Has any one used the Carbide chain from Stilh I checked out the price and it seems not bad just wonder if it worth the extra money to buy and then of coarse how to sharped it.
i bought a couple loops a few years ago and abused it in frozen mud ice and frozen logs got about 8 truck loads cut with it before it needed sharpening i have not tried sharpening because you need diamond to sharpen it which i dont have it does cut slower and the face cut is rougher
I have been tempted to buy a few loops because I cut wood through mud season and forever dulling regular chain. I never have though, only because I found a few tricks that allow me to keep my regular chain from dulling. I make the assumption here that you are not cutting directly on the ground, but rather doing whatever it takes in that regard, but rather forced to cut through wood that has been dragged through the mud. The first is to NEVER let the mud dry before cutting the wood. If it dries, it is 10 times harder on your chain then cutting it when it is wet. That might mean cutting the wood into rounds every twitch, but it will be a lot easier on you, your chain and your saw as well. (Heat from a dull saw goes from chain, to bar, to chainsaw crankcase where it can play havoc with the longevity of your crankshaft bearings). Of course not cutting mud in the first place helps too. That may mean twitching the wood out by getting it off the ground via trailers, scoots or sleds. It may mean waiting until ground freezes up, though even here in Maine, that seldom happens anymore. I have no issue with wiping off the area of mud where I am about to cut, especially if it has gobs of mud on it. If a person cannot cut muddy wood immediately while it is wet, spread the logs out so they are not bunched into a pile and let rain wash off the mud. If possible rotate the logs and let the wood be washed again. It is surprising how much mud can be knocked off by the rain this way. Run two saws: one for felling and limbing, and another on the deck for bucking. A saw can get pretty dull and still buck decently because it is not cutting diagonally like a tree being felled via a notch cut. As we all know; we can alter the angle of the cutting edge to make the saw cut faster, but dull quicker, or less of an angle that makes the chain not super sharp, but stay that way much longer. For muddy wood, do the latter, lessening the angle so it does not damage the tip of the cutting edge so quickly. In the height of mud season, I just bring all my wood out tree length so I always have a sharp saw, then after a load (10 cord) has been cut; I just go in and cut my trees to length. These are not rounds for firewood though, just one cut at 24 feet across the pile. It takes a filing of my chain about midway through, but one filing after 10 cord is cut, is better then filing a saw every cord. (Typically I cut my trees to length at the conclusion of each twitch). Never forget that saw chain is cheap. Whether for saw logs, pulp for a paper mill, or for firewood; the amount of wood it cuts: even in muddy wood, more then pays for itself. If #2 heating oil is $2 per gallon, and a regular saw chain is $20; that saw chain only has to cut enough wood to equate to saving yourself 10 gallons of home heating oil. That is about 1/10th of a cord of wood...and that is firewood! I average $20 per log for logs for saw mills, so after only 1 log is cut, my saw chain is paid for, and for pulp for a paper mill, at $70 a cord, I only have to cut 1/3 of a cord before the saw chain is paid for. Obviously I can cut way more than that with a saw chain even in muddy wood. So as frustrating as it is to file chain, in that perspective a person might not get so frustrated. I know all about cutting muddy wood (LOL):
His question? There was actually four of them which was not bad for a single sentence 1) Has anyone ever bought carbide chain? 2) Is the price bad for what you get? 3) Is carbide chain worth it? 4) How do you sharpen it? I thought I answered the other three by answering number three thoroughly... 1. No I have not (see number 3) 2. I think so (see number 3) 3. No, there are work around's with standard chain 4). Never had too (see number 3)
Not worth it in my opinion. Bought 1 3 years ago. Very resistant to dirt but the fact it needs to be machine sharpened rather than hand filed is the deal breaker for me. When I did bring it to the shop for them to sharpen, it never cut the same, leading me to believe they either didn’t sharpen it or they didn’t know what they’re doing. Go buy 2 regular chisel chains instead of 1 carbide. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
For the price of a carbide loop you can get 4 loops of RSC !!! ... unless you have a special wheel to sharpen it’s not worth it imho ... for fire-rescue and extraction I could see using it when someone’s derrière is on the line ... otherwise for firewood cutting I give thumbs down
Thanks guys for the information .I just figured for 68.00 for a 18"loop was worth a try but I agree if not able to sharpen might not be so good
