Carbide "Coated"

[mocoon]

Opinions on carbide "coated" chains. I've searched and have a harder time finding info on "coated" chains vs. the carbide and carbide tipped chains.

Do they really last longer? Who has used them and how much longer do they last vs. a comparable standard Stihl chain. Thanks.

[Al_Smith]

The Stihl dealer I do business with had a sales lady who tried to sell me some type of carbide chain one time .I was very polite to the young lady and just listened while she went on like PT Barnum with her spiel .

About that time the owner heard what was going on and whispered in her ear something .Then she just went and got what I had asked for to begin with .

I asked her what he said and she replied .He said I'd have a better chance of walking on water than to sell than gent carbide chain because believe me he knows how to file a chain .

[Al_Smith]

So here we go .Carbide impregnated chain was made for people who do not know how to file a chain .It isn't any faster ,can't be filed in a normal fashion and costs more .

IMO you'd be better off to just buy a regular chain and use the extra money to buy a dozen chain files and learn to file a chain .By the time you wear out all the files and the chain you should have to process down pat .

[bandmiller2]

Ole Al pretty much covered it.I tried it,still have part of a roll of it,its very little improvement on regular chain and costs much more.I found it tends to chip off at the edge.Best sharpened with a grinder even though the tooth under the thin layer of carbide is soft. Frank C.

[Al_Smith]

  Well now hey we might get on a roll over carbide chain and make it last as long as the oil wars which would be good sport in a way . ;D

Besides that I could side in with the carbide gang which would be totally out of my MO and people would think somebody stole my pass word .Then I could join forces with the 100 to 1 oil crowd and really cause a ruckus . Oh wonderfull I can't wait . ;D

[mocoon]

Okay thanks for the info. We have multiple thousands of trees to cut down (55 acres of timber). Trying to restore an old bur oak savanna. Cutting through a huge amount of hedge, locust, black oak, red oak, red elm, cherry and other hardwoods. Just trying to find ways to cut down on the filing time. Knew a true carbide chain could not be sharpened in a conventional manner. If it is a gimmick i'll just stick to a traditional chain from the Stihl dealer.

My girlfriend however did end up buying me one  for 50 some dollars. It comes with a conventional chain and a carbide coated chain. I'll see how it works when I'm cutting for 4 straight days starting tomorrow. I am not expecting much now.

Thanks guys.

[turnkey]

I bought one when I was harvesting black locust from around a house. Lots of wood there but he wanted the stumps cut _low_.  Tried it once and it didn't cut for crap out of the box.  Haven't tried it since.  Eager to see the user report.

Harry K

[Al_Smith]

It's as simple as this .If you want  a more durable chain in dusty ,sandy or dry conditions use semi chisel .If want speed use chisel .If you can find old style chipper it's more durable yet .

[sawguy21]

I sold some coated chain, most customers didn't feel it was worth the extra money.

[webgal]

Truly you shouldn't expect a faster cut with carbide. It is meant to last longer. I've seen the Injecta sharp carbide (the impregnated stuff) be used to cut paper rolls or lumber ends. The tipped carbide chain is really the brute of the industry to beat through nails and miscl. for fire department use. I know it sounds fancy and such to have a carbide chain, but there is a difference between your table saw and a chainsaw in that respect.

[bandmiller2]

Any carbide tool is used where nothing else will work,they have three big faults their brittle,they won't take a really good edge,and their expensive.I have spent most of my working life with firefighter carbide bit chains,which by the way are almost useless cutting trees and branches. There are some carbides and angles that will work but unless nothing else will work their not worth the expence. Frank C.

[HolmenTree]

Truly you shouldn't expect a faster cut with carbide. It is meant to last longer. I've seen the Injecta sharp carbide (the impregnated stuff) be used to cut paper rolls or lumber ends. The tipped carbide chain is really the brute of the industry to beat through nails and miscl. for fire department use. I know it sounds fancy and such to have a carbide chain, but there is a difference between your table saw and a chainsaw in that respect.

Caprice, that's good advice. Speaking of cutting paper rolls I once cut rolls for a local pulp/paper mill and cutting those 54" diameter cement bag quality rolls was the toughest thing I ever cut.
Besides using carbide the best setup on my Stihl 090AV -60" b/c was .404 semi chisel harvester chain. Up to 5 minutes per cut at WOT.
In a 12 hour day our production record was 42 rolls cut in half.


    

[deerslayer]

We were cutting up trees that were skidded out of a swamp in preparation to build a lake. Most of these were pushed over with a dozer, pulled out and then bucked into firewood. The bark was coated with junk and the carbide chains were useful in that application.