24” vs 28” bar. The pros and cons.

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Man alive gentleman.

I’m buying a saw tomorrow morning and I still can’t decide between the stihl and dolmar. This is worse than buying a car.

I’m familiar with stihl.

I’d like to belong to the mysterious dolmar club. It’s almost like a Freemason type organization

Argh. This is tough.


The 462 is lighter and more powerful than every other saw in its class.
 
My buddy is like 5'7" and Im 6'2", hes was always saying the bars I run are too long..

Then he realized the height difference means I feel best with a bar thats like 6" longer then his.

Pick whatever feels best for you. I like a long bar as I can limb logs on the ground without bending over all day.
 
All I'm gonna say about bar lengths is all but one of the roughly 70 cc class of saws I've seen in the wild have had 28" bars. My brother's and my dad's 372s have 28's, my neighbors 461 has a 28, a 288 I've seen has a 28, even a 365 my brother got had a 28" bar on it. The only saw I've seen in that class that didn't have a 28 was my 048 which had a 24 inch bar and safety chain, so it was an old person saw and is discounted from the rules of regular use.
 
I’m in the market for some dawgs.

The stihl 660 ones didn’t seem to fit the 462. When I looked it seems the bolt holes were farther apart.

I’d like to take this conversation to dawgs now, please.
 
I’m in the market for some dawgs.

The stihl 660 ones didn’t seem to fit the 462. When I looked it seems the bolt holes were farther apart.

I’d like to take this conversation to dawgs now, please.

There is a Stihl OEM outer spike. Don't known the part number off-hand, but your dealer should be able to look that up and order it.
 
There is a Stihl OEM outer spike. Don't known the part number off-hand, but your dealer should be able to look that up and order it.
Hi. It’s a really small spike that already on the saw. Not much substance there.
 
I can buy a 7900 for $275 less than a 462.The 462 is lighter and the 7900 is proven and will run a 34” bar buried in oak.462 may do that also I just don’t know.
Hah. Thanks for that after I bought the stihl :)
 
When it comes to Stihl chains, it's basically between the semi-chisel and the full-chisel. The semi-chisel is the "low-kickback" stuff, which I happen to prefer, because it gives a smoother ride and is more forgiving to use. The cutting speed difference between semi-chisel and full-chisel isn't enough for me to get hung up on, and I'll trade that speed difference for a more controllable, and less "grabby" sort of cutting experience. I think semi-chisel is easier to file, too, and I'm told it keeps its edge longer as you work, so you're sharpening less often.

Of course, many, many here will recommend full-chisel, and they're certainly not wrong. Buy a loop of both and see which you prefer.

Also, a loop of carbide chain isn't a bad addition to the toolkit for the instance where you find yourself messing with old, dirty, or dead wood, or stumps.

They make semi chisel (RM) With no safety raker.

It's my favorite firewood chain.
 
That's a stretch..on the power claim.

But it is light.

It probably wins out on power, stock, if you use the physical definition: force•(displacement/time.) If we put it on a dyno with very little load because of its short stroke it may win out in power by physical definition because it can make more RPM & spin faster.

As far as practical power under load... It’s disappointing. Not good for longer bars, IMO. It is light though. I’m not a 462 fan.

I’m not a Dolmar/Makita 7900 fan either. Dealer support just isn’t there most places I work, and ordering online doesn’t cut it. I’m not out to have a huge parts cache either. I’ve been to jobs where we had multiple shipping containers full of parts in remote places. I usually don’t work in those places anymore, and I like to be able go get parts in stock at a dealer.
 

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