Go lo Pro?

[Alasdairs dog]

Hey up. Lo Pro milling bars are a waste of time on anything over 36inch bars! Discuss. 

 

Seriously though I have had some epic fails with the lo Pro stuff that I was very keen to try out. I am no on 404 chain and all of a sudden everything is fine. What's your take on it, there must be a few chsin saw miller's milling about out there. 😊

[Rough Hewn]

Hey up. Lo Pro milling bars are a waste of time on anything over 36inch bars! Discuss. 
 
Seriously though I have had some epic fails with the lo Pro stuff that I was very keen to try out. I am no on 404 chain and all of a sudden everything is fine. What's your take on it, there must be a few chsin saw miller's milling about out there. [emoji4]

What’s been your experience?
[emoji106]

[Alasdairs dog]

Blew a couple of noses on the 48 inch bar and even snapped a chain milling with an 881. I have been using a 660 and 36inch bar to mill for years, didn't expect there to be such a difference and really didn't think the 3/8 chain was up to the job. Heard a few similar things from others and wanted to put it to the masses. 

[Wonky]

Pic's of epic fails, 😉

 

there’s lots of reasons why it could fail thou, so share them with us so we can discuss. Eg blunt teef or depth gauges badly manicured.

there was a guy that had breakages of said chain on a 36” thou it turned out to be operator using a wrong combination of equipment..

[Rough Hewn]

Blew a couple of noses on the 48 inch bar and even snapped a chain milling with an 881. I have been using a 660 and 36inch bar to mill for years, didn't expect there to be such a difference and really didn't think the 3/8 chain was up to the job. Heard a few similar things from others and wanted to put it to the masses. 

Interesting.
Personally I only use .404 with 880&881
and 3/8 on the 661 and 461
Never broken a chain, and I push them hard.
Not used 3/8LP , but if you’re having issues like chains snapping, I would take my kit apart and have a serious look as to why.
Do you have any photos of where the chain has failed?
Blowing noses is often due to excessive grit/sand etc, or when the chain is hot and gets retensioned then left to cool.
The rivets stretch.
This causes excessive play in the links and grinds away.
Do you use one file size?
The height of the cutting teeth diminishes over the length.
I drop a file size halfway down the tooth to avoid excessive wear to the tops of the drive links.
How’s the sprocket looking?
[emoji106]

[Tippin Alaybye]

I stopped using lo pro on 661 as too many snapping. Did EVERYTHING! Tried for months, then abandoned. Shame as they go thru like a hot knife on butter

[Macpherson]

This brief description from chainsawbars sums up the pros and cons of lo pro.

 

I only have experience of Stihl pmx chain from cross cut / felling point of view and found it to be too fickle and with the need for it to be to A1 sharp at all times or else it just didn't seem to have enough clearance in the kerf....so I can see how they could snap

I can imagine with the extra chain length and stresses of milling that the lo pro could be a pita for a 15%  or  1.5mm saving of kerf wood...I don't think I've ever felt that I was even close to snapping a regular chain while milling....I'm using 3/8 Granberg at the moment and I like it although I'd also like to try the Oregon skip when I get an excuse, cheers.

 

Going Lo Pro - Chainsawbars

WWW.CHAINSAWBARS.CO.UK

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Pros and cons of using a lo pro ripping chain system. GB extra thin bar designed to run Stihl 3614-63PMX. When entering the world of chainsaw milling the term ‘ripping chain’ can be a...

 

[Tippin Alaybye]

Last time I looked on the chainsawbars site about lopro a yr or so ago it actually mentioned snapping. Obviously edited it since

[Macpherson]

15 minutes ago, Tippin Alaybye said:

Last time I looked on the chainsawbars site about lopro a yr or so ago it actually mentioned snapping. Obviously edited it since

Still does

[Alasdairs dog]

11 hours ago, Rough Hewn said:

Interesting.
Personally I only use .404 with 880&881
and 3/8 on the 661 and 461
Never broken a chain, and I push them hard.
Not used 3/8LP , but if you’re having issues like chains snapping, I would take my kit apart and have a serious look as to why.
Do you have any photos of where the chain has failed?
Blowing noses is often due to excessive grit/sand etc, or when the chain is hot and gets retensioned then left to cool.
The rivets stretch.
This causes excessive play in the links and grinds away.
Do you use one file size?
The height of the cutting teeth diminishes over the length.
I drop a file size halfway down the tooth to avoid excessive wear to the tops of the drive links.
How’s the sprocket looking?

I think your absolutely right 404 is the ony way with a 880 or 881. Regarding my failed chain and bars the sprocket was fine no excessive ware or signs of damage. The chain was not running tight at all, in fact it had a tendency to get thrown during cuts, something else I have never come across when chainsaw milling before. I honestly beleive that the lo Pro chain and bar were not up to the job. Been milling with a stihl duramatic bar and 404 ripping chain since ditching the lo Pro stuff. No issues at all and the finish is pretty much the same as well. Cheers guys.