Is an old Homelite 330 strong enough for a 28" bar?

[Praetorian27]

Hi guys...newbie here. I have a Homelite 330 that I love. It's about 20 years old or so and it is much nicer than the current Homelite saws. I have a 20" bar on it now and was wondering if it could handle a 28"? We got a large load of logs for firewood this year and some of them are quite big. I'd like to avoid buying a new saw if possible. What do you think?

 

[fwgsaw]

Hi guys...newbie here. I have a Homelite 330 that I love. It's about 20 years old or so and it is much nicer than the current Homelite saws. I have a 20" bar on it now and was wondering if it could handle a 28"? We got a large load of logs for firewood this year and some of them are quite big. I'd like to avoid buying a new saw if possible. What do you think?

I personally wouldn't recommend over a 20 on that saw.

 

[Guido Salvage]

20" max on the bar and check your intake boot.

 

[MS460WOODCHUCK]

No the saw was not intended to run a 28'' bar but if that was all I had I would do it and not think twice. It will be a turtle in the wood but it will put the wood in the stove if it has to.

 

[redunshee]

Opening the muffler wakes it up quite a bit.

 

[machinisttx]

If you're thinking on burying the full bar, it'll be a gutless wonder. Mine has a 20" on it and I wouldn't want to go any larger.

 

[XSKIER]

Well our buddy Kevlar gaffs has mounted a 24" CANNON super bar on a MS 192 C-E and has offered it up for sale at a great price. This shows that anything is possible!

 

[Sprintcar]

No, 16 or 18 max. 20 IMHO is too much. 28 is out of the question.

 

[fwgsaw]

Well our buddy Kevlar gaffs has mounted a 24" CANNON super bar on a MS 192 C-E and has offered it up for sale at a great price. This shows that anything is possible!

Ya I seen that performance must come from the cannon

 

[Praetorian27]

Opening the muffler wakes it up quite a bit.

Any info on how to do that?

 

[Naked Arborist]

Unbolt it and drill/cut/chop/gut-it.

Put a vertical face cut your logs first then drop back and run through them. 20" bar will chop 28" logs all day long. You don't need a bigger bar, you need a better approach to your work and an open muffler.

 

[Praetorian27]

Put a vertical face cut your logs first then drop back and run through them.

Not sure what this means...

 

[spike60]

Hi guys...newbie here. I have a Homelite 330 that I love. It's about 20 years old or so and it is much nicer than the current Homelite saws. I have a 20" bar on it now and was wondering if it could handle a 28"? We got a large load of logs for firewood this year and some of them are quite big. I'd like to avoid buying a new saw if possible. What do you think?

First, welcome to the site. Second, your close enough to be called a neighbor.

Kind of uncommon around here to get anything in a log load that can't be handled with a 20" bar, so I'd think you'd be better off using some technique to cut them up with the bar you've got.

28" is a stretch for the 330. They are better saws than most around here give them credit for, and handle pretty good.

 

[Naked Arborist]

Not sure what this means...

Reach over the log and make a vertical cut into the face. This will effectively shorten the bar length needed to finish the horizontal cut. Go watch some videos on you tube before you go back to cutting firewood. Man, that's like firewood 101.

 

[Homelite410]

Welcome to the site I wouldn't even run anything over 24 on 410. But I do agree with a previous post if that's all you got bolt it on and go to town buddy. If nothing else it'll be a lot less bending over for limbing!!

 

[Modifiedmark]

Lets pretend that a 330 had more then enough power to pull a 28" through anything.

It sill wouldn't work because the oiler couldn't put out enough oil to it anyway. :msp_rolleyes:

 

[XSKIER]

Reach over the log and make a vertical cut into the face. This will effectively shorten the bar length needed to finish the horizontal cut. Go watch some videos on you tube before you go back to cutting firewood. Man, that's like firewood 101.

Are you describing felling a tree larger in diameter than 2X effective bar length? I would think that, on a log load, the guy could cut 20" chunks off the end of a 50" log by noodling and cross cutting.

 

[turnkey4099]

Hi guys...newbie here. I have a Homelite 330 that I love. It's about 20 years old or so and it is much nicer than the current Homelite saws. I have a 20" bar on it now and was wondering if it could handle a 28"? We got a large load of logs for firewood this year and some of them are quite big. I'd like to avoid buying a new saw if possible. What do you think?

I had a homey 360. I ran a 24" bar on it but only with skip tooth chain. Pretty well maxed out on cabability with the 24.

Harry K

 

[drumbum]

Oh sure, here's a formula that works great! First you need a 28", .043 gauge, roller nose bar. Then you need to spin up a 107 dl loop of 3/8 PICCO micro mini full skip, square ground semi chisle. Once this is done you need to convert saw to a 5 pin rim drive sprocket and Bob's your uncle. One of my favorite combo's:msp_biggrin:

 

[mt.stalker]

28" bar is 80+ cc material , imo .