Saw chain from Home Depot

[Urbicide]

Hey I was thinking about you the other day. I recently bought 3 straight gased DCS-6401's from the local HD. 2 of the saws did't have chains (3rd one had a Carlton safety chain) and the manager gave me 2 of the triple 0 chains. I saw those and thought to myself "o.k.". They are 3/8ths, .050, 72 link safety chain. Would you like them? I'll be more than happy to send them to you. PM me with your address.

 

[Uwharrie]

I have bought one to test and it's on my desk. First impression of the chain is very good as far as the looks of the chain. All the links move freely and the chrome looks good. I'll get a chance to try next week. I have the 3/8" Low Pro Safety.

 

[Brian S]

That chain is crap, it IS Chinese. I've bought two loops from the HD for my old Wildthing. One chain lasted about 5 minutes because I failed to clear out the oiler channel on my bar before use and I ran it dry, it is salvagable. BTW, yes I know, the saw is crap too. The chain I used is a 3/8 low profile 66 DL 18".

The chain has semi-chisel cutters, dulls amazingly quickly and stretches equally quickly. It is marked as anti-kickback thought it would not appear to be to my eye, I believe that the anti-kickback rating is achieved by not sharpening the chain prior to shipment. Did I mention that it dulls amazingly quickly, it might actually have been dull right out of the box. It resharpens VERY easily though and all cutters on mine are still in good shape after 1/2 cord of use in dry oak. I did notice on the first sharpening that all the cutters on one side of the chain had a noticibly different angle than the cutters on the other side, like one side was ground at 25 deg and the other side 30 deg. I corrected and equalized them with a handfile, the ones which just needed sharpening got there in about 2 strokes and the ones I had to correct took 5-6 strokes each. The file drug through the cutter like filing lead, it felt sticky like the cutter metal was trying to grip the file for dear life. Oh, BTW the file I used came from HD too, also made in America's heartland; Jangdangjongwong China. The file is not the best quality either.

The chain does cut, but it is FAR inferior to everything else I have used. For the record the only other chain I have used is Oregon and Stihl.

I am keeping both loops of this crappy chain for my crappy saw in order to loan it out to my crappy uncle who always needs to borrow my tools.

Did I mention this stuff is crap?

 

[Oregon Engineer]

Thanks for the offer Urbicide but I won't need the chains. We have a few local HDs. Do you plan to use the two chains?

Uwharried,
As you use the chain, post the number of tanks and how the chain works for you.

Brian S.
Thanks for the response. Will you be able to keep a straight face when you loan out your saw?

 

[Brian S]

Thanks for the offer Urbicide but I won't need the chains. We have a few local HDs. Do you plan to use the two chains?

Uwharried,
As you use the chain, post the number of tanks and how the chain works for you.

Brian S.
Thanks for the response. Will you be able to keep a straight face when you loan out your saw?

Upon re-reading my post I see that I may have been too hard on the chain. It is functional saw chain, but that is about it. I just can't stand to buy something like this from China at an absurdly marked up retail price for so many reasons. All hail the almighty buck I guess. My poor uncle, oh I hate to lend him anything. Even though the WT is a turd it pains me to lend it out. Everything that gets lent out comes back in worse shape than it left. Usually I just offer to come over, do the job myself and take my gear back home with me. It is quicker and easier and usually cheaper. Besides if I lent him a chainsaw and he cut a leg off it would be my fault somhow.

 

[parrisw]

Everything that gets lent out comes back in worse shape than it left. Usually I just offer to come over, do the job myself and take my gear back home with me.

+1, I just offer to do it myself too.

On the chain though. I just went to Home Depot to have a look, and all I saw was chain that said Carlton on it.

 

[PB]

I looked at the saw chain tonight after returning a few things. It does not look very heavy, and seems like it would stretch, but have never used it.

 

[techdave]

Fish? and Walt Galer?...

That old thread on alloys was blast from the past!!

 

[woodchuck361]

Well I bought a power care bar and chain combo for my boss's 3516 mac. What a joke. I never look at the saws in the home depot so I did not know until today how BAD the power care stuff is. Boss brings in saw and says here fix it. So first it needs tuned and a new bar and chain. I run to depot to buy an Oregon bar and chain. Not going to get one there only power care junk. So back in the car and off to Lowe's, only to find they don't have a bar to fit the saw but they do have Oregon chain. So back to H.D. to get the power care combo. He needs a bar BAD. All tuned up and new bar and chain on. Never put it through wood just ran it to adjust the carb. and there was so much stretch in that chain I could not believe it. They will get some home owner KILLED with that crap due to the chain fling off. I will say one thing the tooth is longer on the Power care chain than Oregon, But I think that Oregon would still last longer(better Quality). anyway he is cutting this weekend I will see how good the chain is by how bad he cusses me on Monday.

 

[Oregon Engineer]

Well I bought a power care bar and chain combo for my boss's 3516 mac. ....... he is cutting this weekend I will see how good the chain is by how bad he cusses me on Monday.

Hey Woodchuck361,
What did your boss say about the chain?

 

[Fish]

That old thread on alloys was blast from the past!!

Hey Dave, How's it hangin?

 

[retired redneck]

A man brought three of those chink chains to my shop sat, had to remove i dl from each so would stay on his 455 rancher, could not keep from blueing teeth no matter how slow i sharpened them. you get what you pay for is right.

 

[woodchuck361]

Hey Woodchuck361,
What did your boss say about the chain?

Well he cut a hand full of trees, nothing larger than 6" . He was just clearing some brush around the shop. I had to sharpen the chain twice in 30 min. The metal in the tooth is very week and will round over. The way a chain looks if you hit a rock or a nail, but just from cutting and he was cutting softwood. He should not have had a problem or had to resharpen the chain at all. The first time it needed sharpening I gave him a bunch of crap about hitting something. "NO NO NO" he swore up and down " Never hit anything" So he started cutting the trees a foot off the ground to be sure not to contact anything but the intended tree and sure enough 15 min he was back to have me sharpen the chain again. It looked just the same as before. Easy to sharpen but like there is no temper to the tooth at all, way to soft. The bad part is we live and work on the west side of Knoxville and there are no REAL saw shops on this side of town. Only on the east side or up in Maryville. So he is stuck with junk chain. It's his own fault he could make the drive to the East side like I do to buy chain.