General consensus - Stihl MS361 with 24" bar

[John Lyngdal]

My lightly modified MS361 has a 25" Stihl light bar on it and it's nicely balanced.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

I have a 20 on my 361 but then again I put a 20 on anything bigger than 50cc. On the 50cc I put an 18. I sold all my really big saws since I quit using them..

 

[bwalker]

In hardwoods no 60cc saw will pull a 24" burried in the wood with any sort of authority.
The 361 is a turd stock until you gut the muffler. It runs much better after.
In western softwood a 361 is workable with a 24",but even then I prefer skip chain on a stock muffler modded 361.
A ported 361 by @huskihl will pull a 24" bar with authority in both soft and hardwood if you have good chain sharpening skills.

 

[bwalker]

My lightly modified MS361 has a 25" Stihl light bar on it and it's nicely balanced.

It is indeed.

 

[pining_fir_yew]

Don't ever, ever trust, that someone, says he knows what he is doing, if you are the one standing near the damn tree doing the important work.

thankfully you walked away unharmed! Jeez..

 

[Skeena2]

I ran a 28” bar on my 034 super with a ship tooth chain. It worked well on pnw old growth. It worked well even milling. The same 28” bar is now on my 261 and works great there.

Sacrificing a bar for ergonomics is a trade off I’d make any day of cutting. Insufficient oiling will eventually wreck a bar. But it’s one of the easiest items to change out on any chainsaw.

My family moved from Rolds two generations ago.

 

[MartDalb]

thankfully you walked away unharmed! Jeez..

Yeah got myself a drink that nite.

 

[MartDalb]

In hardwoods no 60cc saw will pull a 24" burried in the wood with any sort of authority.
The 361 is a turd stock until you gut the muffler. It runs much better after.
In western softwood a 361 is workable with a 24",but even then I prefer skip chain on a stock muffler modded 361.
A ported 361 by @huskihl will pull a 24" bar with authority in both soft and hardwood if you have good chain sharpening skills.

My 361 is stock, I don't work in mods or know anyone here that does that.
I do repair and fix my own saws though, every inch.

It's sorta rare actually here, in Denmark, that people do mods etc, afaik. anyway.

So you would suggest sticking to a 20" Light bar - I can't not go ES light bar, those pictures of these saws makes me drool