Stihl 63PM chain no longer available?

Burnham

Woods walker
Joined
Mar 7, 2005
Messages
22,932
Location
Western Oregon
At my local Stihl dealer, anyway. Dropped from the line as of this week, so the only Stihl manufactured chain for the 200/200T is PMC3, which is a low kickback chain.

My dealer is ordering up some Windsor chain for me to look at as a possible replacement. He also could get some from Carlton or Oregon, both supposedly similar to the original PM.

Anyone else found this? Anyone got a good replacement?
 
I think Oregon 91 Vx is the one with no guard links .That of course is 50 thou gauge .The 44 thou stuff as far as I know is only made in guard type stuff .
 
Is that the low-profile 3/8 chain? If so, I use a lot of the Oregon brand, without anti-kickback. Not as good as the Stihl in terms of edge holding quality, but it gets me through.
 
Yep the 91VX replaces the 91VS, and is not a low kick back ("saftey") chain.
 
Burnham, nearly all the chains will be replaced with a comfort version except maybe the .404, I haven't seen any mention of that. But I am pretty sure there will be a PMC yellow family chain. I will check at work tomorrow and verify that. I did just order a PD3 loop to try out. That is PICCO Duro carbide chain in the low profile, .050 gauge. I am curious to see how it feels. I watched a demo where he cut through wood, then a cant with some concrete in a groove, then back into the wood and I couldn't tell that it was any slower. I guess there are places where having some carbide chain on a small saw might make sense.
Or maybe just for Joe Homeowner so he can cut a little bit longer in the dirt!:lol:
 
might need to buy a roll if my dealer has some. that would last me a looong time!
 
Comfort version....? Is that another way to say safety chain? You are saying that regular no anti-kickback chain is being phased out? Hard to imagine such, so you must be referring to chains that come on a new saw?

Probably the carbide chain didn't cut any slower, because it is slow to begin with. That has been my experience. I find it useful on the rare occasions that I need to dig and cut out a stump, otherwise, no use for it.
I haven't purchased a diamond grinding wheel to do the carbide chain in a long time, but when I did, it was very expensive. Not sure that casual users are going to like that, unless the price has dropped substantially.....and they would need a grinder as well, or one of those hand held electric jobies, at least.
 
I was right, there is a PMC chain available that should cut just as well as PM but with the smoother action that the comfort feature gives. This C chain really works as far as having less vibration and the little bit of cutting I have done appears to me to be just as fast.
So you would order 63PMC-XX, and put in the number of drive links you need for the XX.
 
talked to my dealer and he said he still has and can get the 63pm. he said he doesnt notice a difference between the 2. do you guys notice a big difference between the 2?
 
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  • #13
Which two, Willie?

Wonder why your guy can get it and my guy can't??? And Eddie says it's phased out of production.
 
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  • #18
I can't find anything on PMC from google, and it's not listed in the catalog or Stihl website...what's it look like? Is it considered a low kickback chain?
 
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  • #20
Very big difference, Willie. The PM has no safety humps, the PMC3 has 3 of them. I found that the one loop of PMC3 that came on my 200T didn't cut well, seemed to hang in the kerf off and on.
 
Hey Burnham- I haven't discussed this matter with any dealer for many years, but most Stihl dealers simply do not carry the 63PM by choice. Of the dozen or so local dealers, only 2 carry the 63PM. The rest just say "Oh, the safety chain is the only stuff available". :roll:

Just find a dealer to sell it to you by the roll and be done with it. ;)
 
I agree with what brian said. I searched high and low for it here and all I got was "We don't stock it". One guy said something about liability of having it with the homeowner models being able to use it.
 
I see several questions that probably have not been answered and sorry, I was teaching today and just now got time to catch up.
To clarify a bit: A comfort chain will replace most common chains in Picco, .325 and regular size 3/8" chain. What makes comfort chain work is that he back bottom edge of the cutter and opposite tie strap are beveled so that when the cutter bites into the wood it rocks back a little, transmitting less shock, or vibration, back through the bar. If you ever get a chance to run two identical saws side by side, one with C chain and one with the regular chain, the difference is very noticeable.
RS is Rapid Super, or full chisel, in .325, 3/8", and .404, and is now available as RSC in .325 and 3/8". RSC3 is the reduced kickback chain, and it does not have a triple humped tie strap in front of the cutter, it has a single humped drive link in front of the cutter. Regardless of where the reduced kickback feature is, when the chain is pulling chips the hump or bump or whatever is below the cutters and should not interfere with cutting. It is as the chain goes around the nose of the bar that the reduced kickback feature sticks out so if the upper quadrant of the bar does hit some wood, it kicks back with less energy than if the cutter's sharp edge hit. This is why green labeled, reduced kickback chain does not plunge cut very well.
RM is Rapid Micro, or semi chisel, and is now a C chain as well. There was a RM2 reduced kickback chain with the triple hump tiestrap, but that has now evolved into RMC3, which will be better for homeowners since many do not know how to keep RS sharp.
The 3 designation will also show up as a humped drive link on the Picco low profile chain.
Someone said it and they are right, the dealer can stock what they want, and many do not stock PM (Picco Micro) chain, since most of their customers are homeowners and probably should not have it anyway.
So to finally answer Burnham, you can get PMC, Picco Micro Comfort, chain which will not have the reduced kickback feature on it. And there will be a PMC3 that is low kickback.
 
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