d176 Guide Bars

[heyduke]

I've been looking around for D176 guide bars. It's not that they're really hard to find. They just tend to be expensive and hard to find in a 20" length. Oregons tend to be over $50 and an Oregon with "Echo" painted on it runs close to $80. So I was encouraged when i found a 20"x3/8" bar that looked a lot like a D176 in Tractor Supply. Bar with chain, 70 dl .050, priced at $40. I went home for a pair of calipers and liked what I saw.



The chain is the same chinese brand they sell at home depot, the one with a logo that looks like 3/4 of an Audi. I haven't measured yet, but the top plates look a blond c.h. longer that oregon's. I had to hit the bar slot with a flat file, just a tiny bit, before it would fit past the threads on the bar studs, but i had to do that with an oregon bar too. The TSC scu is 1044209.

 

[nmurph]

Did that saw come with it for that price?

 

[Chris-PA]

I should get one of those bars. I have an Oregon but it clogs something terrible when I use it for noodling, just like my 24" D176 PowerMatch. I think it's the tapered bar groove at the tail that allows noodles to get pulled into the groove.

And I find the TriLink chain to work fine.

 

[heyduke]

Did that saw come with it for that price?

no, the saw which has been more expensive than i thought it would, was a product of the prolonged dark and cold of winter, 2014, i needed a project to help me thru until easter. the list of defects that came with it is lengthy. the last i found and fixed was a crankshaft seal, flywheel side, that was installed such that it sucked in fine chips and deposited them in the case and intake horn just shy of the filter. there was more inside than on the outside of the filter. the bar that came with it was 24" which made it clumsy to handle but it was also .063 gauge, though supplied with a .058 chain. the bar slot was 9.5mm while the studs were 8mm which caused the oil hole to mismatch the oil gallery. there were numerous other problems too, likely will be more. so, i'm going to try to kill it with hard labor now that i have a decent guide bar a year later. i could have mounted the bar on my real redmax 621 and avoided the embarrassment but this power head was sitting on the shelf without a bar. so it got the new one.

i don't know if you run any echos, mccullochs, homelites or redmax but they use the d176 and they're getting harder to find.

 

[heyduke]

I should get one of those bars. I have an Oregon but it clogs something terrible when I use it for noodling, just like my 24" D176 PowerMatch. I think it's the tapered bar groove at the tail that allows noodles to get pulled into the groove.

And I find the TriLink chain to work fine.

i didn't know that it had a name, trilink, but i have encountered it before. i haven't been able to find presets or ties for it, but i will use this loop until the top plates are gone. i'm running a 24" oregon bar on my redmax but i don't like it. a 20" bar will get 99% of the wood that we have here. a 24" bar makes the saw nose heavy and i feel it by beer:30. for the big wood, i pull out one of my big saws. the chain seems good after cutting a few cookies. the top plates are .6mm longer than oregon it doesn't make corn flakes but it cuts well. i hope to sharpen it tomorrow or friday. then i'll cut some more cookies. if i have time and there is any interest i'll capture it on youtube.

is your richmond still among the living? mine, for all its faults has an angry aggressive attitude.

 

[Chris-PA]

i didn't know that it had a name, trilink, but i have encountered it before. i haven't been able to find presets or ties for it, but i will use this loop until the top plates are gone. i'm running a 24" oregon bar on my redmax but i don't like it. a 20" bar will get 99% of the wood that we have here. a 24" bar makes the saw nose heavy and i feel it by beer:30. for the big wood, i pull out one of my big saws. the chain seems good after cutting a few cookies. the top plates are .6mm longer than oregon it doesn't make corn flakes but it cuts well. i hope to sharpen it tomorrow or friday. then i'll cut some more cookies. if i have time and there is any interest i'll capture it on youtube.

is your richmond still among the living? mine, for all its faults has an angry aggressive attitude.

Yeah, it actually runs like a top and has been reliable since I got the bugs worked out. It's got guts.

Actually the bar they supplied is more like 25" and quite heavy, especially given how light the saw is. I have a loop of Oregon semi chisel on that bar now. It's nice with a 20".

I may put a bigger carb on it, but it really runs nice as it is.

 

[Philbert]

http://trilinksawchain.com/

Sold under many names with the '000' label. I don't know if they also private label their chains.

Philbert

 

[heyduke]

http://trilinksawchain.com/

Sold under many names with the '000' label. I don't know if they also private label their chains.

Philbert

i've encountered the three zeroes with a home depot label and now with a tractor supply label. i haven't found much to complain about. they mostly make .325 which i avoid like the plague. i had a length, maybe 81dl that i wanted to use for 12" bars but my presets were too fat. the bar i got today seems to be of good quality, though it's a laminated bar, no replaceable nose. that would bother me if i had ever replaced a nose. a dime fitted snugly in the groove and the steel looks like good quality. i'm going to give the chain a timberline sharpening and see how it cuts. i'll post the results.

 

[heyduke]

Yeah, it actually runs like a top and has been reliable since I got the bugs worked out. It's got guts.

Actually the bar they supplied is more like 25" and quite heavy, especially given how light the saw is. I have a loop of Oregon semi chisel on that bar now. It's nice with a 20".

