what raker depth for Stihl 066?

[J Beyer]

What is a good raker depth for the 066 in hardwood and soft wood?  When swapping the same bar/chain from my 036PRO to the 066, performance does not seem to change at all.  With the bigger power, I'm thinking the 066 needs more raker depth.

[Kevin]

.025" is the standard depth on most chains, some go to .030".
You can also change the rim sprocket on the 066.

[J Beyer]

What effect would changing the sprocket have on chain/bar life?  Faster chain speed should translate into faster cutting.

JB

[Crofter]

J Beyer; What length of bar are you running and what pitch and style chain. Also can you measure what the present raker height is. Is it a new 066 with unmodified muffler?

Frank

[Kevin]

You won't see any huge difference in chain or bar wear.
If it's a concern you can increase the bar lube a little.

[Captain]

I run an 8 spline rim on my 066, a 7 on my 046 and 036.

Never seen a cut that my 066 could not do twice as fast as the 036....well maybe not quite twice as fast

TOO MUCH RAKER DEPTH WILL CAUSE BAR WEAR

The chain will vibrate more.  Believe it or not, the chain, in normal cutting, rises off the bar as it cuts. Look at the tooth, it wants to rise.  If the raker (or depth gage) is too low and the tooth takes too big of a "bite", the tooth will rock harshly and slam the bar with every bite.  This causes your bar wear.    I set all of my chains at .025. for optimum performance, soft and hardwood.  Now my grind angle changes....I will file/grind my "pine chains"  35 degrees and my "oak chains" 25 degrees.

One thing is for sure, if you lower the depth gages, a big powerful saw like your 066 will sure cut like lightning!!!

[Captain]

Oops, forgot to mention, if raker depth is too deep you can tell by evidence of heel wear on the bottom of the cutting tooth.

It wears both bars and chains prematurely.

Captain

[Kevin]

Not to mention the safety factor.

[Crofter]

You must have something a bit out of the ordinary if the 36 is cutting at the same speed as the 066 with the same chain. perhaps an 8 tooth rim on the 36 and a 7 on the 066 or for some reason the 066 is not reaching its rev potential. You should have .025 to .030 raker clearance depending whether the chain is near new or near spent.

Frank

[HORSELOGGER]

I dont like to take depth gauges down any more than 25-30 thou... Dont you guys that take em deeper find that the saw chatters in the cut? I am with Kevin,  it is not real safe to go hyper aggressive on the rakers. I do all my felling with plunge cuts, and a couple of weeks ago I bought a used 044 from a neighbor. He included a bunch of chains sharpened by a local old timer. First one I put on, I didnt think to check the sharpening job. First cut was awful chattery, and when I went to plunge in  ... ; The inertia chain brake is a mighty nice feature

[J Beyer]

I usually run the 036 in 20" or less and run the 066 on stuff up to 36"   Never use the 066 on the "little" 20" stuff.  I think the 066 has the 8 tooth, the 036 has the 7 tooth?  Going to check on that this Sunday.  Putting the 20" bar on the 066 for kicks tomorrow when cutting up a friends pine tree.

One thing that would help the 066 would be bucking teeth to help pivot the saw into the cut.  The 066 seems to be a little off in carb tuning but should not make that much of a difference.  I have noticed that the 066 does not bog very easily when cutting 20"+ wood like the 036 does.

JB

[Captain]

I always thought that a twin set of big bucking spikes looked really cool on my 066.  In fact, I still keep them on there and have an identical set on my 046.  

Yes, your 066 will power through about any pressure that you give it, rotating it on the bucking spikes.  Remember that this is at sacrifice to bar wear...remember that chain float, off the bar, while cutting?  Eliminated when too much downward pressure is applied.  Your bars will start looking like you were chainsaw miling with them...raised edges, grooved in the middle.  Sometimes this is a sacrifice for speed.