which bar brand

Just bought a used 066 and it's currently got a 32" bar. I plan to get another bar in the 24" range. Previously I have just used the factory bar that was on the saw but I figure why limit the selection to that. What is everybody's preference betwee factory and after market.

I just use the Stihl ES bars. Strong (solid, not laminated), durable... Why bother with anything else..?

Just replaced the original bar on my dads old 038 the other day it was a 20" stihl ES bar and dad never greased the nose it lasted since 1986 and it looked like a chrome bar every speck of paint was gone I replaced it with a new stihl 9421 stihl ES bar good for another 20 years I love the duability of a stihl bar as compared to some of the other OEM bars a family member has a john deere CS56 16" and it has to have burrs and mushrooming ground on it every time he sharpens the chain

Cannon

you want the strength of a Cannon bar with the price of an Oregon? i say go with the GB Titanium bars.. i just cant see paying the prices Cannon wants..

NWCS said:

you want the strength of a Cannon bar with the price of an Oregon? i say go with the GB Titanium bars.. i just cant see paying the prices Cannon wants..

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I agree!

Thanks for the tip, I'll look for the GB next time.

I have been having good results with the Total Super bars. I think the are made by Tsunami or something similar. The older ones were made by GB. These things are 2-3 times harder than a normal oregon bar. I'll have to post up a pick of my 20" bar that has about 30 cord on it and still looks like it came out of the box. To tell you the truth, I have only had to clean it up once and it gets checked quite regular. I have been much happier with this bar after running strictly oregon for years.


Steve

another vote for the GB Titanium

Here is a pic as promised...

Pretty odd all the bashing Oregon is getting on this forum - next to pure junk is often the impression one get.

On a German (Stihl Homeland) chainsaw forum that I post in, the Oregon bars and chain are held in high regards by a lot of people.....

Surely the easily available options are a bit different, but the Oregon and most of the Stihl bars are the same as far as I know....

Sawtroll,
Perhaps that is because the Oregon bars purchased in Germany are not the same as the Oregon bars purchased in the USA. Different steel suppliers, different specifications, different levels of durability.

SawTroll said:

...but the Oregon and most of the Stihl bars are the same as far as I know....

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Not here!

oregon bar and chains

Been selling bar and chains for 26 years now and by far the most popular the most in demand bar is the Oregon Power Match. yes we sell some GB CN40 bars and some Windsor bars but mostly Oregon. As far as pro's using Stihl bars it just does not happen in this part of the country. Any Stihl in this area usually has a Power Match on it. And as far as the CN40 GB bar yes it does wear well on the down side it does not hold paint and the users usually complain it makes the saw to heavy. And then there is the availability issues with any bars so I have 4 bar chooser's with Dolmar included and sometimes each and every distributor may have them on backorder which means we have to stock hundred's of bars to keep our customers happy. Also the issue on here about chains.. The same rule applies as above NO I REPEAT NOT 1 PRO user uses Stihl chain here in this area they all use Oregon LG series chain. Been to many meetings for Oregon Products and their chain hardness has a Rockwell reading if 45 which is equal to Stihl. the difference is Oregon used Chrome and Stihl uses a German equivalent to Chrome but it is different by a little. So as far as you Stihl users saying it stays sharp longer it also might as well file harder. So that is why all the pro's in this area use Oregon. FYI the local Stihl dealers in this area are very arrogant and hard to deal with also the Stihl dealer that got alot of Saratoga area users just closed shop. So I guess Ill be seeing more Stihl users switching to Dolmar..
SCOTT

fishhuntcutwood said:

Not here!

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I probably made a clumsy statement.

What I meant to say was that most Stihl bar are the same, whether they are sold in Europe or in the US, and that the same applies for Oregon.

Skwerl may be right about the Oregons though, but I don't really believe it. I will try to look further into it.

...and yes, I know that some Stihl bars sold in North America has been rebadged Oregons, but that is the exception, and not the rule.

I have a couple of Oregon Pro-Lites, and quality is not as good as the German made Rollomatic E bars, but imho they are far from junk.

Cuttinscott - Sounds like you should be familiar with older sachs/dolmar's. I have a 119 and 133. I have a 20" windsor bar on the 133 which wares out before the tip needs to be replaced. What power/match or GB bar would fit this saw and would stand up to abuse? [email protected]

skwerl said:

Sawtroll,
Perhaps that is because the Oregon bars purchased in Germany are not the same as the Oregon bars purchased in the USA. Different steel suppliers, different specifications, different levels of durability.

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Is this true? I'm not calling you a liar by any stretch. How many factories are making Oregon bars and where are they? Power Match bars are tried and true. You'll see a majority of them in the woods. Get a year out of them and buy another cheap enough. Several Arborists in my little town like Cannon. I've used Cannon, in my opinion the best bar out there, but yes indeed spendy.

Rivit......
I know what you are talking about with the speedtip by windsor chipping.. espically on a torque monster like the 133. yes I have had great sucess with the Power Match on the 133 it is only available in .058" 20" or 17". I also have GB ProTop Roller Nose bars in stock in .050" 20". The GB CN40 Titanium is not available in that mount for the 133. I have had no experiance with the ProTop bar GB tells me it does indeed have the Titaniun alloy in it so it should work fine.
Oregon Power Match # 208RNDD033 20" .058" 3/8" uses 72 driver chain
GB Professional Pro-Top # DOL20-50P .050" roller nose any pitch
Scott

Powermatch bars are ok, like JP says, nothing special, Oregon chain is pretty much the same as Stihl. I say this because I looked at the chain on my 371, and it is Stihl, pretty sure it came in an Oregon box, no big deal. I have been using Oregon 73 chain for a long time, didn't know it was Stihl till I looked. The comment about bars losing paint is odd, bars need paint like a cat needs paint on the front of its blade.

clearance said:

The comment about bars losing paint is odd, bars need paint like a cat needs paint on the front of its blade.

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Very true, but do you know how many people think a bar is worn out when the paint is gone? More than not, unfortunately