Someone please explain what chain guage is all about

[slipknot]

I did a little reasearch and came up with nothing. I see .50 and .58 and .63 guage chain and bars for sale. I know they have to be matched. Why do they make different guages? Is one more durable or something? I was talking to one of the loggers from Knauf Bros. logging that logged our land out, he had a husky 372 with a 20" bar running I think he said .375 .80 guage??? I didn't know they made it that big. Right now i am running .375 .50 guage for firewood cutting with a homelite 360 and a husky 257 both with 20" bar. Is something else better? That homelite eats bars like crazy(it gets a knife edge bur on the sides pretty quick) I am not really bearing down on it just a super heavy saw. Iv'e been using an oregon pro-lite, am considering buying a powermatch for it like my 257 has. Should I switch to a heavier gauge?

 

[lovetheoutdoors]

I did a little reasearch and came up with nothing. I see .50 and .58 and .63 guage chain and bars for sale. I know they have to be matched. Why do they make different guages? Is one more durable or something? I was talking to one of the loggers from Knauf Bros. logging that logged our land out, he had a husky 372 with a 20" bar running I think he said .375 .80 guage??? I didn't know they made it that big. Right now i am running .375 .50 guage for firewood cutting with a homelite 360 and a husky 257 both with 20" bar. Is something else better? That homelite eats bars like crazy(it gets a knife edge bur on the sides pretty quick) I am not really bearing down on it just a super heavy saw. Iv'e been using an oregon pro-lite, am considering buying a powermatch for it like my 257 has. Should I switch to a heavier gauge?

im not sure about gauge and all that either....this is a good question, i asked the the local chainsaw dealer this question and he couldnt answer it.

 

[Treeman67]

i'll ask my saw-guy shop, maybe he can tell me, if i know more about it... i'll posted up info about gauge.
Treeman67

 

[Uwharrie]

I'll give you my take on the subject. I've found that everybody has an opinion so I might as well give mine. Down here in the Carolinas we mainly sell .050 gauge on all saws except some Stihl's that come with .063. The bar is the same outside width with any of the gauges of .050, .058 and .063 and we like the thicker bar rails when you only cut out 50 thousands of metal out of them. This gives more rail for the chain to ride on thus also making the bar a little stronger. However we hear from some of our suppliers up north that they sell a lot of .058. We would suspect the wider gauge would help more oil flow in colder temperatures up in the northern areas. As for the wear on the rails it comes from dull chains, lack of lubrication or just pure cheap bars. There are several great bars on the market today as you mentioned, PowerMatch , GB Pro Bars and GB Titanium.

 

[coveredinsap]

In a nutshell:

pitch=link length
gauge=link thickness (width)

The thicker the link the less prone it is to breakage, but the harder the saw has to work to pull the chain thru the wood.

 

[THALL10326]

In a nutshell:

pitch=link length
gauge=link thickness (width)

The thicker the link the less prone it is to breakage, but the harder the saw has to work to pull the chain thru the wood.

I have thought those exact samethings for years. However the .063 gauge chains seem to be on the smaller mid size saws most times. I always thought the above was the reasoning as well. Sap you and me are in agreement on this gauge thing, .

 

[rupedoggy]

I don't think it has to do with strength now a days. The new chain seems to be the same links and cutters but the driver is narrowed down for the smaller gage. I was told by an old logger that the saw man started out with .050 and when his bar groove got really worn he could fit the next size into his bar, .058. I don't know if that was really done but he said it was. Mike

 

[slipknot]

So basically I am running the most durable set up then, right? (.375 Pitch .50 Guage)
But then why would the logger i talked to be running .80 guage for all day cutting?
Watching them loggers was awsome(wish I was a logger) Thats going to be my next post "how to get into a logging career" with out being grandfathered in like them knauf bros. boys.....good ole buncha fellas, but even they said you gotta know or be related to someone, to be a logger.
IMO i would rather be a logger than anything else. I love chainsaws and cutting wood, its a true passion for me.

 

[coveredinsap]

The .404 .063 chain I just purchased for my Mac 250 has significantly larger (and longer) cutters than the 3/8 .063 chain I recently purchased for my Alpina does.

The 3/8 .063 and 3/8 .050 do appear to have the same size cutters. The thickness of the driver makes the whole chain thicker on the .063 gauge, however.

 

[Lakeside53]

I was told by an old logger that the saw man started out with .050 and when his bar groove got really worn he could fit the next size into his bar, .058. I don't know if that was really done but he said it was. Mike

I see that now and then... but...

 

[coveredinsap]

So basically I am running the most durable set up then, right? (.375 Pitch .50 Guage)
But then why would the logger i talked to be running .80 guage for all day cutting?
Watching them loggers was awsome(wish I was a logger) Thats going to be my next post "how to get into a logging career" with out being grandfathered in like them knauf bros. boys.....good ole buncha fellas, but even they said you gotta know or be related to someone, to be a logger.
IMO i would rather be a logger than anything else. I love chainsaws and cutting wood, its a true passion for me.

.080 gauge appears to be a harvester chain gauge, not a chainsaw chain gauge per se.

 

[Lakeside53]

So basically I am running the most durable set up then, right? (.375 Pitch .50 Guage)
But then why would the logger i talked to be running .80 guage for all day cutting?
Watching them loggers was awsome(wish I was a logger) Thats going to be my next post "how to get into a logging career" with out being grandfathered in like them knauf bros. boys.....good ole buncha fellas, but even they said you gotta know or be related to someone, to be a logger.
IMO i would rather be a logger than anything else. I love chainsaws and cutting wood, its a true passion for me.

0.080 is for harvester bars, not chainsaws.... sure he could have modified a harvester bar, but there is no need. And they are heavy.

