.050 Bar vs .063 pros cons

[SawTroll]

Yep. Some of the Japanese bars have gauge specific nose sprockets.

I have a Tsumura tip that says 050-058 on it right beside me here, just looked at it to confirm.

 

[Eccentric]

I have a 16" Windsor Mini-Pro replaceable tip bar (looks like one of the small GB replaceable tip bars). Has a 3/8-LP tip and takes 57DL.

 

[redbull660]

.050 and 063 - .050 is the worn bar, 063 is new bar if you couldn't tell. Both Stihl Rollmatic ES. It may only be .013 difference, but visually you can tell there is more room in the 063 groove. Oil port size looks to be the same.

 

[redbull660]

using the $100 pair of calipers I bought many moons ago thinking I would be reloading ammo...

25" Stihl ES 050 bar - total width on avg .1895" , rail width on avg .0665
36" Stihl ES 063 bar - total width seems to be about the same on avg .1895". rail width seems to be narrower approx .0620 .

So it appears that for Stihl to make a 063 bar they simply took the same bar they would use for an 050 and put a wider groove in it. Math on it would be .063 - .050 = .013 / 2 = .0065. so .0665 (on the 050 bar) - .0065= .0615 which is approx what i'm getting with the 063 rail width measurements. Seems highly unlikely that this would change if I had a 25" 063 bar. The numbers are to obvious...make to much sense.

It would seem to me that the thicker rails on the 050 would make the 050 bar last longer than the 063 bar. So that seems to be a pro for the 050 bar and a con for the 063 bar.

 

[MCW]

That's not really the case at all. The bar rails will wear at exactly the same rate however if oil supply is an issue in longer bars, and it can be sometimes, then the .063" bars will last longer. Having put 1000's of hours on both and spoken to a number of pro saw users I can assure you that if any bar will last longer it's the .063".
In theory you could use a bar rail closer to tighten up worn .050" rails for longer than a .063" bar but practically that bar will be well and truly stuffed by then.

 

[redbull660]

yeah theory is one thing. experience and real life another. Thanks for the reply!

That's not really the case at all. The bar rails will wear at exactly the same rate however if oil supply is an issue in longer bars, and it can be sometimes, then the .063" bars will last longer. Having put 1000's of hours on both and spoken to a number of pro saw users I can assure you that if any bar will last longer it's the .063".
In theory you could use a bar rail closer to tighten up worn .050" rails for longer than a .063" bar but practically that bar will be well and truly stuffed by then.

 

[MCW]

yeah theory is one thing. experience and real life another. Thanks for the reply!

No worries It also depends on what wood you are cutting too. If you are into hardwoods, or even dead hardwoods, you will need more oil as these put a lot of strain on the bar and chain. Sometimes in sappy softwoods you also need more bar oil to help clear gummed up sap and other garbage.
Personally I nearly exclusively use .050" on all bars 24" or less and .063" on bars over that. I have actually had .050" chain snap through the drivelinks which looked to be from a lack of oil and built up heat - this was on 24" bars. On the 32" .063" bars I have never snapped a chain and this has been on exactly the same saw under the same conditions.
Under certain conditions 90% of users will never have an issue with .050" chain, under tough conditions when working the saw, bar, and chain hard the .050" will give up first.
Personal preference though and if I thought .050" was all bad I'd stop using it. I only use it because I got a bargain deal on a heap of NOS GB bars that were .050" and it's not as bad as I've probably made it sound .050" 3/8" (not LP) chain is very uncommon in Australia and few dealers actually stock it.

 

[SawTroll]

.....
So it appears that for Stihl to make a 063 bar they simply took the same bar they would use for an 050 and put a wider groove in it. Math on it would be .063 - .050 = .013 / 2 = .0065. so .0665 (on the 050 bar) - .0065= .0615 which is approx what i'm getting with the 063 rail width measurements. Seems highly unlikely that this would change if I had a 25" 063 bar. The numbers are to obvious...make to much sense.
.....

I suspect that is the way it is with solid body bars from most brands, but it really says nothing about longevity, only about which way the slight weigth differences go.

 

[SawTroll]

.050 really is a meaningless gauge in regular 3/8" and .325, as it offers nothing over .058, while it is at a disadvantage when it comes to oiling. With other brands it cuts a narrower kerf than .063 and the same as .058, while all the gauges cut the same kerf as .063 with Stihl chain.

The only real reason to buy .050 is chain availiability in certain areas.
In Norway, all the major brands (including Stihl) pretend that .050 doesn't exist, anything in that gauge would be special order.....

 

[bennn*e]

I have a funny feeling that there is more marketing involved with the dimpled drivelinks than actual practical benefits

I don't think they would goto all the effort of another stage in chain manufacturing just as a marketing stunt

 

[MCW]

I don't think they would goto all the effort of another stage in chain manufacturing just as a marketing stunt

Don't bet on it. Stamping a few dimples in a drivelink doesn't add much to the manufacturing process. You just change your dies in the machines. Instead of flat dies they have bumps. It could be to help compensate for the "Save The Whales" type oiler outputs some of the new Stihl saws come with

 

[Franny K]

Just for discussion doesn't the oil making it past the nose and to the bottom of the bar come into play here? How much of the oil would you think falls down in the gap to the rear of the sprocket nose in a bucking application that might get thrown off in a felling position. Anyone else using a hard nose bar finally decide the oil was coming off the drive sprocket instead of the nose when trying to get oil off the nose proof?