Rob D

Ahhhh - yes I'll change that - but really all 24" bars are the same as 25" bars - just that Husky calls them 24" and Stihl calls them 25". They all take 84 drive links!

You can google it for more info - but basically it is a new chain from Oregon - new materials. I have collated some info here for customers 95TXL Oregon Lo Pro .325 .050. Low profile chain for faster cutting. It replaces 95vpx. It is supposed to be 15% faster than anything else, takes a slightly thinner kerf and excellent stay sharp ability. It looks different to all the other Oregon chains - you need a new bar to run it (as it is .050 and not .058 or .063 gauge).

Stihl chains look better than Oregon - shinier and better finished. Apart from oregon's new 95TXL chain which looks as good and as well finished as the Stihl chains. They 'break' very differently (when making up chain loops) - Oregon chain breaks with a sharp snap, Stihl chain is 'chewy' as you break it. Now we have a few Chinese chains in stock we will likely do a chain test/offer soon and give people scores to give each chain ie. appearance/performance out of the box/general performance/stay sharp ability/ease of sharpening/longevity/overall feeling Something like that

Never heard of that before - how old is the bar they are on?

How dare he indeed Bloody cheek of it!

True! Will still be doing some wee offers on these chains just to speed up the process a tad!

Very kind of you Alasdair - you can tell us how you find the Stihl bar/chain combo compare to the Sugi bar/chain combo

This is a starting point. We'll see what people think of which chains and narrow the list down to one of the manufacturers. Then we will start rolling it out and looking to get Forestry Journal and others to review it. We don't want a chain that is half the price and half as good. Our aim is for a chain that is close to the top brands at around 60% of the price. It won't happen overnight!

Our pleasure

PS will not be showing pics and info about the actual factories we visited - not yet anyway. Otherwise we are simply giving away our hard work to other competitors. Ref Husky X cut chain - I've read the article - no real facts there same as the video they made - why is that I wonder? With all that testing equipment if their chain is so good why not broadcast some facts? The only main benefit that comes across is that they have taken pains to make the chain in an environmentally friendly way - so hats off to them in that respect. Oregon are not shy in comparing chains - take their new TXL chain. Yes no doubt a biased test. [ame] [/ame] Or what about some tests as the one attached? (Diatop chain is another chain brand we will likely stock in the near future - likely it is sourced from China). (The Chinese chain labelled as such in the test results was not one of the ones we are looking at stocking).

In October our manager Laurence visited Zhejiang province where most most of the factories are situated in China. He was out there for 2 weeks (bit of sight seeing as well). Laurence can actually speaks some Chinese which went down well! We had already narrowed our 'search' for a factory down to 2 or 3. One of our suppliers has his own factory out there and he acted as a guide. A comment from the owner of one factory - it took him 5 years to learn how to make chisel chain. When you bend metal it makes a natural semi chisel shape. In the end he found the method for making chisel chain. Making chainsaw chain is not easy. Once we have confirmed which factory to go with we will look to get the chain independently tested before it comes over here. It is just not viable to do this at this stage on small sample orders.

Ok - here is a couple of facts for you about how things work in China. Chainsaw chain - many factories have been producing chain for 10+ years. China has a completely different take on chainsaw use for most of the home market - it is shockingly 'throw away'. For an example - a family going away camping for a weekend will buy a cheap chainsaw - cut their wood for their campfire - and leave the chainsaw in the bin on the way out of the campsite. For the home market China uses it's own produced steel for chainsaw chain cause it's cheap and customers buy it and view it as disposable. For the export market they use imported German steel (and the good factories will show you this steel, where it was from, where it enters the production line etc etc). You'll pay a lot more for this. Now say a UK importer thinks 'I'm going to sell Chinese chain' approaches a factory and buys a load of the chain made for the domestic market cause it's the cheapest. Or gets the wool pulled over their eyes ref what they're buying.... hence the cheap and nasty side. China has the ability to produce very good products (and already does) - and it is not a backward country. Their train stations are like airports. On their bullet trains you can pull the food tray down and balance a coin on it's end with it not falling over going 300 kph. They are well ahead of us in many ways.

I use everything we sell and have been using these chains for a couple of months now. I'll feedback my findings in the future as don't want to bias other peoples opinions. Was thinking about this last night - one comment that crops up regularly is that chain from China is 'cheap' and therefore 'nasty'. Just to be clear - this chain is not that cheap to buy. It is cheaper than the big brands - but it is not as cheap as people probably think. We are selling it for a low price only as an intro offer - but in the long term it will not be that cheap - it will sit just behind the main brands.

If we did sell Stihl and Husky chainsaws which is most of the market they may have something to say about putting on a cheaper chain! And I really wish it were otherwise but my experience of manufacturers is that even if you go out of your way to get info on their products and feedback - the best you get is a quick 'thankyou'

We don't sell chainsaws! And if we did I think if Husky and Stihl found out we were adding a budget chain they may have something to say! Critiques may be valuable but I have yet to find a manufacturer that will pay you anything other than a quick 'thankyou' for them - and you're luck to get that (rightly or wrongly). But possibly we could do an offer with a buy an Oregon chain get a free chain with it.

Hmmm.... You should quantify that coment really and say 'In your opinion the risk is too great' We are not asking people to test this from the point of view of it's safety - only it's performance. If we felt it was at all unsafe we would not sell it. How do you know Husqvana have gone to great lengths to analyse and test their chain? Because they advertise that? It may well be true and they did - but I hope they did a better job than they did with their bars.... The factories we sourced this from have been making chain for around 10 years. We viewed their testing equipment and their manufacturing process. It looks sound. I do get where you're coming from - from a H&S point of view if there was an accident we have to prove due diligence in sourcing our products. We have done this. And we have done far more (I expect) than others that are selling Chinese chain. It's not a new thing - Chinese chain has been available for years and easily bought here in the UK - some of it was/is probably sub standard. From the checks we have made ours is not.

Ok - change that to I don't they will be as good in the short term. I suppose anything is possible long term Oregon and Stihl have the tech and financial muscle to always stay ahead of the game. So as Chinese chain improves - so the big manufactuers will also improve.

Not seen those rods before - have bought some to try. We are working on our own first cut system for the Alaskan which will also run a mini mill type set up. We have a prototype - taking it from a working prototype into production will take us many months though...

Not that your prejudiced right? Look - it's your choice whether or not you want to try a cheaper chain. If you feel there is more risk involved and you are unsure of the product then don't buy it - simples. No one is forcing you to. We have visited the factories, we have seen the production, we have seen the quality control - these places have made chain for a long time. But they will never be (in the short term certainly) the same quality as Stihl and Oregon.

In China there are firms who make a good product - but plenty more that don't. We are have not just pulled names out of a hat for this chain - these are amoung the best and most consistant chain producers. We have an understanding of which companies in China produce which chain under which brand. You can tell us what the chain is like to use Chinese chain will be a much bigger player in the market in times to come.

Also have a look at Shipley Alec. Shiply / Shipley - Courier Services & UK Delivery Service Companies

Apologies in that case - when did you send one? Usually we are pretty on the ball but maybe it got missed. If you could re send or send me a PM on here.

A lot of what comes out of China is rubbish granted... but a lot is not bad quality if sourced correctly. We will just be giving people the choice - and of course we'll still supply the best and well established brands as well. But to be competitive we have to also start looking to China if only to offer the choice of a cheaper version.

Yep that's an idea - we still have plenty of chain left so this could be the next offer.

Welcome - hope some work comes your way