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Woodland Pro Chain still good?

Started by MNBobcat, October 23, 2017, 05:53:22 PM

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MNBobcat

Hi All,

Read a number of old posts that were saying the woodland pro chains were better than Oregon.  At the time, people were claiming Oregon went down hill.   But that was years ago and things change.

I'm just wondering if anyone is running the woodland pro and how you like them?

I have a Dolmar 6100 with 20" bar that runs 3/8 .050 chain and I need to order some loops.  Trying to decide what to get.   typically run semi-chisel.  This is my first year on the new saw.

hedgerow

Woodland pro chains semi-chisel is all I run and they seem to hold up good. I buy them when they are on sale. I run 20" bars most of the time but do have a 36" for my big saw. We cut around 20 cords of wood a year all of it is locust and hedge.

OH logger

I bought a few about a year ago and I didn't like em. they didn't hold an edge good and they were real hard to sharpen. the file wanted to skip on em and not cut (file). they were cheap though. so at least they had that going for em  >:(
john

Al_Smith

I didn't like woodland pro .It was a "house chain" sold by a previous sponsor of this site that sold to another owner which I no longer do business with .It was rather cheap at the time .

John Mc

If I recall, Woodland Pro chains were made by Tilton (?? might be remembering the name incorrectly). I gave up on those 6 or 8 years ago when a couple of chainshad teeth and depth gauges that just would not sharpen. My guess is they had prblems intheirhea treec I ruined a couple of files trying to sharpen them.

I've not tried any of their chain since. Who knows, maybe they addressed those problems.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

HolmenTree

It's just rebadged Carlton which is owned by Oregon.
Making a living with a saw since age 16.

John Mc

Quote from: HolmenTree on October 24, 2017, 01:41:13 PM
It's just rebadged Carlton which is owned by Oregon.

Carlton!  Not sure where I got "Tilton" from (it was actually "Total" I was thinking of). Is the Carlton chain still a distinct design or manufacturing facility from the Oregon-branded stuff?  I remember that Oregon bought them. I'm not sure if my bad experience with Carlton/Woodland Pro might have happened before it was bought out or not.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

HolmenTree

Quote from: John Mc on October 24, 2017, 02:49:31 PM
Quote from: HolmenTree on October 24, 2017, 01:41:13 PM
It's just rebadged Carlton which is owned by Oregon.

Carlton!  Not sure where I got "Tilton" from (it was actually "Total" I was thinking of). Is the Carlton chain still a distinct design or manufacturing facility from the Oregon-branded stuff?  I remember that Oregon bought them. I'm not sure if my bad experience with Carlton/Woodland Pro might have happened before it was bought out or not.
John you're on the correct path. Tilton was the major US Jonsered importer .Starting in the early 1970's they had a contract with Carlton to supply chain for the Jonsereds.
Last I heard the Carlton plant is still manufacturing chain under ownership of Oregon Cutting Systems.
Much the same example Oregon manufactured sawchain with Husqvarna's name on it.
Only difference is Carlton still manufactures their chain the same design as they did in the 1970's 80s and 90s, without the modern Anti vibe, LubriLink upgrades.
Making a living with a saw since age 16.

ButchC

Yup Woodsman Pro  is Carlton, at least any of it I have laid eyes upon.  I have run a good bit of Carlton chain. The 3/8 chisel is very ordinary, not bad but nothing special.  The 325 chisel is good stuff, there will always be a spool of K1L in my shop as long as I can get it it. They also make a full chisel 3/8 low pro chain that carries a yellow label. Comparable to 63PS but 1/2 the cost. I have yet to try any of it and haven't seen anyone write about an experience with it.
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HolmenTree

Today the big two sawchain companies Stihl and Oregon, have made their chain cut aggressively right out of the box .
Carlton/Woodland Pro are still ground with angles we had 30 years ago. Even back then Stihl and Oregon chain were the same and had to be filed from new to make them a productive cutting chain.

To be honest the Carlton will cut with the big two, they just need a little elbow grease. :)
Making a living with a saw since age 16.

