Why the shortage of 28" .404 pitch, .063 chains ?

[softdown]

Standard chains for larger Stihl's I think. But the selection at Amazon and Ebay is very limited. Already have the 28" bar so kind of stuck it seems. The prices for the chains are unreasonable except for Archer. My last Archer and Carlton chains were both a disappointment in sharpness. I wanted to go back to Oregon or Stihl.

Should I learn to make my own chains? Is that worthwhile? Already have 99 hobbies and the associated challenges.

BFE here - everything is mail order.

 

[Del_]

Standard chains for larger Stihl's I think. But the selection at Amazon and Ebay is very limited. Already have the 28" bar so kind of stuck it seems. The prices for the chains are unreasonable except for Archer. My last Archer and Carlton chains were both a disappointment in sharpness. I wanted to go back to Oregon or Stihl.

Should I learn to make my own chains? Is that worthwhile? Already have 99 hobbies and the associated challenges.

BFE here - everything is mail order.

I recommend learning how to break and spin saw chains.

You will never regret that you did.

Like with a lot of skills the beginner is likely to buy more gear than they need to do the job.

Once skilled you can make and break chain with an old brick and a nail.

I'm not recommending the items below as being the best in their categories. Just putting them up there to give you an idea.

https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...u5nmhZz1AhWAlmoFHdh3CtwQ9aACegUIARDRAQ&adurl=

https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/stockton-chain-breaker-and-rivet-tool-kit?sku_id=1124052

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

Standard chains for larger Stihl's I think. But the selection at Amazon and Ebay is very limited. Already have the 28" bar so kind of stuck it seems. The prices for the chains are unreasonable except for Archer. My last Archer and Carlton chains were both a disappointment in sharpness. I wanted to go back to Oregon or Stihl.

Should I learn to make my own chains? Is that worthwhile? Already have 99 hobbies and the associated challenges.

BFE here - everything is mail order.

Before I got my chain spinner I used my tiny ball peen hammer to set and peen the rivets on my .404 chain. The .404 being larger makes a fairly easy task only requiring the presets and a tiny ball peen hammer.
Having a good thick piece of steel to set the chain on helps also , just firm small hits will round the rivets down pretty close to spinner results.

 

[softdown]

I recommend learning how to break and spin saw chains.

You will never regret that you did.

Like with a lot of skills the beginner is likely to buy more gear than they need to do the job.

Once skilled you can make and break chain with an old brick and a nail.

I'm not recommending the items below as being the best in their categories. Just putting them up there to give you an idea.

https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...u5nmhZz1AhWAlmoFHdh3CtwQ9aACegUIARDRAQ&adurl=

https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/stockton-chain-breaker-and-rivet-tool-kit?sku_id=1124052

Looking into it. How much money is saved when buying 25' rolls? Have too many saws to justify buying 100' rolls at $500/pop or more.

 

[user 122190]

Looking into it. How much money is saved when buying 25' rolls? Have too many saws to justify buying 100' rolls at $500/pop or more.

Yeah, 500 is pricey. I got this in my Amazon bucket. 100' at $350 (or 1640 drive links), and the price per chain is less then buying ready to mount chains.

 

[softdown]

Yeah, 500 is pricey. I got this in my Amazon bucket. 100' at $350 (or 1640 drive links), and the price per chain is less then buying ready to mount chains.

Why would anybody make their own chains unless it was quite a bit cheaper? I only did some quick math in my head but it doesn't really seem that much cheaper at .all

 

[rupedoggy]

See that buck in my avatar? That was near Gunnison, Colorado. You get me a tag on a ranch that has a better deer than that and I will send you two new chains for your 28 inch bar free! The chain I have is new Stihl .404. Mike

 

[Dennisthemenace]

Make your own, why pay more and rely on someone else who won't be available on weekends and public holidays etc?

 

[Del_]

Why would anybody make their own chains unless it was quite a bit cheaper? I only did some quick math in my head but it doesn't really seem that much cheaper at .all

Because you can repair chains, buy used chains at good deals that are not the right length that you need, change the length of chains that you have at will, etc......

 

[softdown]

Yeah, 500 is pricey. I got this in my Amazon bucket. 100' at $350 (or 1640 drive links), and the price per chain is less then buying ready to mount chains.

Thats for the Archer roll. THe Oregon roll is $548!!! My last Archer chain was a big disappointment.

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

Why would anybody make their own chains unless it was quite a bit cheaper? I only did some quick math in my head but it doesn't really seem that much cheaper at .all

Well I've got a bunch of different bar lengths so if I want to add or subtract a link for a bar or sprocket change its little effort to do it myself.
Also I found a lag-bolt in a peice of wood with someone else's saw a couple of months ago and broke his chain, it was nice to repair it and give it back to him good as new (brand new Stihl chain) .
The savings might not be tremendous but the convenience is.