Bar length and saw power

[Big_Wood]

i'm quite addicted to a 36". anything shorter is just annoying. takes some pinner wood for me to run anything shorter and pinner doesn't really exist where i'm from. i'd like to bring John out for the day and get him to do all my limbing with a 20" bar. see how much he bitches and whines that night about a sore back lol i'd let him buck but i can't afford getting him unstuck in every cut lol so much lost production!

 

[Little Al]

With most modern saws, especially the well known 2 the most noticeable difference will be the "stingy" oiling, as they seem to have problems supplying enough oil unless the uprated oil pump is fitted, if the bar is a deal longer than the wood it's cutting, keep an eye on where the tip is, as a touch on a second limb could increase the chance of a kickback

 

[SawTroll]

I never really understood the pat response from the long bar crowd, "I don't want to bend over."
If the operator isn't bending over than they are using the tip too much,
The proper stance when cutting, blocking, bucking or noodling is with the left leg forward the right leg back depending upon wood height and ground conditions. Overly long bars just offer more reach.
Oh, never mind!

I have trouble understanding it as well - but over here the general attitude has gone (or always been?) too far in the other direction. Bars more than 15" mostly are "special order", and most people use 13" (on 50cc saws, usually 15" on 60cc ones).

 

[Chris-PA]

Who needs a short bar anyways? This is my climbing saw..
View attachment 547486

You were just picking that up from the tanning salon?

 

[Big_Wood]

With most modern saws, especially the well known 2 the most noticeable difference will be the "stingy" oiling, as they seem to have problems supplying enough oil unless the uprated oil pump is fitted, if the bar is a deal longer than the wood it's cutting, keep an eye on where the tip is, as a touch on a second limb could increase the chance of a kickback

While it is a good thing to watch for especially if to long of bar for you is say 24" in 20" wood there is the fact that a long bar doesn't kick back anywhere near as hard. Little bar with big power behind it is where the danger is. With the 36" I hardly ever get a kick back and when I do it's very controllable. Since I switch the stihl lights I find they kick back quite a bit harder then a heavy bar though. If I'm cutting firewood I will use a 24" heavy bar as that gets me whatever I need and I prefer not to deal with anything bigger anyways. At work I run the 36" cause while you may not need it for a lot of things it would be kinda silly to carry something smaller but need bigger on something throughout the day. 36" is the standard for forestry work I think. Some jobs a 36 ain't enough and you need a 42. When I compare my work to lots of others the wood here is big and to limb a guy always walks the log limbing. Back east and many other places where the wood is small guys walk along side the log limbing cause the wood is to small to have good balance on. Walking alongside the log I understand a shorter bar but stand on log you won't even make it through your first tree without wishing you had a longer bar. Also bucking on a steep grade gives you that reach you sometimes need to stay out of the bite during a cut. Heck, I use the reach tickling holding wood staying far away as possible from the stump. Sometimes you gotta get back in there and at times there is serious chair potential.

 

[Westboastfaller]

I think the rule of thumb is to never use a bar longer than what it takes to make the cut. If the saw is in the cut and dawged in, what's the point of having 6" of bar sticking out of the cut?
0

How does that work? Must be a rule of thumb that excludes pro's and merchable timber. In a perfect word I guess or a lot of bars and a lot of time. This can not EVER be generalized.
Never west coast. Too much reaching high for blowdown

 

[Westboastfaller]

If you can't run a longer bar because performance is affected then look at your saw and not the bar.

 

[Gypo Logger]

i'm quite addicted to a 36". anything shorter is just annoying. takes some pinner wood for me to run anything shorter and pinner doesn't really exist where i'm from. i'd like to bring John out for the day and get him to do all my limbing with a 20" bar. see how much he bitches and whines that night about a sore back lol i'd let him buck but i can't afford getting him unstuck in every cut lol so much lost production!

Wrong! I'll fall, you limb and pack my gas and wedges. Lol

 

[Big_Wood]

Wrong! I'll fall, you limb and pack my gas and wedges. Lol

won't get anywhere in a day with you at the helm lol you get pinched in a piece of firewood.

