Replacement bar noses

  • Thread starter Thread starter TINYHULK
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My issue with Oregon is that the steel is so soft it dulls quicker and stretches quicker. With Stihl chain I file once every 3 tanks of fuel, or whenever the chain gets loose. With Oregon chain the chain gets loose after one tank of fuel no matter what, and often quicker. You need to carry a file and scrench in your back pocket because it stretches and dulls so fast. It may be cheaper but it also wears out 3x as fast so it is more expensive to use at the end of the year.
 
Must be some god awful dense wood they have down your way.
I can log Beech and file twice in a day, long as I stay out of the dirt.

I run Stihl on the small saws and the climbing saws, but for logging, I prefer Oregon.
 
Why do you prefer Oregon for logging? Is it just price, or do you prefer the performance?
 
I don't like filing Stihl and I don't find any difference in the performance.

I just realized something.
The Oregon files I use, are made in Schweiz.
The chain may not be the same you get, either.
 
TINYHULK said:
Been taking a lot of big trees down and the bar noses are getting a little abused. There are like 3 36in bars that are out of commission just for a bar nose. They are stihl 25in and 36in bars. All either rollomatic ES or a light bar. To purchase a replacement nose from the dealer is like half the cost of a new bar before the sweat equity of replacing it. My question is are there aftermarket noses that fit on stihl bars, what are some quality affordable brands, and what are the best methods to replace them. Any special tools like a chain break and rivet spinner, or just a drill and hammer?
Click to expand...

Check that the bar is straight.


Grind off these 3 leftmost rivets.

Slip nose off

Slip nose on.

Pound 3 rivets.

Grind smooth as needed.

Done.




20220423_123819.jpg
Check your rails.




This bar was just dressed a bit.

Lasts and lasts.
 
The Oregon files I get just say Swiss made, but they have been very good. Brian is right on every point as far as Oregon chain goes. When I first started cutting, I would cut half a hickory log into firewood, like 10 cuts, before needing to sharpen the chain, but when I first used a Stihl chain, it was like new sharp for 3 hickories, and still cut plenty well enough on another 5 or so. The box said pre-stretched, and sure enough I was rarely tightening the chain. Then, a few years later I remember using Oregon full skip to cut a big clean hackberry, and I could see and feel that the chain was already getting dull after 2-3 cuts. Hackberry is easy cutting by the way.
 
Guess the conclusion is, I don't know shit about saw chain.
Oh, well.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #34
What are some techniques for seeing if the bar is straight and how do y’all bring it back true?
 
Look down the length of the bar. See if it is bent before putting time and money into it.




For dressing, I generally just use a raker file or larger flat file, on hand. I have a bar file holder, but don't use it much.


With the file flat to the side of the bar, I take off the mushrooms that stick out sideways.

With the file perpendicular to the side of the bar, I run the file down the rails like the chain would move.

Check for splayed rails or a rail lower than the other (IIRC, I've noticed the right side being lower, at times).

There are bar rail closing tools or use a hammer. Not too much with either one. Finesse.
 
- Seeking along the length by eye isn't obvious with the curved edge.
- Lay the bar flat on a table or a window and find where it touches or not. The protruding rivets are a problem though.
- Put a ruler perpendicular to the side and a strong light behind to see where the light comes through under the ruler.
- The luxuous if you have access to a machine chop : a dial indicator and a reference surface.

If the bar is bent, bringing it back true depends first of how far it went off, secondly, how is made the bar.
The bars milled out of a solid stock can be straightened without too much trouble. Bent it gently the other way at the main deformation, a tad at a time, and look at the progress. Try again a little more and /or at an other spot. Take your time, it'll come back progressively.
The bars made with multiple steel plates spot-welded together (laminated bars) are much more difficult. The stack of foils reacts weirdly when you try to bend it. Often, when you try to reduce a deformation, the constrain by the welds between the free to move segments makes it reappair elsewhere. Very frustrating.
 
Looks like regular Oregon chain, but I'll admit I haven't used Oregon much in the past couple years other than filing other's saws, and it still feels soft. They used to have a Duracut with triple thick chrome, but I never tried any. I assume such thick chrome puts it on a similar level as Stihl
 
This is what I just bought with my new Oregon lightweight bar. Anyone have experience with it? One alpha off of what @BIGTWIG posted a pic of. Full chisel, full skip, to be round filed with 7/32" file.
light weight bar 003.JPG light weight bar 005.JPG
 
Let me know how it performs B.
I mean the Oregon Chain the saw shop gets here sucks hairy moose lips.
Oregon files too. If you try to file Stihl or Carlton chain with Oregon files, they just dull right out. I kid you not. That includes flat file for rakers. Yet their files work fine on the shit chain they sell here. I think it is because most folks they sell to here are just home owners that clean up their properties. I have to drive an hour both ways if I want better chain most the time. Or just order it myself.
 
I have an Oregon raker file, and it's held up pretty well. Came with a gauge in a package. It's used mostly on Stihl chain, and a little bit of Carlton. I wonder how many factories Oregon is involved with, and if that explains different experiences everyone seems to have?
 
Could have been a defective raker, any manufacturer can mistakenly chrome plate a few, and it is practically impossible to break through at least without damaging the file. I imagine it is hard to just plate the tooth. I'm surprised by your findings with Oregon files. They last me longer than Stihl, Pferd (which might be the same), and the cheap ones from places like TSC or Home Depot. I have found the oregon files will start to get dull, but if I'm filing in a vise, I can lean into it, and they just keep going, and occasionally start cutting better, then worse, then better again regardless of me wiping and tapping them clean. There eventually comes a time just like with any file where they do get dull and just slide with minimal cutting action.

The last time I filed chains for someone, it was two 24" or so .404 Oregon harvester chains, which I've never filed before. They seemed on the harder side, but I think my oregon file was getting dull. The chains had derailed, so there was metal impact damage. I was making 30-40 strokes per tooth, but made it through those loops. I know any other file I mentioned above would have crapped out completely much sooner, but this one was hanging on at around 50% sharp. I tossed it afterwards.

I think the key to longer file life is being able to push harder when you need to, so I like to mount my saws in a vise with the bar pointed at me. I don't like using even slightly dull files in the field with no vise. I will also say I have been using the same flat file for depth gauges for a whole year, and it still works well, but will need changing soon. It has lasted much longer than any others I've had.
 
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