064-what bar is best.

[John Paul Sanborn]

I've an older 064 that my employer had a 36 in bar on. Even running a semi-skip full-chisle it bogs down when bucking bigger wood.

What is the optimal bar for this saw? Would a different sprocket help?

 

[confused]

John,

Personnally i would go for a stihl bar perhaps between 18" - 24" depending on what your going to do with it. I would THINK i dont konw forsure but a 20" bar with a full chisel chain would be a balanced combination for the 064 and with that horse it should pull that chain around pretty easy

 

[treeclimber165]

For cutting competitions, an 18" on an 064 is fine. In the REAL world, where we have 3-4 saws on a job and the 064 is our big 'stump saw', 18" is not practical.
Assuming that this is your 'stump saw', I would think it would pull at least a 30". I had an 038Magnum for 10 years running a 27" with full chisel chain and it always cut great. If it was new, I'd think a 36" would be no problem for that size saw.
If the compression is good and it isn't just 'worn out', maybe Ken KDhotsaw can tell you how to modify the muffler or something to get some more kick out of it.

 

[sonny]

24 to 28 is no problem for a 064. & also that depends on how worn the saw is.

 

[The Climber]

John,
I would make sure you have a stihl ROLLOMATIC and not a duromatic so you dont have more bar friction than nessary eating up your power

 

[Jake]

For best performance,use 3/8 full skip chain with a 7 tooth sprocket on a 36" bar.Make sure your carb. is adjusted correctly and exhast screen is clean.Jake

 

[Kevin]

That full skip is what I use for milling and it really bites, it can stop the biggest saws.
You might do better to get away from the semi skip.

 

[kdhotsaw]

Hello John Paul Sanborn
I have to agree with Sonny, Jake, and treeclimber 165.All the fallers out here run 32 to 36 inch bars with full skip chisel chain. its not because we have that much bigger trees but because they dont have to bend over when they are walking down the log limbing it. they can take off the top limbs and side limbs off without much bending over. the taller they are the longer the bar they use.
another factor to consider is the raker setting. some of the fallers file thier rakers down to 35 to 40 thousands to limb with. when trey cut the limbs it just blasts the limbs off but when they try to fall or buck with the same chain it bogs or just pulls the saw motor down. some of them have two saws with different raker settings on the chain for falling or limbing. most new chain have raker settings at 25 thousands. you should file your chain 5 or six times before you touch the rakers then they will be 20 to 22 thousands. this seems to be about right for 2 to 2.3 foot logs. on smaller logs you could probably run a tiny bit more raker clearance. anyway, check your raker clearance on your chain if it is 35 to 40 thousand clearance that could be your problem
The stihl 064 is a really nice saw. we have a number of fallers who bought 046's when they first came out. they traded them off and bought 066's or found used 064's and had us modify them for more power. they really like them when they are hopped up
what we do on the 064 muffler is fit the 066 cover that has the port in it to the 064 muffler. the 064 muffler does'nt have the baffles inside that we have to cut off inside the newer 066. the baffles are only there to help keep the exhaust hotter and help on the EPA emission numbers. anyway john check your chain and the raker height, that could be your bogging problem

ken dunn kdhotsaw

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Thanks all. The full skip, was my next step with having it benched. Raker hight sounds logical, I've noticed the differance before when I've take them down too far on other saws.

I have alot of very mature trees here that are 30-40 in dbh. I plan on having this as the big bucking/stumping saw.

The service center I use tell me that it should have no problem if it's set up right they way it is. I though it was just too old and abused.

FOr what I plan od doing, if it is replaced sould I stay with this or go up to the 066?

 

[HUSKYMAN]

JPS, I will jump in here before someone tells you to get an 088. An 066 should have about 10% more power and more rpm's than an 064 and would be an upgrade. However, for only a little bit more you could get a 3120xp with 9hp! Ask Treeclimber165 how he likes his. More power than an 088 for about $100 more than an 066

 

[treeclimber165]

You need both hands to run a 3120XP! That has to be the BADDEST saw I have ever had the pleasure of running. This is NOT a saw for beginners, and will cut circles around anything that I have ever run from Stihl. I never did enough BIG work to justify a huge saw like that, I muddled through with my 038Magnum (same motor as an 044) on the occasional big (48"-60") wood. But if I ever needed a BIG saw, bigger than an 044, I'd get a 3120XP.

 

[Deere John]

I have both the 064 and 066. I have 30 and 36" bars, and me thinks they are semi skip. I rarely use those bars (they have dust on them) and the saws normally run 20" bars with full chisel chain. At this point in my tree cutting career, I don't think I will be cutting trees beyond the limit of the 20" bars - they just make for a very productive bucking saw that takes some of the wear and tear off me and my 036 yard saw.

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Where have you been John? I thought maybe you were AWOL!