Husky chain too soft for hardwood?

[SawBrian]

Hi

Have been cutting some hardwood recently, and the hardwood is dry now in winter and some partly frozen. Using Husky chains they dull up in no time. Seems the steel is simply to soft for this kind of usage.
Anyone else experienced this. Of regular types I think Stihl chains is the only way to go now.

 

[computeruser]

I'd say that your experiences are not uncommon. The cutters on the Oregon chain that Husqvarna rebadges as theirs are undoubtedly of softer than Stihl's. All else being equal, hey don't stay sharp quite as long, but they sharpen back up quicker, so it's really a matter of which attribute you value more.

I was given a couple loops of the Oregon/Husqvarna chain and much prefer Stihl or GB (Carlton). But like so many other things, everybody's got their own preference.

 

[jack-the-ripper]

I cut nothing but oak with my 372/oregon chain/20" bar. The only time I notice the chain dulling too quickly is when I dip the tip in the dirt. Other than that, no problems staying sharp in below freezing temps.

 

[046]

I like sthil chain my self, but why don't cha get a loop of each and try em both?

 

[clearance]

The diff. between Oregon and Stihl chain is in your heads. Just another meaningless thing to argue about, I know, what is better Husky mix or Stihl mix, NGK or Bosch, Pepsi or Coke?

 

[woodfarmer]

sharpness

i cut all hardwoods, a lot when frozen, have both oregon and stihl chain and there isn't any difference. keep them sharp, sharpen before each cutting day, no problems.

 

[NWCS]

clearance, i have to dispute that one, oregon chain is not the same as stihl. stihl has superior tie straps being the first point. second point being stihl uses a better steel in the tooth, possibly more chrome. why do i mention the tie straps? for me oregon chain stretches like crazy and allways gets more sideways slop. stihl chain is nearly set it and forget it for the tension. Carlton chain is very similar to stihl in this aspect. both stihl and carlton use a similar well done solid tie strap while oregon chose a more tin like construction. i quit using Oregon chain a while back and use mainly Carlton now but still have a couple stihl chains in the mix. most of my cutting is in sand coated dirty skidded alder so i would consider this a pretty good test of the chain.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

The diff. between Oregon and Stihl chain is in your heads. Just another meaningless thing to argue about, I know, what is better Husky mix or Stihl mix, NGK or Bosch, Pepsi or Coke?

True, but what cuts faster, a Husky chain you stuck in the dirt a few times, or a brand new Stihl chain?

 

[woodfarmer]

nwcs

i cut with my 2171 oregon chain, two tankfulls didn't tension chain, the other day with 066 stihl chain, had to tighten tension 3 times in one tankfull, so what's that about stihl chain being superior in the stretching dept.

 

[donnyman]

My 2 cents say there is differwces in cutter steel.I hone grind my chains with a 1/4 air grinder.Some chains throw a shower of sparks and others dont.This tell me the some chains are harder then others.This grinder turns up 30,000 rpms.I use kool grind lubeon the stone to keep the cutters from burning.Later Don.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

i cut with my 2171 oregon chain, two tankfulls didn't tension chain, the other day with 066 stihl chain, had to tighten tension 3 times in one tankfull, so what's that about stihl chain being superior in the stretching dept.

I don't know if this is the case with you, but genrally, if the chain is getting loose quickly, it's dull.
Is the paint all burned off your bar and does it smoke while you are cutting, lol.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

My 2 cents say there is differwces in cutter steel.I hone grind my chains with a 1/4 air grinder.Some chains throw a shower of sparks and others dont.This tell me the some chains are harder then others.This grinder turns up 30,000 rpms.I use kool grind lubeon the stone to keep the cutters from burning.Later Don.

When you grind your chains with a tool like that, especially if you're throwing showers of sparks, it changes the temper of the metal.
The way a chain stays sharp, is it has a layer of chrome on the outside, which is very hard, and the metal under the chrome is comparatively soft. The soft body of the cutter is just there to support the chrome, which does the cutting. The steel wears away just a little faster than the chrome, which exposes the sharp, hard edge of chrome.
Thick chrome will have better "stay-sharp", but will not cut as fast as a cutter with thin chrome.
A cutter with a harder steel body will not only be hard to file, it won't wear fast enough to expose the chrome.
There is a trade off between cutting speed and longevity.

 

[Newfie]

I still can't believe the title of this thread. It's truly amazing the rationalizations people can concoct to explain their inadequacies.

 

[Gologit]

I still can't believe the title of this thread. It's truly amazing the rationalizations people can concoct to explain their inadequacies.

Might be inadequacies...more likely just a lack of experience and maybe getting some bad advice somewhere.

 

[geofore]

Cutters in frozen wood

Hi

Have been cutting some hardwood recently, and the hardwood is dry now in winter and some partly frozen. Using Husky chains they dull up in no time. Seems the steel is simply to soft for this kind of usage.
Anyone else experienced this. Of regular types I think Stihl chains is the only way to go now.

When you're into frozen wood you might consider changing the angle of your cutters to get longer life out of them, not attacking the quality of the chain. It could be operator error not changing the cutters to adjust to the wood being cut. Try the search button.

 

[oldsaw]

The diff. between Oregon and Stihl chain is in your heads. Just another meaningless thing to argue about, I know, what is better Husky mix or Stihl mix, NGK or Bosch, Pepsi or Coke?

No, it's in my file, and on my vise and gloves. The filings on Oregon chain are about half again the size of the Stihl, and the filing even sounds different, higher pitch on the Stihl when the file passes through. They are harder.

Now, to answer the original question, we need more info. Is this chain new "out of the box" that is dulling fast? Then tightening the angle a bit on the top plate may help. Are you hand filing? You may be making a beak that is rolling over. Are you grinding? May be you are overheating the cutters. Is there dirt in the logs?

Oregon chain will cut frozen wood just fine. Been there, done that. I grew up in Minnesota.

Mark

 

[Simonizer]

The diff. between Oregon and Stihl chain is in your heads. Just another meaningless thing to argue about, I know, what is better Husky mix or Stihl mix, NGK or Bosch, Pepsi or Coke?

I agree with Clearance on this one. The differences are trivial from my experiences in the last 20 years.

 

[tek9tim]

I haven't run much husky/oregon chain, but I have a lot of stihl. Here's what I've experienced... Put a new husky chain on my fire saw this last summer, and was able to use it hard for several days without needing to touch it up at all, the cutters held their edge very nicely, it was longer than I had ever been able to go with Stihl chain. Went down to Louisiana this fall to help clean up, and all we ran was Stihl. (as is usually the case anyhow) In the hardwoods down there, we had a lot of trouble with chains stretching so much that they were no longer useable before the cutters were much below half life. Oilers were cranked up, and we were sharpening very regularly. I know these were two very different circumstances, and I didn't run any oregon down south to compare directly, but again, just my experience. I still prefer Stihl.

 

[smokechase II]

ask the pros

One way to get the broadest level of input on this is to ask the guys at Madsen's and Bailey's. They have to deal with a substantial volume of loggers from a fairly broad area.
They're not going to put it out over the internet.
Be discrete, but they both coincide on the hardness of the teeth issue and are in agreement on what seems to have happened in the last few years.

 

[smokechase II]

Tek9Tim in the South

Was there any dirt/sand component to any of your cutting?

Fire ants can be heck on a bar/chain with their building of nests just under the bark.

My experience in South Carolina after Hugo was that nothing short of possibly carbide could handle that stuff. Our bars went through about a 1/2 normal life cycle too.