# When to use which of the different style chain saw chains and why?



## mdotis (Apr 16, 2010)

I have been looking but I cannot seem to find a good source of information about the different styles of chain saw chains out there. I see chisel. Semi chisel, skip tooth, anti kick back, and on and on. So I am going to ask you guys. What type of chain saw chain do you use and why? What are the good points about the chain style that you use and what are the bad points. Also what type of chain saw chain would you use if you cut 12 to 20 cords of wood a year with a stihl 290 with a 20” bar. Mostly oak, ash and elm. The oak and ash are tops left from loggers and the elm is standing dead. Any suggestions would be welcome. 

Thanks


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## luvsaws (Apr 16, 2010)

I would say chisel for most of your needs.
Semi chisel for dirty wood.


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## electric saws (Apr 16, 2010)

*experiment*

why not get one of each? personal preference probably has a lot to do with what you'd like in a chain vs what someone else would. It doesn't take that long to change a chain. Just figure out what kind you have & get at least one different style.


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## StihlyinEly (Apr 16, 2010)

electric saws said:


> why not get one of each? personal preference probably has a lot to do with what you'd like in a chain vs what someone else would. It doesn't take that long to change a chain. Just figure out what kind you have & get at least one different style.



+1

You need two chains anyway, or more, when you're out in the field. If you hit a rock or bury the bar in the dirt, it takes awhile to get it sharp again, so I just put on a backup chain and keep cutting.


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## mtfallsmikey (Apr 16, 2010)

Only chain I use is Stihl RSC. The only "clean" wood I cut is stuff that's standing.


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## TreePointer (Apr 16, 2010)

I did almost the same exact thing a couple years ago. I bought an MS290 (20" bar, 8 tooth spur sprocket, .325 pitch, .063 gauge) to cut hardwood treetops from a timber harvest and the DED elms. 

The RMC3 chain (semi-chisel safety chain) that it came with was slooooow. Making clean cuts on the elm stumps (and stumping in general) was very difficult.

Stihl RSC (full-chisel) chain was much better, but I still was not satisfied. The saw just didn't have the grunt I needed for the bigger hardwoods. I guess I could have put a 16" bar on the saw to improve things, but I ended up getting an *MS361* (20" bar, *7 tooth sprocket*, *3/8 pitch*, .050 gauge). Power, antivibration, fuel economy, and weight are much better.


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## stihl sawing (Apr 16, 2010)

Get some RSC and forget about it. may want to get a loop of semi chisel for dirty wood. Unless you're running a very long bar you don't need the semi or full skip chain.


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## 2FatGuys (Apr 16, 2010)

stihl sawing said:


> Get some RSC and forget about it. may want to get a loop of semi chisel for dirty wood. Unless you're running a very long bar you don't need the semi or full skip chain.



More importantly, if you are not VERY experienced at kickback control, stay away from any skip chain. We use it a lot, but don't let our less experienced workers near it. Skip chain has no "anti-kickback" provisions. In addition, with the larger gap between cutters, it tries to take a bigger bite, translaing into more kick force when used incorrectly.

Safety is much more important than speed....


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## avalancher (Apr 16, 2010)

mdotis said:


> I have been looking but I cannot seem to find a good source of information about the different styles of chain saw chains out there. I see chisel. Semi chisel, skip tooth, anti kick back, and on and on. So I am going to ask you guys. What type of chain saw chain do you use and why? What are the good points about the chain style that you use and what are the bad points. Also what type of chain saw chain would you use if you cut 12 to 20 cords of wood a year with a stihl 290 with a 20” bar. Mostly oak, ash and elm. The oak and ash are tops left from loggers and the elm is standing dead. Any suggestions would be welcome.
> 
> Thanks



Semi chisel for a guy learning his skills really is the best choice for several reasons.Until you learn to file your chains yourself, you are better off with a chain that will take a few dips in the dirt without trashing the chain.The leading edge is rounded and is not so reliant on a full point to cut efficiently.A little dulling will hamper your efforts but will not kill your cutting teeth.By keeping your chain out of the dirt,semi chisel can often go several tanks of fuel before needing a touch up with a file.I find that I actually get more done with a semi chisel than a full chisel,I spend more time cutting rather than sharpening.My only exception is my climbing saw which is always rigged with a full chisel.

