Stihl MS 500i 36" bar recomendation

[SoCalRescue]

I recently purchased a Stihl MS 500i and it's a great saw. I need to purchase a 36" bar and came here looking for some advice.

I want to purchase the best bar possible and was looking at a number of brands, but hoping to find some personal opinions as to which one is the best. I've always used the stock bars that came with the Stihl, but the Japanese bars look awesome and I'm interested in hearing more about those such as the Sugihara. Cannon is another great brand, but no experience with it.

Lastly, what is a good online retailer to purchase chainsaw bars at?

 

[Ryan'smilling]

If you want the "best" bar, I think it's cannon. A regular 36" cannon is gonna be very heavy on a 500i. Sugi and Tsumura are both great bars, but not any better than the Stihl ES bars.

Now if you want a light bar, cannon duralite would be cream of the crop. Stihl light bars are probably the lightest. Tsumura will be the cheapest, but are very good quality. Sugi aren't the lightest, aren't the cheapest, so... Oregon RW are supposed to be pretty floppy at that length, but I've never used one.

Personally I'd probably buy a Tsumura lightweight. Unless I was feeling fancy and then I'd look at a cannon duralite.

 

[thomasinvancouver]

I’ve been happy with my 28” Tsumura lightweight. I don’t have any regrets about it. I’m looking for a 32” lightweight for my 462 and it will be a Stihl ES Lightweight or a Cannon Duralite. I think those are the best when it comes to the intersection of quality and weight, but at a higher price than some other good options.

 

[EchoRomeoCharlie]

I've been very happy with my 28" and 32" Tsumura light bars.

The place I got mine isn't selling them at the moment...so I don't have any good suggestions on where to buy.

 

[SoCalRescue]

I was leaning towards the Cannon Duralite as well. Looks like a number of recommendations, now it's time to find one.

 

[bwalker]

I would run either a Stihl or Cannon lightweight on it.
With that said I havent fooled with the Jap bars at all.

 

[Cedarkerf]

I would run either a Stihl or Cannon lightweight on it.
With that said I havent fooled with the Jap bars at all.

STIHL light much more ridged than the Oregon rw. Canon got behind on production due to covid not sure they have caught back up. Madsens wasn't able to get them for a while.

 

[dmb2613]

Best one is the Stihl light not as much flex as some and it will last

 

[2dogs]

The vibration isolation on the 500I seems to be pretty light duty. Even with a light bar there is a lot of movement, sorta like the early MS441s. I would stick to 28" or at the very most 32" bars. Good luck.

 

[Volund]

I would use a 20" on that saw, what a useful an maneuverable handy tool that would be. That's 40 inches of wood.

 

[bwalker]

The vibration isolation on the 500I seems to be pretty light duty. Even with a light bar there is a lot of movement, sorta like the early MS441s. I would stick to 28" or at the very most 32" bars. Good luck.

I believe the R version comes with more robust AV springs.

 

[Volund]

Well, if it's all about the workout of lifting long bars in front of the camera and not about effective timber processing, I would go for a good ol 120cc.
The girls will be all over you.
My 20" cannon dedicated mill bar is about 2kg, thats just the bar.

 

[Volund]

Naah, I was totally lying to you, sorry about that. I just checked, it's just 1250 grams at 1,25kg - piece of cake !
So if your saw is at 6,5kg, thats just 7,75kg + chain perhaps 0,5 kg so you're at about 8,25kg to dance around the woods like an elf
If you have fuel and oil in it too that should be around 9,5kg, with a 20" bar.

 

[Cedarkerf]

Regular Cannon bars are the purdiest photo bars. They are heavy and very ridged but my 32" has lasted very well although doesn't get used any more after the quality light bars came out.

 

[Walkdog]

WestcoastSaw has an AV upgrade kit that is supposed to provide more rigidity for running longer bars.

Cannon Duralite is probably the “best”, but they are back ordered until fall, so you won’t be getting one any time soon.

Stihl ES Light is definitely the lightest, and I have found them to hold up really well.

I probably own more Sugihara than any other “premium” bar brand, and have found the fit and finish to be a little better than Tsumura, though probably not enough to justify the price difference.

You really can’t go wrong with any of them, but if I were you I would go for the ES Light. 36” bar is going to apply a lot of leverage on such a lightweight powerhead, so the “best” is probably going to be the one that is least tip heavy.

I personally run a 28” or 32” max on that saw, and am underwhelmed by its oiling capacity at 32” (hell, I’m underwhelmed by the 661r’s oiling capacity at anything over 32”), but if you really have wood bigger than 64” to cut, I guess you need a 36...

 

[bwalker]

I ran several Cannon bars when I was logging until my dealer stopped carrying them. Indestructible , but expensive. IMO if Cannon makes it it's a quality piece.
I recently bought a Stihl ES light, but I dont cut enough anymore to give it a good shake down.

 

[swingdjted]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread; but I ordered a 36" ES Light "with" my purchase of a 500i on August 23rd, 2021. I used quotes because they didn't have the bar available, but I wanted the bundle price rather than buying the bar on its own, since I had plenty of other bars to use while waiting for it to arrive. So I just went home that day with the power head, and it didn't even have full wrap because I'd have to wait for that too. I had to order the wrap handle separately, which was very expensive and it didn't arrive until about a month and a half later, and the bar/chain/scabbard didn't arrive until just this past week. That's how backed up Stihl (in Germany) is. Around here, most pro-level saws and accessories have been almost impossible to find because of this.

Either way, I finally have a 36" ES Light, which is very noticeably lighter than a standard 36" bar, but it still feels quite heavy on the 500i because of 1.) how light the power head is on that saw, and 2.) how floppy the anti-vibration suspension is with such a long bar. The bar itself feels quite rigid though, which was a surprise because I thought it might be floppy too. It's my first light bar from Stihl because I usually order bars that aren't back-ordered with long wait times.

I will likely order the kit that stiffens the suspension, and/or just leave the bar for the bigger saws. Also, I ordered two full chisel/full comp chains, one included with sale, one paid for separately, and while that sinks through softer hardwoods and softwoods with the 500i's power, it's a little too much for harder hardwoods like oak over 30" diameter, so maybe I need to make up some skip tooth chains if I want to use this 36" with the 500. I think I'll stick with 25" and 28" for the 500i and save the new 36" for the bigger saws.

Take this with a grain of salt though, as these are initial impressions after just a couple days of cutting with this combination of 500/36 ES Light.