Chain test! Stihl HEXA Vs RS Vs Skip on a Stihl 461.. which chainsaw chain is fastest?

Times :
Panther Full Skip 21 second average
Stihl RS 18 second average
Stihl Hexa 17.5 seconds.. as best as I can judge it..

[@davidfenton3910]

Thank you very much for the upload and going to the effort of doing the controlled comparison - informative and helpful. Cheers sincerely d

[@walkerscountrylife]

Glad you found it useful!

[@902hand7]

I run EXL. I did buy a loop of C85 just to see what all the fuss is about - it def cuts faster out of the box but I don't see paying a premium for a chain that I can replicate the factory edge with a hand file?? Haven't tried the Hexa yet - on the wish list...

[@walkerscountrylife]

Yep, EXL is what ends up on most my saws. That's the thing with c83, no way to replicate the stock profile.. thanks for your comments as always man.

[@jon592xp]

The Hexa chain is a bit more expensive. And my local Stihl dealer doesn't know anything about the special Hexa file. I like the Oregon EXL chain quite a bit and is less expensive .Enjoyed the show, good job.

[@walkerscountrylife]

Yes, I often go to buy Stihl RS and end up with Oregon as it's significantly cheaper, and with a bit of filing can cut very fast. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment, I really appreciate it.

[@rakersdownnz]

Gosh, what beautiful wood that is, nice coasters, as you say 😅 I agree with you on the filing of the skip chain, so fast, I think skip comes into its own over about 36" bar length where if you got got 36" wood or more under it there's not enough room for the chip between cutters and the chain will start to lift off if it's full comp. Buddies of mine who do Alaskan milling run super skip and get crazy good cuts on flitches with one tooth every 6 " or so and super fast filing as well. Cutting on the end grain less is more really, less teeth but more pressure on each tooth. Beautiful timber you got there !

[@walkerscountrylife]

It's a very nice piece of oak isn't it mate! Thanks for continuing to take the time to write detailed positive comments, I really appreciate it 👍

[@tbruce-sawsandsplitting]

Good morning 🤙🤙 gotta say i dont think ive tried any chain other than oregon, maybe some carlton on the husky 40 which i square filed and did absolutely rip!

[@walkerscountrylife]

Good morning! You should try some c83/85 husky chain..

[@tbruce-sawsandsplitting]

@@walkerscountrylife yeah I think once I've got a couple longer bars for the two makitas I'll invest in a couple loops of decent chain for sure

[@julianalderson3938]

Also a round chain after a file is sharper than new. I think

[@walkerscountrylife]

Definitely

[@gavinhankinson9158]

Are the stihl rs chains easy to sharpen as I've got .325 1.3mm chain on my 261c-m

[@walkerscountrylife]

Yes they're ace.

[@gavinhankinson9158]

What size file do you use for the .325 chain

[@King7765]

​@gavinhankinson9158 A .325 chain uses a 3/16" round file. Grab a file with the metal guide flats on the sides. It helps. Stihl makes a kit in a roll up bag that has the files, depth gauges and some other goodies. Work getting it as a kit. You can have a SHARP chain and it won't cut good if the rakers (depth gauges) aren't filed down to .025".

[@White_devil1980]

Happy Saturday 👍 So what is the difference between a skip tooth or a regular tooth chain that you have normal chain that you put on your saw 😎 I can notice a difference in the sound of the chainsaw

[@walkerscountrylife]

Good morning to you too! So, skip tooth has half as many teeth as a normal chain, so the saw holds higher rpm.

[@White_devil1980]

@@walkerscountrylife ahh I see so it would cut wood better than a normal tooth chain and then the chisel chain would cut as good or better 😊🥳

[@walkerscountrylife]

@@White_devil1980 they're all chisel tooth, just the skip chain has less teeth, which is better for a lower power saw and quicker to sharpen 👍

[@julianalderson3938]

Before i watch the rest of vid. Ive got the hexa used it. And sharpined twice different jobs. Its good' but really i was going better round file. Just grabs abit pulls into the wood better than the hexa. But glad had a go. Thanks great vid'

[@walkerscountrylife]

Thanks for your comments buddy 👍

[@TheHairyFool]

I love Skip chain until you hit something. Because there are less teeth, the damage is horrendous.