 

[Gypo Logger]

While it is a good thing to watch for especially if to long of bar for you is say 24" in 20" wood there is the fact that a long bar doesn't kick back anywhere near as hard. Little bar with big power behind it is where the danger is. With the 36" I hardly ever get a kick back and when I do it's very controllable. Since I switch the stihl lights I find they kick back quite a bit harder then a heavy bar though. If I'm cutting firewood I will use a 24" heavy bar as that gets me whatever I need and I prefer not to deal with anything bigger anyways. At work I run the 36" cause while you may not need it for a lot of things it would be kinda silly to carry something smaller but need bigger on something throughout the day. 36" is the standard for forestry work I think. Some jobs a 36 ain't enough and you need a 42. When I compare my work to lots of others the wood here is big and to limb a guy always walks the log limbing. Back east and many other places where the wood is small guys walk along side the log limbing cause the wood is to small to have good balance on. Walking alongside the log I understand a shorter bar but stand on log you won't even make it through your first tree without wishing you had a longer bar. Also bucking on a steep grade gives you that reach you sometimes need to stay out of the bite during a cut. Heck, I use the reach tickling holding wood staying far away as possible from the stump. Sometimes you gotta get back in there and at times there is serious chair potential.

Newton says you're wrong too. For every action there's a reaction. So a kickback with a longer bar has more inertia.
So once again your full of ****! Lol
And just because you have a long bar doesn't mean you have big wood.

 

[Big_Wood]

hahahaha your funny, i don't give a **** what Newton says. if you think a small bar with big power is less dangerous as far as kick back you haven't got much time on different bar lengths. kinda like guns, you are far more likely to shoot yourself by accident with a pistol then a long gun. the shorter bar kicks back way faster. inertia would be greater if the long bar was already moving fast BUT the long bar absorbs alot more of the kick back energy then a short bar at contact. so once again, your full of **** lol

 

[SawTroll]

If you can't run a longer bar because performance is affected then look at your saw and not the bar.

Sort of, but long bars isn't a goal by itself - it all is about the most suitable combination of saw and bar/chain for the task at hand.

 

[Gypo Logger]

hahahaha your funny, i don't give a **** what Newton says. if you think a small bar with big power is less dangerous as far as kick back you haven't got much time on different bar lengths. kinda like guns, you are far more likely to shoot yourself by accident with a pistol then a long gun. the shorter bar kicks back way faster. inertia would be greater if the long bar was already moving fast BUT the long bar absorbs alot more of the kick back energy then a short bar at contact. so once again, your full of **** lol

Short bar hater!

 

[Big_Wood]

Short bar hater!

**** man, i love short bars lol i just don't have much use for them. i have a 20" techlite i still haven't even used. i feel restricted cutting firewood with anything less then a 24"

 

[Westboastfaller]

View attachment 547571
Newton says you're wrong too. For every action there's a reaction. So a kickback with a longer bar has more inertia.
So once again your full of ****! Lol
And just because you have a long bar doesn't mean you have big wood.

Net force acting upon the object and the mass of the object.
The acceleration of an object depends directly upon the net force acting upon the object, and inversely upon the mass of the object. As the force acting upon an object is increased, the acceleration of the object is increased. As the mass of an object is increased, the acceleration of the object is decreased.

à

 

[Gypo Logger]

**** man, i love short bars lol i just don't have much use for them. i have a 20" techlite i still haven't even used. i feel restricted cutting firewood with anything less then a 24"

I bet you pack your saw over your shoulder too, just so everybody thinks you're a lumberjack.

 

[Big_Wood]

Lol, I may have packed my saw on my shoulder once or twice in the last year. Post some YouTube vids Jon. Some of the good ol eastern professional cull pinched in a twig ones. Lol

 

[Big_Wood]

I especially like the ones where you walk out in front of a cut up tree with your back turned to it lol.

 

[Big_Wood]

While your at it post the pics of when that widow maker got you. Don't think Jamie's ever seen them.

 

[Gypo Logger]

I especially like the ones where you walk out in front of a cut up tree with your back turned to it lol.

You mean this one?