Ms261 question?

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16" max bar length for me running .325 ... even maxed out, my oiler struggles if I run this saw into anything where I have to bury the full bar length in wet wood for some time. Saw oils fine in anything under 14".
 
16" max bar length for me running .325 ... even maxed out, my oiler struggles if I run this saw into anything where I have to bury the full bar length in wet wood for some time. Saw oils fine in anything under 14".

Must be real cold up there or there’s an issue with your Oiler.

Mine is great @ 20” of .325” here in Georgia.


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Must be real cold up there or there’s an issue with your Oiler.
Mine is great @ 20” of .325” here in Georgia.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

A few degrees above freezing ... Limbed and bucked 3/4 of the way down through a 4o' long maple where it was widening to about 20" across and saw chain jammed - refused to move. Had to pull and thoroughly clean bar 2 times to finish off the log butt. To your point, thinning down the bar oil might have helped, I was pushing it pretty hard for a 50cc saw. Just never seen this with any other saw before, even my 346 and my little EA4300. Before next outing, I'm going to compare bar oiler hole sizes.
 
Honestly mine pulls it just fine 3/8 20"... Just don't push it. And I use skip chain. I doubt if the free spin resistance is much more on a 20 vs 16 bar. My oiler puts out plenty for a 20" bar. Its nice to have the extra few inches when you need it. Although you can just make 15" cuts and pretend you have a 16" bar if you want.
 
I had 1 with 18es bar and semi skip chain. I don’t think I’d go 20. Actually I think .325 18 is best overall for saw
 
Why push a small saw that hard? Use a bigger saw, if a 16-inch, .325 is not enough. That size of saw is a great small wood and limbing saw, but anything past a 16-inch and you are pushing it past what it was designed for. Your money, your saw, but I have larger saws for heavier stuff.
 
I can stall a chain on a 16" 325 bar just fine... Maybe you can put a 12" picco on it so you can take the operator part out of the equation all together.. ;) I to have larger saws but don't always feel like pulling them all out every time. Just use a lighter hand keep your chain sharp and let the chips fly...
 
Why push a small saw that hard? Use a bigger saw, if a 16-inch, .325 is not enough. That size of saw is a great small wood and limbing saw, but anything past a 16-inch and you are pushing it past what it was designed for. Your money, your saw, but I have larger saws for heavier stuff.

Good advice, but not always practical for me in my neck of the woods. In most cases when I'm using a small saw it's because I'm hanging off the edge of a hillside amidst windfalls, branches and bushes, and want/need light weight. If I'm lucky enough to have a log on the flat near my truck, then I always reach for my 562xp (or larger if needed). Even when I was in my early sixties, I preferred a light saw when working on steep slopes. Some years later I always grab the light saw and try to have a little more patience with it. Thank my lucky stars that I can still work a full day, but now, if I'm packing a heavy saw on the slopes, I'm done by noon ;)

Note: Cleaned up my 261 cm today and found some fine wet moss bits stubbornly plugging up edges of the bar oil holes. It's messy out there and need a strong gushing oiler at times! So far, the 261 cm seems a little miserly in wet mossy wood conditions. This is the temperate rain forest (think Jurassic Park North) and things get pretty gummy.
 
My 260 is happy with .325 and 16” and my ms 039 With 3/8 and 20”. That 039 pulls and pulls happily with 20” and even then I can apply some pressure and it just keeps going. 15cc is a big difference, although the ms 260 is far more pleasurable to handle.

I’m not sure what my 034av would do well with out of those two. I’ll probably get a .325 sproket and use the 16” bar and chain on it but I’ll pose the question like you have, on a new post :)

I’d go with 16” .325 for your 261.
 
Im in the south east and 3/8 20" is the standard for the 261. Pulls it just fine in hardwood. Lol at people recommending 16" for a 261. Guess they dont do too much cutting or they have a robotic back.
 
Im in the south east and 3/8 20" is the standard for the 261. Pulls it just fine in hardwood. Lol at people recommending 16" for a 261. Guess they dont do too much cutting or they have a robotic back.
I don’t do much cutting, but like the feel, balance and response of a 16” .325 on My 260 :)
 

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