Chain ID and how to sharpen it.

[Stevo Bambino]

I was visiting my uncle the other day and I told him how I bought a used Stihl chainsaw cheap and rebuilt it. He said he just threw out his Stihl chainsaw. He said I could have it. We went to his shed and grabbed it out of the trash bin and threw it in my car. It is a 025, plastic everywhere, no adjustable high speed jet, and a weird chain. The only thing I could find wrong with the saw was the "contact spring" was underneath the switch shaft instead of above it. It would not come out of half choke unless you monkeyed with it. It looks to me like the chain is sharpened wrong and he hit a nail or something with it. I never saw a chain with that weird humped thing on the link between cutters and that hump gets in the way when I tried to use my 2 in 1 sharpener. Does anyone know what kind of .325 chain this is and what the easiest way to sharpen it is?

 

[Del_]

That is a consumer saftey chain. See the witness marks on the depth gauge? And the witness mark on the tri hump tie strap? As you take the depth gauge down keep parallel to those lines. It is not known as a fast cutting chain but it is the highest level of anti kickback chain that Stihl has.

I dread that chain.

 

[Stevo Bambino]

Thanks Del. I had looked through Stihl's website and could not find this chain there. None had that large triple hump deal. Sounds like noone would loose any sleep if I were to grind that whole thing out of there, or buy a real chain. I still have not decided if I want to sell this saw or put a different carb on it, mod the muffler and leave it at my Dad's cabin. It is very light.

 

[Franny K]

That is a bumper tie strap. Oregon used something similar on what I believe was 91VG in that size just no humps. Now they both use a bumper drive link which in Stihl code is a 3 at the end like 63PM3 for that size. Perhaps the cutter is sharpened more straight across than it is supposed to be hard to be sure from that angle. It looks pretty close to new might save it for vines and small brush and just get a more dangerous or modern version of reduced kick back chain.

 

[ericm979]

While the 2 in 1 might not work, a bare file will. I think the Oregon plate type guide would work too.

That chain works fine for semi chisel. I have some of that in full chisel and it's ok. It doesn't do bore cuts well but that's true of all anti kickback chain.

 

[Stevo Bambino]

Yeah, I only had a 2 in 1, so to sharpen it enough to test the saw, I pulled one of the files out of my 2 in 1 and eyeballed it. I hate running a saw with a dull chain. It cut ok, but the chips were tiny and some of the cutters have damage that would require more effort than I am willing to do by hand. I also do not know how to set the depth on this chain. I don't want to go to far, it is only a 025. My uncle had said he had 6 chains for it and if I got it running he would look for the others. It would be nice if one of them was a regular chain. I doubt I will ever get them though. I don't think he really cares.

I bought an adjustable carb and I am looking at muffler mods right now. I might drill a bunch more holes in the baffle and open up the "out hole", then pry the defector plate open a little more and see how much that helps. The baffle only has 12 little holes on one side and the "out hole" is tiny.

 

[Stevo Bambino]

I found a thread on this site by WagonWheeler where he did some tests with an 025 and different combinations of exhaust flow. Too bad his picture is not showing up, I would like to compare his muffler to mine. His conclusions were that there was no advantage, but he says his stock muffler's exhaust outlet is 87% the size of the inlet. https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/025-muffler-mod-pics.28606/
I measured my inlet and outlet and, if I did it right and am understanding everything properly, my muffler's outlet is 27% the size of the inlet. Is my math right? Should I mod this muffler?

 

[Stock]

Why don't you use real measurements instead of those banana things...............................................................................

 

[Yukon Stihl]

I was visiting my uncle the other day and I told him how I bought a used Stihl chainsaw cheap and rebuilt it. He said he just threw out his Stihl chainsaw. He said I could have it. We went to his shed and grabbed it out of the trash bin and threw it in my car. It is a 025, plastic everywhere, no adjustable high speed jet, and a weird chain. The only thing I could find wrong with the saw was the "contact spring" was underneath the switch shaft instead of above it. It would not come out of half choke unless you monkeyed with it. It looks to me like the chain is sharpened wrong and he hit a nail or something with it. I never saw a chain with that weird humped thing on the link between cutters and that hump gets in the way when I tried to use my 2 in 1 sharpener. Does anyone know what kind of .325 chain this is and what the easiest way to sharpen it is?
View attachment 966176

You can spend a few minuites with an angle grinder and grind those extra fin's off then you have a regular chain.

 

[SteveSr]

I found a thread on this site by WagonWheeler where he did some tests with an 025 and different combinations of exhaust flow. Too bad his picture is not showing up, I would like to compare his muffler to mine. His conclusions were that there was no advantage, but he says his stock muffler's exhaust outlet is 87% the size of the inlet. https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/025-muffler-mod-pics.28606/
I measured my inlet and outlet and, if I did it right and am understanding everything properly, my muffler's outlet is 27% the size of the inlet. Is my math right? Should I mod this muffler?

The Stihl pre-EPA muffler had a 0.865" x 0.642" rectangular hole with 1/4" radius corners. yours is the first round EPA size. I would recommend opening it up to the pre-EPA dimensions.

When you do the muffler mod you MUST change the carb to a fully adjustable type Walbro WT-215 which was used in the pre-EPA saws. These are still available.

That chain with the shark fin tie strap is the first generation anti-kickback safety chain which everybody pretty much hated. If the bar and/or sprocket is worn and time for replacement I would change everything out to a 16" 3/8" LP setup (Stihl Pico/ PM). Stihl also offers a rim sprocket conversion kit for this saw.

 

[Stevo Bambino]

Thanks SteveSr, I was just trying to do the math to figure out about how big I need to make that outlet hole. You gave me some good hard numbers to work with. Yes, I already have a Walbro WT215 on its way. It should be arriving on Friday. Thanks for the info about the chain and rim sprocket too. I am probably going to just sharpen this chain as well as I can for now. I will see if my uncle has any more chains and sharpen those too if I get them. If I end up using the saw much, I will invest in a better setup for it. Right now, I do not want to spend a whole lot on it because I have an 034 that I usually use and is way more powerful and at least twice as fast.

 

[SteveSr]

Thanks SteveSr, I was just trying to do the math to figure out about how big I need to make that outlet hole. You gave me some good hard numbers to work with. Yes, I already have a Walbro WT215 on its way. It should be arriving on Friday. Thanks for the info about the chain and rim sprocket too. I am probably going to just sharpen this chain as well as I can for now. I will see if my uncle has any more chains and sharpen those too if I get them. If I end up using the saw much, I will invest in a better setup for it. Right now, I do not want to spend a whole lot on it because I have an 034 that I usually use and is way more powerful and at least twice as fast.

You will appreciate the light weight and nimbleness of the 025 for smaller jobs. We use them for trail clearing duty for our state trail club.

 

[Okie]

You can spend a few minutes with an angle grinder and grind those extra fin's off then you have a regular chain.

Those fins are used on low kickback chains to reduce chance of kickback. Easier to grind them off if you take the chain off the saw and take the chain to a stationery bench grinder. You can then fold the links and grind them off easily.
If you are not familiar with kickback or proper way to use a chainsaw (inexperienced) leave them on and when you get experienced buy a replacement chain that does not have the low kickback links.

 

[Yukon Stihl]

yup more than one way to skin a cat