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Oregon, Carlton or Stihl for best return on money spent

Discussion in 'Chainsaws and Power Equipment' started by JW IN VA, Dec 14, 2020.

  1. Horkn

    Horkn

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    I wish I could get Stihl chain for what woodland pro runs. The last loop of Stihl rs yellow was like $32 for .325 for 16" bar. That's common cost around here at any of the Stihl shops. You can't even get the yellow RS chain at the hardware stores that sell Stihl, and you have to go to the big dealers that sell John Deere too, so the Stihl stuff is priced accordingly.o_O
    The woodland pro is almost half of that cost for 3/8" .050 72dl for 20" bar.
     
    Last edited: Dec 27, 2020
  2. buZZsaw BRAD

    buZZsaw BRAD

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    Ive used all three and have come to like Stihl the best. Seems to stay sharper longer. A bit more expensive but worth it IMO. I run full chisel on all my saws. My 261 is currently running Carlton full chisel 20" chain.
     
  3. buZZsaw BRAD

    buZZsaw BRAD

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    Have you tried buying online?
     
  4. Horkn

    Horkn

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    No, not for Stihl chain.
     
  5. The Wood Wolverine

    The Wood Wolverine

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    Ive used Stihl, Oregon, and Carlton. Stihl is crazy expensive (even at the buy 2 get 1) and not worth the extra $$ IMO. It's harder on files too, but yes, it does hold and edge longer than the other 2. Oregon is my goto. LGX was/is a great chain. The new EXL is a tad better from my experience and it's a little bit harder metal, so it holds edge longer than the old stuff. Carlton is definitely a good chain. I don't have it near Stihl on the durability front but I do think it holds up a little more than LGX. I've never had it side by side to the EXL. But if I found it cheap enough, I'd buy it.

    As far as the cheenah stuff, I'm really of the attitude that we shouldn't be giving them so much support, so I don't go there.

    Keep an eye on CL and Marketplace. Couple months ago I bought 10 brand new loops of 108dl (about 32") Oregon LGX from craigs for $100. Yep, brand new full comp 3/8 .050 108dl for $10 a loop.

    And this person took $20 for the 2 loops of Carlton.
    IMG_1563.PNG
     
  6. Cheepbeer

    Cheepbeer

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    I got good service from woodland pro, but I started buying chains at an amish shop. They're $32 for one. If you buy two or more, they're about $17 a piece.
     
  7. Horkn

    Horkn

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    What brand are the Amish shop chains? Are they Stihl?
     
  8. Rope

    Rope

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    In frozen wood Stihl is best, I have only ran Stihl and Oregon, I also run square grind. Stihl does not seem to stretch and Oregon takes two tanks to normalize. Back in ‘18-‘19 I really nerded out on chain, got into the square file then square grind. After getting the grinder I realized that I was not near as consistent filer. I don’t think the wood cares if each tooth is filed or ground, because sharp rules. What I noticed is that Stihl stayed sharp way longer its a guess but 3 to 1 would be it.

    I used a Simington 451-c, I also got into buying a 100’ roll and made my own loops, did the math and it made sense. I started with Oregon square 72 CL iirc, I preferred the Stihl over the Oregon and wound up making loops for buddies and used the Oregon up quickly and stayed with Stihl. I am looking at replacement square grinder and have ordered a roll of Stihl square grind 1640 dl was just over $500.

    I would think that the amount of wood you cut will determine what’s right for you. What is your time worth? How many cords do you cut? How much spare time do you have to cut? If you have not used square grind you should add that to the test. If you can buy a loop of each see what you like, but take notes on your phone and see what the data tells you. If you don’t cut much, just buy the Stihl and don’t worry. I have not started processing wood heavy yet, I have only been through 4 gallons of fuel in the last 2 months and I have about 12 -16 sharpenings. I will be nerding out if I can get the Silvey square grinder.

    Another test is to put brand new chain on, film with your phone, cut 3 cookies with each chain. View the videos and see what is faster in the same stick of wood in basically the same size wood. What did you learn? Then put a loop on and run it until dull record the data, repeat with all loops. Review the data and that’s your chain.

    The next rabbit hole is a ported saw. Again how much and what’s your time is worth. I literally hate a factory saw. I do not like being out of the game right now. I am cutting with a factory 362cm with round file. It stinks how much time it takes to buck that log down. My old ported 261 w/square grind out cut this brand new 362 round file by at least 20%.

    Good luck with your testing and let us know what your test show.
     
  9. Firewood Bandit

    Firewood Bandit

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    Good post.

