Saw Chains- Oregon 91VXL055G vs. Carlton N1C-055G???

[kantuckid]

In pricing chain loops for the saw I've just bought I see that Carlton's much cheaper for same specs..
FWIW, I read their company web pages and the various corporate stuff about who bought who (Blount and others) and when & so on. Surprising to me that chain doesn't seem to come from China since some bars now come from Asia.
I do have a concurrent thread on the other saw place...
The few comments so far seem to be "seat of the pants opinions", no real conclusions IMO.
Worth asking as there's about $6 per loop price difference and I've never used Carlton before to know from woods use. My local guy makes Oregon up but he's gotten way to high so I'm buying out of state this time around.

 

[KYsawman]

I have had very good luck with the Carlton chain. I run .325 18" on husky 340 and 346xp. I have not been able to tell a difference. My husky dealer in Winchester Ky sells carlton and husky chain which is oregon. the carlton is a few dollars cheaper.

 

[sunfish]

Price Oregon chain here; http://loggerchain.com/

 

[kantuckid]

I already did on ebay,thanks cause it's cheaper on the website, probably from no fleabay fees!

 

[sunfish]

I find chain prices to generally be high on ebay.

 

[kantuckid]

I use ebay at times, sometimes not. Certain items it's THE place, the only place.

 

[Franny K]

I already did on ebay,thanks cause it's cheaper on the website, probably from no fleabay fees!

Actually I think part of the "rules" of Ebay is that the seller won't sell for less elsewhere. That Loggerchain or frawleys seem to have a deal of five loops shipping so actually can get the customer a better deal direct.

Left coast has vxl as inexpensive as one can expect or at least lately did.
The real question is the Stihl chain worth the premium, it kind of depends on how a person looks at things. I find the vxl and N1c similar in performance. The VXL has more sled like bottoms of the tie straps and cutter bottoms as well as some added oil distribution feature. They are what $20 or so different in 100 foot spools (ebay lowest price) so if you are seeing $6 difference per loop it isn't really the underlying cost of a roll of it.

 

[SawTroll]

As far as I know, the cutters of the VXL are Carlton cutters?

Lots of people in Europe have trouble with those long cutters, and want the VX back.

 

[Franny K]

As far as I know, the cutters of the VXL are Carlton cutters?

Lots of people in Europe have trouble with those long cutters, and want the VX back.

The Carlton N1C cutter contacts the bar in more of a point and less of a sled like shape than the vxl.

Isn't the 91PX essentially the same as the obsolete VX just with bumper tie strap? I kind of like the VX and still have a few new loops to modify as needed. It isn't really good for too many sharpenings. hence making Stihl chain probably more cost effective. The folks that prefer VX might like the Stihl PMM3 (Stihl 0.043 gague stuff).

 

[kantuckid]

LeftcoastSupply has as good a price as can be expected but I didn't checkout to determine shipping breaks,etc and there is no shipping info button/area on their website? so it's a mystery until you fill in all the info blanks.

As for Stihl chains, I have too many rocks to get a handle on any chain lasting longer and I sure don't count the filings or grindings!

I need to get an 1/8"x 4 1/4" stone for new saw chain. I've never used the "off -brand" tan colored grind stones? Opinions from use?
I also see the off-brand pink and Oregon pink. FWIW, I dislike stones that explode and have had even name brand saw chain stones do so, thus I have no faith in any grind stone anyway. obviously I "like" my eyes so spare me the lecture part...

 

[Jon9sered]

As far as I know, the cutters of the VXL are Carlton cutters?

Lots of people in Europe have trouble with those long cutters, and want the VX back.

Hi Sawtroll, I must say thanks for all the years of wisdom you've put into these sites and all the people you've helped out. You ever come down to Wanaka New Zealand theres a beer for your and a loop of square grind for your saw. 64 021 434 290

 

[HarleyT]

Yeah, years ago at the Expo, I showed the Oregon guys the long cutters on the Carlton N1. And a year or so later they came out with the Oregon version, but I didn't know that they just used the Carlton cutters.
It makes sense though.

 

[SawTroll]

Yeah, years ago at the Expo, I showed the Oregon guys the long cutters on the Carlton N1. And a year or so later they came out with the Oregon version, but I didn't know that they just used the Carlton cutters.
It makes sense though.

As I recall it, Blount owned both Oregon, Carlton and Windsor for a while before being bought up themselves - and some hybrids, brand name swapping (on the SpeedTip bars) etc. came out of that. I'm not sure that the VXL came out of this though, or if it happened earlier?

 

[HarleyT]

I started telling my Oregon reps about the long cutters, and they had a stock response about it being an optical illusion that they were longer, so I started bringing a few links of both when I knew I would encounter someone in the business, then they would get silent when they had them side by side. I also showed them to customers, who automatically chose the Carlton, as the cutters were drastically longer.

 

[SawTroll]

I started telling my Oregon reps about the long cutters, and they had a stock response about it being an optical illusion that they were longer, so I started bringing a few links of both when I knew I would encounter someone in the business, then they would get silent when they had them side by side. I also showed them to customers, who automatically chose the Carlton, as the cutters were drastically longer.

There has been complaints about the long cutters of the VXL on some forums though, as they allegedly create some sort of issue when used on certain bar/drive sprocket combinations. I no longer recall the details though (this was a few years ago, on a UK forum mainly).

 

[dsell]

Oregon is also making M91VXL supposed to have more chrome. Oregon sent the best PX machines to their China plant. They continued making the VXL at Portland Oregon but they had troubles keeping the machines running and keeping techs. The China move was timed poorly and they were hit with large Trump tariffs. Newer PX will likely be stamped China and VXL should be USA.

 

[HarleyT]

I would guess they might be a problem with carvers and others with pointy bars. Down here we are just dumb rednecks that get their chains butchered by the kid at the hardware store, so the extra long cutter is a great selling point.

 

[Square Ground]

The 91VXL cutters were made at Carlton for about a year before tooling was developed at Oregon to make the cutter. Internal die components were switched out on the Carlton tooling to make the VXL cutter. Oregon wanted the Carlton cutter design for a long time. So much in fact, the VXL cutter was the first project launched after the acquisition.

 

[SawTroll]

The 91VXL cutters were made at Carlton for about a year before tooling was developed at Oregon to make the cutter. Internal die components were switched out on the Carlton tooling to make the VXL cutter. Oregon wanted the Carlton cutter design for a long time. So much in fact, the VXL cutter was the first project launched after the acquisition.

Sounds like a plausible story - but a lot of people still missed the ol' VX when VXL replaced it.

Imo, this all is a moot point after Stihl came out with chisel chain in 3/8" lo-pro (Picco) though.

 

[HarleyT]

Imo, this all is a moot point after Stihl came out with chisel chain in 3/8" lo-pro (Picco) though

There you go, always bragging on Stihl's!!