Scrounging Bars and Chains

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I’ve been inundated with bars and chains this spring. Unfortunately most of the bars and chains don’t fit each other!!!

It started off when my local fleet supply decided to clearance out their line of Trilink products. I bought several loops of chain to fit the bars I had (full 3/8 was selling for 6-8 bucks a loop). I also bought a couple of bars that I might need in common patterns like large Stihl (to use with bar adaptors) and large Husky.

Then I found a pile of bars that a fellow AS’er had given me several years ago and had been lost in my garage. Wholah! Determined that they were mostly small mount Husky in .325/.058 which I don’t often use and large mount Husky in 3/8 .058. Only problem being I don’t have any large mount Husky saws at the moment!

Then I was at the transfer station and scrounged nearly a dozen more useable chains although only one of them fit any of my saws.

Last week my friend dropped off another large mount Husky bar and 9 chains in 3/8 .058! I think I now have 12 or 13 60 DL chains in .058.

Since used bars and chains seem to have nearly no resale value these days, I think I’ll scrounge up a couple of small mount 3/8 .058 bars and start running through these chains!! And I’ll save the rest for when I eventually scrounge saws that can use them.
 
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you can turn a husky large mount into a small mount with a round file in a few minutes.

picked up some Husky large mount bars at 3 dollars each then tried to put it on a small mount and realized it was about 1/8 inch from fitting on the chain tensioner , vice and round file to elongate the hole everything else lines up , been using it for a few years like that , had to do the other side when it was time to flip the bar
 
I’ve continued to pick up bars and chains. I’ve been in the process of converting all of my large mount saws to Stihl mount with adaptors but now I’ve got a whole pile of bars in 009, 196, and 176 mounts. Maybe I’ll sell all of them and pick up a few more Stihl mount bars.
 
Sorry for the dumb
question, but how does the bar adapter work? i'll have to look into that!!
058 is the local size for most of our stuff here. The guys at work (gov forest fire dept) toss all kinds of stuff in the trash. I have not needed to buy a new chain in ages. sure some need lots of filing but they last a while. most are the safety ones in semi chisel which i don't like, but each to their own with different wood!
I dunno how they groove out a bar so quick, some look new, no paint off them at all but they are indeed wore. On the processor if the bar starts getting grooved out, it won't cut straight and starts to bind a bit or just feels dull when it's not. a new bar is expensive at around $100cdn, but lasts about a year or so for me (~150 cords).
I should really swap to 3/8 chain, but the driver for the sprocket is a small style and i don't think i could find a 3-8 sprocket in that style.

I just tossed a dozen 18" bars just like your pic... most looked grooved out. I don't mean just the top needing dressing either, they get wore inside the groove. Guys must run chain tight or out of oil a lot.
 
Sorry for the dumb
question, but how does the bar adapter work? i'll have to look into that!!
058 is the local size for most of our stuff here. The guys at work (gov forest fire dept) toss all kinds of stuff in the trash. I have not needed to buy a new chain in ages. sure some need lots of filing but they last a while. most are the safety ones in semi chisel which i don't like, but each to their own with different wood!
I dunno how they groove out a bar so quick, some look new, no paint off them at all but they are indeed wore. On the processor if the bar starts getting grooved out, it won't cut straight and starts to bind a bit or just feels dull when it's not. a new bar is expensive at around $100cdn, but lasts about a year or so for me (~150 cords).
I should really swap to 3/8 chain, but the driver for the sprocket is a small style and i don't think i could find a 3-8 sprocket in that style.

I just tossed a dozen 18" bars just like your pic... most looked grooved out. I don't mean just the top needing dressing either, they get wore inside the groove. Guys must run chain tight or out of oil a lot.
I’d be willing to bet they run the saws out of oil and keep cutting till the saw runs out of gas. My not mechanically inclined friend often does that, and we’ve been able to hook him up with free/cheap bars to keep him going.

Here’s the bar adaptor. Generally they make three sizes: McCulloch/Large Echo, Husqvarna, and Large Poulan/Homelite. Then you just buy Stihl D025 pattern bars and every large mount saw runs the same bars and chains. Especially useful when running bars over 20” as there are often 2-3 different drive links counts depending on bar length. The Stihl bar does need the adjuster holes enlarged a little bit to accept the larger adjuster pin on Homelite/Poulan.

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I usually throw the husky bars up on the Bridgeport and use a 3/8 endmill and open them up so they fit just had to do that for fitting onto a Pioneer P41. Just use some 123 blocks and wipe in the groove with a dial indicator and run a pass on both sides with the endmill and done.
 
I came across the process I used to open up the groove and the pictures of how I fixtured it in the machine.
 

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