Simon Bowes has done a fantastic independent review on Rotatech chains in Forestry Journal (Jan 2017), which we wanted to share with you. Read what Simon said in the post below.
Cheap Chinese Chain… that cuts the mustard
It’s one of the most amusing forestry subjects on social media: which brand of chainsaw is best? There are dyed in the wool Husqvarna users and there are fanatical Stihl followers; most of the other manufacturers hardly get a look in, although there are some really good alternativ es out there. It is the two big names that get all the attention when it comes to sa ws and three names that spring to mind when the focus moves on to chain. I’m a bit of a pragmatist when it comes to chain. Stihl chain works well. It is very durable, it doesn’t stretch and it cuts well. Oregon chain is reasonably durable, it cuts well and it’s readily available. Husqvarna chain is very similar to Oregon. You need a chain to cut wood. A chainsaw is pretty useless without one, and to my mind one is very much like another. So long as you are reasonably competent with a round file you can get decent results with any of the established brands. I managed to get a walk round the APF on the Saturday morning, where I spotted a stand selling cheap chainsaw chains. Usual cheap rubbish I thought. I’ve seen it before; I’ve tried it before. I gave the guys on the Rotatech stand a bit of a hard time, to be fair. I’ve had enough of cheap parts that always end up being more expensive.I have a Mitsuishi L200, not a vehicle known for its ease of maintenance. I also have a Transit van and our family car is a Renault, so I’m a glutton for punishment, particularly when it comes to the turbo and the associated sensors and solenoids.I needed a pair of control solenoids. I looked on eBay and there were three options: £138 ones, £68 ones and £40 ones. I went for the middle ones and I fitted them. Problem solved.It stayed solved for two weeks. One of the new solenoids had failed, and in a fit of pique I gritted my teeth and rang out local Mitsubishi dealer who had genuine solenoids on the shelf and would post them out to me next day. And the price? Just over £100 including VAT and postage.I’m not found of non-genuine parts and I’m not too keen on spurious saw chain. It has always proved a waste of hard earned cash in the past, especially as I’m happy with what I’ve used for many years.I told the guys on the Rotatech stand all this, but to give them their due they weren’t for backing down. They assured me their chain was at least as good as the mainstream competition and at a faction of the price. I could have given them all the spiel about my years of using a saws and the fact I often write reviews for Forestry Journal, but I was impressed with their confidence and rather than try to blag some free chain, I paid the £8 for a 15″, .325 chain suitable for a Husqvarna 560.I always use semi chisel on my 560s and three eighths full chisel on my bigger saws. The chain he gave me was full chisel .325. I explained that this wasn’t what I would normally use, but he assured me it was the best option in .325. They had done extensive testing and it performed best. Well, I’ve done extensive testing and he’s wrong, or so I though.I didn’t get much chance to use my saw when I got back to work after the APF because the harvester was well in front and all I needed a saw for was to cut a few stumps off on the extraction routes, but I took an Oregon chain off and fitted the Rotatech. No point wasting a chain, I thought!Weeks later we moved jobs and started on a clearfell of a big larch. I took my 560 out of the van one morning and filled it with fuel before setting into a line of big, branchy roadside trees.The Rotatech chain quickly proved disappointing, not cutting very well and needing lots of pushing when taking big branches off. I hadn’t remembered it being that bad when I was cutting the stumps off on the previous job.It suddenly dawned on me that maybe a sharpen might be a good idea. The change was incredible. Once sharpened, the Rotatech chain proved superb – fast cutting, smooth and easily as good as the chain we usually use that costs twice as much. And this was full chisel, not my preferred choice.I handed my saw to Richard, who was using a 560 fitted with our usual chain (he didn’t know I was using the Rotatech chain) and he agreed my saw was cutting well. He was surprised when I told him what chain it was. He’s easily as sceptical as I am about cheap stuff, but he had to agree the Rotatech chain is a very good chain.I’ve since done a lot of felling with the Rotatech chain and I haven’t found fault with it yet. I cuts well, sharpens easily and it’s even good when boring big trees. I haven’t had to tighten it more often than any other chain and it holds it’s edge even when felling big European larch on which is a fairly sandy site. In short, I like it, and my opinion is shared by a couple of other very experienced sceptics I know.I didn’t want to like this chain. I’m happy with what I’ve been using for all these years and I’ve learnt to get around the little foibles associated with Oregon, Stihl and Husqvarna, but this has thrown me somewhat. I can’t honestly find anything wrong with Rotatech chain. It would be damning it with faint praise to say it’s OK at the price, because it is as good, maybe even better, than the other brands.I don’t believe fashion should have anything to do with the equipment we use. I have a green harvester and a red forwarder. I wear Oregon Yukon felling trousers and I use Draper and Sealey tools, because they’re appropriate for the job I need them for. I would never have a sticker on my van that depicts someone in a Stihl hat showering bodily fluids on a Husqvarna saw, but I will be using chain that costs half as much yet performs just as well as other chain that might be more familiar.There just isn’t enough money in forestry to have too much brand loyalty.
- Simon Bowes – Forestry Journal Jan 2017