My chain is still OK but I noticed that after several sharpenings, I am getting on down on the teeth, I figure it won't be that many more sharpenings until I will be down to the slash lines on a lot of the teeth. I am running the original full Chisel chain that the dealer put on the saw when I bought it. I am pretty sure I want to stay full chisel as opposed to semi-chisel but what about brands? Is there much difference between Oregon vs. Stihl brand? I am pretty sure I am running a Stihl brand chain now. I know Bailey's sells some other brands, I am not familiar with. Next question is since I am running a 24 inch bar, and cut mostly Oak, Locust, with the occasional mix of everything else from red cedar to Hackberry, Persimmon, etc., should I stay with a full house chain or consider a skip tooth chain for this bar saw combo? Surprisingly, I find myself using most of the bar, quite often. A lot of the trees I cut are in that 24" diameter range, but still the bulk of my cutting would be 18" to 3 or 4".
When I started doing tree work, my boss only bought Oregon chain. Eventually I got to try Stihl chain and noticed how much longer it held an edge. When buying chain became my responsibility I bought Stihl chain. It’s all I’ve used since leaving the soft Oregon chain behind. I like the Rapid Super Klassic, because it’s what I have always used. We have full skip on a 36” bar, because it’s for a 460 and it’s less teeth to sharpen. It cuts fine for the occasional use on a big oak.
I have a 362 and have been wanting a longer bar than my 20 inch. Upon researching it, it appears to me that Stihl brand bar (if that is what you have) is listed by Stihl as a 25 inch bar. I was told on another forum that other manufacturers call their bar of this length a 24 inch bar, and these bars are the same length. Which is odd! Point being that if this is true, it creates confusion!
Yes Stihl doesn’t offer a 24” bar. For some reason they call it a 25”. I’d guess it’s for proprietary reasons or marketing purposes
I am running mostly Carlton chain now, I was all about Stihl chain & it is good chain but the Carlton is about 1/2 the price & lasts just as long. All that being said Oregon bought out Carlton, then Blount bought out Oregon. I have not to my knowledge used the new Carlton chain but there is plenty of “old” Carlton chain to be had out there.
I'd go with Stihl full-skip with your powerhead and bar length. If your chain is staying sharp long enough for you, then stay with RS full-chisel chain. If you are cutting dirtier wood, RM semi-chisel is a very good choice. It last longer and is easier to sharpen, but only minimally "slower" cutting. I'd suggest you get a loop of each RS and RM, see which one you like best and keep the other for backup. BTW, my local Stihl dealer sells chain 3 loops for the price of 2, so basically, he's selling them 66% of MSRP. That puts it very close in price to Oregon.
Full skip is intended for long bars, 36"ish and up. The extra space is a place for chip to travel during the long ride out. Stihl chain is great. It stays sharp longer but in return is harder to file and on files. And it's mucho grande expensive. Oregon is a great chain. LGX is softer, real easy to file and doesn't stay sharp near as long as the Stihl. It's also the most affordable. Oregons new EXL is somewhere in between the Stihl and the LGX. It cuts great and stays sharp longer than LGX but seems to me to be similar to file. I have 2 loops of Carlton and it does very well too. I just hoarded so much LGX because of price that I never really took to it.
It seems like maybe my bar length is in the middle sort of and could go either way full house or full skip, so I am thinking about trying a half skip chain. Does anyone see much of an issue with going that route? I do experience some bogging down and I have noticed the bar carrying a lot of chips, so I guess I could see the merit of going to a half skip or maybe a full skip to keep the speed up.
Chain Sequence Explained Our Advice Bars 24" & Under When running a bar length of 24" or less, full compliment is the best choice. It will always be the fastest and smoothest cutting sequence on short cutting attachments. Even those who are tempted to select a skip tooth configuration to reduce sharpening time, will find full compliment doesn't take much longer to sharpen. On short bar applications, there are are not that many more teeth. Bars 28" - 32" When running bar lengths of 28" to 32", the best sequence is less certain. In this range of bar lengths, the size of the cuts being made with the saw should to be taken into consideration when selecting the sequence. For example, sometimes longer bars are used to minimize bending on a job that requires a lot of limbing. In this case, the cuts are more similar to what would be done with short bars, so a full compliment chain is the best choice. On the other hand, if most cuts on the job require burying the bar in a deep cut, a skip sequence would probably be the best choice. Bars 34" & Longer When running bar lengths of 36" or longer, a skip sequence is usually the best choice. These bars are rarely run to eliminate bending over, and most often are used on jobs that require deep cuts. Even with these conditions, we do occasionally see full-compliment chain being run when the job also requires a fair amount of limbing. In the end, the best sequence for you requires some compromise and consideration of many factors.
Ok, then maybe I need to just keep running the same chain. I do a lot limbing and small wood bucking and like the long bar so I don't have to bend over as far usually, and I really like that part. But I also do some noodling where I am burying the bar pretty hard, although I guess I am not really using over 20" of the bar mostly.
My .02 is similar to mike bayerl , I like Stihl chain the best because it holds an edge longer. I've got an MS 362 & frankly I'm underwhelmed by the saw. I run an 18" bar full comp chain & it's about all the saw wants. I'd go full skip on a 24" bar if it were me. Also try the semi chisel in dirty conditions, it holds up well.
Sorry to hear about your MS362. I've never run one, but my MS361 has been a very good saw, plenty to pull and oil a 24" bar in stock form. Then I got it ported by Tree Monkey, and now it's insane. It's the saw in my avatar with a 24" bar
Yep, my mistake there. I had a 361 & really liked it, found the 362 used for a decent price & sold the 361 to a friend. I should've done a little more research before I offed my 361. Better saw imo.
I've run Bailey's Woodland Pro for several years and have nothing to complain about with it, good prices. Picked up a roll of the new Husky chain and a friend made up a few loops. I have not tried it yet but he has. Says it is a home run and he loves it over his Oregon.