I may put a bigger carb on it, but it really runs nice as it is.

yeah, the bar that came on my richmond was useless. the bar slot was not 8mm but 9.5. also, the power head was too light to balance that bar. i'd rather run an 18" bar than the one supplied.

at this time, i'd recommend this guide bar. it balances comfortably on the redmax clone and seems to be of good quality. the tolerances are tight enough that it runs better after you wear the paint off. as i said, the bar slot was too tight but i had the same problem with a 24" oregon. check baileys to see what oregon d176's are going for now. i haven't tried noodling with it. the package label says that it is for homelite, but it is a d176.

 

[Chris-PA]

yeah, the bar that came on my richmond was useless. the bar slot was not 8mm but 9.5. also, the power head was too light to balance that bar. i'd rather run an 18" bar than the one supplied.

at this time, i'd recommend this guide bar. it balances comfortably on the redmax clone and seems to be of good quality. the tolerances are tight enough that it runs better after you wear the paint off. as i said, the bar slot was too tight but i had the same problem with a 24" oregon. check baileys to see what oregon d176's are going for now. i haven't tried noodling with it. the package label says that it is for homelite, but it is a d176.

I was able to use the factory bar after properly attaching the tip and making a flat-wire spacer for the bar studs, and getting an 0.063 chain. I think it is a D009 mount but I'm not sure. It's working fine now, but it's darn heavy. The saw pulls it fine.

 

[SawTroll]

A 70dl bar is of course not a true 20" bar - but that's how they tend to be 70dl in certain bar mounts, regardless of bar brand.

Most I have read about the "tri link" chain has been negative - and it is Chinese....

 

[heyduke]

A 70dl bar is of course not a true 20" bar - but that's how they tend to be in certain bar mounts, regardless of bar brand.

Most I have read about the "tri link" chain has been negative - and it is Chinese....

stihl 20" bars used to use a 71dl chain instead of 72dl. i suppose they were shooting for 50cm. it was good when they went to 72dl's because you didn't have to carry spares in both sizes. anyway, that's why i call all engineers "the rubber-ruler guys."

 

[Jon1212]

D176's are difficult to find? Huh?

 

[heyduke]

http://trilinksawchain.com/

Sold under many names with the '000' label. I don't know if they also private label their chains.

Philbert

i'm wondering if the "forester" branded bars and chains are trilink...

 

[SawTroll]

i'm wondering if the "forester" branded bars and chains are trilink...

At least they are Chinese crap - but I'm not sure they are tri-link?

 

[heyduke]

D176's are difficult to find? Huh?

guess you didn't read my original post:

It's not that they're really hard to find. They just tend to be expensive and hard to find in a 20" length.

i saw your ads in the tradin post. i need an 18" or 20"x.050". don't recall seeing one in your collection. baileys selection is limited compared with husky or stihl mounts and with shipping they are expensive. if you know a better source, spit it out. if you have a d176 bar in the size i need, let me know. i still need at least one more.

 

[Jon1212]

guess you didn't read my original post:

i saw your ads in the tradin post. i need an 18" or 20"x.050". don't recall seeing one in your collection. baileys selection is limited compared with husky or stihl mounts and with shipping they are expensive. if you know a better source, spit it out. if you have a d176 bar in the size i need, let me know. i still need at least one more.

Oh, I read your original post, and maybe they are difficult to find in your immediate area, but they are still a fairly common bar in general.
I agree with you about Bailey's being overpriced, even when I worked 25 minutes from their Woodland CA location, and could will call items, it was often times cheaper to go elsewhere.
If you still need a 20" D176, I have a couple of used, but still in good shape laminated sprocket nose bars here. I can also get NOS Echo branded "banana" bars in the sizes you are looking for. I won't be able to ship anything until next week, when I get back from my Dad's one year memorial service.
If you want one of the used bars, just cover shipping. If you're iinterested, just PM me.

 

[Philbert]

. . . even when I worked 25 minutes from their Woodland CA location, and could will call items, . . . . .

I visited Bailey's once when I was in Sacramento for work. Thought I would save all those shipping charges, but got smacked with California sales tax that came out about the same.

Still glad that I got to visit.

i'm wondering if the "forester" branded bars and chains are trilink...

I think that Tri-Link does make the PowerCare (Home Depot), Forester, Silver Streak, and other chains. I believe that I have seen each of these with the '000' markings. But it is possible that these companies use different vendors at different times?

I don't know about the guide bars - these seem much easier to make, and could be made by almost any metal stamping company, especially if quality is secondary to price.

I guess that this is where one needs to have some confidence in a brand name, unless they have specific knowledge about a product (e.g. ' these bars were made by Cannon for 'abc company''). I have seen that on some Bailey's close-outs ('made by Carlton, but labeled 'xyz''). I heard that Total brand bars were also contracted out to different companies over the years.

Philbert

 

[SawTroll]

.... I heard that Total brand bars were also contracted out to different companies over the years.

Tsumura bars has been branded as Total, Carlton and Jonsered that I know - but that may be just part of the story.

Those are very high quality bars, and usually doesn't come cheap.

 

[Philbert]

Tsumura bars has been branded as Total, Carlton and Jonsered that I know -

Right. What I am trying to say is that I don't know that all 'Total' bars were made by Tsumura. I think that different manufacturers have made them over the years, or may have made some of the models with the Total name. Probably true with many branded products.

Philbert