[@walkerscountrylife]

I've never seen that, makes total sense though. Other than to run a longer bar on a lower powered saw, I can't see the point tbh.

[@conormichael7964]

So my favorite chain is the Oregon EXL or husky C-83. My thoughts on hexa are it’s interesting but I’d prefer either roundchain because it’s way cheaper or full square ground chain because it cuts faster and at least here in the states it’s still cheaper. I also find I only use skip chain on 32in + bars and even then I tend to run full comp. I find skip is faster to file but it is usually slower in big wood to the point I don’t like it, the other thing is I’m running really hot ported saws so they can pull full comp chain. The other thing you should try if you haven’t is .404 pitch chain, it’s my favorite chain to use, massive tooth, easy to sharpen and because of the larger tooth the chains last so much longer. No matter what, excellent video as always

[@walkerscountrylife]

Agree with all of that brother 👍 the elephant in the room with this test is that you can massively improve on RS with filing, and EXL is cheaper.. either can then be square filed and be smother and faster at a lower price than hexa. Edge retention is the only possible benefit I can see to hexa, and ease of filing with the specific file. I know other people have done it, but I'd like to do an RS Vs C83 Vs EXL test. Also a stock Vs round filed Vs square filed test.

[@conormichael7964]

@@walkerscountrylife I wish you had easy access to a simington square grinder, they make the fastest cutting chains out of everything. And I do love hexa chain it’s just really expensive here in the states

[@walkerscountrylife]

Oh me too, I really want to start playing with a good square grinder. Very few and far between over here! Not sure what the Oregon pro ones are like.

[@conormichael7964]

@@walkerscountrylife the Oregon pro round grinders are actually pretty good, This Old Tony has a pretty good video on one of their grinders, there’s a few other good ones but any true “professional” grinder is extremely expensive and other than a simington square grinder you can get better cutting chains hand filing

[@walkerscountrylife]

Thats what I'd thought, great to know. Might get a pro to play with 👍

[@patrickvennard838]

Hi James that's an interesting video I have been running Hexa for six months now and intend to run it on 462 exclusively. I did a similar experiment with, Oregon EXL Stihl RS and Hexa. You don't really notice a second in the cut but I think both Stihl chains are smoother and hold an edge better than EXL. I have some C83 for the 2165 but have not tried it. I don't know how you would replicate the profile with a round file? You can reproduce Hexa really well with the supplied file hoping to find some deals on the kits then it's good value.

[@walkerscountrylife]

Yes, I've looked closely at c83 and it looks very much like a square filed top plate and a round filed side plate. It looks closer to hexa than round to me. I've not been able to test edge retention, looking forward to seeing how that goes. At the moment I'm on the fence with hexa, I can't decide if it's master of all or jack of none. I need to test getting RS to cut significantly faster by removing the gullet. Interesting to know if it's then faster than hexa. I do agree with you hexa is smooth, though in this test RS was also very smooth.

[@patrickvennard838]

I agree I am sure more talented people than me can get RS chain to cut really fast. I like Hexa as it's easy to sharpen in the woods. I also think it retains its edge better, I will be interested to see what you think. @@walkerscountrylife

[@walkerscountrylife]

To be honest I find square filing as easy if not easier than round, but I doubt it holds its edge as well as hexa.. on that basis, hexa could be the master of all..

[@thomthom9293]

Do you realize that you are hitting the ground at the end of every cut?

[@sesnc2145]

Biased against the skip chain. Not new, damaged skip chain tested without a factory sharpening, thus not a fair comparison. The 1/2 second difference between the other two is not significant. Time measure method too subjective for that fine of a measure. Cheers, JS

[@walkerscountrylife]

Thanks for taking the time to comment, yes good point. It was just the chain on the saw so I thought I'd include it.

[@julianalderson3938]

N to me speed aint everything. 10% whatever