Stihl Green vs Yellow Chain - Which One Is Right For You?

[@OldSchoolMillennial]

I'm giving away a BRAND NEW STIHL MS 261 chainsaw! Enter now through November 23, 2023 (Thanksgiving Day). Details here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHO5pmqtZ6d4oq8

[@iffykidmn8170]

yellow and green are both available in either full or semi chisel. The color denotes anti kick back or not it does not denote the shape of the cutter tooth.

[@timhannan4551]

This is how I understand it also. Green has double rakers (anti- kickback) and the yellow has single rakers. Worth redoing this video with that in mind as there are very few videos on this important subject. Thanks

[@rphiliprogers]

I am a Stihl gold mechanic and you are correct. Green is low kick back and yellow is “Other than low kick back” (per the Stihl legal department).

[@viperstrike3827]

THANK YOU!

[@ZajoSTi]

Yes you are right. If I might add - full chisel is called "super" and semi chisel is called "micro". Also, if it has a number 3 on the name - that is a safety chain.

[@ctgabi]

Hello from Romania! I agree with your assessment: chisel for clean and semi or chamfer for ... not so clean wood. Most people here use chisel chains as they value the speed more. Myself, in the last few years, I use the chains in rotating pairs: one chisel (Oregon 20LPX or Stihl 23RSC - I found a good deal for this one) and one semi-chisel (Husqvarna SP33G only). I find the SP33G more durable and probably as fast as the other two - this is the reason I quit using Oregon 95VPX or Husqvarna H30 that were not as durable. Cheers!

[@joesalazar770]

I'm a professional logger and have always resharpened my chains to a 40 degree angle so they are more aggressive. And have little issue with dullling them always virgin wood and mostly soft pine some hard dry standing beetle kill but I use a 28" for felling and switch to a 20" for limbing and cutup. Been logging for about 35years. And I also eliminate the kick tooth but warning it will effect the power level so unless you use a hi power head don't remove it. I've owned saws that run well into 30000 rpm. Most stock will run 12000 to 14000 max. At this point I still cut for fun and firewood just something I enjoy.

[@curlyyoder]

We use both. Green is round tooth less aggresive more tolerant to dirty conditions. Yellow full chisel it cuts fast. More kick back. Keep your RPM up on cuts on the tip you will get along fine. Both are worthy. We build full scribe log homes...fence and cut fire wood. Use both types depending on wood species and application. Good video!

[@rockylincoln8418]

Brilliant explanation of both chains, cheers, well done!

[@OldSchoolMillennial]

Thanks, man!

[@rodneysweetnam8653]

Hi Glen - it's Big Rodders again. A study of speed from a different angle. I once owned a fantastic two speed Italian made vertical splitter driven by either 240v electric or a PTO driven pump. While the PTO driven pump was visually faster with and without load, detailed measurement of a complete day's production proved that the result was identical either way. I ended up only using the electric option as it was cheaper, cleaner, more quiet, vibrated less and was more pleasant to operate. The results surprised me but also taught me a valuable lesson.

[@OldSchoolMillennial]

That's a great example. Have a good one Big Rodders!

[@wittsend1961]

Good video.. I use yellow full chisel on my 362C with 25" bar...All I cut is hardwoods

[@tractordave9300]

Thank for giving it straight. I’m dropping some big oaks in my woods that died last year because of the drought and ants. I’ve got two green carbide chains that I’ve been using in my logs on the ground, just got a yellow and am interested what this bad boy will do on those big oaks/ Thanks for the info

[@ciphercode2298]

I run 20" and 28" yellow chain on my ms441cm and green an yellow on my new ms250 I just bought. Living in West Virginia alot of what I cut is on a hillside with questionable footing and in close quarters with brush and briars. In bigger logs I have to use the 441,but its weight and the use of wedges help minimize chatter and reducing chances of kickback. When I'm limbing I always get the ms250 and unless I consider it dangerous I'll use the yellow chain most times. If the entire log is dirty I'll spend the 5 minutes and change over to the green chain.

[@OGAOutdoors]

Glenn I pretty much run the full chisel on my Shindaiwa 591 very happy with the performance. My smaller saw the Echo cs 310 has the semi chisel which does well also. It tends to get all the dirty jobs like cutting smaller stumps and trees close to the ground. To me the main thing with any chain is to stay ahead on your sharpening keeping it sharp is easier than trying to get it sharp after it’s dull. Take care, Ben.

[@OldSchoolMillennial]

Definitely a good point staying ahead on sharpening. You're able to get so much more production with sharp saws. That's also why I carry multiple saws so that I can avoid stopping.

