72DL Chain

[burnagain]

So I have always ran a 16" bar on my stihl 290 and I've been more than pleased with it. I like to use as small of a bar as possible while still having it large enough for the trees I'm cutting. Lately I've been looking at moving to a 20" because I've been cutting some that make my 16" stretch a little too much.

Anyway, I'm wanting to hear what some of y'all think about the 72DL chain if you've ran it. I've found it on ebay for a decent price with a bar included, Forester Brand, and just wanted some direction as to whether that will work for me.

My current stihl chain is the Full Chisel and I really don't want to get one that strays from the performance of that one.

Thanks ahead of time for your helpful comments.

David

 

[jeffoc]

I use a 20" and cut all oak and walnut. I find that when I'm cutting the bigger logs it will bog down quite a bit.
I was thinking of going the other direction, down to an 18".

 

[blades]

Go to a skip tooth chain on the same bar and you won't get bogged, That is if you are currently running a full complement chain.

 

[jeffoc]

I am still using the safety chain, (I wanted to get a better feel of the saw) my next one will be a more aggessive chain.

 

[jeff_t]

'72DL' usually refers to the number of drive links in a chain loop, with 72 links being a common 20" chain with a 3/8 pitch. No experience with Forester stuff, so maybe it means something else?

Personally, I'd stick with Stihl and RSC chain. If I wanted to save a couple of bucks, I'd go Oregon.

 

[ScotO]

yes 'DL' refers to drive links. A 72DL chain would be a 20" bar on a Stihl (if the chain is 3/8), are you questioning about the 72LPX chain that Oregon makes? If that is what you are asking about, it is a decent chain. I have a loop of it on my 051 with the 36" bar, it does pretty good, but doesn't oil like Stihl chain. There simply is no substitue for Stihl Oilomatic chain. I think it oils the best, stays sharper longer, and lasts longer than any other chain out there.

 

[HittinSteel]

3/8" 72DL is a lot to ask of the 290

 

[amateur cutter]

yes 'DL' refers to drive links. A 72DL chain would be a 20" bar on a Stihl (if the chain is 3/8), are you questioning about the 72LPX chain that Oregon makes? If that is what you are asking about, it is a decent chain. I have a loop of it on my 051 with the 36" bar, it does pretty good, but doesn't oil like Stihl chain. There simply is no substitue for Stihl Oilomatic chain. I think it oils the best, stays sharper longer, and lasts longer than any other chain out there.

Agree fully.

 

[amateur cutter]

3/8" 72DL is a lot to ask of the 290

18" .325 pitch chisel is about as much as you'd want on that 290 imo. As HS said, asking way too much out of that saw. A C

 

[Ashful]

3/8" 72DL is a lot to ask of the 290

How so? Isn't that a 56 cc saw? I run a 20" bar on my 50 cc saw.

 

[amateur cutter]

How so? Isn't that a 56 cc saw? I run a 20" bar on my 50 cc saw.

20" bar maybe, but 3/8 chisel chain is far more aggressive than lo pro or even safety chain. Skip chain might be all right for occasional use, but I'd want 60+ cc on a 20" bar to pull it with any authority. I run 86 cc on a 20" 3/8 full chisel to really make quick work of smaller stuff, say 14 to 24" wood. A C

 

[MasterMech]

How so? Isn't that a 56 cc saw? I run a 20" bar on my 50 cc saw.

Joful, I don't see your saws in your signature . But there are a few 50cc saws out there that can easily hang with the 290. It depends on the operator too, some will be happy with a 20" on the 290 "letting the saw do the work" while others here will be frustrated because we know how much better it gets once you cross that 60cc line.

The MS290 has a bit of a reputation for being "underpowered". I personally like .325 chain on that machine, especially those that want/need to run a 20" bar. If you need mo' power there are plenty of ways to get it from that saw. Muffler mods are cheap, easy, and effective.

 

[HittinSteel]

How so? Isn't that a 56 cc saw? I run a 20" bar on my 50 cc saw.

Like has been said, it is a personal preference. If you have a light hand, patience and the saw oils well enough, there is no problem running the max rated bar for a saw. My preference is to run shorter bars on bigger cc saws. 72DL full comp on a 50-55cc is too much for my liking.

 

[burnagain]

Thanks everybody for the opinions. Seems that the consesus is 20 is too big for my saw and that's definitely not where I want to be. Don't really want to drop money on a bigger saw, just need a couple extra inches now and then ha. I'll look at staying with 18".

yes 'DL' refers to drive links. A 72DL chain would be a 20" bar on a Stihl (if the chain is 3/8), are you questioning about the 72LPX chain that Oregon makes? If that is what you are asking about, it is a decent chain. I have a loop of it on my 051 with the 36" bar, it does pretty good, but doesn't oil like Stihl chain. There simply is no substitue for Stihl Oilomatic chain. I think it oils the best, stays sharper longer, and lasts longer than any other chain out there.

It may be the Oregon chain but repackaged by Forester I'm not sure. I've never heard of the brand before, just had a great price on a combo set on ebay, the link is below.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221075396151?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

 

[HittinSteel]

Are you running a 3/8" sprocket or .325?

 

[burnagain]

runs a .325. I know the listing I attached was for 3/8, guss it would help if I had the correct sprocket setup in mind when looking for bars.

 

[Ashful]

Like has been said, it is a personal preference. If you have a light hand, patience and the saw oils well enough, there is no problem running the max rated bar for a saw. My preference is to run shorter bars on bigger cc saws. 72DL full comp on a 50-55cc is too much for my liking.

