Replacement Chainsaw Bars and Chains
It is really important to keep your chainsaw chain sharp, without a sharp chain even the most powerful chainsaw on the market will underperform.
If you find the chainsaw is bogging down, requiring more pressure to get through the material or creating lots of sawdust you may need to sharpen or replace your chainsaw chain depending on the condition.
When Should I Replace my Chainsaw Chain?
- If any cutter teeth are damaged, broken or bent
- If any drive links are burred and no longer fit into the grove of the bar correctly
- If there are any visible cracks or damage
- If the chain has been sharpened over 2/3 of the length of the cutter tooth
**We always recommend having a spare chain around for if you are mid-way through a job and the chain is damaged or blunt you can carry on and sharpen later**
Which Chainsaw Chain do I Need?
Determining the right chainsaw chain for your saw can be a minefield if you don’t know where or how to look.
You can of course go off the chainsaw model, however this can be less accurate as chainsaw bars can be changed over time which could mean a different pitch, gauge or amount of drive links making it a less reliable way to determine the right chainsaw chain.
The quickest, easiest and most accurate way is to use the chainsaw bar to select the right chain. Every chainsaw bar has etchings which usually can be found on the side closest to the chainsaw. As you can on the below examples, the etching shows the length of the bar, the pitch (the distance between the rivets on the chain) and gauge (the thickness of the tooth) – you will find most bars all have a similar format or design regardless of the manufacturer.
Husqvarna bar etching Stihl bar etching Makita bar etching
Once you know the length / number of drive links, pitch and gauge you can quickly identify the correct chain for your chainsaw. You can use any brand of chain but we do recommend sticking to the same manufacturer as the bar as it will be specifically designed for this.
Follow the link below to our website where you can use the filter navigation down the left hand side to select the bar length / number of drive links, groove thickness and pitch which will leave you with the options available to you;
Chainsaw Chains - https://www.worldofpower.co.uk/chainsaw-chains.html
Chainsaw Bars - https://www.worldofpower.co.uk/chainsaw-bars-sprockets.html
Manually Measuring your Chain
If the etching have become worn and are no longer readable you will need to manually measure / count the required information.
Manually Measuring the Chain Pitch
Count 3 rivets on the chain and measure the distance between them from the centre points using a tape measure. Take this number and divide this by half to get your size. For example, three rivets that measure ½ an inch across divided by two gives you a ¼ inch pitch.
Manually Measuring the Gauge
It can be incredibly difficult to measure manually and accurately as it’s the thickness of the lower part of the chain tooth which you need to measure. You can buy a tooth measure to manually measure it should you need to or refer to the bar etching for the size.
Manually Counting Drive Links
A drive link is the bit of the chain which does down into the bar groove. To count the number of drive links we would recommend marking the starting tooth so you know where you started then count each link as below;
