.325 or 3/8lp on my new 026?

[Ryan'smilling]

I had the pleasure of doing a little trading with another member earlier this week and I ended up with a very nice little 026 to add to my collection.

Right now it's set up with a 16" 3/8 bar and chain, but I'm considering changing out for something different. I've been running 16" 3/8 RS on my 261 and I like it pretty well. It's good for bucking firewood, and stays sharp pretty good, but for limbing and thinning it's kinda grabby and not super smooth. I'm thinking that I'll be primarily using this 026 for small material, mostly limbing and thinning, and I want a lightweight bar and a smooth cutting chain. I have several 60 link loops of LP chain, so that's kinda tempting, and so far I've enjoyed using it on my 421. Are there any big advantages to using .325 over 3/8lp on this size saw?

Here's the 026, BTW. The 488 was part of the deal too .

 

[LoveStihlQuality]

I had the pleasure of doing a little trading with another member earlier this week and I ended up with a very nice little 026 to add to my collection.

Right now it's set up with a 16" 3/8 bar and chain, but I'm considering changing out for something different. I've been running 16" 3/8 RS on my 261 and I like it pretty well. It's good for bucking firewood, and stays sharp pretty good, but for limbing and thinning it's kinda grabby and not super smooth. I'm thinking that I'll be primarily using this 026 for small material, mostly limbing and thinning, and I want a lightweight bar and a smooth cutting chain. I have several 60 link loops of LP chain, so that's kinda tempting, and so far I've enjoyed using it on my 421. Are there any big advantages to using .325 over 3/8lp on this size saw?

Here's the 026, BTW. The 488 was part of the deal too .View attachment 588094

50 cc I like .325, even the 261. PS You can add $50 to any local sale of any saw with the coveted Farm Boss logo.[emoji3]

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

 

[old guy]

Ryan, I found a new .325 rim for that saw in my box, I'll bring it when I come for my trailer cover.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

Ryan, I found a new .325 rim for that saw in my box, I'll bring it when I come for my trailer cover.

Thanks Jon! That makes the decision easier.


A good friend of my good friend had some trees come down in that tornado Wednesday afternoon about 10 miles from me. I'm gonna load up my gear and head over there Sunday. Looking forward to trying out this 026.

 

[Khntr85]

Man that is a nice one!!!

I got an 18" .325 on my 026, I like the set-up...

 

[blsnelling]

.325

 

[Ryan'smilling]

50 cc I like .325, even the 261. PS You can add $50 to any local sale of any saw with the coveted Farm Boss logo.[emoji3]

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

Good to know. I have several 16" 3/8 bars, so I'll swap that one out of the roto. That way it stays fresh and minty for when I need to put a stihl on Craigslist.

 

[rd35]

Wow that is a good looking 026. My Dad has one of the last 026's built and I have a first year MS260. 18" bars on both and running .325 .063 Full Chisel Full Comp chains. They work real nice. I like the .325 chain so much that I run it on a 20" bar with an 8-pin driver on my 036 pro. Crazy fast cutter with that big rim sprocket!!!

 

[merc_man]

My 026 work good with 18 inch bar and .325 chain. Cant say how it would work with 3/8 though.

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[user 149785]

L/p is the choice of pro's. Let me tell you boys why. For one lp is cheaper 2 lp is less teeth to sharpen in the field (with a round file and a stump vise ) 3 lp takes less power to run 4 are you seriously going to run a 50cc saw in big wood ?

 

[beavis331]

I like 325 on all my 50cc saws.

 

[David Guptill Jr]

Thanks Jon! That makes the decision easier.


A good friend of my good friend had some trees come down in that tornado Wednesday afternoon about 10 miles from me. I'm gonna load up my gear and head over there Sunday. Looking forward to trying out this 026.

I love my 026. It is a great saw.. power to weight is fantastic. I keep a 16" 3/8. On it.
Enjoy!

 

[Ryan'smilling]

Thanks everyone for the replies. When I started this thread I was thinking that I'd definitely stick with a 16" bar, but after seeing a few people say that they like an 18" .325 bar, I might go that way.

I have a 16" LP bar for my 421, a 16" .325 bar on a 488, and a 16" 3/8 on my 261, so guess it might be time to branch out a little bit. The 488 pictured above has an 18" .325 setup on it. I guess I should run that for a while and see how I like that length.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[Khntr85]

I know men in black may come get me for saying this, but I love using my ms250 with 16" bar and Oregon 91 semi-chisel...I know a lot of guys don't like the 250 for whatever reason, but if I had a ground crew, this is the rig they would be running....

I have never tried the lo-pro type chain on the 026, it hast power to run the 18" .325 just fine so I have never thought of changing it...

 

[svk]

I'm a little late to the party on this one.

Personally I'd stick to whatever pitch and DL count you have on other saws to keep the number of different chains and bars you have to keep in stock to a minimum. As your CAD gets worse you'll appreciate interchangeability.

Regarding bar length, totally depends on what you are cutting. If you are finding yourself needing more than a 16" consistently then an 18" might be perfect.

 

[old guy]

That makes sense Steve. but cad does not make sense at all, we want to know as much as possible about all things saw.

 

[GCJenks204]

Ryan the big question is what did you have to give up to get those beauties?

 

[svk]

That makes sense Steve. but cad does not make sense at all, we want to know as much as possible about all things saw.

Lol.

I was doing great on keeping my saws specific to 3/8LP or full 3/8 until I got into those 350 family saws that basically need .325.

If I get any more small Stihls I'll be using the combo bars so I can run the common 45/52/56 DL chains like my Poulans/Echos/small Huskys run.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

I'm a little late to the party on this one.

Personally I'd stick to whatever pitch and DL count you have on other saws to keep the number of different chains and bars you have to keep in stock to a minimum. As your CAD gets worse you'll appreciate interchangeability.

Regarding bar length, totally depends on what you are cutting. If you are finding yourself needing more than a 16" consistently then an 18" might be perfect.

I hear you Steve, but it's a little late for that... I've got 3/8 in all three gauges, plus 3/8 lp in .050, and .325 in .050. The question now is whether to set this stihl up with .325 in .050 so I can swap chains with the ones I've already got, or if o should relent to the local struggling
Stihl dealers and buy a .063 setup so I can get chains locally when needed.

 

[Robin Wood]

3/8lp is getting very famous down here, my dealer is converting 365/372 to run on 3/8lp to his customers these days
any saw will benefit going to 3/8lp from .325, its easier to pull and the saw will have better chain speed + torque