Skip Tooth Chains

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Huh? Skip tooth chains have their place. I use skip tooth on my longer bars, given the size of the chainsaw driving them. I also use chisel or semi-chisel chain on the shorter bars.

MarkG
 
What is the advantage of the skip tooth chain? If I use one on my MS390 with 20" bar how much of a difference will I notice from the Chisel tooth (yellow) that I use now? Also -are they any more forgiving of dirty bark?
 
gweldgen said:
What is the advantage of the skip tooth chain? If I use one on my MS390 with 20" bar how much of a difference will I notice from the Chisel tooth (yellow) that I use now? Also -are they any more forgiving of dirty bark?

The skiptooth is for longer bars on saws that don't produce quite enough power to effectively run full comp chain on the longer bars. For dirty wood you want RM chain from Stihl. The advantage is that less cutters are in the wood and therefore less drag. They cut slower on the shorter bars because of the less cutters per revolution of the chain. On the plus side, there are fewer cutters to sharpen.
 
gweldgen,

I forgot to add in the previous post. If you want to run a 28" bar on your 390, that is where you'd want to start looking at skiptooth. You will actually slow your saw down with skiptooth on a 20" with that saw. I believe it is Oregon JGX you'd be looking for.
 
Bigg_Redd said:
Anyone not using them?

I run standard chains on both saws. I run a file at each tankfull and use each saw what its best suited for. My Stihl 028 for falling and limbing and the Husky 266sg for bucking out rounds @ home on the landing.
 
gweldgen said:
What is the advantage of the skip tooth chain? If I use one on my MS390 with 20" bar how much of a difference will I notice from the Chisel tooth (yellow) that I use now? Also -are they any more forgiving of dirty bark?

1) skip tooths come in round bit (what I run) and chisel bits.

2) The main advantage is sharpening half the teeth while cutting better.

3) Round bits are far more dirt-forgiving than chisel bits.
 
i run full chisel skip on my 28 in
 
Not always true but.....skip tooth chain is a "go-to" chain when your saw/bar combo may be lacking power to pull a chain with all of its teeth biting. At least that was its intentions. Less teeth, less drag, higher rpm for saws that don't quite have the ooompff. There are other applications for skip tooth (such as Lee's example) but I'm talking specifically about saw use.

I run an MS361 and don't have a bar config that would benefit from a skip tooth chain (my opinion), because the saw simply pulls everything I got (up to 24") with real good RPM. Putting a chain with fewer cutters on the bar would slow down my production. This is not true of every saw/config.

So to answer the OP. NO I do not use skip tooth, nor do I have a need. Some applications may benefit from it, mine don't.
 
Adios Pantalones said:
They're also the way to go if producing lumber with a chainsaw- like with an Alaskan lumbermill.

And if I could find one of them bastages cheap, I would be a proud owner of one. I look at many of the saw logs that I am butchering up for firewood thinking....hmmmm, this would make some pretty lumber.
 
Adios Pantalones said:
There are cheaper attachments that can be used, but for a reasonable log you need a beast of a saw. I thought about it too.

Without trying to steal the thread, I often thought for occasional use, would my 361 be enough of a saw. Dunno??
 
Adios Pantalones said:
Wish I had payed attention- I saw a guy saw a really wide OSAGE into planks one time- must have been using a monster saw.
:shut: :shut: :gulp:
 
You sink a 28 in bar you better have alot of power skip and sharpen right!
 
Adios Pantalones said:
Wish I had payed attention- I saw a guy saw a really wide OSAGE into planks one time- must have been using a monster saw.
One monster saw indeed!
 
Ya- it was a guy named Marty from TX that I met through bowmaking.
He was famous for doing things like building his own throat extender on a bandsaw, replacing the 1HP motor with a 5 HP, and resawing osage lumber (they have lots of osage in the DFW area evidently). Go big or go home redneck stuff- great guy, and a little nuts. Wouldn't be surprised if he's dead from a contraption coming apart on him by now.
 
Adios Pantalones said:
Ya- it was a guy named Marty from TX that I met through bowmaking.
He was famous for doing things like building his own throat extender on a bandsaw, replacing the 1HP motor with a 5 HP, and resawing osage lumber (they have lots of osage in the DFW area evidently). Go big or go home redneck stuff- great guy, and a little nuts. Wouldn't be surprised if he's dead from a contraption coming apart on him by now.
Be a great guy to know!!!!!!! We have alot of it around here a 12 in trunk is no chump with a ported 460 and you are talking about ripping it!WOW
 
i have a skip tooth on my stihl 036 with a 20" bar which has changed to a 360 and then a 361, i also have one on my husky pro saw with a 24" bar. both are around 60cc and both slice right through the wood i am cutting. skip tooth chains work well with softer woods like what i am used to here in fairbanks ak, like spruce, birch and douglas fir, but with hard woods it tends to bog the saws down so a regular chain might work better unless yo uhave a good saw. it does cut wood though, i would say twice as fast as regular chains.
 
ak said:
i have a skip tooth on my stihl 036 with a 20" bar which has changed to a 360 and then a 361, i also have one on my husky pro saw with a 24" bar. both are around 60cc and both slice right through the wood i am cutting. skip tooth chains work well with softer woods like what i am used to here in fairbanks ak, like spruce, birch and douglas fir, but with hard woods it tends to bog the saws down so a regular chain might work better unless yo uhave a good saw. it does cut wood though, i would say twice as fast as regular chains.

OK I must have it backwards. My idea of a skip chain was for underpowered saws to maintain their rpm to keep the saw in its power curve to do the job. If you ran both types of chains at the same RPM wouldnt the skip chain cut slower as it would be removing less wood per revolution. So if you have the power a normal chain should cut faster so long as the chains we have been talking about are both sharp. I would say a skip tooth would be required more for hardwoods and less on softwoods using
the same power plant. YES / NO :question:
 
north of 60 said:
ak said:
i have a skip tooth on my stihl 036 with a 20" bar which has changed to a 360 and then a 361, i also have one on my husky pro saw with a 24" bar. both are around 60cc and both slice right through the wood i am cutting. skip tooth chains work well with softer woods like what i am used to here in fairbanks ak, like spruce, birch and douglas fir, but with hard woods it tends to bog the saws down so a regular chain might work better unless yo uhave a good saw. it does cut wood though, i would say twice as fast as regular chains.

OK I must have it backwards. My idea of a skip chain was for underpowered saws to maintain their rpm to keep the saw in its power curve to do the job. If you ran both types of chains at the same RPM wouldnt the skip chain cut slower as it would be removing less wood per revolution. So if you have the power a normal chain should cut faster so long as the chains we have been talking about are both sharp. I would say a skip tooth would be required more for hardwoods and less on softwoods using
the same power plant. YES / NO :question:

N of 60 - your not confused. You got it right. There ARE applications that skiptooth may do a better job apples/apples like when chip clearing is an issue but for a firewood saw, you nailed it.
 
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