[@maxballiet8632]

Oregon speedcut (narrow kerf semi-chisel) on my ms250 which I find is a very capable bar and chain combo. I use full-chisel on my 362, and keep a few semi-chisel chains handy for stumps and whatnot.

[@johnclarke6647]

I run full chisel chains on most saws,either Oregon or Stihl RS. I sharpen all chains after each use. I hand file and grind. My rakers are set a little hungry. I have small saws running LP and big saws running LGX or RS chains.

[@mtraven23]

sorry, I'm kinda green and not fluent in the terminology. When you say your "rakers are set a little hungry", does that mean you've ground them down to increase your depth of cut?

[@johnclarke6647]

@@mtraven23 hungry means they are filed down, so the chain is a little grabby. I set mine below the setting on standard raker gauges. Standard gauges allow you to file them to about .023 below the cutters. Mine are set to a little lower than that. I set mine by eye.

[@mtraven23]

@@johnclarke6647 thanks! I dont even have those gauges, probably should get them

[@6.8SuperDutyDriver]

I plan on buying a Stihl MS362 (carburetor version) w/20" bar and chain. A few guys on the forums recommended Stihl Rapid Super (RS) over the Rapid Super 3 (RS3) chains. After watching this video, I'm gonna grab a few loops of each.

[@mattbentley2018]

Running a 271 20" on an old oak that just fell due to wind Was using a green and thought I would try a yellow and so far not to impressed with the yellow. It started off great and had great chips and then turned to more dust and harder to cut. Do I need to go back to my green.

[@DanielAndonov-br5zd]

Can you tell me what is the number of the yellow chain for bar stihl light 04 1.3 16 inch on stihl ms 261?

[@mingjae7309]

Hi, if we run an dull a yellow super chisel profile, does it become a green rounded tip? (micro chisel profile). Btw, can we file a yellow chain with a round file an still have the pointed tip? Is it possible?

[@KJfreshh69]

I’m having to sharpen my green chain once a week and I only get a few trees out of it. Gets stuck in logs and bogs down. And snags. My first chainsaw is a ms180cb I like it now that I’m use to it but I need something to zip through everything takes forever to cut through a medium size tree

[@caporaso]

I started moving over to yellow chains but that’s cause I was a novice and was geared toward the green chains. The green chains work just fine for me around the yard, bucking up what I need. The yellow chain full comp really helped make noodles with the 038 magnum clone, would’ve been better with a ripping chain though on the 25” bar. I still run the green chain on my MS250, but I’m running full chisels on the MS291 with the 20” bar. Love that saw.

[@OldSchoolMillennial]

Hi Jeff, yea I run both as well. One thing more important is just keeping always keeping them sharp no matter which chain.

[@caporaso]

@@OldSchoolMillennial that’s the key most of the time. A sharp chain is a happy chain. When people ask “how do I make my _ _ _ run faster?” Most of the time you just need to take good care of your chain!

[@semiprofessional8470]

291 is an amazing saw. CS4910 echo is my favorite homeowner saw

[@tonytribisonna9886]

Very well said you are 💯 % correct like KZbin videos. I use semi chisel most of the time long bars 32”inch cutting Australian red gum and iron bark hard wood . Its a lot more Pleasant cutting with semi chisel smoother less kickback and more durable.

[@TheTanfieldKid]

would either chain do for freshly felled timber and logs that have been seasoned a while and need cutting into log sizes for splitting.

[@White_devil1980]

I have a 23 RS pro chain on my sthil ms 261 cm 👍 if you could give me some insight on this chain or even a review on it would be great 😁👍

[@lightingrodtodd]

How can u use same bar

[@megamike4357]

I have been cutting very dirty wood from a flood. I have been using a carbide chain a lot. Cuts slow, chain loosens up often, but I can cut forever before I need to sharpen.

[@OldSchoolMillennial]

That is a good idea for cutting dirty wood!

[@ryanwood74]

How much more time exactly do you get between sharpenings on the carbide vs other chains? What are some of the negatives of using carbide?

[@megamike4357]

@@ryanwood74 I have never had it sharpened. I cut about 8 pick up loads, and it's still sharp. The draw backs are it cuts slower, and you will need to stop and tighten the chain more often.

[@jimmy4x4socal44]

I use the green in dirty or hard wood, yellow in clean/green softer wood. Yellow rips, green is okay, it’s my beater chain. Yellow is hard to come by in my area.

[@ZajoSTi]

You can see the shape of the chisels on the picture, when the boxes are shown close to the camera. The way I see it - yellow for professionals, green for everyone else.

[@kevindoan6537]

I have a massive pine tree stump that I want to shorten, which chain should I use?

