Thanks,
you have been very helpful. I think the 353 sounds like a good saw. I went out and looked at the wood I will be cutting and mostly fall 14-20 inch range. I know you said 16 inch bar on the 353 but what about the 18? I feel I will need the 18 inch often. Of course I am not an experience wood cutter so maybe you know better. Could you expand on the reason the 16" bar?
It is largely just a matter of personal preference, but there is a little logic to it, too.
The preference - I happen to be a 16, 20, 28, 36, 42" bar person. I've run saws with 18" bars and have never quite seen the point - not as nimble as the 16", not as long as the 20". Since I started with 16, 20, 28", I have never really had a need for an 18" or the desire to have to keep a stock of loops of chain in yet another size.
The logic - I have found that the little 10-12lb saws feel best with a 16" bar, in terms of balance. I ran a Jonsered 2152 (a 353 in red-and-black clothing) a few months ago and thought that the balance with a 16" was about perfect.
And there is not very much that an 18" can do that a 16" can't do as well AND with better balance on a saw like the 353. I've run 16" and 20" bars on my 026Pro and without a doubt feel that saws in that weight/power class are happier with the 16" - the engine is happier, the user is happier, and the wood gets cut all the same. Incidentally, the folks over in Norway like their 353s with 13" and 15" bars for balance and a high power-to-bar-length ratio, and all they have to cut is softwood!
In the event that you really need a longer bar than your 16", then you can make a meaningful jump up to a 20" bar and run skip chain. This seems like the optimum combination for a saw in the 353 class in hardwood - a 16" with standard chain and a 20" bar with skip chain.
Also, and this is kind of a bit of "yeah, so what?!" logic, there are more deals out there on 16" and 20" loops of chain than there are for 18" loops. Does this really matter? Probably not, but it is a small advantage all the same.
