Tree Monkey 661 and .404 chain

[Manofstihl066]

So here lately our friend Julian @Redbull661 has been my source for buying chain. The guy knows his stuff and hasn’t steered me wrong yet when it comes to chain and saws. He asked me a while back if I’d ever tried any .404. After telling him no, what does he do? He sends me his tsumura 28” bar with a loop of .404 rs, loop of .404 Stihl square and his 8 pin rim to try. Had an awesome time running all this afternoon. Here’s some vids of the rs chain.

 

[Manofstihl066]

nice wood

Those logs have been there a while, so they’re pretty hard.

 

[Manofstihl066]

Here’s the Stihl square, all this chain is completely stock. I thought the square was pretty good for being out of the box.

 

[CR888]

For-0-for separates the men from the boys. Its good value chain if you got saws that can run it. The cutters have lots of meat for many sharpenings.

 

[Manofstihl066]

Yessir. I was telling Julie Ann earlier, my first cut with the rs I wasn’t ready and it pulled me into the log. Lol

 

[Redbull661]

.404 RS 8pin FTW bishes!!!

 

[Manofstihl066]

Nice saw! I’d like to compare again after filing the square and maybe setting the rakers a bit.

 

[Moparmyway]

I absolutely love a ported 661

I dont think I'll have another favorite saw for some time

404 lasts much longer between sharpenings too

 

[Manofstihl066]

I absolutely love a ported 661

I dont think I'll have another favorite saw for some time

404 lasts much longer between sharpenings too

Stihl has some big shoes to fill for their next 90cc model. Both of these chains still had a nice edge on them today after a couple tanks on each.

 

[Moparmyway]

Everyone will have to play catchup in the 90cc class, with the 661 being so strong, especially after porting, its going to be tough for anyone to do better

 

[weedkilla]

I love 404. Most of the reasons have been mentioned, but the extra bit of kerf is gold when cutting stuff with fibrous bark and when dealing with blowdowns when it's hard to read the tension.
Also throwing big rooster tails of chip is just damn cool

 

[Manofstihl066]

Yea I think the bigger kerf will give u some room for error and didn’t take long before being knee deep in chips either. I could see myself using the 404 square in a work situation, it’s smooth as 3/8 and being 404 it oils really well.

 

[CR500]

Think I'm going to try out some .404

 

[trooney]

I love it. Julian sent me my first batch also. Better than 3/8 by a ling shot in my books...

 

[CR500]

What size bar would one recommend 25 or 28?

Just bought a 25 ES light last week lol.

 

[blsnelling]

Why such a large rim? That's like running a 9-pin 3/8, plus you're pulling the heavier chain with a wider kerf.

 

[CR888]

When cutting fiberous barks with 1/4” to full 3/8 its like the cut/kerf vanishes once the bar passes through. It would be good to have a 6pin sprocket for 404 as the 7 & 8 are so big. Don't forget .404 was invented when old long stroke saws had cutting rpms of 5-8K. Back then it was fitted to saw displacements as low as 60cc's....

 

[Ryan Browne]

Why such a large rim? That's like running a 9-pin 3/8, plus you're pulling the heavier chain with a wider kerf.

Because Julian.

 

[Manofstihl066]

Why such a large rim? That's like running a 9-pin 3/8, plus you're pulling the heavier chain with a wider kerf.

I’ll more than likely buy some 404 to play around with. For work I like 3/8 square, it’s smooth and not hard on a saw. This 661 pulls 404 8 pin with ease, but it’s a little fatiguing for an everyday work setup.

 

[Manofstihl066]

What size bar would one recommend 25 or 28?

Just bought a 25 ES light last week lol.

Either one would work, this 28 @Redbull661 sent balanced great on a 661.