    Most don't even know there is a difference between round ground and square ground chisel. From what I understand there is a steep learning curve in grinding square ground and the angles must be precise.

    It would be great if someone started replicating Silvey grinders, I feel they are the best. The Silvey 510 I bought NIB about 6 years ago is one of my favorite purchases. I cut cabled skidded logs so square ground is out of the question. This year even chisel chain has taken a back seat to semi chisel in 404 with a hardnosed bar on a 395XP.

    To answer the OP, I feel the choice is dependent on what you are paying for loops. Carlton (Woodland Pro) used to be dirty cheap it is no more. I am still using Oregon LGX as I started the last 100' roll which I paid $200 for. That puts loops at $8/72DL. Oregon can still be had for $320 which puts loops at $14.50. The Stihl dealer runs specials once in a while at $1 per inch. DSCF0014.JPG
     
  10. Rope

    Rope

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    When I was researching Silvey the other night, I read that Silvey sold the patent rights to Jack Simington, and he made a few updates, back in 2013.

    There ar a few fellas on the board that are really good with grinders. They help me set mine up, off to the races. It would be really frustrating to learn on one own. I am thankful, lined me out in about a hour.
     
  11. unbidden

    unbidden

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    I stick with Oregon for 2 reasons; good chain and I can buy them almost every place that carries chainsaws in my area. No shipping, waiting.... Well, maybe that's 3 or 4 reasons :thumbs:
     
  12. Cheepbeer

    Cheepbeer

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    Stihl
     
  13. Firewood Bandit

    Firewood Bandit

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    All of the round ground grinders except Silvey have the same design flaw. They clamp on the driver, and when that happens the cutter will move. the Silvey has a pawl that fits on the back of the cutter, when you pull back this seats the driver in the rails stabilizing the cutter face much better.

    A couple years ago a friend of mine who is a machinist worked on a new vice to fit a cheap Tecomec clone to switch over to the Silvey system. We didn't get the geometry quite right for sharpening but it is excellent for grinding rakers. Note the grinding wheel has been profiled with a diamond to create the same contour as the factor puts on the rakers. This rounded contour is much smoother in the cut, bore cuts much easier than grinding a flat. The rails have shims for the different gauges of .050, .058, .063 with .05" clearance. So it is a real snug fit and holds the drivers much more square. DSCF0019.JPG DSCF0020.JPG
     
    Woodsnwoods and Rope like this.
  14. Rope

    Rope

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    Here are a few shots from a Simington 451c 2291E8A4-BB35-4F6E-9BAB-6DB14969EBE6.jpeg 0FBE0D42-0302-49DE-923A-FB303A5B370D.jpeg AB5D6928-A77A-4779-86F6-4A0489F7791C.jpeg
     
  15. Firewood Bandit

    Firewood Bandit

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    Woodsnwoods, T.Jeff Veal and Rope like this.
  16. Rope

    Rope

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    Blue, I file them the upper 1/3and try to stay with the contour. I normally make 6 strokes, per chain sharpening. If I felt that one did not self feed fast enough then I would give a few more. With square grind and ported saw probably can get away with a little extra passes with the file.
     
  17. Firewood Bandit

    Firewood Bandit

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    I've only used square ground once and that was at the insistence of the owner of the saw shop for the chainsaw races at the County Fair. He gave me a couple loops of NIB Oregon to use. I did poorly with it because it was so aggressive I stuck the saw a few times and of course that is an instant loss in a race.
     
  18. Reddingnative

    Reddingnative

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    Carlton here, or woodland pro. About the same price, bailey’s is close enough to drive to if I’m already headed that way.

    Kinda off topic-
    The old local guy won me over when I walked in and asked how much his chains were.... he replied “They is what they are” I had a puzzled look and said huh? he said it again. Followed by asking me what bar size I was running. I told him “20inch” He says “20$, they is what they are” :rofl: :lol:
    Every time I go in he is grinding chain, or fixing something with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, inside his shop none the less. He cracks me up, complains about government, new technology, pretty much average grumpy old dude. Never charges for a foot of fuel line etc. just a hell of a guy. Saved some homes last year from a wildfire by jumping on his dozer and cutting a line. Refused to do a tv interview. I gave him a hard time about it. He mumbled something like “Any half decent fool would do the same”
     
  19. OldJack

    OldJack

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    There's some like him left. Not enough though.
     
  20. wilhary

    wilhary

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    I have been using Oregon, Carlton, or Stihl brand chainsaws for a long time as they could be used for different purposes and also they differ from each other. New chains of the saw chain models Carlton B8, STIHL RMH, STIHL RMHS, and Oregon 18HX were evaluated in the study.