500i bar and chain questions

[born to hunt]

Good morning-
I ran my 500 for the first time yesterday. I’m really happy with it. It came with a 25” bar and worked great for bucking…
I have occasional need for a longer bar when felling bigger diameter trees. My question is if I get a 36” bar, what type of chain should I run?
Mn red and white oak, all of it it dirty.

For reference, I am not an arborist by any stretch, but have been hearing my home with wood for 30 years, and have some decent experience.

 

[ElevatorGuy]

A 36 may be too much even for the 500 in oak imo. Anytime dirt and debris is present I’d run semi chisel or be prepared to sharpen a full chisel constantly.

 

[born to hunt]

A 36 may be too much even for the 500 in oak imo. Anytime dirt and debris is present I’d run semi chisel or be prepared to sharpen a full chisel constantly.

Thanks Guy. Not planning on cutting a lot of 36” oak, but some are that big at the base and in my mind it would be easier to fell them with a longer bar.

 

[ZinTrees]

on a 36, id probably run semi skip semi chisel chain, normal round file, on a 28" I run full comp full chisel but it does go dull quickly in dirty wood

 

[Mad3400]

For my 500i, I've ran Full Skip, .050 Gauge for a 36".

Mad3400

 

[singinwoodwackr]

For dirty anything run 3/8 semi-chisel. Full skip with the 36.
I think Carlton may be the only source for that anymore.
Took me awhile to find a roll.

 

[born to hunt]

For dirty anything run 3/8 semi-chisel. Full skip with the 36.
I think Carlton may be the only source for that anymore.
Took me awhile to find a roll.

I’m new to this big stuff. I’ll try to find a few loops of sc skip and roll with it.
It should be kinda fun-
All my smaller saws need all the teeth they can get.

 

[singinwoodwackr]

I’m new to this big stuff. I’ll try to find a few loops of sc skip and roll with it.
It should be kinda fun-
All my smaller saws need all the teeth they can get.

Even a 20” 50cc can benefit from skip. Tree service I do work for has switched to skip on all saws 20” and up. Half the cutters to sharpen and not that much slower.

 

[born to hunt]

Even a 20” 50cc can benefit from skip. Tree service I do work for has switched to skip on all saws 20” and up. Half the cutters to sharpen and not that much slower.

Greatest idea I’ve heard since disposable diapers.

 

[Colonel428]

Even a 20” 50cc can benefit from skip. Tree service I do work for has switched to skip on all saws 20” and up. Half the cutters to sharpen and not that much slower.

Actually there are only 1/3 fewer cutters on a full skip chain, not half. It does speed up the sharpening process some but I see no other benefit from using skip chain on small (50cc) saws with short bars. Especially when it comes to limbing and working in brush, which is what most of us usually use a saw that size for. Too much on/off throttle work and the skip chains are bad to grab and pull limbs/branches into you if you're not at WOT.

 

[ZinTrees]

Actually there are only 1/3 fewer cutters on a full skip chain, not half. It does speed up the sharpening process some but I see no other benefit from using skip chain on small (50cc) saws with short bars. Especially when it comes to limbing and working in brush, which is what most of us usually use a saw that size for. Too much on/off throttle work and the skip chains are bad to grab and pull limbs/branches into you if you're not at WOT.

skip only has one advantage really, more room for chips and less drag, but also less cutters so slower cutting, to an extent

basically its a sorta alright way to run way too big a bar on way too small a saw, but then again I know of a lot of loggers that only run skip chains, very rare tho here on the east coast

 

[Colonel428]

skip only has one advantage really, more room for chips and less drag, but also less cutters so slower cutting, to an extent

basically its a sorta alright way to run way too big a bar on way too small a saw, but then again I know of a lot of loggers that only run skip chains, very rare tho here on the east coast

Yes, rare here too. Especially on small saws. Great points about chip clearance and less drag.