Change chain size?

[Mr Mower Man]

A customer of mine owns a Stihl MS170 16" chainsaw. It uses 3/8" LP chain. He thinks the standard profile 3/8" chain is more hearty and won't dull so quickly, so he asked me to find him a bar and 3/8" chain he could use on that saw instead of what he has.

The gauge of the LP chain is .043", but the standard profile chain has a minimum gauge of .050", which is why we'll need a different bar. I tried looking at the bar & chain application guide in my Oregon catalog, and I found it confusing. It looks like I may not even be able to get the customer what he wants. But I hardly ever deal with chainsaws, so I really don't know very much about it.

Any advice?

[RoyM]

He won't be happy with the larger chain, the saw doesn't have the power to pull it. The lo pro narrow kerf chain is well matched to that power head, if he wants more he needs to spend some bucks and upgrade.

[bgsengine]

He thinks the standard profile 3/8" chain is more hearty and won't dull so quickly,

It will probably outlast the saw - as Roym said It wont dull as quickly because it isn't gonna cut much

If he has a problem with chain cutters getting dull quickly,it won't matter WHAT chain he runs until he corrects his bad cutting habits.

Narrow kerf chains were designed so that those little under-powered saws could actually cut something.

[KE4AVB]

Don't be thinking that the 3/8 LP (.375) chain can be replaced by the standard 3/8 chain. The standard 3/8 has larger drive links tangs and will not work with the 3/8 LP clutch spur drum nor will it fit into the bar sprocket tip spur gear. Plus the actual drive link spacing is slightly different between the LP and standard 3/8; not enough to notice on shorter chains.

As for what is available for MS170 only the 3/8 LP is available. It also design for maximum bar of 16". Now you can go to a 0.050 gauge 3/8 LP chain which is easier to find but the kerf will be a little wider thus load the engine a little more.

As Roy said if unhappy with the performance he will need to buy a bigger saw if he wants to ran .325 or standard 3/8 chain.

As for the chain dulling quickly the 3/8 Standard can actual faster in dirty wood as it meant to ran in clean wood since it is normally a full chisel chain. This is where a semi chisel chain out performs when cutting dirty wood. How quickly a chain also depend what type of wood being cut and how well the chain is sharpen.

Just wait until you get into semi skip and full skip chains plus rip chains. There once was even was a debarker chain; no cutters.

[bgsengine]

oh yeah don't forget the carbide chains an the "Bullet" Vent saw chains used by fire departments and the like (for cutting roof vents) Oh yeah then there's the .404 and 3/4 pitch harvester chains...

[KE4AVB]

Or the 3/8 LP Carbide that I have my Poulan 4218 that I was trying out on cutting stumps. I have only cut out about 15 of the 30 stumps I have here, haven't dulled it cutting rocks yet; just it don't self feed like the regular chain due to the chamfer cutters (square file) so you need to push into the cuts instead of letting the saw to all the work. I would need change over to my Husky 450 with a .325 to have a better carbide chain as I can get them in a normal hook grind (chisel) for cutting wood. The 3/8 LP carbide is still considered a demolition chain for smaller fire departments. Now if you ever dull it then the chain will need to be sent out for sharping. Even at my wholesale cost they are not cheap by long shot and then I got finish the loop in my shop. IIRC it was close to $125 ($1.94 per drive link) for my 18" loop and over $150 (S1.85 per DL) for the 20" loop for my bigger saw. Retails for over $4 per DL.

I am thinking about sawing a few holes in my asphalt driveway for repairs.