I have a 42” Oregon powermatch 3/8x.063 bar with a woodlandpro 42” .375x.063 ripping chain. Would that combination work? I ran it on a stihl 066 and it seemed to cut ok until I hit a hidden nail in the bark. Just want to make sure that’s the right chain for that bar so I don’t prematurely wear it out
.375 and 3/8 the same?
- Thread starter Pcbw69
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Sure, should be fine. Make sure the sprocket is not worn.
FWIW, 3/8 chain is really not .375. It's more like .367, but everyone says 3/8.
FWIW, 3/8 chain is really not .375. It's more like .367, but everyone says 3/8.
0,375" is the decimal equivalent of 3/8". Technically, it measures 0.365", but 3/8 is used nominally, like '2 by 4', or 'foot long'.
Philbert
Philbert
Right - that's why I say 3/8 and not .375.
Just remember that "regular" 3/8 chain and 3/8 Lo Pro require different sprockets due to the difference in the height of the chassis.
Mark
Mark
It sounds like your combination works. The best way to measure chain length is by counting the drive links. A loop that fits one '42 inch' bar and sprocket combination may vary by several drive links from another. If you buy a new chain, count the links on one that you know fits, so that you get the right size loop.
Philbert
The drive link count should be visible on the bar up near the power head.
Brent Nowell
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I have a bar that is 42” stamped 122 drive links. Would not fit, had no choice but to put 123DL chain and then it fit perfectly. Since then I have a feeling that sometimes with larger bars what’s stamped may not necessarily work with the model power head your putting it on.
Longer bars stretch a lot, might be taking that extra link out later.
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Or take off the 8 pin you had on the saw for a short bar- and put the 7 pin back on!
It's the combination of guide bar, drive sprocket, and (sometimes) saw. We get used to 'standard' drive link counts until we run into something different. Some companies, like ECHO, made some of their bars 1 drive link different just so that consumers would buy their chains from their dealers. Not a big deal, as chains can be made up (or adjusted to) any drive link count. But, in response to the OP's original question, just wanted to point out that drive link count is a better way to specify chain loop lengths than by bar lengths, which are also nominally sized e.g. a '16-inch' bar may be anywhere from 15-inches to 17 inches in actual length).
Philbert
Indeed. Asking for 73/200" pitch is just a little bit too clumsy.
Some of this is just anachronistic, in addition to the whole 'Imperial' vs. metric stuff.
Check out the definition of 'pitch', and once you get past the music, sports, airplane seating, sales, roof angle, and sticky/gooey/organic stuff, you will find that it really relates to gears (and sprockets) in our case, which means that we are really interested in the spacing of the drive links. These are hard to measure, since they are ticklish, and move around a lot, so we teach folks to measure rivet spacing.
Personally, I am just glad that we can buy chains from different manufacturers that fit different saws, so that we have a choice, even if the range of sizes, and what we call them, don't always make sense in common language.
Philbert
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I don't care how fancy you word it- I have never had a bar stretch, not a longer bar, nor a shorter one!
I meant chains, lol!I don't care how fancy you word it- I have never had a bar stretch, not a longer bar, nor a shorter one!
@heimannm has a bar that extends and retracts to maintain tension!I don't care how fancy you word it- I have never had a bar stretch, not a longer bar, nor a shorter one!
Philbert
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Yeah- that is mechanical- not stretch related.
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Must be a real hit with plunge cutters?
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