Any opinions of the most suitable type if chain for cutting hardwood using a 16-18" bar. Brands not important. I have two EGO battery powered saws that came with Oregon low profile chains. The 16" revs up to 6500 rpm, the 18" revs up to 11,000 rpm. I have over 40 years experience using chainsaws. Is the low profile the best choice, or is there a better option? Thanks folks.
The problem is that those battery powered saws to not have the power to run a more aggressive chain than the low profile chain that comes with them. Changing to a different pitch (3/8" standard or .325") would likely be more than those saws can handle.
To make a specific chain recommendation, I'd need the information on what your saw is set up to use now. Usually the chain requirements are stamped on the bar. You mentioned "low profile". I'm assuming that is 3/8" pitch low profile. If you know the brand and specific type of chain you are using now, that would be helpful, so we know what chain it is that you are trying to improve upon.
There is a bit more information needed:
Gauge: Given that these are battery saws, I'm guessing that it is also .043" gauge (1.1mm) you should see .043 or 1.1 stamped on the bar
Regular or Narrow Kerf bar: I'm also betting you have narrow kerf bars. Most battery saws do. You may see some indication of this on the bar, such as "NK" stamped somewhere. A narrow kerf bar should be matched with a narrow kerf chain.
Number of Drive links: needed to get the correct size chain loop. Not all saws with a 16" bar take the same number of drive links.
At one point, I could swear I saw someone selling a Full Chisel 3/8" low profile chain. Full chisel has a square-off corner where the side plate meets the top plat of the chain. Most of the 3/8" low-profile chain I've seen are "semi-chisel" (that corner is either rounded off, rather than a sharp 90˚ edge), or it has what is sometimes referred to as a "chamfer chisel" (the corner has a small bevel on the edge, so it's really made up of two 45˚ angles than one 90˚ corner).
A full chisel chain would be my preference for cutting clean hardwoods. The cutting performance is a bit better than the semi-chisel chain. (The advantage of semi-chisel chain is that it is more forgiving of minor sharpening errors, and it holds up to dirty conditions a bit longer than full chisel chain.) While I thought I saw full chisel low profile a few years ago, I can't find it now. (I've not looked all that hard yet.)
Keep in mind that many battery powered saws are the equivalent of a cheap 30cc gas saw in terms of cutting power. The best of them might keep up with a good 40cc gas saw. That may improve in the future, but if you are expecting your battery saw to gut like a 60-70cc gas saw (or even a decent 50cc saw), that just isn't going to happen.
A last tip: the best thing you can do to improve performance is learn to sharpen your own chains, do it well, and do it often. As a chainsaw safety instructor once told me "you don't sharpen a chain
because it got dull. You sharpen a chain to
keep it from getting dull." That is: sharpen at the first sign your chain is no longer cutting at it's best.
