Sugihara Bars...

Received a couple of 32" Sugihara bars today. Excellent finsh and right up there with Tsumura - excellent quality bar no doubt about it. After picking one up I thought it still feels pretty heavy.
Decided to weigh one of my 32" GB Pro Tops and one of the Sugihara 32" bars.

Remember this is the advertisement off eBay:

"Ultra light weight design provide for a 29% reduction in bar weight when compared to other brands, which improves the saw balance".

Imagine my surprise when the weight of my hardly used GB Pro Top comes up at 2020 grams (4.44lbs) and the Sugihara is 1930 grams (4.25lbs).

Not having a dig at these bars as they ooze quality, but a bit of a disappointment when you consider the weight saving over a GB Pro Top is actually around 4.5% over a standard good old GB Pro Top - what I would consider a long way off a 29% reduction and false advertising.

The Sugiharas are slightly deeper than the GB but not much maybe 5mm (1/4") but also have a 12mm slot, not 9mm like the GB.

Thanks for posting the info , good to know !

dancan said:

Thanks for posting the info , good to know !

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No worries mate. By all means if you want a top quality bar buy one, if you want a lighter bar for less fatigue (like I did) then have a rethink - they are obviously not much lighter than any other bar.
Just weighed a 32" Oregon Power Match Plus I have for the 3120 in .404" and it came in at 2120 grams (4.66lbs).
I'd like to know what bars they have weighed to get a 29% saving. Maybe there was a lead filled bar at some stage?

The Carlton bar I bought from Baileys is made of a stainless steel that appears similar to the Sugihara but without the inserts that the Sugihara has. Haven't weighted it but it's quite heavy for the size. Could be that the alloy GB uses is slightly lighter. There could also be small differences in the thickness of the bar itself. The rest of the "difference" is advertising hype. Regardless, I like the Sugihara bars for the quality, any weight reduction is just a plus added to that.

DougNH said:

The Carlton bar I bought from Baileys is made of a stainless steel that appears similar to the Sugihara but without the inserts that the Sugihara has. Haven't weighted it but it's quite heavy for the size. Could be that the alloy GB uses is slightly lighter. The rest of the "difference" is advertising hype. Regardless, I like the Sugihara bars for the quality, any weight reduction is just a plus added to that.

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Not doubting the quality at all - it's excellent. However lets be honest, the main marketing feature of the Sugihara bars is their reduced weight, which doesn't seem to add up considering the GB and the Oregon 32" bars I weighed are similar and a long way off 29% heavier.

They might not had lied....maybe they had some old stock Mall 2 man 32" bars.

wigglesworth said:

They might not had lied....maybe they had some old stock Mall 2 man 32" bars.

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Yeah true

They might be comparing them to Cannon or Woodland Pro bars. Baileys catalo9g has them at 6 lbs.

John Ellison said:

They might be comparing them to Cannon or Woodland Pro bars. Baileys catalo9g has them at 6 lbs.

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If they are 6lbs thats extremely heavy for a 32" bar. My 42" Oregon bar for the 3120 is only just over that at 2.9kg (6.38lbs).

you know when they compared bars that they probably didn't go out and find the lightest.That's advertising! Stihl does it Husky does it, we all know this,yes it is a crappy standard but don't believe all the hype.

kevlar said:

you know when they compared bars that they probably didn't go out and find the lightest.That's advertising! Stihl does it Husky does it, we all know this,yes it is a crappy standard but don't believe all the hype.

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I rarely believe hype (I'm one of the biggest sceptics I know) and to be honest certainly didn't believe they could be 29% lighter than a standard bar with just a few polymer inserts. However, I didn't expect them to basically weigh the same as a standard bar and the ad was "a 29% reduction in bar weight when compared to other brands".
I really only posted this info for the benefit of people such as myself who believed these bars would be noticably lighter, which they're not, which is why I weighed them to start with. As you may or may not know from other posts of mine I am doing a job at the moment felling hundreds of trees every weekend using a 32" bar a fair bit of the time. Any significant weight saving makes a difference to both speed and fatigue.
These bars aren't cheap, so maybe people may reconsider paying the extra for one if weight saving was their main reason for considering one to start with.

MCW,
Good info! I've always wondered about the real difference in the weight. Thanks.

MCW said:

I rarely believe hype (I'm one of the biggest sceptics I know) and to be honest certainly didn't believe they could be 29% lighter than a standard bar with just a few polymer inserts. However, I didn't expect them to basically weigh the same as a standard bar and the ad was "a 29% reduction in bar weight when compared to other brands".
I really only posted this info for the benefit of people such as myself who believed these bars would be noticably lighter, which they're not, which is why I weighed them to start with. As you may or may not know from other posts of mine I am doing a job at the moment felling hundreds of trees every weekend using a 32" bar a fair bit of the time. Any significant weight saving makes a difference to both speed and fatigue.
These bars aren't cheap, so maybe people may reconsider paying the extra for one if weight saving was their main reason for considering one to start with.

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Fair enough.

They don't fit on my Dolmar 7900 as well as they advertise either. The little spacer rings that are provided are a joke.

Is the bar slot on the Sugi bar the same as on a Stihl bar. I may try the Baileys adaptor if it is.

But they do look really nice and shiny on the saw though.

Vibes said:

Is the bar slot on the Sugi bar the same as on a Stihl bar.

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Yes. They fit the Stihls without any adaptors.

Vibes said:

They don't fit on my Dolmar 7900 as well as they advertise either. The little spacer rings that are provided are a joke.

Is the bar slot on the Sugi bar the same as on a Stihl bar. I may try the Baileys adaptor if it is.

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:agree2:
They don't fit very well with their ring adapters on my Makita and for some reason it won't work with the adapter from Bailey's either....

Mike

Good to know. I was considering trying a 28 inch on my 7900 because of the claimed reduced weight (the oregon RW are too whippy to suit me).

Think maybe I'll hold off now. I have lots of bars already.

Sugihara makes a great carving bar, though, and is the lightest I've tried.

MCW said:

If they are 6lbs thats extremely heavy for a 32" bar. My 42" Oregon bar for the 3120 is only just over that at 2.9kg (6.38lbs).

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The Cannons are great bars, but yes they are very heavy. That is part of the reason I've quit buying them in the regular sizes.

I have some 50 and 60 inch cannons, and I love them for that. The extra weight is okay because they flex much less than other long bars I've tried.

B_Turner said:

Good to know. I was considering trying a 28 inch on my 7900 because of the claimed reduced weight (the oregon RW are too whippy to suit me).

Think maybe I'll hold off now. I have lots of bars already.

Sugihara makes a great carving bar, though, and is the lightest I've tried.

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Don't let me miss guide you, they do fit, I have an 18" on my 8401 Makita right now. It's just that the adapter rings need to be wider to support the bar while trying to get it all bolted together. Once the cover is on, all is good, no problems.

Mike

The Sugihara small-mount Husky bars are a perfect direct fit and work great.