Excessive chain juddering

[wicklamulla]

10 hours ago, Al Cormack said:

Had the same issues

https://arbtalk.co.uk/forums/topic/74725-201t-and-oregon-lo-pro-91vxl-chain/

Filed off the back of the cutter sloping it down, and it's not so bad. Never bought anymore of them.

i looked at the pic Wyk put up but i don't understand it,  is he simply saying you need to sharpen the chain teeth back some in order to reduce the judder or is he saying something else!!??

[Al Cormack]

11 minutes ago, wicklamulla said:

i looked at the pic Wyk put up but i don't understand it,  is he simply saying you need to sharpen the chain teeth back some in order to reduce the judder or is he saying something else!!??

I think part of the issue is the length of the cutters, so as they get shorter with sharpening the problem goes away.

I also found with a new chain filing off the back of the cutter helped as well. 

 

[Wolfie]

Thankfully i've recently used the last of the reel of that Oregon shite.
I to think it was dangerously aggressive. I wonder if the investigations of the recent fatalities went as far as looking at the chain used on the top handles?

[Rob D]

20 minutes ago, Wolfie said:

Thankfully i've recently used the last of the reel of that Oregon shite.
I to think it was dangerously aggressive. I wonder if the investigations of the recent fatalities went as far as looking at the chain used on the top handles?

There is nothing wrong with Oregon 91VXL chain - one of the best lo pro chains out there in my opinion.

 

Prob it is not ideal for smaller top handled saws - but that does not mean the chain is no good!

 

The bumper drive links although mainly designed for reduced kickback seem to give a smoother cut so if your saw seems overly grabby and it's a new chain maybe switch to 3/8 lo pro  .043 chain - this is the 3/8 lo pro in a narrower version and gives a cleaner and smoother cut ie. Oregon 90PX or Stihl 3610.

 

Age of a bar and chain mean nothing if the bar has been damaged - just because a bar is a few days old doesn't mean it's not the bar if something nasty has happened to it.

 

 

 

 

[wisewood]

From what you’ve added about getting the saw stuck I would inspect your bar more closely. You may have pinched the bar groove which maybe pushing the drive links out of the groove slightly when cutting over a particular diameter

[dan494]

8 hours ago, Wolfie said:

Thankfully i've recently used the last of the reel of that Oregon shite.
I to think it was dangerously aggressive. I wonder if the investigations of the recent fatalities went as far as looking at the chain used on the top handles?

I agree, won't buy it again. Far too snatchy. I'd hate to be up a tree knocking a large limb out and the chain grab and take the saw with the branch, can see it happening. 

[MattyF]

I agree, won't buy it again. Far too snatchy. I'd hate to be up a tree knocking a large limb out and the chain grab and take the saw with the branch, can see it happening. 

Interesting ... Would rather have a fast saw and aggressive chain and smash a cut so you can get the saw out quick, saw grabbing will be down to using the wrong cuts or the limb breaking prematurely because you can’t cut fast enough chasing a cut... from my experience any how.

[dan494]

31 minutes ago, MattyF said:

Interesting ... Would rather have a fast saw and aggressive chain and smash a cut so you can get the saw out quick, saw grabbing will be down to using the wrong cuts or the limb breaking prematurely because you can’t cut fast enough chasing a cut... from my experience any how.

Normally I'd totally agree with this but with the Oregon chain I found them to bite in and jam constantly in wood over 6 inches or so until you spend time sorting it by filing. I'd go for a stihl full chisel everytime, even rotatech chains cut better tbh

[Mark_Skyland]

On 02/02/2018 at 18:39, dan494 said:

Normally I'd totally agree with this but with the Oregon chain I found them to bite in and jam constantly in wood over 6 inches or so until you spend time sorting it by filing. I'd go for a stihl full chisel everytime, even rotatech chains cut better tbh

Surely no chance!

 

We tried a few of those out for comparison and they were clearly the worst chains I have ever used. Terrible out of the box, not sharp and extremely bad vibrations, then awful to sharpen and two out of four snapped way before they were half through their lifespan. Binned them all.

 

The VXL is a great chain, we have been using it for the best part of 20 years while doing tree work. Well, the VX from the start and then the VXL. As long as the saw is running well and being operated correctly the chain cuts brilliantly. The Stihl full chisel cuts faster but you need to take the depth gauges down too frequently for my liking unless you buy the 3617 variant. I used to use the 020 and 540 way beyond the size of timber they were designed for, never had an issue with the chain jamming unless it was sharpened incorrectly.

 

 

 

 

 

[dan494]

Well I've had issues straight out of the box with the Oregon. Several posts on here saying the same thing so I'm not the only one! Never snapped a rotatech chain, only chain I've snapped in the past year is the sugihara chain I got with my echo 2511