John Mc

I'm not a big fan of how the Oregon Chains are right out of the box these days.

They have way too much hook on the tooth: the profile looks nothing like what their own literature says it should when sharpening. They do self-feed into the wood nicely, but makes the chain rather grabby (especially when bore cutting), and that fine hook point wears quickly. The last few I've put on also had the depth gauges set high (possibly an attempt to counteract the aggressive hook on the chain?)  When I put the measuring too on them, they stick way up above the level they should be.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

MNBobcat

I ordered 3 loops of the Oregon 72DPX072G    3/8" and .050 for a 20 inch bar.

I mostly cut frozen 8 foot logs.  I buy 20+ cords of 8 foot logs in oak every year.  One really cold winter I burned 30 cord.  I pick up a load on the forks on my skidsteer, carry it over in front of my wood boiler building and then cut them right there.  Then they go into the boiler.  I don't split unless its really large diameter.

I don't think full-chisel is an option because the wood is always frozen.  The few loops of full chisel I had, had to be sharpened more frequently than the semi-chisel.

I am interested in experimenting with other chains and brands of chains though.  The oregon seems to work okay but it would be nice to find something that would stay sharp longer or at least cut faster.

Anxious to try my new Dolmar/Makita 6100 but wanted better chain then it came with. :)

Thanks for all the replies!  Hope the discussion continues as its really interesting to hear what chain people like.

Al_Smith

30 cords like in 4 by 4 by 8? My goodness is it that cold or are you heating a huge amount of space like a barn? Frozen as in like ice would indicate to me the stuff was pretty green .
The only time in my life I ever encountered actual frozen wood it was about 20 below on green cut late fall pin  oak .Then nothing would cut it including a McCulloch SP 125 .BTW it hasn't gotten  that cold in the last 20 years of which I'm very happy about .

MNBobcat

Our house is 7,000 square feet.  The wood boiler also heats our garage and the hot water for the house.  The year we went through 30 cords was the year we had the polar vortex where it was negative 20s for a lot of days.

As for the frozen wood, that was an assumption I made because we're near zero or below a lot during the winter.  I don't season wood...haven't had the time so yes what I burn is usually pretty green.

thecfarm

Don't want to get to far off topic,but I believe you on the GREEN 30 cord. I played around with green hardwood and softwood. Cut it down and burn it that same day. That OWB chewed through some wood. Have to dry out the wood to get the BTUs from it. Only way to dry it out,is to burn it. Man did that thing smoke.  :o  Experiment is long over with.  ;D  I burned less wood when I was burning dead standing pine. Lots of dead fir goes through my OWB too. Cedar too.
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Al_Smith

On that hard chain somebody mentioned the choice of file makes a big difference . Save Edge or Pferd works a darn sight better than Oregon files .
On the Woodland Pro I never found hard cutters it just would not cut like Oregon or Stihl .Never did figure out why .
To tell the truth I just think that company just got a hold of some defective chain and deeply discounted it just to be rid of it .

PNWRusty

Quote from: MNBobcat on October 25, 2017, 06:16:51 PM
As for the frozen wood, that was an assumption I made because we're near zero or below a lot during the winter.  I don't season wood...haven't had the time so yes what I burn is usually pretty green.

Well, once you get caught up, you'll have a lot more time because 10 cords seasoned wood = 30 cords green. No wonder you're short on time!

MNBobcat

LOL!  Well, you can't burn all seasoned wood in a boiler though.  At least not if you want 12 hours between loads.  The best is if you can burn a mix of green and seasoned.  :)


Quote from: PNWRusty on October 25, 2017, 10:13:06 PM
Quote from: MNBobcat on October 25, 2017, 06:16:51 PM
As for the frozen wood, that was an assumption I made because we're near zero or below a lot during the winter.  I don't season wood...haven't had the time so yes what I burn is usually pretty green.

Well, once you get caught up, you'll have a lot more time because 10 cords seasoned wood = 30 cords green. No wonder you're short on time!

