Skip chain when and where to use it

[@Bixby-and-Buckshot]

I've always liked a skip tooth if most of the wood I'm cutting is big enough to take up most of the bar. Or for saws with higher HP and lower torque, like a lot of the mid-CC Stihl saws. Or when I'm lazy and sick of sharpening all those teeth! 🙂

[@ChainsawUsers]

Thanks for your comments

[@SawChainTheories]

Don't bank on it unloading the saw. I showed this a few months back where 18-20-inch wood brought the 660 to its knees with skip. You're relying on chain tension to pull the cutter back out of the wood and with a bigger gap between the cutters means they tend to stay in there longer creating more load. There's less cutters but they all take a bigger, longer bite. My thoughts after running a lot of it, it has 2 uses. 1 - Chip clearance issues (28+inch) or more common for me is option 2, I CBF sharpening that many teeth. Prime example is my 119DL bar Don't use the RSLF for milling, square tends to wonder more and you end up with wonky cuts. RMX or RMXF is the better bet for that

[@IndependenceIron]

I have to agree with this. I bought an old 038Mag with an 18" bar when i got into tree trimming. I don't take alot of big trees down, so i went cheap with an old school 72cc saw as my big saw and bought a 32" bar with skip chain. The 038 pulls it decently but it does like to snag. I also have a MS361 with a 24" bar and skip. It also likes to snag when you dog it in to aggressively. But i like the 24" bar when you cutting big limbs/trunks high up out the bucket. Fast forward to now i had looked for a 660/661 and found a used 661 with 36" bar. 4 chains all full house. So in no way did i expect the old 038 to run with this new saw but just wanted to see the difference. 30" maple. Dogged the 661 full chain with 36" bar in and i could lean on it all i wanted and it wouldn't stall out. 038 with 32" bar and skip, i had to be very gentle on it but made the cut with only 2 stalls. Swapped the 32" full skip over the 661. Very surprised that now all of a sudden i had to be gentle on the 661 as i could lean on it and bring it to stop at will. The skip definitely acts more aggressive and loads the saw up more. Completely opposite of what i thought!!

[@SiskinOnUTube]

What's that Skippy? You want to cut my head off! Argh!!!

[@ChainsawUsers]

Have you ever used a skip chain that was just ground with a round wheel. Normal full chisel grind not square grind. Do you think the square grind is 20% faster than full chisel round grind ? You have more experience than me on square grind.

[@SawChainTheories]

Yes, mostly 46RMF (404 semi), Oregon EXJ (3/8 full) and the older Windsor 58A 3/8 skip full chisel all normal round chains. Square is so miss understood, it literally doesn't do what people think it does. No new or sharpened to factory spec square chain will be faster than a quality round full chisel when self-feeding through wood. I can show this with a 66 Hexa vs a RSLF chain, the Hexa is a soild 20%+ ahead. It can be made to cut extremely fast but then it becomes very fragile. Search around for Stihl RSL on KZbin, not 1 video will show it as faster than RS or RH. It just doesn't cut that way

[@ChainsawUsers]

@SawChainTheories I noticed that you have ms660 and ms880 so you know what it's like to push to the limit. Your experience with big saws is different than the average user who uses small to medium saws. I only used a MS880 once and it's a big saw not the saw I want to use all day to heavy. But that said your views on a ms880 are different to a user with a ms400. You can't beat cc. I like small bars like you, 20 inch being my favourite size, and all rounder, fitted with full chisel chain.

[@SawChainTheories]

@@ChainsawUsers I'll do my best to make a video explaining the whole square thing during the week but it's going to be long. To understand what it does and doesn't do requires me to explain a lot. I'll tackle the whole chainsaw weight thing one day as well. They all weigh the same amount when actually cutting wood. Doesn't matter if it's a 170 or an old 090, they are the exact same weight when cutting

[@mmorgan1996]

Square is most definitely faster and smoother. Only good for clean green woods, though it cuts dry it will not hold and edge for shit

[@SawChainTheories]

@@mmorgan1996 Do you have much experience with square chain?

[@shaun8256]

The only skip chain I've ever heard of till now was the old skip a link on old cruiser pedal bikes! Don't really see the advantage except for lazy people who don't want to sharpen their chain.

[@ChainsawUsers]

Not for lazy people. It has a genuine purpose