i have heard of millers switching to lo pro with power heads of prodigious power. indeed, i think you can now buy lo pro ripping chain and longer lo pro bars. i suspect that the cannon bars used by our miscreant were intended for that purpose. <snipette>
oregon recently increased the top plate length of its lo pro chain, perhaps to compete with carlton.
For one, Oregon does not compete with Carlton any more, because they are both owned by Blount here in Portland, Oregon now.
I got into low profile long ago after hearing about it from some of the chainsaw milling people here on AS. They were using Logosol low profile bars on 70cc saws for milling, because of the narrow kerf and because large saws tend to overheat using 3/8s standard B&C for milling. While those saws can oil a long bar, you really have to be careful running that setup because the chain is not designed to deal with that kind of torque. But they ran it. For a very short time Stihl sold large mount Picco bars on the 024, but stopped after about 6 months in the US. Seemingly they did that to avoid liability issues after they figured out that guys were running them on much larger saws. At one time Logosol also sold large mount low profile B&C for Stihl saws for milling, from 16 to 20 inch. The also no longer sell them in the US, also seemingly for liability reason.
I had used low profile on my TH saws, and I switched out my 025/250 small mount saws from .325 to 3/8 Picco/low profile. They ran better and cut faster. I stayed with that setup on those saws. 16" and 18" B&C worked well. I later swapped out my 1123 saws for 026/260 saws, and never looked back. I did a series of tests between .325 and 3/8 std chain on several 026s and they were basically a dead heat. So I flipped all my large mount .325 B&C to 3/8 std. 16" and 18" so that I had all 3/8 std B&C on all my saws. Then I bought a few 211 saws with low profile on them, and got back into Picco chain. Recently I came across a 16" Picco 3003 large mount bar from an 024. I also had a P-7 rim, and I got some PS chain for it at the local Stihl shop. I put it all on my 026/260 hybrid and WHAM! It runs like a dream. They sell that setup in Germany as a kit, but not here in the states.
So folks, my beef here is not with Picco B&C on saws, even large mount saws. There is a place for them, if you have pro style metal bar mounts and an oil pump that can wet the bar. The issue with Piltz, besides all his BS statements that are pure crap, is that he is selling hugely long bars on small homeowner plastic saws and smaller pro saws. He is also advocating using larger rims on those saws with longer bars, which defies basic principles of physics. Picco B&C is great stuff, if you stay within the scope of design specifications. A 16" Picco B&C spins fast and furious with full chisel PS chain on a 026, 260 or 261. A 241 will run it just fine as well. But these 24-32 inch bars are way beyond the design parameters of those smaller saws. Adding even larger rims just puts more strain on the clutch and engine to get more chain speed. Running low profile B&C on larger saws is done, mainly for milling, but be advised that that is also beyond the parameters of that chain's ability to manage the higher levels of torque. A 50cc saw is pretty much the limit of safe use with Picco loops and that is the largest saw I run this stuff on. I also run a much shorter bar than Piltz advocates, and a smaller rim.
