Bar and chain selection

PTmowerMech

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Which means they are now made in what ever third world country that can supply them the cheapest .
By and large private equity firms have 2 modes of operation
1) buy a brand name , downgrade the product to suck the maximun profit out of it then when there is no more big money to be made flog it off then go destroy another business
2) buy a failing brand name ,take it private , cook the books so it looks like they have revived it then relist it sell off 100% and go hide behind their lawyers or senators .
In any case the acquisition officers have 1 and 1 only goal which is to beat what ever share index or government bond rate they link to then pay themselves a hefty percentage of that difference in bonuses

Yes sir. Been there, done that. The trucking company I started with was sold to an equity company. We were still hauling the loads, everyone was still doing their jobs. But one day, after about a year, some employee's showed up at the office with chains on the gates and the doors.
Drivers were told to make their deliveries and get back to a terminal within 2 days, because the fuel cards were going to shut off.
 

bertsmobile1

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Big shavings & crocked cut = rakers ( bumpers to some ) have been cur too low so the teeth are cutting too deep
This rips the hell out of the bar on semi chisel chains as each link tries to twist under the load .
Also happens when running the saw too slow .
OR misuse like tip cutting .
 

MParr

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Rotary carries bars and chains for the CS2258. They are probably made by Oregon. He wouldn’t know if you didn’t tell him.
 

PTmowerMech

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Rotary carries bars and chains for the CS2258. They are probably made by Oregon. He wouldn’t know if you didn’t tell him.

I don't have an account with Rotary. But I can probably find it on the inner screen.

What's messed up, is everything I've looked at says all I need is the DL, pitch & gauge. I get all that, order a bar and chain that fits that description, and then @StarTech comes up with some numbers that no one else is talking about and isn't listed on anything i've seen or heard today. Apparently it's important information, otherwise he wouldn't have posted it.
But the order is made & paid for. There's no one at Stens today to cancel or replace the order.
 

Hammermechanicman

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Different saws have different bar mounts. Brand A saw may use a 3/8 .050 72DL chain and brand B saw may take the same chain but the bar mount is different.

Brand of saw determines the bar.
Clutch rim or spur sprocket determines pitch.
Bar determines gauge and number of drive links.
 
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bertsmobile1

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This is where having a paper catalogue is worth it's weight in gold because they all have a shadow board listing of bar mounts so you can place any unknown bar on the pages and find out what bar type is it
oregon bar end mounts
And when you are viewing these dozen or so pages while having a cuppa note that the same brand of saw can have a lot of different bar ends so a single Stihl 22" bar will not fit every Stihl saw
Again I get a lot of customers who come in with a junk bar & lade combo wanting to swap it because they searched they searched Stihl XY" bar then bought the cheapest one that of course did not mount onto their saw .And no they do not get a swap .
 
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PTmowerMech

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This is where having a paper catalogue is worth it's weight in gold because they all have a shadow board listing of bar mounts so you can place any unknown bar on the pages and find out what bar type is it
oregon bar end mounts
And when you are viewing these dozen or so pages while having a cuppa note that the same brand of saw can have a lot of different bar ends so a single Stihl 22" bar will not fit every Stihl saw
Again I get a lot of customers who come in with a junk bar & lade combo wanting to swap it because they searched they searched Stihl XY" bar then bought the cheapest one that of course did not mount onto their saw .And no they do not get a swap .

I had a catalog around here somewhere. I just can't locate the darn thing.
 

StarTech

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When you get time sit and do a lot research. There is all kind of designs out there. Really you got to know what you working with and what the customer is trying to do. Enough make your head spin at first but with experience you will know what you are looking for. Most times I am dealing home owners so it is a lot simpler than when a pro comes in.

As for the Rotary bar numbers they are

9532520 20" 3/8" .050 72dl

9533520 20" 3/8" .058 72dl

And I highly recommend using a safety chain as the non safety are dangerous in the hands of non professional.

Both are Pro Sprocket versions with replaceable sprocket tips. Although I yet to replace one as most time the rest of the bar is shot too.

And it comes to chains it is the same thing about styles. You got safety and non safety, different types of bumper links; standard, semi skip, and full skip cutter sequence; semi chisel, chisel, and square face cutters; single and dual rakers. And even got a choice between cross cut and rip cut versions. Head spinning yet?

Most chains you will come across will be cross cut (25-35 degree cutters). Stihl chains are usually file at 25 degrees and most others either 25 or 30 degrees. Rip cut (10 degree cutters) are mostly for milling operation where you are making planks (lumber). This is where you want to break up the shavings more as they are very long otherwise and clog the clutch housings.

I even have a few rare 3/8lp full skip chains here that one particular insists on buying. Oregon has quit making them so when what I got is gone he will have take a standard chain or move up to a larger saw that skip chains are still available for. Normally you will not find skip in a 3/8lp chain.

