Getting Tired Of Oregon Chain

[Wilhelm]

I buck dry mud covered firewood logs and in that abrasive environment X-Cut will outlast Oregon and Carlton by a fuel tank or two - no name Chinese chain and Archer by a landslide.
Even my well used Stihl RD3 carbide loop has troubles keeping up with X-Cut.

I am extremely impressed by 3/8" (round ground) full chisel Husqvarna X-Cut!

Just saying.
Give it a try, maybe on a shorter bar first - that way a single loop won't hurt the budget too much.

 

[Stump Shot]

I buck dry mud covered firewood logs and in that abrasive environment X-Cut will outlast Oregon and Carlton by a fuel tank or two - no name Chinese chain and Archer by a landslide.
Even my well used Stihl RD3 carbide loop has troubles keeping up with X-Cut.

I am extremely impressed by 3/8" (round ground) full chisel Husqvarna X-Cut!

Just saying.
Give it a try, maybe on a shorter bar first - that way a single loop won't hurt the budget too much.

X-cut in hardwood is as good as it gets here in Wisconsin, best we can tell.

 

[5155]

Me too liking the x so far. Few touch ups then sat down and really filed it.
Will be in large pine next week so tried to make it a little aggressive. Like how it turned out (looks).
Nice to read I'm not only one thinks his old fav changed. I stumbled around then found the xcut, until it changes lol.
I noticed "some" inconsistence in my long loop but that could be from me or wear or both. I'll buy more.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Me too liking the x so far. Few touch ups then sat down and really filed it.
Will be in large pine next week so tried to make it a little aggressive. Like how it turned out (looks).
Nice to read I'm not only one thinks his old fav changed. I stumbled around then found the xcut, until it changes lol.
I noticed "some" inconsistence in my long loop but that could be from me or wear or both. I'll buy more.

How'd you file it, and is it as fast after filing?

To me it looks like Husqvarna has a "baby C" machine grind on it, which for hand filing requires a smaller than standard round file to imitate square-ground. From a hand-filing standpoint, the top cutter looks one/maybe two file sizes smaller, followed by the same size file on the side cutter in a separate filing pass though maybe at a sharper angle. (I'll have it on the bench this weekend to dig into what they're doing.)

 

[5155]

Used a .217" round file and the husky roller thing for the first time. I hit the rakers.
My exp. is most all chains are faster after filed. I did not file this one when new but will the next one. Doing that shows me the constant of the original grind.
Square. I can not get that from reading.
I did blend into the gullet free hand, same file. Right or wrong that's my story.

 

[Hoser]

I’ve been running 3/8 X-cut when I can as a falling chain, in factory grind I think it’s excellent, bore cuts way smoother then Stihl RS out of the box. After the factory grind is sharpened off I find it just OK. However it’s about $6-7 more a loop so I mainly run Stihl RS

 

[Squareground3691]

I’ve been running 3/8 X-cut when I can as a falling chain, in factory grind I think it’s excellent, bore cuts way smoother then Stihl RS out of the box. After the factory grind is sharpened off I find it just OK. However it’s about $6-7 more a loop so I mainly run Stihl RS

Not a bad price, https://www.ebay.com/itm/3257715884...lx6FfZ4S9a&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[Hoser]

If that’s US$ that’s about what I pay for 28” Stihl chain before shipping gets factored in. I find a lot of online prices are more money then what I pay locally even before shipping.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

If that’s US$ that’s about what I pay for 28” Stihl chain before shipping gets factored in. I find a lot of online prices are more money then what I pay locally even before shipping.

On-line STIHL prices (at reputable sellers such as Bailey's, Madsen's) are ~2x local dealer prices (for a business account).

 

[TheWizard]

Oregon has been bought twice last year by investors, so I imagine there's gonna be some changes?

when it becomes a cash cow quality goes out the window, i found consistency is not what it used to be and if I cut a lot like years ago I would be using a much better chain, but for what I do the price works for me.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

How'd you file it, and is it as fast after filing?

To me it looks like Husqvarna has a "baby C" machine grind on it, which for hand filing requires a smaller than standard round file to imitate square-ground. From a hand-filing standpoint, the top cutter looks one/maybe two file sizes smaller, followed by the same size file on the side cutter in a separate filing pass though maybe at a sharper angle. (I'll have it on the bench this weekend to dig into what they're doing.)

I’ve been running 3/8 X-cut when I can as a falling chain, in factory grind I think it’s excellent, bore cuts way smoother then Stihl RS out of the box. After the factory grind is sharpened off I find it just OK. However it’s about $6-7 more a loop so I mainly run Stihl RS

We got new X-Cut chain on the bench Friday night and dug into the numbers, ran it Saturday and Sunday. If you do any ground trenching, even a little, it dulls out e-mediately. If you keep the chain sharp and in clean wood it cuts fast and stays sharp for a reasonably decent amount of time.

