Husqvarna 268 bar length

[cranman1951]

Greetings friends....last week I picked up a 268 xp at a yard sale and with a little work today got it running well. It came with a 20 inch bar and chain which I robbed and put on my 61 Rancher white top. I've never run a saw with more then a 20 inch bar, and would like to try a 24 on this saw. Any thoughts on whether that would be too much bar for the 268?

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

268XP will happily run a 24" bar with a full comp chain- pretty sure they came from the shop with a 24"fitted over here- not much hardwood available to chainsaws here though.
If you are not going to spend all day ringing up 30" Osage Orange trunks or something near as hard- 268XP with a 24"is a pretty good combination.

Okay, just had a look and Acres Spec sheet reads- 15 to 20" for this model...... must be the East Coast specs, not the West Coast ones?

 

[awful knawful]

Mine cuts mostly hardwood. I run a 16/18". 20 was nicely balanced.

 

[82F100SWB]

Husky rates that entire chassis for a 28, as that's what the oiler is capable of. It should pull a 24 happily though.

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[Czed]

I have 6 268s I run 24" on them and the 266 and 272s
The 24s are my favorite length on them
Good balance and power.

 

[huskyespañol]

266se 24" Perfecto

 

[Czed]

 

[cranman1951]

Thanks for the input....I'll see about getting a 24 or 28 this week.....it will be nice having one with a longer bar

 

[Woodslasher]

If you treat 'em right and run skip chain, they'll handle a 32 pretty well, but a 28 is better. I loved how fast mine cut with a 24 inch bar, but since you have a 61 with a 20 I'd put a 28 on it.

 

[82F100SWB]

This is how I find 95% of the saws on that chassis outside of 61's around here. 16" with an 8 pin driver. I gave up trying to sell them with bigger even though they run them just fine...

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[Bob Hedgecutter]

This is how I find 95% of the saws on that chassis outside of 61's around here. 16" with an 8 pin driver. I gave up trying to sell them with bigger even though they run them just fine...

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I imagine in thin stand hardwood country, or Scandinavian forests- that would be an ideal combination.
Kind of depends on what suits the wood you need to be cutting.

 

[KASH]

Of all the saws I have saw in my life around this part of the country 90 percent had 16 inch bars.
It is a bit of a joke to the pro type cutters who work in the smaller soft wood trees we have that the guys with big long bars are trying to make up for their lack of endowment. With the deep winter snow and trees that seldom exceed 24 inches it is senseless to be carrying a big long heavy club on the end of the saw.
Each to their own what ever keeps a guy happy .
Kash

 

[82F100SWB]

Softwood production here. Primarily pulp and stud wood. Before mechanization it was all cut and skid. Some operators still are doing it that way. Definitely not Scandinavia up here in the frozen north, on the east coast where I am from however; our forest, and methods closely resembled theirs, as the pulp mill was owned by Stora out of Sweden, and things were done their way. Dad's typical setup was a 15", many 254's and 42/242/246's.

 

[cranman1951]

I find that with the fire wood and clearing cutting I'm doing, I'm bending over too much with a 16 inch bar, and 18 or 20 seems to take a great deal of strain off of my back. I just picked up a 24 inch Oregon combo yesterday for the 268 and am excited to give it a try. My 266xp has always worn a 20 inch bar and I've been very happy with it, but I guess I won't know about the longer bars unless I try one. I'll have to check the sprocket to see if it's a 7 or 8 pin, I'm hoping 7.

 

[awful knawful]

Of all the saws I have saw in my life around this part of the country 90 percent had 16 inch bars.
It is a bit of a joke to the pro type cutters who work in the smaller soft wood trees we have that the guys with big long bars are trying to make up for their lack of endowment. With the deep winter snow and trees that seldom exceed 24 inches it is senseless to be carrying a big long heavy club on the end of the saw.
Each to their own what ever keeps a guy happy .
Kash

Here too. Most saws run 16. Rarely see anything as big as a 24.
I put a new chain on my 268 this week. I'm running a 18.

 

[Huskybill]

Keep the saw chain razor sharp. I run the file once on every gas up. Skip chain is good too. All my 3/8 Long bars run skip chain. If I run 16”/18” bars on 266/268 I can cut the rakers deeper.

 

[KASH]

Bill what is the point of running skip chain on a 16 inch bar?
Great to have you back actively posting I hope things are going well for you.
Kash

 

[Cliff R]

I run a 20" most of the time on my 268XPS and it handles it with great authority. I've ran a full comp 24" a few times and have a 30" skip and it's fine with those as well. Even so the 30" stays on the 480CD as it has a smoother power and more mid-range power. With the 20" the 268XPS pretty much falls into the category of "too much power is just right"......IMHO......

 

[82F100SWB]

I currently have my one and only 20" Husky setup on a 288... Lol