346xp bar chain combo

[btmonnat]

I am going to buy a 346xp soon and need to know what will work best on this saw.My dealer will put anything I want on this saw for a bar and chain combo. I will use this for clearing hunting trails and small jobs because I also have a 372xp.I would like to make it cut as fast as possible without much modding.I think I might want to stay away from narrow kerf stuff.Any thoughts will greatly be appreciated.3/8 vs. 325

 

[Scandy14]

Why no narrow kerf? I understand it cuts very fast.

 

[komatsuvarna]

JMO, I dont think you want 3/8s chain on this saw. Theres not much of a choice for .325 chisel chain, Oregon 20 LPX would be your best bet for chisel. The Oregon 95 is a narrow kerf semi chisel chain that works good IMO. Probably dont want to race with it, but as far as general wood cutting I like it.

For bar lenth, 16 to 20 would be prefered. I run a 20 on the 372, so I got a 16 for the 346.

 

[Chaz1]

I'm running the stock 18" Husky(Oregon) bar with .325 rsc Stihl chain. Works very well for me.

 

[REJ2]

JMO, I dont think you want 3/8s chain on this saw. Theres not much of a choice for .325 chisel chain, Oregon 20 LPX would be your best bet for chisel. The Oregon 95 is a narrow kerf semi chisel chain that works good IMO. Probably dont want to race with it, but as far as general wood cutting I like it.

For bar lenth, 16 to 20 would be prefered. I run a 20 on the 372, so I got a 16 for the 346.

I too like the Oregon 20LPX, and as stated most semi chisel in .325 is narrow kerf which also cuts just fine on that saw. 16"-18" take your pick, I chose the 18" because I had several loops of chain for another 50cc saw already. REJ2

 

[sunfish]

I run .325x16" on my old 346 and .325x18' on the new one. Works great on these saws. 3/8" will work fine, but .325 will be a little faster and less grabby on small stuff.

I'm running Stihl semi-chisel RMC right now, cuts great, holds an edge a long time, BUT is a pain to sharpen, files don't last very long. Oregon has worked good for me, for a lot of years also.

 

[ronT2]

I’d go with the .325 also. With the 372 you’ll really have the best of both worlds. You could get the saw set up with narrow kerf which will be semi-chisel. That way you’ll have the semi for dirty conditions and the NK option. If you get the saw set up with standard .325 you’d have to get a NK bar and chain if you wanted to try it. With the narrow kerf bar you’ll also be able to run standard kerf .325. I started out running narrow kerf semi-chisel on my 2150 but have switched to Bailey’s .325 chisel, much faster than the NK semi and you can’t beat the price.

I hope that makes some sense.

 

[funky sawman]

I run 3/8" chain on my 346NE with a 20" bar, it does fine, you just have to leave the rakers alone, I hate that little chain, I find that 72lgx orgon chain out cuts 20Lp .325. You just have to be careful about your feed pressure

 

[btmonnat]

Found husky narrow kerf

I just found a brand new husqvarna 18'' narrow kerf bar for it that a friend of mine give me.Know all I have to do is figure out what chain will cut best on that bar.Thanks to all that have responded.