Yeah... but the 20" bar is the minimum rated bar on that 50 cc saw! The catalog and manual both list it for 20" or 24" bars, and the tag on the saw gives chain numbers for only 20" and 24", nothing smaller. I suspect the reason is this saw has a longer stroke (likely more torque and lower revving) than most 50 cc saws. This is that same 510EVL mentioned in the Stihl vs. Husqvarna poll started yesterday.

Now that I have the 064, I might have to try a smaller bar on the 510EVL. I always needed to keep 20" on it before, since it was my main felling saw.

 

[ScotO]

Yeah... but the 20" bar is the minimum rated bar on that 50 cc saw! The catalog and manual both list it for 20" or 24" bars, and the tag on the saw gives chain numbers for only 20" and 24", nothing smaller. I suspect the reason is this saw has a longer stroke (likely more torque and lower revving) than most 50 cc saws. This is that same 510EVL mentioned in the Stihl vs. Husqvarna poll started yesterday.

Now that I have the 064, I might have to try a smaller bar on the 510EVL. I always needed to keep 20" on it before, since it was my main felling saw.

You are going to be highly dissappointed if you run a 24" bar on a Stihl MS290. My buddy runs a stock 290 for bucking up the tops on trees we cut down at our jobsites, he's running a 20" bar with .325 chain and that thing bogs down all the time. I can't imagine the dissappointment you would have in running a 24" 3/8 combo on that saw. That may very well be the recommended bar for a Echo 510 EVL, but keep in mind, that saw was built before all this modern emmission stuff came into play. A lot of those older saws have a lot more power per CC's than the modern ones, at least in stock form. If you do a full Woods-port, muffler port and a squish band removal on the cylinder to a Stihl MS290, I'd imagine that you'd be able to run a 24" bar all day long on it with some authority. But that's alot of work and a lot of money for a mediocre saw IMHO. Just buy a saw in the 70-90cc range and be done with it!

 

[ScotO]

So I have always ran a 16" bar on my stihl 290 and I've been more than pleased with it. I like to use as small of a bar as possible while still having it large enough for the trees I'm cutting. Lately I've been looking at moving to a 20" because I've been cutting some that make my 16" stretch a little too much.

Anyway, I'm wanting to hear what some of y'all think about the 72DL chain if you've ran it. I've found it on ebay for a decent price with a bar included, Forester Brand, and just wanted some direction as to whether that will work for me.

My current stihl chain is the Full Chisel and I really don't want to get one that strays from the performance of that one.

Thanks ahead of time for your helpful comments.

David

David, you'd be best off sticking with an 18-20" bar, stay with the .325 chain but go with the Stihl chisel .325. Cuts very fast, you'll be impressed with it. Best of all, no sprocket changeout required, and you won't be killing that saw and dissappointing yourself.

 

[burnagain]

David, you'd be best off sticking with an 18-20" bar, stay with the .325 chain but go with the Stihl chisel .325. Cuts very fast, you'll be impressed with it. Best of all, no sprocket changeout required, and you won't be killing that saw and dissappointing yourself.

Thanks for this straight forward advice. I really don't want to lead to a new B&C combo that will bog me down so I any size increase I do would MAX at a 20" but after the info here will likely stay at an 18". Like I said before I really like my 290 with the 16" but in the last couple of trees I've cut ( a big pine and a water oak) I've had to make a plunge cut in the notch before doing a bore cut because my saw was a couple inches short to get that last bit of heart wood.

David

 

[ScotO]

Thanks for this straight forward advice. I really don't want to lead to a new B&C combo that will bog me down so I any size increase I do would MAX at a 20" but after the info here will likely stay at an 18". Like I said before I really like my 290 with the 16" but in the last couple of trees I've cut ( a big pine and a water oak) I've had to make a plunge cut in the notch before doing a bore cut because my saw was a couple inches short to get that last bit of heart wood.

David

I think you will be fine getting the 20" .325 bar and chisel chain combo, if I were you I would also consider a simple muffler port-mod. Basically opening up your existing muffler port (or adding an additional port) to your muffler. Makes a sizeable difference in how the saw breathes, well worth the work doing it. Make sure you do it correctly, in the end you want the new muffler exit port to be just a tad smaller than the outlet port on the cylinder (where the muffler bolts onto the cylinder). You WILL have to re-tune the saw, this really makes the saw breathe WAY better, but it will be louder too. Kinda like waking up some extra HP out of your saw. I muffler-port all of my saws, it makes that big of a difference......

 

[Ashful]

That may very well be the recommended bar for a Echo 510 EVL, but keep in mind, that saw was built before all this modern emmission stuff came into play. A lot of those older saws have a lot more power per CC's than the modern ones, at least in stock form.

That's a shame, but it makes sense. The 510EVL does not bog under normal operation with a 20" bar, except when I bury the muffler against the ground while trying to flush a stump, and it's smaller than the MS-290.

Just buy a saw in the 70-90cc range and be done with it!

... and that's what I did! Stihl 064 AV.

 

[ScotO]

Honestly, after cutting for all these years, I wouldn't even purchase a saw under 65cc (except for a limbing or top-handle saw), just my personal preference. I do have a couple MS170's that a buddy who does chainsaw carvings gave me (all need new crank seals, I bought the seals just haven't had time to tear them down and rebuild them), but for cutting I mainly use my old Stihl 041AV Super (72cc) with a 28" bar and full chisel chain for almost everything. I like it because it has lots of power (it's ported too), I don't have to bend down all the time running that 28" bar, but it is on the heavy side. That's why I just bought the Husqvarna 372XP (70cc), going to pick it up today!

 

[HittinSteel]

We will need pictures the second you get it home scotty

 

[smokinj]

We will need pictures the second you get it home scotty

Never happen until!