What are you paying for Stihl chain?

   / What are you paying for Stihl chain? #1  

fabsroman

Silver Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2011
Messages
137
Location
West Friendship, Maryland
Just bought two Stihl saws today. A MS261 with an 18" bar and a MS660 with a 25" bar. The dealer was having a special on chains of buy one get one 1/2 off, so I bought 2 extra 18" chains for the MS261. Regular price was $33 and the second one was $16.50 at half off. Felt somewhat expensive, but I am new to Stihl saws and chains.

What do you guys think? Did I get taken for a ride?
 
   / What are you paying for Stihl chain? #2  
Depends on the chain, but I know a 20" bar and chain will eat up most of a 100 dollar bill so you probably did OK.

660 is a big saw......what are you cutting with that?
 
   / What are you paying for Stihl chain? #3  
You got two chains for $49.50, so you paid about $25 each. A local dealer near here sells 74 tooth Stihl safety chain (for an 18" bar) for $28 each. That gives you something to compare to.
 
   / What are you paying for Stihl chain?
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Depends on the chain, but I know a 20" bar and chain will eat up most of a 100 dollar bill so you probably did OK.

660 is a big saw......what are you cutting with that?

Firewood, and I hope that I will be cutting it quickly. I just ordered a wood burning furnace and need to cut and split 4+ cords of wood a year.

I bought the MS291 for the majority of the cutting, with the MS660 for the really big stuff. I'll see how it all works out and then go from there. I've used my dad's crap McCulloch and Craftsman saws and have no desire to spend that long trying to cut 4+ cords of firewood.

Looks like I left off the chain model in my original post, so for you and everybody else, here it is:

26RMC3 74 links which is for the 18" bar.

Might go with an RSC chain next to see if there is a difference.
 
   / What are you paying for Stihl chain? #5  
Firewood, and I hope that I will be cutting it quickly. I just ordered a wood burning furnace and need to cut and split 4+ cords of wood a year.

I bought the MS291 for the majority of the cutting, with the MS660 for the really big stuff. I'll see how it all works out and then go from there. I've used my dad's crap McCulloch and Craftsman saws and have no desire to spend that long trying to cut 4+ cords of firewood.

Looks like I left off the chain model in my original post, so for you and everybody else, here it is:

26RMC3 74 links which is for the 18" bar.

Might go with an RSC chain next to see if there is a difference.


That's a ton of saw for firewood......but I'm like you in not wanting to deal with junk tools.

Be careful with that thing if you've never run a professional model saw......that thing is designed for big hardwood and west coast style cuttin!
 
   / What are you paying for Stihl chain?
  • Thread Starter
#6  
That's a ton of saw for firewood......but I'm like you in not wanting to deal with junk tools.

Be careful with that thing if you've never run a professional model saw......that thing is designed for big hardwood and west coast style cuttin!

Thanks for the info. Maybe I will just use it on oak and other hardwoods of that nature. Figured I would just use it for logs that are 24"+, but maybe I will just use it for the really hard wood. My dad's McCullochs are dead and now he is using an 18" Craftsman. Between the Craftsman and the MS291, we should be just fine for the small stuff. The thing that got me thinking about a 460 or 660 was a 48" oak that the farm owner just cut up two months ago. How the heck do you even think about cutting something like that with an 18" or 20" saw? If the 660 ends up intimidating me, I'll sell it and get something smaller, but bigger than the MS261.

FYI - you figured me out without knowing that much about me. I hate junk anything, and especially tools. I don't mind paying extra for good stuff that will last a while, and I take pretty good care of my stuff. That goes for vehicles, guns, rods/reels, bikes, tools, mowers, tractors, etc. However, I expect them to last quite a while.

The images I have from my youth with those McCulloch saws was that we were always trying to get them to run. For one reason or another, they were always broken or the chains were always dull. It just wasn't fun. My dad rarely had the right equipment for the job, or he pushed his equipment well beyond its limit. Hauled so much lumber for a deck in my brother's 2 year old F150 that he bent the tailgate and the front wheels were barely touching the ground. The steering and braking was horrible, and I figured that out from just trying to move it around in the neighborhood to reposition it so we could unload the wood. I could post all night with stories like that. Here is another deck story. Instead of learning from the previous experience 10+ years prior with the decking bending the tailgate and buying a cargo extender that installs in the hitch, my dad goes and puts his decking material on top of the truck's roof with the ends resting against the closed tailgate. So, the boards are hanging over the roof of the truck. He tied them down, but when he took the first turn they all slid off and into the roadway. Luckily, some guys that were heading into Home Depot saw it and helped him pick everything back up. So, he continues on at a snail's pace. When he gets to his property, he goes over a large root from a tree while trying to drive into the backyard. The boards drop down onto the roof and cave it in about 2 inches. Then, he wonders why I will not let him borrow my F350.
 
   / What are you paying for Stihl chain? #7  
Some people are just hard on equipment. There's a guy down the road that was that way. He'd borrow a trailer and bring it back with a tail light knocked off, or borrow a lawn tractor and bring it back limping. I don't know anybody that loans him anything any more. I think the guy would break anvils.

Charlie
 
   / What are you paying for Stihl chain? #8  
Congrats on the new saws. You may have gone a bit overboard with that 660. Lotta saw for the amount of firewood you are going to cut. Some of that money may have been better spent going towards a splitter.
 
   / What are you paying for Stihl chain? #9  
Thanks for the info. Maybe I will just use it on oak and other hardwoods of that nature. Figured I would just use it for logs that are 24"+, but maybe I will just use it for the really hard wood. My dad's McCullochs are dead and now he is using an 18" Craftsman. Between the Craftsman and the MS291, we should be just fine for the small stuff. The thing that got me thinking about a 460 or 660 was a 48" oak that the farm owner just cut up two months ago. How the heck do you even think about cutting something like that with an 18" or 20" saw? If the 660 ends up intimidating me, I'll sell it and get something smaller, but bigger than the MS261.

Well to put that 660 in context I've never laid eyes on one........44 series is the biggest I've seen a logger running around here (not much big timber or sawhands left though). Dad is having some cypress cut right now by a crew that still uses a sawhand to notch the trees so the cutter can take them down....he probably uses a saw in that range with a 25" bar.

The power of the big professional saws is all about felling and power to weight ratio. When you are stooped over stumping timber for hours you want that thing to get it for energy and safety.

You probably could have got by with a 362 and a couple different bars for when you do run into a big tree.....but those saws should last you for years and years.

I've got a professional model Stihl trimmer and a residential model trimmer with the interchangeable attachment we use for a pole saw. I'll never buy another non-pro model anything!
 
   / What are you paying for Stihl chain? #10  
Yep, I agree that the 660 is a bit much for what you need. But it is still a great saw. They are just heavy.

We cut north of 20 cords per year, and we dont even have a saw that big.

But if you are young, inshape, and know how to handle a saw, you'll love it. A good friend of mine (kinda a rookie in sawing) wanted a 660/066 for his firewood cutting. I tried to shy him away and go down a size to the 440/460. He asked me "will that beat your 7900's". I said nope. He said "thats why I'm getting a 660."

Must be a guy thing.:D The ongoing quest for more power. I guess thats why I did the 84cc ported BB kit on one of the 6400's. So I could again out-cut him:laughing:

But to answer the direct question about chain cost, I dont think you got a great deal, but he didnt take advantage of you either.

Stihl chain is about the best there is. That is what I run and I dont even own a stihl. What we buy is the 3/8" full-comp chisel chain. I believe they call it RSC??? But the local dealer charges $1 per inch of bar. So a chain for my 24" bar runs me $24:thumbsup:
 
 
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