A Full chisel however is faster but much more tempormental.Once the leading point is gone,it takes a good bit of effort to file back to a good solid point.Any rounding of that leading point will render the chain worthless until its restored.

Safety chain generally has a semi chisel tooth behind the rakers, and is often falsely labeled as "anti kickback".There is no such thing as any chain that is "anti kickback",but it does have a longer raker that will dampen the efforts of the cutting tooth from grabbing and kicking the nose of the bar up and back.If you are new to the game and work unsupervised by an experienced woodcutter, stay with the safety chain until you are not only comfortable with your skills but have learned to recognize pinch points,front nose clearance,and a wide variety of other obstacles that can result in kickback.The trick is to recognize a kickback situation before it even gets going and tackle your cut in a different fashion.

Skip and semi skip are worthless on small horsepower and short bars.The whole point of a semi or skip tooth chain is to allow you to pull a longer bar/chain by minimizing the drag on the engine with fewer teeth.Generally speaking you dont find any skip chains on any bars less than 28 inches.


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## ray benson (Apr 16, 2010)

Try an RS and an RM of Stihl chain. One for clean wood and one for dirty wood.


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## stihl sawing (Apr 16, 2010)

ray benson said:


> Try an RS and an RM of Stihl chain. One for clean wood and one for dirty wood.


Do they still make RS chain, dealers told me they couldn't get it. Only RSC. That's all i had was RS.


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## Steve NW WI (Apr 16, 2010)

In Stihl chain, RSC is full chisel, RMC is semi chisel, RSC3 and RMC3 are the "reduced kickback" versions of both.

Safety chain is a bit slower cutting, but it is also generally smoother, and on a 290 you can probably feel the difference pretty easily.

I use both full and semi chisel, depending on what the wood is. Standing trees get the full, anything that's been down gets semi. I have sandy ground, and one good rain will get a lot of dirt and grit on down wood and flat kill a full chisel chain in no time. 

My bigger saws are all non safety chain, my 290 and a couple smaller saws that are likely to be used by helpers run safety chain.

I've never ran skip or even semi-skip, I think it's just for people who can't control their saws well enough to keep them from stalling with full comp chain.  (Note to those who want to be offended by this, the  denotes the fact that I'm just trying to inject a little sarcasm here!)


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## 2FatGuys (Apr 16, 2010)

avalancher said:


> Skip and semi skip are worthless on small horsepower and short bars.The whole point of a semi or skip tooth chain is to allow you to pull a longer bar/chain by minimizing the drag on the engine with fewer teeth.Generally speaking you dont find any skip chains on any bars less than 28 inches.





Steve NW WI said:


> I've never ran skip or even semi-skip, I think it's just for people who can't control their saws well enough to keep them from stalling with full comp chain.  (Note to those who want to be offended by this, the  denotes the fact that I'm just trying to inject a little sarcasm here!)



Actually guys... there is another, more important reason for using skip chains: The space between teeth allows for more chip clearance. The drag that Avalancher mentions is partly due to more teeth, but once the teeth of a full-comp start cutting, the cut fills with chips and the teeth are grabbing less per pass. I get much faster cutting with a skip than a full comp because the chips clear out fast! I keep skip on my 20's also just for that reason!


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## ray benson (Apr 16, 2010)

Posted before but good info.
A little chain advice from Madsen's.
http://www.madsens1.com/bnc sequence.htm


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## mdotis (Apr 17, 2010)

*Thanks Guys*

This is what I was looking for. I will try a few different types and see what I like the best.


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## electric saws (Apr 17, 2010)

*pix*



ray benson said:


> Posted before but good info.
> A little chain advice from Madsen's.
> http://www.madsens1.com/bnc sequence.htm



Madsen's pix OMG!!!!:jawdrop: check the Fir
http://www.madsens1.com/MNUphotoalb.htm


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