John Mc

Quote from: MNBobcat on October 25, 2017, 06:16:51 PM
As for the frozen wood, that was an assumption I made because we're near zero or below a lot during the winter.  I don't season wood...haven't had the time so yes what I burn is usually pretty green.

You can lose about 40% of the BTUs in wood by burning it green vs properly seasoned. You lose some to heating up the water, and take another big hit vaporizing the water. You also lose BTUs because the gas vapors will not ignite if the combustion chamber is not hot enough (the gases either just go out your stack, or condense in the walls of your flue causing creosote build-up)
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

ladylake



   Way too many use green wood in their outdoor boilers,   Steve
Timberking B20  18000  hours +  Case75xt grapple + forks+8" snow bucket + dirt bucket   770 Oliver   Lots(too many) of chainsaws, Like the Echo saws and the Stihl and Husky     W5  Case loader   1  trailers  Wright sharpener     Suffolk  setter Volvo MCT125c skid loader

Al_Smith

I'm still stuck on a house of 7,000 square feet , myself living in slightly over 2,000 .You'd about need a road map to find your way around .The taxes must be about like the national debt .

MNBobcat

The first year we burned propane and it cost us $4,000.00 to heat.  I can buy 20 cord of wood for half that and the OWB heats the house, heats the hot water for the house, heats the attached garage on the house (we keep it at 40F all winter) and when I need it I can use a wifi thermostat to remotely turn on heat for my 40 x 80 pole shed!  Ironically, as I type this I have 12 cords being delivered in 15 minutes.  First load.  Will get 1 more load from him.

My wife and I didn't need this big of a house but we bought it planning to have a business.  We have 6 acres (3,000 vines) of grape vines now, we host weddings, we have a B&B and we're going to be building a winery.  For the winery I'll likely be installing geo thermal heat.

I don't know how long I'll burn wood but the boiler has already paid for itself and we like the heat way better than when we're on propane.  Also, we have unlimited hot water as it will make it as fast as it's used.



Quote from: Al_Smith on October 26, 2017, 06:06:34 AM
I'm still stuck on a house of 7,000 square feet , myself living in slightly over 2,000 .You'd about need a road map to find your way around .The taxes must be about like the national debt .

MNBobcat

Regarding the woodland chain being hard to file...I don't file chain any more.  I bought a "Super Abrasive CBN 5-3/4" Chainsaw Wheels for 3/8 and .404 Pitch Chains" wheel for my grinder and it does a nice job.

I did find out that the Oregon chart that is published by Oregon has the wrong angle listed for their semi-chisel chain.  The chart listed the top plate angle on DPX chains at 35 degrees and it should be 30.  The full chisel, I believe, are 35 degrees but the semi chisel are 30 degrees.  I see they've removed or at least moved the online chart they had so maybe its been corrected now.

I'll sharpen 2 or 3 chains and then when I go cut I'll swap a chain when it starts getting dull.  I don't go out in the woods any more so I'm always cutting here on my property.  Its easy to go sharpen a chain on the grinder.  I kind of use a tap tap method of grinding where I just bump the wheel lightly against the tooth so that I avoid heat build up.  I get them sharp enough that they pull into the wood so plenty good for me.

HolmenTree

MNBobcat , how was your grape harvest this year?
Are you doing any ice wine? I remember a while back you were just getting into the business , very fascinating venture in Minnesota.

Actually semi chisel does take a sharper 35° top plate angle.  Chisel takes 30°.
Making a living with a saw since age 16.

MNBobcat

We got about 7,500 pounds off our first vineyard (900 vines)  The other vineyard isn't producing yet.  We sold all the grapes and aren't yet making wine. Yeah, kind of crazy growing grapes in our climate!!!

My chain came today and it says right on the box that semi chisel has a top plate angle of 30 degrees.


Quote from: HolmenTree on October 26, 2017, 09:11:38 AM
MNBobcat , how was your grape harvest this year?
Are you doing any ice wine? I remember a while back you were just getting into the business , very fascinating venture in Minnesota.

Actually semi chisel does take a sharper 35° top plate angle.  Chisel takes 30°.

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