Thread: Chain saw Chain Quality

I have done some google searches regarding Carlton chain. Appears it is an American brand.

There is a guy on the gold Coast, sounds like an individual trader, or professional miller who sells original Oregon chain and used Carlton chain.

I have seen a few adds for Carlton used chain, Why would anybody sell used chain and what would it be left over from.

Is it an alternative to used chain or would I be just buying more frustration and grief seeing how it has been said by others here that chain quality and sharpness are important because we should not use blunt tools because they are dangerous and the chain saw is a dangerous tool.

Lots of hire places supply a new chain with each hire and get rid of the old chain. A couple of my lopper mates get their chain for next to nothing that way.

most all chainsaw suppliers will sell all types of chain just ask them. a lot of teh time you will get a stihl chain box with origan chainn in it.

the once used chain in good alternative as it simply need a sharpen an its right to go. sometimes its still sharp when you get it.

Also with a slightly used chain, you don't get so much stretch from it when you chuck it on the saw. If I had a contact to get used chains, I'd give 'em a close look over and then have no worries using 'em.

Originally Posted by natural edge

stihl chains the only one to use oregon just ok carlton wouldnt recommend to worse enemy probably good for making sinkers

Probably a bit late on the subject but here's my two cents worth.
Natural Edge you sound like a Stihl dealer, I have used most chains available in Australia and in the last 18 months have done extensive product testing for a major US bar & chain manufacturer - comparing one against another using the chains for crosscut, ripping & milling.

I have found two brands of chain that in my opinion perform much better than others, These are Carlton & Windsor, I even had chain which was not availabe in Aust. flown in from the US for testing and have also sent chain to commercial cutters to test with the results all pointing to the chains I mention being the better.

In my opinion Stihl chain is one of the softest with Oregon coming in a close second out of four of the major brands ( we tested 9 brands )
How many of you know that Oregon have been manufacturing some of their bars and chains in China since early 2005 ? mmmm

BTW I have sold abt 20000 ft of Carlton or GB ( Carlton manufactured ) chain in the last two years without a single complaint on the quality or edge holding ability of this brand, As a matter of fact I get many emails and phone calls from ex Stihl & Oregon users that swear it is the best chain they have used. It is also my preferred brand as a commercial cutter.

For those out there that are interested I am trying to get the Carlton 5 skip 404 chamfer chisel bought into the country just awaiting price confirmation
The Carlton should be considerably cheaper than the Oregon 27RX.

Most of the other chain can be supplied at $420/100ft $120/25ft or loops at 45c per DL.


Laurie
[email protected]

Laurie,

Can you post any of your specific results on your tests here on the forum?
Cross cutting or milling or both?

Cheers
Bob

Yeah I'm a bit of a number guy too Laurie, if you can post some things for us that'd be great

Try to cutting greybox or yellowbox with it.Ive tried charlton so i know what its like cheap and nasty.Must be alot of pine up your way.You must be busy making up loops for the weekend warriors any way you get what you pay for.

Originally Posted by natural edge

Try to cutting greybox or yellowbox with it.Ive tried charlton so i know what its like cheap and nasty.Must be alot of pine up your way.You must be busy making up loops for the weekend warriors any way you get what you pay for.

Well thats funny it seems to work very well for me , I have cut Cornuta yate with Carlton chain no problem , which is a lot harder than redgum , Cornuta yate makes redgum look like Balsa wood , I call it concrete wood , its that hard . Cheers MM

Originally Posted by natural edge

Try to cutting greybox or yellowbox with it.Ive tried charlton so i know what its like cheap and nasty.Must be alot of pine up your way.You must be busy making up loops for the weekend warriors any way you get what you pay for.

I shouldn't be responding and really do not wish to get into a crapfight with someone that thinks they know what they are talking about.
I do get out and test bars, chain & equipment before I shoot my mouth off, If I recommend something I have tested it. How much timber do you actually cut out in the paddock and not at a keyboard ?

I actually do cut Grey & Yellowbox, Redbox as well as very seasoned Applebox, Red Ironbark and have cut Mulga, It outperforms any chain I have used and I regularly compare Carlton / GB with the 3 other major chain brands, I do not need to sell it - it sells itself as anyone that knows about chain and has actually compared them has not gone back to lower quality chain, My customers get more than what they pay for !

I have also and am currently testing bars as I do sell many of the GB bars or bar / chain combo's.
How much timber to block up in a test ? Try nearly 200 ton in 2 1/2 weeks.

Also 20% of my customers are commercial cutters and represent over 95% of my sales Australia wide ( always repeat buyers plus new customers all the time ) I would expect that over 99% of my sales of chain are for hardwood cutting.

I would put my money where my mouth is as I just state the facts, Possibly you have not used Carlton or GB ( manufactured by Carlton ) for a long time, As I believe the quality many years ago was not that good. Have you actually done product testing and compared several brands ? Have you used Carlton or GB chain recently ?

I would challenge anyone using the brand of chain you use against myself using GB/Carlton and I know who will still be spitting chips while they are spitting sawdust.

I certainly hope that you stick with Stihl chain and support them all you can, After all they do make mostly good chainsaws.

Oh, forgot to say we are not impresed with Stihl or Oregon on a Lucas mill - very poor performance.

Enough said, I have wasted enough time on the subject ..... Laurie

Far out, I ask a hesitant stupid question about chain saw quality and I expected a simple answer like, you are an idiot " STAR " of course there is a difference.

When the first person to reply was our University Professor, I knew I was not going to get a simple answer. Thanks Bobl no harm intended, you actually confirmed my suspicions with answers and references to Oregon chain.

This original question has sort of told me that few other rather qualified people are interested in the subject as well, because of there, involved dialogue in favour of their preferred champion chain.

ps.

I think I am starting to get the hang of this Woodworking thing.

I think I can almost pretend to talk the talk, but no way yet, can I walk the walk.

i dont know why you wopuld mention box it is not a hard wood to cut.

you need to get out and cut some real wood. try some old dry red ironbark.

i have found carlton chain to be the best but i have nto done extencive testing.

Originally Posted by STAR

Far out, I ask a hesitant stupid question about chain saw quality and I expected a simple answer like, you are an idiot " STAR " of course there is a difference.

When the first person to reply was our University Professor, I knew I was not going to get a simple answer.

I dunno, I wouldn't be trusting those guys to know anything about this sort of stuff. Head in the clouds and all that! And why would anyone give a simple answer to any question when a complicated one is more entertaining?

Originally Posted by Exador

I don't know if it's any harder as such, Bob. It may well be, since it seems to last longer between filings than the oregon I normally use, which I was very satisfied with anyway.

Very Entertaining guys, well as my user name suggests guess what i do, thats right i fall trees that are on fire or have been burn't why because they are dangerous to us on the fire line and have to go, carbon is great for taking the edge off, as is termite mud ect ect, i use only one chain, no prizes for correct guess its Carlton, it keeps its edge longer, and is more tolerant of damage to the cutters, we get a lot of Yarran up here, look that one up, its nick name is iron wood, throws lots of nice sparks when cutting it, even better with a good depth of charring on it, used Oregon Multi Cut for a while but it didn't hold its edge any better than a standard A2 Carlton and Carlton is 1/3 the price, Carlton chain is in my book.