic/ autotune will likely require dealer input for servicing at some point & doesn't permit running the saw a tad rich as is preferable for milling