Is chainsaw chain a big mystery to everyone????

   / Is chainsaw chain a big mystery to everyone???? #1  

LD1

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Just as the title says. Dont people understand how to size a chain for their saws??

It seems EVERY used saw I get from ebay (which is quite a few), has the WRONG chain. I get a TON of 058 gauge bars with 050 chain :mur:

My most recent one I just opened today, a sachs 111, has an original sachs-dolmar bar. and clearly stamped on the bar is .325, 64DL, 058 And it even has little pictures to illustrate what each of those 3 numbers mean. Well, the chain shipped with it was a used (50%) 66DL 050:confused2:

There is only 3 things to sizing the chain.

Pitch. (measure the distance between 3 rivets and divide by 2) commonly .325 or 3/8
Gauge. Thickness of the drive links in thousandths. .050, .058, .063 are common
DL. Number of drive links. Not all 20" bars are the same. A 20" large mount husky has more DL's than a small mount.

Not really rocket science. But it amazes me the number of people that own chainsaws and are clueless about chain replacement.

On the plus side though, I have a ton of spare bars and chains now and can usually make something work:thumbsup::laughing:
 
   / Is chainsaw chain a big mystery to everyone???? #2  
I got a Stihl KM110 with a pole saw. The guy I got it from ran a repair service from his garage. He had used the saw to trim some shrubs around his house. I had looked at the teeth and probably made some comment. He said the teeth were fine or sharp. They were all dinged up from hitting rocks or gravel. Otherwise the bar looked brand new. When I got home a few minutes with a file and the teeth were properly sharp. I also had to adjust the valves as the machine was not running quite right. The valves were about twice the clearance they should have been. Ran much better with properly adjusted valves. For somebody who runs a repair service he was not a guy I would go to but maybe he knows how to regasket a garb which fixes 90% of homeowners complaints.
 
   / Is chainsaw chain a big mystery to everyone????
  • Thread Starter
#3  
For somebody who runs a repair service he was not a guy I would go to but maybe he knows how to regasket a garb which fixes 90% of homeowners complaints.

Thats just the easy way out and might not fix problems.

Actually, of all the used saws I have had my hands on and fixed, which is likely 25+ or so, I have never had to put a carb kit in a single one of them. I use care when disassembling them, to save all the gaskets and diaphragm. 9 times out of 10 when a saw has issues, it is because it has sat and the carb is all varnished up and has plugged jets/ports. A little brake clean or carb clean and some compressed air and re-assemble.
 
   / Is chainsaw chain a big mystery to everyone???? #4  
seems your a bit of a chainsaw collector??? :thumbsup:
 
   / Is chainsaw chain a big mystery to everyone???? #5  
Maybe there sending you junk blades with the saws.
 
   / Is chainsaw chain a big mystery to everyone???? #6  
My most recent one I just opened today, a sachs 111, has an original sachs-dolmar bar. and clearly stamped on the bar is .325, 64DL, 058 And it even has little pictures to illustrate what each of those 3 numbers mean. Well, the chain shipped with it was a used (50%) 66DL 050

So it was a little loose, it still went around the bar didn't it :)
 
   / Is chainsaw chain a big mystery to everyone????
  • Thread Starter
#7  
seems your a bit of a chainsaw collector??? :thumbsup:

What gives you that idea;)

Maybe there sending you junk blades with the saws.

:laughing:

So it was a little loose, it still went around the bar didn't it :)

Yea a little loose in the bar. But @ 66 DL, and half used, it wouldnt even tighten up. His ebay pic even showed it being loose. But then again, most all ebay listings show a saw that way.
 
   / Is chainsaw chain a big mystery to everyone???? #8  
LD1 I am an old fart and back in the day things were simpler...
My dad sold old Homelites from the 60's and 70's...
It seemed like to me all of those older units whether McCullough, Homelite, Pioneer, took the same size and pitch chain...
They were big, heavy, and vibrated but had gobs of torque...
Even the little EZ took the same chain as the XL's...
 
   / Is chainsaw chain a big mystery to everyone???? #9  
What gives you that idea;)



:laughing:



Yea a little loose in the bar. But @ 66 DL, and half used, it wouldnt even tighten up. His ebay pic even showed it being loose. But then again, most all ebay listings show a saw that way.

Thought about the sending you junk chains too (why waste a good one?), but then I thought 'maybe this is the reason they are selling?' They got a 'new chain' and it still didnt work right... Thus the reason 'most on ebay look that way' :)
 
   / Is chainsaw chain a big mystery to everyone????
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Well I e-mail the guy. Told him it was no big deal (as the price was right and I always expect to have to buy a chain) but I just wanted to let him know of the issue, incase he has other saws and just got things mixed up, I would be willing to swap him for the right chain.

He said it was his only saw, and thats the chain that came with it when he got it and how he has been using it and hadnt had any problems:laughing:

My guess is he never cut anything bigger than 4". Cause 90% of the time, a 050 chain in a 058 bar will NOT cut straight in bigger wood. Chain wonders too much.

On the plus side, it does have an original Sachs-Dolmar bar:D
 
 
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