Firewood guys: 261cm and ??? (ms400 or 500i with 20" bar)

[Lee192233]

In case of a newish saw, I use the calculation every 10cm (about 4 inches) per HP.
Give or take a little. Considering you actually use the whole bar.
Some people don't like the bend over and would use a 40" bar like a Bushcutter.
If you use a much longer bar, you'll likely wear out your clutch, or make your piston get hotter than optimal.
But most importantly, the saws oiler is not made to oil such a bar. Sparky bar and heavy chain wear bla bla bla.
If the bar is shorter, you are carrying needless extra weight, and be using more gas.

So a MS661 can only pull a 28" bar? 7.2 hp × 4" per hp.

 

[foeke]

So a MS661 can only pull a 28" bar? 7.2 hp × 4" per hp.

No, that is not what I was trying to say. And I don't think that someone in the market for a 661 needs this kind of calculation.
It's a guideline. Not a maximum length. But, that is about the comfort zone of a saw. You might take a size bigger or shorter, but not deviate to much.
And guess what. According to Stihl the max recommend size is 32". Pretty spot on.

 

[Lee192233]

No, that is not what I was trying to say. And I don't think that someone in the market for a 661 needs this kind of calculation.
It's a guideline. Not a maximum length. But, that is about the comfort zone of a saw. You might take a size bigger or shorter, but not deviate to much.
And guess what. According to Stihl the max recommend size is 32". Pretty spot on.

Depends on the wood for sure. The tree service guys around here usually have 36's on their 661s for cutting stumps. Then again trees that big here are usually silver maple which cuts pretty easily. That's a pretty good guideline. Thanks.

 

[foeke]

And it depends on the saw. For example, a 390 and a 395 are pretty close HP wise, but the 395 is build for longer bars.

 

[johnsayen]

I picked up a 500i this week. Love it so far.

 

[Ranger-692]

My 400 pulls a 25” bar buried in Doug fir just fine. Basically feels like my 362 with a 20” bar. Full house on both gonna try full skip on the 400 next time I cut.
Also for running a shorter bar I don’t know why anyone would want a 500i for that. $500 more dollars to throw around additional fuel injected weight cutting firewood. Go pick a 400 and 500i up at the same time and it’s very noticeable. If you’re felling big trees a lot then a different story.

 

[sand sock]

I asked this in the chainsaw section a while back but figured I'd check with the firewood guys too - it's getting real close to decision time on the second saw and since the 400 has been popping up all over the country maybe a few more guys here have picked one up. I did watch a YouTube video where a guy was running a two saw combo of the 261 and 500i.

The 500i is 13.9lbs and seems to be ~$1300 whereas the 400 is 12.8lbs and ~$850. Either way it's going to run a 20" ES light bar.

What do you think? Go with the 400? 500i? Get both?

Is the 500i going to be wasted on the 20" bar?

Thank you!

Get a 60cc saw for firewood. It's about 750 and you don't need a brushing saw usually

 

[SAWMIKAZE]

I'd get a 462.

 

[ElevatorGuy]

 

[Moondogg73]

I have a 20in bar on my Mastermind ported 261c. It handles it pretty well.

 

[ElevatorGuy]

I have a 20in bar on my Mastermind ported 261c. It handles it pretty well.

7 or 8 pin? 3/8”?

 

[Moondogg73]

7 or 8 pin? 3/8”?

7 - 3/8s

 

[ElevatorGuy]

7 - 3/8s

I’m running a 8 pin .325 18” on mine. I might drop that to a 16”. I keep the 20” on the 462 most of the time.

 

[ElevatorGuy]

Ended up adding a second masterminded 261, 16” .325 8 pin full chisel. The 16 is awesome, I wouldn’t want a 20 on it. Not because it couldn’t pull it but the 16 is so fast!