Bar replacement time?

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My Forester Platinum bar on the 461 is now going on its 5th year. Still good, I suppose. Is it time to replace, after 5 years? Better to replace early, rather then late, right?

I have a Tsumura bar replacement all ready to mount.
 
I’m not saying anyone Is “typical”, but unless the bar is damaged, wanting to throw it out and buy a new one is typical for our American throw away society.

There are still folks who can level the rails and resize them. Then pop out the sprocket and clean and repair if needed. Leon’s Chainsaw Repair is the one I use.

And to keep those bars in good condition, take them off and flip them. While they are off clean your rails and oil channels.

you would be surprised how long a bar can last. Ive a few 10 series macs that are still rockin the same bars that they came with

but that being said, if you want to experiment with a different bar size to see if the tool feels better in your hands, then get out there and experiment a little and see what works for you. Once you discover that bar and chain combo that works best on your saws and feels best in your hands, then your cuttin goes to another level
 
Sounds like you have a second bar already? I always have spare bars for all my saws... no different than chains, sprockets, plugs, and filters.

If the Forester bar is not damaged and/or unrepairable, ie. still cutting straight, taking oil, and not damaging chain... then keep running it. No expiration date on bars, no different than chain.

Extra bars are nice to have so you can swap out during jobs if the one you're using gets damaged, and you can have a rotation in swapping bars on you saws, taking a few hours on an off day or night to dress all your bars for all saws.

Every night, one of my grandfathers would come home with a bucket full of chains and a few bars every now and then after a day's work. He'd grind chain and dress bars for his crew and himself for the next day. It kept production up, keeping his crew cutting all day being the goal.
 
Always good to have a spare bar. I even have different size bars for some saws.

One weird trick’ (as those Internet guys like to say) for an extra bar? If your STIHL saw gets stuck in a log or tree, pull the power head, and use the spare bar (and chain) to cut yourself free!

(Hard to do this with some other saws that have outboard clutches).

Philbert
 
I carry three saws when I was cutting. Now less wear on the bar if the proper bar oil is used. With using waste oil there will be chunks of metal missing from the rails. With new bars and chains i prelude the bar with a moly paste. And prepubescent the chain with bar oil.

I keep my rails on my bars trued. I use a Hf 1”x30” bench belt sander. You 90 degree the table to the sanding belt. The bars come out perfect. The bar shop machine does the same process. Next once the bar rails are trued I chamfer the inside edge and outside corners.

I recently purchased cut off discs the proper size for Regrooving. I been planning on mounting a hand grinder to a guide table for grooving.

When cutting pallets into firewood it’s good to cut on different areas on the bar this way one spot won’t get all the wear.
 
I carry three saws when I was cutting. Now less wear on the bar if the proper bar oil is used. With using waste oil there will be chunks of metal missing from the rails. With new bars and chains i prelude the bar with a moly paste. And prepubescent the chain with bar oil.

I keep my rails on my bars trued. I use a Hf 1”x30” bench belt sander. You 90 degree the table to the sanding belt. The bars come out perfect. The bar shop machine does the same process. Next once the bar rails are trued I chamfer the inside edge and outside corners.

I recently purchased cut off discs the proper size for Regrooving. I been planning on mounting a hand grinder to a guide table for grooving.

When cutting pallets into firewood it’s good to cut on different areas on the bar this way one spot won’t get all the wear.
I use a sander to true mine up to, except mine is a disk sander.
 
I have gotten a handful of bars ranging from 24-36 inches 'cause loggers didn't want to put a $20 tip on them.

I went into my STIHL dealer, a few years ago, to buy a replacement tip for a ($80?) bar, in otherwise very good condition. Said that they would have to order the tip, because there are different sizes/pitches, and because most customers just buy a new bar.

Tip was about $24, and shop labor rate was $75/ hour, which works out to about $50, plus the customer has to wait, if the shop installs it. They know me, and that it was for one of the volunteer groups I work with, so they walked out of the back with another, identical bar, in the same condition, that a customer abandoned, which they let me have if I bought a second tip. Parts came in a few days.

It makes little sense to me, even for a busy commercial customer where 'time is money': even if they bought the new bar to get back to work ASAP, they could have had a spare for $24, which they could have swapped during some down time, and maybe saved another trip to the shop on a work day.

Philbert
 
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