And just found out a week ago the Rotary has the style of 3/8lp chain I have been looking for my customers that do plunge cuts. I got a 100' roll on the wish list Rotary PO. The particular bumper link style makes it where the bar tip is a lot easier to cut with. I personally do plunge cuts to install wedges for splitting on wood that wedges just don't want to get started. Most chains the bar tip can have a lot of kickback, even the safety ones; although, safety one has less of a kickback.

As Bert said paper catalogs have a lot more info in them than the online stuff. And most of your vendors sales reps have even less knowledge about these specs.

I am old hand filer that finally gave in and brought me a good chain grinder. I actually tried the HF piece of junk grinder. It became so sloppy after a few chains that I disassemble it and threw it in the recycle bin. Kinda had to after a batch of eight chains took over 6 files to sharpen and I had blisters for over a week. Still trying to figure out who made those chains as the customer doesn't remember where he got them.

Last week I got a customer that says he has lots of chains that he needs sharpen so it looks I be sharping a few chains in the near future. He just didn't know I had the equipment to do them or knew more about saw chain than he does.
 

Hammermechanicman

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Good info from star. Probably 90% of what you will see from non pro users be semi chisel safety chain. I personally dislike most safety, anti kickback, green, bumper or whatever else folks call it. On my saws I run full chisel non safety chains. Trying to adjust the depth gauges on some safety chains is just a pain. There is some i call "shark fin" chain that i won't sharpen.
Some of the new electric saws appear to use some non standard micro chain that needs some really thin wheel of file to sharpen I don't have.
 

PTmowerMech

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When you get time sit and do a lot research. There is all kind of designs out there. Really you got to know what you working with and what the customer is trying to do. Enough make your head spin at first but with experience you will know what you are looking for. Most times I am dealing home owners so it is a lot simpler than when a pro comes in.

As for the Rotary bar numbers they are

9532520 20" 3/8" .050 72dl

9533520 20" 3/8" .058 72dl

And I highly recommend using a safety chain as the non safety are dangerous in the hands of non professional.

Both are Pro Sprocket versions with replaceable sprocket tips. Although I yet to replace one as most time the rest of the bar is shot too.

And it comes to chains it is the same thing about styles. You got safety and non safety, different types of bumper links; standard, semi skip, and full skip cutter sequence; semi chisel, chisel, and square face cutters; single and dual rakers. And even got a choice between cross cut and rip cut versions. Head spinning yet?

Most chains you will come across will be cross cut (25-35 degree cutters). Stihl chains are usually file at 25 degrees and most others either 25 or 30 degrees. Rip cut (10 degree cutters) are mostly for milling operation where you are making planks (lumber). This is where you want to break up the shavings more as they are very long otherwise and clog the clutch housings.

I even have a few rare 3/8lp full skip chains here that one particular insists on buying. Oregon has quit making them so when what I got is gone he will have take a standard chain or move up to a larger saw that skip chains are still available for. Normally you will not find skip in a 3/8lp chain.

And just found out a week ago the Rotary has the style of 3/8lp chain I have been looking for my customers that do plunge cuts. I got a 100' roll on the wish list Rotary PO. The particular bumper link style makes it where the bar tip is a lot easier to cut with. I personally do plunge cuts to install wedges for splitting on wood that wedges just don't want to get started. Most chains the bar tip can have a lot of kickback, even the safety ones; although, safety one has less of a kickback.

As Bert said paper catalogs have a lot more info in them than the online stuff. And most of your vendors sales reps have even less knowledge about these specs.

I am old hand filer that finally gave in and brought me a good chain grinder. I actually tried the HF piece of junk grinder. It became so sloppy after a few chains that I disassemble it and threw it in the recycle bin. Kinda had to after a batch of eight chains took over 6 files to sharpen and I had blisters for over a week. Still trying to figure out who made those chains as the customer doesn't remember where he got them.

Last week I got a customer that says he has lots of chains that he needs sharpen so it looks I be sharping a few chains in the near future. He just didn't know I had the equipment to do them or knew more about saw chain than he does.


Yes sir, you got my head spinning. Just a few days ago, I thought it was just a matter of matching the gauge, pitch and DL. Now there's 10+ other things to consider.
My brother cuts about 4 chords per year. So he's not the typical homeowner type user. But I'm 100% sure he doesn't care to know about all those different types of chains and bars. He just wants the saw to run and cut when he needs it. He's good at sharpening and using a saw. But doesn't know about what "dirty wood" is. Most of the oak he cuts is dirty. It's been sitting in the woods for at least a year or two. I could advise him to get a semi chiseled chain, but it wouldn't cut as fast as his full chiseled chain, and would (as Bert said) blame me. He doesn't mind sharpening. But if I got a lower grade of chain, he'd have to sharpen it more often. And I'd get blamed for that too.

Learning all this saw stuff is like learning about rebuilding carburetors. So many different things to know about, so many different types.

BTW, thanks for all the info. It's been a huge help (at confusing me lmao :giggle:)
 
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