best saw chain

[Ben Grefe]

Generally, you can go to a general aviation airport and buy Avgas 100 or 100LL. ('100' is leaded; '100LL' is low-lead). It WILL be pricey by automotive standards, but if needed in small (chain-saw) quantities, you may find it affordable/suitable.

I didn't read the entire thread, so may have some of this out of context. Apologies, if so.

Malcolm, I didn't know this. Learn something every day...

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

I heard of "white gas"

[John K Jordan]

100LL still has a fair amount of lead in it, enough to cause spark plug fouling in engines designed for older 80 octane fuel....

I was flying one of those airplanes with an engine designed for 80 octane fuel after big oil decided it was no longer profitable to produce. We and others were forced to switch to 100 octane or not fly. I had just taken off and was going through about 400 ft elevation at full power when the engine lost power and started sputtering. Tried all the standard things like carb heat and switching magnetos. Throttled back and made a wide, carefully coordinated descending turn to land downwind on the same runway. Once on the ground the engine revved without a hitch. That was more excitement than I would have preferred.

We were told the 100 octane was causing burned intake valves in similar engines all over including our Cessna 150 Aerobat. Our flying club had the engine rebuilt to work with 100 octane. This was in the second half of the '70s - I don't remember about leaded vs low-lead vs unleaded then.

JKJ

[Keith Outten]

I have had the best performance with chisel chain. This tooth design is easy to sharpen and produces very large chips.

Screen Shot 2020-09-01 at 10.07.04 PM.png

[Kevin Jenness]

Some reading on arborist sites points to full chisel chain cutting faster in clean wood and for boring, but semi-chisel staying sharp longer in dirty/frozen/dry wood and requiring less material removal to regain sharpness when thrashed.

I guess for significantly faster roughing out blanks I should be looking for a more powerful saw.

https://opeforum.com/threads/full-chisel-vs-semi-chisel-chain-performance.19012/

[david privett]

I heard that aviation gas is formulated with extra oxygen molecules in it to make up for the lack of oxygen at higher altitudes any truth to that? and as far as chainsaw fuel goes no alcohol gas and semi or full synthetic oil and I run around 32- 40 to 1 and let it rip on a full chisel chain.

[Scott Winners]

Since the thread is bumped anyway I will chime in. Sharp sharp sharp is number one, when felling firewood I generally touch up by chain teeth every second tank of gas while I am stopped anyway. One of the signatures lines of one of the users here is "Sharp solves all manner of problems" and I agree completely.

FWIW I havew no idea what cahin I use, probably a safety chain, but I do know it is a sharp chain.

Raker height is important. I set use the hardwood setting on mine (husky something) for frozen soft woods, I burn all spruce in my wood stove but like to fell in Feb and March. No mosquitos and less sweating around here then, still below freezing.

I use national brand (Mobil, Chevron, Shell, etc) super unleaded (89 octane or higher) in my Husky saw with no issues, I think I bought the saw new in 2006 or 2007. I mostly use the Husky brand 2 cycle oil in the fuel, though I have a run a few gallons with other brands of 2 cycle oil.

When I see someone struggling with a chainsaw the teeth are invariably dull. Once the teeth are sharp if the saw is down on power check the air filter and then think about accumulated crud in the carb from cheap gasoline. Also check the oiler. Bar oil is way cheaper than dull teeth.

[Kevin Jenness]

Thanks for all the replies. I do keep my chains sharp and oiled, the depth gauges adjusted, bar sprocket greased and air filter clean. I have been using semi-chisel chain. As the wood I use comes from different sources I will probably replace my old chains with one semi-chisel for relatively dirty or frozen material and a full chisel for faster cutting in clean green wood, and keep my eye out for a well-maintained used saw in the 80+ cc range.

[Rich Aldrich]

I have a Husqvarna 365 Special that I bought in 2005. That was when I put in my outdoor wood boiler. I cut about 13 -14 pulpwood cords per year. Plus anything I want for turning. I use a 20” bar, ore chain and bar. The chain is the chipper type with the flat top tooth and goes to a point ( no significant radius). Keep your chain brake working - it is the best advice I can give anyone. I always wear chaps.
My dad, who is 84, still uses his Husky 371 for firewood which is an amazing saw.
My family was in logging from 1935 until 2013. Husky was the go to saw since 1980. By 1996, they were totally mechanized, so chain saw use was less.
I worked for him when I was in high school 1976 - 1980. We never wore chaps. I won’t touch my saw without them now.
To me, the most important thing is having a good professional dealer for service. Stihl hasn’t had that in my area.