[@OldSchoolMillennial]

If you're cutting near the dirt to get a stump out I would use the green chains.

[@iPig]

This is incorrect. Your descriptions of chisel vs semi-chisel are correct, but that's not what the colors mean. What you're talking about is the information in the circle directly below the colored square on the box. Super vs micro. Green is a safety chain with additional depth gauges on the drive links that reduce the cutting depth only at the tip in order to reduce the chance of kickback. Despite what many people think, a green safety chain with the extra depth gauges isn't noticeably slower than the yellow version of the same chain, except for bore cuts.

[@collinjhuls]

So many misconceptions about it

[@ChuckConnor-yh6bh]

I prefer the green chain I run Ms 271 ms311 it all Cuts about the same to me I just don't like all the maintenance of sharpening I burn quite a bit of wood and really can't see the difference

[@MegaChevyMan79]

The green chain is a semi chisel. RM3. You can get RM without the safety depth gages you can also get RS3 full chisel safety chain

[@rodneysweetnam8653]

Hi Glen - it's Big Rodders in Ireland. I consider that for the average punter processing a variety of wood species in real life situations a semi chisel wins hands down. They dull much slower and will continue performing albeit at a reduced rate. Crucially, they are more forgiving with less than perfect sharpening. With reduced downtime I would suspect that over a days cutting there would be minimal difference in output between chisel and semi chisel chains. I just find semi chisel chains easier to live with but each to their own.

[@OldSchoolMillennial]

Hi Rodney, that's a good way of looking at it. In the long run if you're spending a lot of time sharpening it balances out the speed at the end of the day.

[@baldseagul]

I build timber frame raised beds and small buildings Sheds and so on. I run green in a 15 amp electric chainsawwith a eighteen inch bar. I also have a 12 inch bar with green chain as well. they last longer and they are good for more precise cuts.

[@mrbrightside187]

Thanks a lot for the explanation! Been using yellow for the last few months but I noticed they dull pretty quick in the environment I'm in; hard wood, rough terrain and higher chance of hitting something other than wood. Gonna get a green.

[@OldSchoolMillennial]

Thanks man! It's nice having both chains depending on the situation you're cutting in.

[@mtraven23]

great video! also really like the name of your channel, really resonates with me. since you asked, I've only run green (micro) on my 20" ms291. I'm watching some of these videos because I'm not super impressed with the durability, but I think I'm realizing my expectations are too high. Curious, you ever try any non stihl chains on your stihl saws? I know its probably a "you get what you pay for" scenario, but I can get 2-3 chains for the price of stihl. In my experience, stihl makes a great saw, not sure its a value saw though, wondering if the same might be true for their chains?

[@OldSchoolMillennial]

I appreciate that, Matt! I mostly find myself running stihl chains on my stihl chainsaws. I do use Oregon and Husqvarna on my Husqvarna saws. I like running all those different chains. However, I do find the stihl chain easier to sharpen. It is definitely good chain, but to your point, it does get expensive. Thanks for the feedback man!

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Great job

[@OldSchoolMillennial]

Thanks man!

[@cooks128]

Can you use the same files and 3 in 1 sharpener between the green and yellow chain?

[@OldSchoolMillennial]

I honestly don't know the answer to this man but I'm sure you could find out at a stihl dealer. I haven't ever used the 3 in 1 sharpener myself.

[@warrior4-u]

Yes you can.

[@Mihogan]

Idk, I prefer the green chains. They stay sharper longer, keep me from accidentally whacking my face off, and only shave a second off each cut... 11.36 vs 11.9 seconds shaves off approximately 5% of cutting time. Even if I were bucking 8 hours straight, that means in total it'd save me, what, 20 mins all day? Then I need to sharpen more, and that may take me 15-20 minutes. Seems all in all it's break even.

[@brandonbowman4707]

Good video

[@OldSchoolMillennial]

Thank you.

[@rudycarlson8245]

It really depends on what you are cutting Pine and Poplar you can use the green chain my dad would call the green chain a safety chain for hardwood like oak you could use the yellow chain the yellow chain It the chipping chain which I run most of the time

[@OldSchoolMillennial]

Yes, exactly! It really makes a difference what you're cutting.

[@bryanmcdonough2436]

I run yellow on ALL my saws 》《ALL the time in every scenario lol u can't beat a good sharp full chisel chain :)

[@hk93shooter]

the 261 is a little hot rod, i run a 362 for most of my firewood cutting.it gets heavy after a few hours. if you cut mainly med size timber 10-15 inches a 261 will hold is own against most every saw in its class. even with a full comp 3/8 chain. in the end a sharp chain always wins. i use 3/8 .050 chain on every saw. from makita 4300 ,18in yellow for limbing. ,makita 6421, ms 362, husky 555 , ms660,20, 24 32,in bars with lgx.

