Where to buy chain saw chains

[Sawyer Rob]

My helper bought a Chinese bar and chain... They were junk, they didn't last long at all...

Bar wear was excessive and the chain wouldn't stay sharp at all...junk...

SR

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Cutting muddy logs in a deck can wreck a chain pretty quick. File them straighter across than factory to save the tooth, and don't forget to drop the rakers a bit so they cut deeper. It's pretty easy to go through a chain every 10 cords or so. You have to sharpen all the time, so I use a 12 volt die grinder to put an edge back on the teeth. Loggers leave muddy decks. When I'm falling trees myself I use the front loader to keep the tree off the ground as I drag it to the landing.

 

[rbtjr]

Very interesting info in this thread. I have bought only Stihl chains for our Stihl chain saws but I will for sure try some of the recommendations. As to chain sharpening, we have a local guy who sharpens lots of stuff as a side job. $5 per chain and he does a great job. As a result of having this guy's services available, neither our local Stihl dealer nor I have sharpened one of our chains in many years.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I have an Oregon sharpener and sharpen my own chains... I use to do a few of them for others too, but not so much these days...

I mostly use Oregon bars/chains and I usually buy the chains 5 or 10 at a time as I like to have a few extra's around.

SR

 

[4570Man]

If there was someone that did a good job for $5 I'd probably give them my money. Sadly I could put the chain on backwards and cut a few bricks and it would be as sharp as what the local guys do.

 

[ericm979]

I can't imagine having someone sharpen my chains. It only takes me five minutes to sharpen a chain. It's an hour to drive into town and back. Even if I save up some dull chains to take in at once it costs me time rather than saving it. Doing it myself also lets me keep the chain sharp all the time rather than keep cutting on a dull chain to get my money's worth out of each sharpening. Sharp chains are a lot more fun to use.

I've had good results with the Bailey's Woodland Pro chain (made by Carlton, a US company). It's often significantly cheaper than Stihl chain. It's not quite as durable as Stihl for keeping an edge but it's as good as Oregon. The only caveat is that they don't make safety chain, which I prefer for brush cutting.

 

[Jstpssng]

$12 to sharpen a chain? Must have an add referenced in the Saw Chain Sharpening for Dummys book.

I wouldn't pay to have a chain sharpened; yet if you're in business to make money that sounds like a reasonable price to do it right. At 50$/hr, that's 15 minutes, and doesn't include the time to write it up and take care of the sale afterward.
If people don't know how to sharpen a chain they probably also don't know enough to keep it out of the gravel, or even know to stop until the chain flat out won't cut.

 

[Oldpath05]

Oregon Chainsaw Chain Guide Bar and Sprocket at Discount prices <<<<I go here if I cant find the size chain I want on ebay, I like Oregon chains cause they have a small hole in the drive link for better oil distribution on the bar.

 

[Rock Crawler]

I was really twitching to go buy an MS261 C-M to replace my 28 year old 026, but my father smacked me around a bit and might have knocked some sense into me

Instead, since I have a perfect running 026, I decided to treat it with a Forester tune up kit, new 18" bar, chain and file combo and also 2 more chains.

I also ordered a bar/chain combo and spare chain for a guy at work with a smaller Stihl.

This will buy me another 2 years, maybe 3 instead of paying $535 + 6% Pa sales tax on the new MS261 C-M (I get 10% off).

I'm still twitching a bit, just because I'm addicted to shiny new things!

 

[kebo]

Amazon- the place to buy cheap stuff. Although it痴 hard to argue with the logic above.
Do you have a good sharpener? If that痴 patronizing sorry. I cut a lot for a homeowner with firewood and general property cleanup and I致e had the same few chains that I rotate for several years. But my sharpener doesn稚 take a lot off.

I vote for a trip to the local flea market. The one near me has a small shop inside oen of the big sheds and a guy has a small engine shop there. For instance, I bought two brand new Oregon blades (one set) there for my parents 42" craftsman mower for $20. These were the standard straightblade, not a mulching type blade.