I got a 16'' bar for my MS 261 C-M

[Bill G]

I agreed he needs to worry about kick back, bar size is irrelevant, although shorter bars have proven to kickback faster and harder. Your logic is a stretch at best.

I might add @sean donato if you have seen some of the young mans other threads he has been doing some chainsaw carving. I know very little about carving but I would think it might involve a high chance of kickback. If so the young man may not have a vast experience with kickback but at a minimum some.

 

[Bill G]

I used it today. It has no more kickback than my 20-inch bar with a green chain.

Well no matter what some think the kickback is not at all caused by the bar length. Now yes a shorter bar on a saw may reduce the weight and balance of the saw to a point where in a bad situation it might react a micro-second faster but the length of the bar is not causing the kickback. My personal opinion is for awhile stick with RM2. It will cut a bit slower but is much more forgiving in the learning curve. It looks like you already are running RM so enjoy it, watch your tip, and keep her out of the dirt.

 

[sean donato]

I might add @sean donato if you have seen some of the young mans other threads he has been doing some chainsaw carving. I know very little about carving but I would think it might involve a high chance of kickback. If so the young man may not have a vast experience with kickback but at a minimum some.

I follow most of his threads with interest, and to some degree concern. He doesn't have the guiding hand (s)that myself and many others had when we were his age. It's a dangerous field to be in, and not just from running a saw. So many other thing to go wrong and maim or kill you. Shorter bars, have always posesed greater chance for kickback. Jumping to a shorter bar increases that chance, although I'll agree not much more then the 20" he was using. Still it's ever present danger.
My neighbor, Anderson, does quite a bit of saw carvings. If the young lad lived a bit closer I'd happily introduce the two.

 

[Bill G]

I follow most of his threads with interest, and to some degree concern. He doesn't have the guiding hand (s)that myself and many others had when we were his age. It's a dangerous field to be in, and not just from running a saw. So many other thing to go wrong and maim or kill you. Shorter bars, have always posesed greater chance for kickback. Jumping to a shorter bar increases that chance, although I'll agree not much more then the 20" he was using. Still it's ever present danger.
My neighbor, Anderson, does quite a bit of saw carvings. If the young lad lived a bit closer I'd happily introduce the two.

The simple fact is the 16" bar is not a safety issue on the saw and those who are trying to tell him so are simply .....well.... it might be best I do not finish.

 

[Franny K]

I might add @sean donato if you have seen some of the young mans other threads he has been doing some chainsaw carving. I know very little about carving but I would think it might involve a high chance of kickback. If so the young man may not have a vast experience with kickback but at a minimum some.

From the above text it would seem you missed the video where he takes his carving saw and bar (Sthil 194 or close to that) from a shelf under the bench and shows it for long enough for the viewers to get the idea the nose would be called by a coin size. That also might be the video he shows the 261 with the 20" long enough to grasp the ratio of saw size to person size.

It may or may not be pertinent to bring this up, You Bill G have solicited for offers of discontinued for safety reason large diameter nose replaceable tip chainsaw bar. Oliver clearly is a bar collector would you ask him to make an offer on the wide tip bar assuming you still have it?

 

[SAWMIKAZE]

+1, add in an inexperienced user = recipe for disaster.
I hope you're taking someone with you for back up / help on these endeavors.

Absolutely.

Only the internet would tell a kid that probably hasn't even got laid yet to add a bigger rim and get his saw ported.

It's endless.

 

[Bill G]

.........................It may or may not be pertinent to bring this up, You Bill G have solicited for offers of discontinued for safety reason large diameter nose replaceable tip chainsaw bar. Oliver clearly is a bar collector would you ask him to make an offer on the wide tip bar assuming you still have it?

I have no idea what bar you are talking about

 

[cuttinstihl]

Absolutely.

Only the internet would tell a kid that probably hasn't even got laid yet to add a bigger rim and get his saw ported.

It's endless.

Ported saw in the hands of a 14 year old sounds like a recipe for disaster too. Not doubting the kid in the slightest but more experience helps with modded saws in any way

 

[holeycow]

I think many confuse little kicks with "kickback"...

"Go big or go home" attitude has no place in the sawhand's world.

 

[ZeroJunk]

Unless he wants to bore cut something, which is whole nother skill, never poke the nose of a running chain in anything . No matter bar length.

