Long Bars

[sawjunky23]

I live in the Midwest. I am not a timber feller by any stretch of the imagination. I realize this question is very dependent on where you call home and where you get your firewood.
I like the idea of a 36” bar on a big cc saw as much as any other red blooded man but my question is how much are most of you guys that only cut wood for heat using a long bar. It’s seems to me that I can cut the majority of firewood with a 20” bar or less. I had a 28” bar for stumps but it just didn’t get used much. I’m talking home heat guys, not production firewood or logging here.

 

[homemade]

I have several saws wearing 20”. Two 24” bars and a 32”. The 24”s hardly get used. I can handle 90% of my wood with 20” and if I need longer, then 24” is too short and the 32” is usually needed. I cut a lot of fence lines, so the trees don’t get much past 18” DBH before my crew has to cut the lines back.

 

[turnkey4099]

My stable is a top handle Husky/14, MS362 normally wears a 20 and an MS441 for felling with a 32" bar. 362 and 441 swap around with bars from 20,24,28/32 bars depending on job at hand. I could (and did) get by with 24" bar felling trees up to 4' for years but it wasn't fun.

It is nice to have a big bar and saw to run it for bucking stuff from one side of the log. Shorter bars will work cutting from both sides but now that I can afford my 'toys'....

 

[sirbuildalot]

The most used bar for me is a 20", followed by a 24" (Stihl calls it a 25"). I usually have a 16" on my smaller saws, and I own a 32" for my Dolmar 7900 that only gets used occasionally for large timber. Kind of unwieldy for regular firewood cutting.

I say 20".

 

[Deleted member 149229]

18” on my 40 and 50 cc saws. 20” on my 60 and 65”” saws and 24” on my 80 cc saws. Usually only run the 24” because the saws haven’t been run and need to or I just want a big grin on my face.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I salvage big wood dropped by tree removal companies, and that requires no less than a 28" bar on many occasions. I generally use a 70 cc saw or larger for that. On occasion, I have needed a 32" bar, but not often.

My three favorite saws that can pull long bars are my Stihl 046 Mag, Makita/Dolmar 6401 with a BBK, and my Echo CS-670. I usually restrict those to 32" bars.

But, when the trunks get really big and I then need a 36" bar, I reach for my Stihl MS660 Mag and my Stihl 064. They get the job done in spades.

 

[Circle B MN]

16 on a MS260 and 20 on a MS362....aint too many tress worth messing with in Minnesota that they wont cut.

 

[Nwpa]

I sold my bigger saws and mainly use 16" or 18" bars with no problems, I cut smaller wood from an old pasture so I have no need for anything bigger.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Here is a Pic of what I have to deal with:

That's a 32" bar on the Makita. Trees grow big in Nebraska.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

I like a 28" for felling. A 36" even on occasion. For actually converting those trees to firewood I generally use saws with 16" and 20" bars. I cut a fair amount of mature hardwood over 24" at the stump. Not huge but any means, but I'm also not a super practiced feller, so being able to do everything from one side makes my job easier.

I have a ported 395 that makes stumping a lot more fun. I do occasional tree work and I can say that at the end of a job using a real saw with big dogs and plenty of size and grunt makes a job that can be a real drag into something much more pleasant.

 

[rancher2]

I process around 15 cord of firewood a year. My two bucking saws run 20" bars but I do have a large Solo that a 36" is on and gets used when we take down a big tree and it needs bucked up. We were just using that saw today as we were bucking some 36' plus locust logs. We have just about finished the big trees on this farm we are working on so the Solo will get cleaned up and stored for a while.

 

[Mustang71]

I have a 20 inch on my ms290 with 390 top end and a 16 on my 028. I cut wood for my own heat. I have a 18 inch bar on the husky and crafstman and the poulan wears a 14. The 051 has a 28 inch bar and I'm still looking for a situation to use the saw... I wish I had something to cut with it. It was a manly buy but I have no use for it lol.

 

[Skeans]

I’m on the other end of you guys being a production faller a 32 is my short I run on a 562 up to my 395, the long bar is a 60” that makes your back hurt. There’s only been a few times I’ve need the 60 for reach most of the time we can block something or cut windows in the back cut to run a shorter bar.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jakers]

Owning a tree service I run into many opportunities to use my 660 with a 36" b/c. Most of the time we opt for the 461 w/28" just due to the fact its always on the truck. A tree has to be pretty damn massive to not cut it with a 28" b/c. Even a 4-5' DBH Cottonwood can be cut easier with the lighter saw that's easier to use. The longer bars really shine when it comes to cutting off the stumps. Ive cut 24" DBH Boxelders that had a 66" stump cut at 4" above the dirt

 

[sawjunky23]

Here is a Pic of what I have to deal with:
View attachment 679633
That's a 32" bar on the Makita. Trees grow big in Nebraska.

Never been to Nebraska....had I ventured a guess I wouldn’t have thought it was a big tree state.

 

[KiwiBro]

How does this not turn into a pissing contest ;-)

 

[homemade]

Now that’s impressive.

 

[rancher2]

How does this not turn into a pissing contest ;-)
View attachment 679681 View attachment 679682

That makes some big cotton woods we have in our area look small.

 

[old CB]

For me it's always match the saw and bar size to the dia. of wood. For small wood & limbs--lodgepole, etc. in my area--I like a 346 with an 18" bar. For the vast majority of work here I go with a 372 wearing a 20" bar. I have a Dolmar 7900 (79 CCs) with a 24" bar, but don't need it very often because we don't have a lot of big wood.

Those who need a long bar should use one of course, but for those who don't need it . . . you're wielding something long and unnecessary. People say the extra length keeps you from bending down so much, but I just position myself (on one knee when necessary) to keep my back straight. And running that long of a bar you're more likely to poke its nose in the dirt.

The main consideration, I think, is that too long of a bar means you're sharpening more teeth than necessary. And I sharpen a lot (because I cut a lot).

 

[sb47]

20'' will get through most all of the wood I work with. I like a 20'' because it's lighter then a longer bar but still long enough to buck without bending over so much. When I run a longer bar I notice that the saw will buck around and is harder to hold on to.
I also like a 20'' it's just long enough to quarter up 16'' lengths get all the way through.