0.063 (Stihl) has a hole in the tang to pull more oil around by keeping it lower in the groove. No real need unless you are milling, and then the advantage is minimal.

There is a difference in strength, but it doesn't matter unless you are on the very largest saws. And even then you rarely hear of stripped cutters or broken chains.

An 026 works just the same with and 0.063 or 0.050 chain of the same pitch.... It comes down to a regional preferences. We see little 0.063 out here in the NW - almost all 3/8 -50 right up to the long bars on the 066. East coast - a lot of 325/063 on small saws.


BTW, there is a lot of similar discussion, on a week or so back, on this exact topic..

Thee

 

[THALL10326]

0.080 is for harvester bars, not chainsaws.... sure he could have modified a harvester bar, but there is no need. And they are heavy.

0.063 (Stihl) has a hole in the tang to pull more oil around by keeping it lower in the groove. No real need unless you are milling, and then the advantage is minimal.

There is a difference in strength, but it doesn't matter unless you are on the very largest saws. And even then you rarely hear of stripped cutters or broken chains.

An 026 works just the same with and 0.063 or 0.050 chain of the same pitch.... It comes down to a regional preferences. We see little 0.063 out here in the NW - almost all 3/8 -50 right up to the long bars on the 066. East coast - a lot of 325/063 on small saws.


BTW, there is a lot of similar discussion, on a week or so back, on this exact topic..

Thee

Thats interesting for from Mid-Atlantic any .325 chain on all saws they send out is .063. I've never understood why and felt as Sap did , guage equals less chance of the chain busting. Interesting topic to say the least. Lake you shed alot of lite on this and your pointers are always welcomed by me...

 

[slipknot]

He let me mess with his 372 which was the biggest most powerful saw i had ever played with to date. He could of been talking about the Prentice thingy they had. It was a crane thing with a detachable hydraulic saw controlled from the cab of the crane thing, it was pulled by a semi when they left.
What I am saying is after messin with his 372 it was very, very easy for what he said to go in one ear and out the other. So i could be wrong. They called that thing the slasher, is that a nickname or just what it is called?

 

[coveredinsap]

Picture a Stihl 088 with a worn 36" .404 .063 bar retrofitted with a .404 .080 harvester chain. That would be one very mean looking saw. Ditto for a Mac SP125.

 

[Lakeside53]

If it's worn enough to take .80 the bar would be shot and never worked for beans on the 063 anyhow.

 

[coveredinsap]

If it's worn enough to take .80 the bar would be shot and never worked for beans on the 063 anyhow.

I would have to disagree, as the difference between .063 and .080 is .017..../2 = .0085 per side rail. If each side rail is 1/16" or .0625 (guestimate), then subtracting .0085 would still leave around .054 rail thickness.

And evidently if loggers are doing it, then its entirely possible. ...Even if my math is off

And speaking as someone who just restored an old rusty dented and pinched .404 bar....converting it to .063 in the process, this isn't just 'theory'.

 

[Lakeside53]

Apple and oranges. Have you ever seen harvester chain?

If an 063 bar is worn .080 at the bottom of the groove, it's FAR worse are the top. The 063 chain will slop from side to side and be worthless in the cut.

I have seen many bars that are worn to the point they are useless; they don't wear with mathematical precision, they wear tapered. Rail width is only ONE part of the guiding process - the tang still has to be guided vertically or the chain just falls to the side when under pressure. If you had ever used worn bars and chains you'd know this. I can't be bothered going back to figure out where you started, but 058 to 063 isn't a big stretch... the correct process is to just put in the original size chain and use a bar closer (google or just go to Madsen's and look it up). One old museum relic isn't "experience"... in any case, have you ever cut with it?


The "loggers" are not doing it as a matter or course; a few have been known to do it do it because they can get another week or month out of a bar with 063 in 058 bars etc. If anything, it's a rare occurrence. I see it from time to time beated up junk that comes it for service. They either get a new bar and chain or I send it back unmounted.

The prior poster was referring to the hydraulic harvester machine using 0.080 - read his reply.

 

[Turner]

In addition to what's been mentioned, from what I understand, The tradeoff in say, going from a 3/8 .050 chain to a 3/8 .063 to gain a more durable chain is that you also gain weight, and thus add load to the saw and decrease chain speed in the cut. I'd be interested if anybody had an accurate small scale and could weigh say a 20" loop of each to see what the weight difference really is.

 

[coveredinsap]

Apple and oranges. Have you ever seen harvester chain?

If an 063 bar is worn .080 at the bottom of the groove, it's FAR worse are the top. The 063 chain will slop from side to side and be worthless in the cut.

I have seen many bars that are worn to the point they are useless; they don't wear with mathematical precision, they wear tapered. Rail width is only ONE part of the guiding process - the tang still has to be guided vertically or the chain just falls to the side when under pressure. If you had ever used worn bars and chains you'd know this. I can't be bothered going back to figure out where you started, but 058 to 063 isn't a big stretch... the correct process is to just put in the original size chain and use a bar closer (google or just go to Madsen's and look it up). One old museum relic isn't "experience"... in any case, have you ever cut with it?


The "loggers" are not doing it as a matter or course; a few have been known to do it do it because they can get another week or month out of a bar with 063 in 058 bars etc. If anything, it's a rare occurrence. I see it from time to time beated up junk that comes it for service. They either get a new bar and chain or I send it back unmounted.

The prior poster was referring to the hydraulic harvester machine using 0.080 - read his reply.

You seem to be missing the point. You don't wear the bar down to .080, you take a used, worn .063 bar and convert it by widening the groove to fit a .080 chain. Huge difference.

And my converted bar cuts just fine. Would I have bought a new bar if I could? Sure, but Mac bars in in .404 .063 aren't exactly growing on trees, and neither is .404 .058 chain.