Yeah, I know you get in a hurry, tired, whatever. But, keep up with your bar tip always.

 

[Bill G]

Unless he wants to bore cut something, which is whole nother skill, never poke the nose of a running chain in anything . No matter bar length.

Yeah, I know you get in a hurry, tired, whatever. But, keep up with your bar tip always.

Exactly, kickback does not ask what length the bar is before it occurs.

 

[SAWMIKAZE]

Ported saw in the hands of a 14 year old sounds like a recipe for disaster too. Not doubting the kid in the slightest but more experience helps with modded saws in any way

I doubt him.

It's cool to see young dudes take an interest in something other than selfies and acting like a little girl, I hope he sticks with it and keeps learning.

But that doesn't change the fact that more chain speed and a saw that holds an extra couple thousand in the wood on a short bar is a bad idea for someone with minimal saw experience, at any age really...half of the grown men on these forums shouldn't even be using chainsaws..have you seen some of the videos people take of themselves...

Sometimes I swear the flood gates at Nerds r' Us broke loose and spilled on the internet and all the Tim the Tool man's live out their fantasy playing chainsaws to feel like they actually have balls.

I was cut bad once (totally my fault) by being in a hurry for no good reason and I paid the price for it. I don't wanna see this kid get hurt..or worse...it happens.

I say he gets well acquainted with using a stock saw before he moves on to faster things...

 

[cuttinstihl]

I doubt him.

It's cool to see young dudes take an interest in something other than selfies and acting like a little girl, I hope he sticks with it and keeps learning.

But that doesn't change the fact that more chain speed and a saw that holds an extra couple thousand in the wood on a short bar is a bad idea for someone with minimal saw experience, at any age really...half of the grown men on these forums shouldn't even be using chainsaws..have you seen some of the videos people take of themselves...

Sometimes I swear the flood gates at Nerds r' Us broke loose and spilled on the internet and all the Tim the Tool man's live out their fantasy playing chainsaws to feel like they actually have balls.

I was cut bad once (totally my fault) by being in a hurry for no good reason and I paid the price for it. I don't wanna see this kid get hurt..or worse...it happens.

I say he gets well acquainted with using a stock saw before he moves on to faster things...

You make some good points. No doubt that ported saws are a whole nother animal than stock saws, both obviously dangerous, ported is just far more so.

A ported saw that light with that much power on a short bar sounds like a terrible idea. Especially considering the lack of experience and the fact that the kid probably isn’t that big. I’m not exactly a novice or a small guy, but I’m always fully aware of my saws and what they’re capable of doing to the human body.

Better to always be diligent and know your limitations than go venturing into uncharted territory outside your boundaries. And always treat your saw with respect, don’t underestimate it in the slightest

 

[Bill G]

I am amazed at how many folks her are commenting about the kid's choice in bar length. I wonder what you would say if he ran a 36" on it..............

 

[cuttinstihl]

We’d be commenting to get a bigger saw like a 660/395 or something similar. Another recipe for disaster considering his age and experience

 

[SAWMIKAZE]

Exactly, kickback does not ask what length the bar is before it occurs.

But you're a whole lot closer to it with a short bar.

I can't name one person that cut themselves with a 36" bar.

I can name a bunch that got hit with a 14-16" bar...why ? You're closer to it.

 

[SAWMIKAZE]

But you're a whole lot closer to it with a short bar.

I can't name one person that cut themselves with a 36" bar.

I can name a bunch that got hit with a 14-16" bar...why ? You're closer to it.

And it happens fast..real fast.

 

[SAWMIKAZE]

I'd let this kid buck logs all day with a big saw and big bar. The odds of him getting hurt are slim, especially if he's just bucking firewood logs on flat ground.

I'd be really reluctant to send him in to cut saplings with a small saw with a 8pin turning 14k...I'd bet my balls the odds of him getting cut are gonna go through the roof.

 

[Bill G]

But you're a whole lot closer to it with a short bar.

I can't name one person that cut themselves with a 36" bar.

I can name a bunch that got hit with a 14-16" bar...why ? You're closer to it.

Your analogy is totally flawed. That is like saying you cannot name a single person who died driving a Ford F-750 but you can name many that died driving a F-150.

 

[cuttinstihl]

And it happens fast..real fast.

More power over a shorter circumference when the saw kicks back, can’t ignore the basic physics surrounding kickback of shorter vs longer bars