cluelessmontana
ArboristSite Lurker
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2023
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I recently moved to NW Montana from TX and have a lot of milling to do as beetles have killed 90% of the mature ponderosa pines on my property https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/9wxj0vivaocgujz/Studio_Project.mp4 (this is just a small section of it, the property looks like this all over, easily hundreds of these dead trees) which actually has this kinda cool "blue" coloring in the wood from the beetles . I attached these to the post as well incase external links arent allowed.
Anyway, I have been milling with my 460 rancher and a 20"/24" bar on it and the granberg small log mill until the 460 rancher broke (its currently @ warranty repair shop) and then I bought a used 555 locally because it was the only affordable option but also can use all my current bars and chains. Anyway, I want to try a thinner or narrower chain because someone that I watch on youtube with a stihl Ms261 which uses a narrower chain can mill quite a bit faster than me with either of my saws. Granted, that ms261 at 50cc is more powerful than my 460 rancher at 60cc, but it is not more powerful than the 555. Since I have a ton of milling to do, I figured I would look into using a thinner chain to see if it would save me some time which would add up considerably over the course of lots of milling.
My initial research pointed me toward .325 narrow kerf options like this oregon 20" bar https://www.oregonproducts.com/en/speedcutâ„¢-guide-bar,-20"/p/200txlbk095 or the 18" version https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078YM4HTH. Both say they will work for my saws but they are .325 pitch and my saw is 3/8 pitch so I would almost certainly have to change sprocket, which is not hard or expensive so that is fine. The husqvarna pixel bar also came up https://www.husqvarna.com/us/chainsaw-parts-and-accessories/x-force-325-1-3mm-pixel-sm/ but it uses 80DL chain instead of the 78 of the oregon.
Then today I learned about 3/8 LP "low profile" options from this forum https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/do-i-go-with-325-narrow-kerf-or-3-8lp.355427/ and https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/20-3-8-lp-bar.310487/
Searching for these things on the internet is quite tedious and overwhelming for a smoothbrain like myself with all of the different naming schemes. As I understand it, I could use 3/8 LP with my saws without changing the sprocket but would need a new bar? Ok that is fine but ultimately I care about reliability first then price and having to install a new sprocket is no big deal.
So I am looking for a 18-20" solution. Is one of these options definitively better than the other with my saws? or is it not worth changing from my current 3/8 pitch chains at all? I don't expect to have my hand held so if these are dumb questions then please let me know
Anyway, I have been milling with my 460 rancher and a 20"/24" bar on it and the granberg small log mill until the 460 rancher broke (its currently @ warranty repair shop) and then I bought a used 555 locally because it was the only affordable option but also can use all my current bars and chains. Anyway, I want to try a thinner or narrower chain because someone that I watch on youtube with a stihl Ms261 which uses a narrower chain can mill quite a bit faster than me with either of my saws. Granted, that ms261 at 50cc is more powerful than my 460 rancher at 60cc, but it is not more powerful than the 555. Since I have a ton of milling to do, I figured I would look into using a thinner chain to see if it would save me some time which would add up considerably over the course of lots of milling.
My initial research pointed me toward .325 narrow kerf options like this oregon 20" bar https://www.oregonproducts.com/en/speedcutâ„¢-guide-bar,-20"/p/200txlbk095 or the 18" version https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078YM4HTH. Both say they will work for my saws but they are .325 pitch and my saw is 3/8 pitch so I would almost certainly have to change sprocket, which is not hard or expensive so that is fine. The husqvarna pixel bar also came up https://www.husqvarna.com/us/chainsaw-parts-and-accessories/x-force-325-1-3mm-pixel-sm/ but it uses 80DL chain instead of the 78 of the oregon.
Then today I learned about 3/8 LP "low profile" options from this forum https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/do-i-go-with-325-narrow-kerf-or-3-8lp.355427/ and https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/20-3-8-lp-bar.310487/
Searching for these things on the internet is quite tedious and overwhelming for a smoothbrain like myself with all of the different naming schemes. As I understand it, I could use 3/8 LP with my saws without changing the sprocket but would need a new bar? Ok that is fine but ultimately I care about reliability first then price and having to install a new sprocket is no big deal.
So I am looking for a 18-20" solution. Is one of these options definitively better than the other with my saws? or is it not worth changing from my current 3/8 pitch chains at all? I don't expect to have my hand held so if these are dumb questions then please let me know