[@OldSchoolMillennial]

Wow! You've got a sweet arsenal!

[@hk93shooter]

i get chunks /trees drop from local tree guys for free so i need an assortment of tools. sometimes big ugly stuff:)

[@dirtyrotter4057]

For me. A second or 2 in the cut makes no difference. I cut for myself. So during a day it may save me 20 minutes. Not very noticeable. But the time you save sharpening will be.

[@onlygodknowswhat7595]

Green came on my saw, yellow blew it out of the water for me. It kicks back far more often. It is a bit scary at times due to its bite, it grabs at slow speed, so much so that I find myself clearing limbs out of my way with the chain, I run it really slowly and let it grab and throw the limbs, at first I hit myself quite often, but with practice I only get hit if the limb breaks in two. I also use it to bring logs closer to myself. Safety is the most important thing, the green is far safer. The yellow will hurt you if you are not careful at all times.

[@pallmall5495]

Run wide open when you are cutting anything.The higher rpms keeps that grabbing from happening.

[@xx-crazyt94-xx85]

372xp 32”bar full chisel full skip softwood 562xp 24”bar full chisel semi skip softwood

[@Orefamilylawncare]

Only real difference I've seen is that the green chain doesn't plunge cut as well as the yellow chain. I haven't timed it but cut speed is really close. Rm is rapid micro. Rs is rapid super or something like that.

[@onthelake9554]

Yellow and Green have Nothing to do with tooth profile or cut time ! They are available in either . Yellow and Green refers to the safety level of the extra depth gauges on the green to reduce kickback . With the same tooth profile they will cut the same bucking. Green is safer for people that don't have experience controlling kickback . Bars are available in green and Yellow code as well to reduce kickback . How about a new video on chainsaw safety explaining what Yellow and Green is really for .

[@sam_yyz]

Yup, agreed. You can get a full chisel safety chain and a semi chisel standard chain. All four variants are available. Associating safety chain (green) with semi chisel and standard chain (yellow) with full chisel is a common misconception.

[@SeriousSchitt]

OnTheLake: Maybe it's up to 'YOU' to do the video, and dump it in this guy's nest? What you've said's been mentioned before and it's one of the very few comments he doesn't respond to!

[@onthelake9554]

@@SeriousSchitt I wish I could but I am not a maker .

[@johnarnold3696]

I think the green chain designates that it has reduced kickback rakers. Not the tooth profile. The yellow chain has a regular single raker

[@dennisdye2330]

Thanks. This guy is 🎉... 🥂

[@dennisingram6748]

Simply put..full chisel has square corner...semi has rounded. Just tried a full chisel on a huge super hard black oak that was 3 ft in diameter...over 100 ft tall...it had 23 tree sized limbs on it. I cut it down and used the same chain to limb it and cut it up....all on a MS 261c-m 20 in bar. Hardest wood Ive ever cut...and the chain after 4 wks cutting is as razor sharp as the day I bought it. The full chisel cuts far faster in my opinion. I wont buy anything else again

[@mtraven23]

a 3ft diameter tree is "huge" ? the best of chains wont make it through a full day of cutting, let alone 4 weeks? Unless it was just that one tree that took you 4 weeks? something isn't adding up...

[@donaldfournier8354]

Yellow all wood

[@timhannan4551]

Can you please do a video on the ability of these two chains to plunge-cut a large tree or piece of wood. Almost every forum, ad nauseum, states that green safety chains (with double rakers) are lousy at plunge cutting timber. There is only one video on YT (by Human) which shows this to be patently wrong. Please use your channel to advance this argument, one way or the other. 90% of woodsmen plunge cut at some time or other, so it is an important point. Thanks.

[@timhannan4551]

To please the pros you will probably have to use two new chains, an RS3 (safety/ double rakers) and a RS ( non safety/ single rakers) on whatever saw you have that needs new chains. Love the channel, by the way. Keep it up!

[@mattfabian9758]

This comparison is miss leading. RM and RS are 2 different chains. And they each come in green “anti kick” or yellow “standard”.

[@jacquesblaque7728]

Nothing stihl is right for me- the lads in Waiblingen are way too greedy for my $$. Mush prefer semi-chisel Forester, Woodland Pro, or Oregon, with no funky colors.

[@andresxi5548]

It,s a riping chain and a crosscut chain...

[@iPig]

No.

[@chevysilver-ray-dough6328]

I use a semi chisel because the only advantage of using a full is the speed and honestly it's not that much faster. I have a 362 so it cuts plenty fast enough with a semi.