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Stihl vs Oregon Bars

Started by John R, October 11, 2010, 04:37:51 PM

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Rocky_J


Al_Smith

If you think about it the cutting conditions have a lot to do with how long  a bar will last .It would make sense that a saw used perhaps by an excavating contracter cutting up soil laden wood would wear faster than a northern fallers saw cutting clean wood .Stumping is hard on a bar and chain too not to mention the poor old saw .

Then too regardless of what people might think it appears at least to me that some bars are not quit as robust now of days as they were in past times .I suppose I might have half a dozen Stihl bars hanging on the wall that got beat up .Most of them I've worked over with a belt sander though and they seem to be okay .In addition I have maybe a dozen or so Stihl chain loops I have to spend some time on that got rocked and it was too much of a pain in the behind for the tree service owner to repair .

Rocked chains are the only time I use a Dremel type sharpener because you can wear out a dozen files not to mention your arm on a rocked Stihl chain .Tough rascals  to fix .

Ed

I picked up a 24" Stihl "ES" bar a couple of weeks ago. Pricing was a few bucks cheaper than an Oregon or Windsor from Baileys and 5 bucks more than the last 24" Total I bought.
Kind of suprised me, as I think the Stihl is a better bar.

Ed

HolmenTree

Stihl ES bars are good bars indeed. I have an old German made ES 28" bar that won't wear out. The rails have not one chip in them and sprocket nose still tight. But being a harder bar the bar is almost like a laminated consumer bar where the rails spread and can't be properly re-tightened anymore. So I don't use it anymore. The ES did take a tightening for the first 3 or 4 times but then that was it.
Al, forget the dremil on rocked chains. Clamp your saw in a bench vise, chain tight and bring back the cutters with a 4 1/2" hand held angle grinder. Ever so gently so you don't burn the teeth. Then finish with the file.
Worked for me for years.
Willard
Making a living with a saw since age 16.

Al_Smith

I've used a regular die grinder before just never thought about a small side grinder . I do have a dandy little DeWalt though that tried to digest my index finger a few months ago .Oh it felt sooo good after it quit hurting .Only took about a week .

Probabley not a smart thing to do is sharpening the mower blades still attached to the mower but of course not while the mower is running .I'm fast but not that fast . :)

HolmenTree

 :D Yeah you gotta hang onto those side grinders they can be real dangerous especially the big guys. I wear heavy welding gloves when I do alot heavy zip cutting. The end of my gloves index finger are always cut off.
I find the dremil stone makes alot of heat on the cutters and actually tempers them harder making filing next to impossible. The bigger coarser side grinder disc doesn't put out near as much heat and alot faster then the dremil.

Willard.
Making a living with a saw since age 16.

Ed

FWIW, I took a quick look at my new Stihl 24" bar tonight. Laser etched....."Made in Germany". This wasn't one they had laying around, he took it from a new shipment that wasn't even sorted out.
Maybe Canadian bars are different.

Ed

mad murdock

I just got a new Carlton bar from Baileys closeout section, and it has stamped on it "made in Germany".  It is a decent bar, and it appears to use the same sprocket tip as the Oregon bars do (1 rivet style).  I like Pferd files, I have bought a dozen of them from Baileys a couple years back, and still have about 6 left, I have cut about 25 truckloads of wood so far, and have used 2 chains, and just replaced the  windsor bar with the Carlton, and new Oregon .063 skip-tooth full chisel chain.  Man the old 372XP RIPS through the Douglas Fir like butter now!  I usually touch up the chain with a swipe or 2 of the file each tank of gas, and it always cuts good, I keep the rakers a good 1/32"  below the cutters, so I never have to push the saw through the wood.
Turbosawmill M6 (now M8) Warrior Ultra liteweight, Granberg Alaskan III, lots of saws-gas powered and human powered :D

dancan

In my neck of the woods a Stihl 16" bar is in the 50.00$$ range and I can buy an Oregon bar and chain combo for less than 49.00$$ so Oregon it is .
Are Stihl's better , I'm not sure , I have more hours on my Oregon's than my Stihl's that I'm currently using and am finding that I have to dress the Oregon's more often but they both get wood on the ground .
Since most of my cutting is for $$ I consider bars and chains wear items and factor that in the job and since I quit smoking several years ago I equate a chain (16" to 18"are the most common around here ) to a couple of packs of smokes so I don't spend much time on rocked chains (unless they're long ones ) because it cuts into time that could be used for something more important or enjoyable .

HolmenTree

Quote from: Ed on October 21, 2010, 11:40:32 PM
FWIW, I took a quick look at my new Stihl 24" bar tonight. Laser etched....."Made in Germany". This wasn't one they had laying around, he took it from a new shipment that wasn't even sorted out.
Maybe Canadian bars are different.

Ed

Ed, for as long as I can remember Canadian trade laws stipulate Stihl can only sell their foreign made saws in Canada if they have a Canadian made product on it. That product is the guide bar which are made by Oregon with Stihl colors and logo on it. From the 1960s to about 1987 Windsor was the bar of choice for Stihl but then switched to Oregon after some oil hole issues with the Windsor bars.
But heres the catch Stihl saws sold in Canada with 24" b/c and longer can be all German made. Canadian made Oregon is only used for under 24" bars.

Willard.
Making a living with a saw since age 16.

Cut4fun

Quote from: HolmenTree on October 22, 2010, 11:02:19 PM
Quote from: Ed on October 21, 2010, 11:40:32 PM
FWIW, I took a quick look at my new Stihl 24" bar tonight. Laser etched....."Made in Germany". This wasn't one they had laying around, he took it from a new shipment that wasn't even sorted out.
Maybe Canadian bars are different.

Ed

Ed, for as long as I can remember Canadian trade laws stipulate Stihl can only sell their foreign made saws in Canada if they have a Canadian made product on it. That product is the guide bar which are made by Oregon with Stihl colors and logo on it. From the 1960s to about 1987 Windsor was the bar of choice for Stihl but then switched to Oregon after some oil hole issues with the Windsor bars.
But heres the catch Stihl saws sold in Canada with 24" b/c and longer can be all German made. Canadian made Oregon is only used for under 24" bars.

Willard.

Now that all makes sense why my MS361 I bought from Canada had a Oregon bar in Stihl dress.

Rocky_J

That also makes sense why Canadians all seem to run Oregon bars and no one thinks there's any difference between the brands. They have never run the real Stihl bars.

HolmenTree

Like I said earlier Rocky I do have a German made 28" ES Stihl bar from when I bought my 066 brand new about 18 yrs ago. Hell of a tough bar.

Willard.
Making a living with a saw since age 16.

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