Can you round-file it back to near-new? YUP!

Hand-Filing Husqvarna X-Cut Chain

@julie wolf is running Husqvarna X-Cut chain from HL Supply on a STIHL MS 400 and throwing 3/4" and larger chips in soft wood, and we wanted to know what made that happen. In summary, and for this particular size chain: - To hand file the top plate, use a 5/32" (4.0mm) file at 25° swing and 5°...

opeforum.com

 

[Ford3000]

Oregon has been bought twice last year by investors, so I imagine there's gonna be some changes? Quality issues?
I have some old Oregon chain to move through but I like the new husqvarna chain their making "in house" in Sweden .

Did the Chinese buy Oregon, hope not.

 

[davidwyby]

I just put a loop of new Oregon on my 461 and went straight to dry hard mesquite…I’ve had to tighten it several times, first tank

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Did the Chinese buy Oregon, hope not.

The investment company Platinum Equity bought Oregon Tool (now Oregon Products) in October of 2021.

I just put a loop of new Oregon on my 461 and went straight to dry hard mesquite…I’ve had to tighten it several times, first tank

It's not as good as it used to be, but it's pretty good for the price. If you put an initial 1 (at most 2 swipes) on the depth gauges instead of three it won't stretch as much.

Check depth-gauge depth though, I'm seeing +/-0.0025" variances, which could add up to 0.005" between adjacent cutters (and does happen), so one cutter (say left-hand) is aggressive, and the next (right-hand) isn't. If the next cutter is aggressive and the following isn't, chatter occurs. It looks like they sharpen with two wheels on the production line, a left and a right, and those aren't dressed regularly enough (probably as a cost-saving measure) so the left and right cutters aren't symmetrical. Husqvarna X-Cut and STIHL RS chain are symmetrical, though at 2x the price.

 

[jakethesnake]

Oregon always stretched bad for me initially. I haven’t ran any new stock though. But that’s normal for me

 

[Skiptooth Fred]

After 2 or 3 loops of Oregon LPX destroying brand new files, I'm getting tired of it. I've been an Oregon fan for a long time, but........

It seems like I am getting 5 or 6 cutters in a row, on every chain, that are super-hard and they ruin a new file. I'm learning to skip over them and sharpen them with a die grinder and carbide bur, but that's not the way it should be.

If every loop costs me a new file or two, that drives the cost of chain way up.

Is anyone else seeing this?

Have had this happen with this chain for the first time early this year, prior was not an issue. Always use Oregon (& Carlton, no issue with it) without issues prior. Yes it can and does destroy files, Vallorbes, imo the best. You have to pull a new file when you hit one of these teeth, be heavy with it straight up don’t muck around, pain in the backside and yes expensive when file edges are gone in what can be a few strokes, but afterwards it files fine, make that file bite is all the advice i can give. I video’d this way back on the first chain that did it, 7 or 8 teeth on a 28” and a few on 24” & 36” from memory, times were crazy busy and priority's with family i never posted this email on to Oregon, all skip tooth full chisel 3/8. Also had what was a lot of play in links, seven chains were sent back to oregon (from here, australia) but they reckon they were ok, i still don’t agree. Only run Oregon Carlton or some XCut which is smooth but you loose that edge obviously when round filing do its no advantage and damn expensive here. Keep em sharp for thats safe

 

[FergusonTO35]

I put some Oregon 22BPX on my new to me MS-261 and it's really good so far. I was amazed at fast it was in some live walnut I tried it on.

 

[gschwartzenberger]

I read this thread... looks like C83 is well regarded. I'll be trying it soon as I bought a spool of it off eBay for 248 bucks delivered. I figured that was cheap enough to motivate me to make my own chains. I went from thinking I wanted to try C83 to buying it because it's cheaper than Oregon EXL. Normally it is more expensive?

 

[HumBurner]

I just put a loop of new Oregon on my 461 and went straight to dry hard mesquite…I’ve had to tighten it several times, first tank

We ordered a bunch of loops of newer OR chain last year.

My crew boss just recently got into his. 68dl on a 346. After 2-3 tanks, he's running out of room to tighten.


I'm not fully convinced it's the chain, but he's tried it on multiple powerheads/bars with the same result, so.....

I haven't run my 64dl loops yet to find out.


Edit: corrected drive-link numbers

 

[FergusonTO35]

Hmm, will remember that!