Gettin’ greedy - longer bar or larger sprocket?

[JW51]

Let’s set aside all brand/model loyalty, and whether or not you think I’m full of crap. Just assume my current state is as described.

My MS362cm is strong. I’m sure your 70cc saw might spank it, but for what I use it for....it’s strong. It’s also bone stock because I’m still in warranty and resisted the urge to monkey with it just yet. Anyway, really tough to bog the saw down unless I do something silly to the rakers (I have, accidentally) or just lean super hard on it.

My work is as a landowner in 99.9% hardwood. Up to now, all that cutting has been with a 20” bar and full comp, chisel chain. So my (questionable) premise is that I have some power and/or torque to spare. Its set up of 7 pin/20”/full comp would be a pretty customary way to run this class of saw in hardwood.

If I was to try to push the envelope a little bit...which is a would be more likely to succeed? 8 pin sprocket or 24” bar?

* Sprocket - Do I “need” the saw to cut any faster? Nope. But faster is funner...right? This would be cheap to try as well.

* 24” Bar - This change might be slightly more useful...the extra bar would be handy at times. But my guess is a lower likelihood of success. I wouldn’t run it with the long bar routinely. It’s also going to be by far the more expensive change. Would a skip chain be needed in this scenario?


—————


Most of you are likely to think I’m peeing in the wind here. And I probably am. I understand the physics well enough to know there are no free lunches.

Just curious from those with more experience how the bar/sprocket trade offa play out in the the real world.

 

[Canyon Angler]

The saw only reaches its rated HP at full throttle. If you bog it down with a larger sprocket or longer bar, the rpms will fall – and so will the horsepower created.

It's like putting a wheel with too much pitch onto a boat. The engine needs to spin up to its full WOT rpm speed under load to give the HP on the label.

Your car probably has "power to spare," too. But that doesn't mean you can start in 3rd gear.

 

[EchoRomeoCharlie]

Weird question....

My question for you is, do you cut wood longer than 20" on a regular basis? If yes, get the longer bar, if no, get the 8 pin.

I don't think either one is going to help a whole lot on a 60cc saw with a 20" bar. Now, if it were a 90cc saw with a 20" bar, then an 8 pin and custom chain could definitely get some gains in short wood.

 

[buttercup]

I'd say a 16" and a 8 pin, should be fun. Whats the size of wood you're cutting?
I run an 18" on my copy cat 038 magnum with the standard 7 sprocket and I thought it was about right.

 

[JW51]

I'd say a 16" and a 8 pin, should be fun. Whats the size of wood you're cutting?
I run an 18" on my copy cat 038 magnum with the standard 7 sprocket and I thought it was about right.

Option number C!

 

[noodlewalker]

Option number C!

I have a 10 pin sprocket I would send you for the cost of shipping.... "Faster is funner" right? Why not really amp it up??? Just be sure to post before and after video

 

[cuinrearview]

Having ran two 362s with 7 pin and an 18" bar I can't reccommend either. Sometimes more is less...

 

[svk]

For speed: You say you mostly cut hardwood with a 20" bar. How much of that hardwood is greater than 15" diameter? Asking because I would probably recommend if you want faster cutting with a stock saw you could drop down in bar size. I doubt you'll be happy burying a 20" in hardwood with a larger sprocket.

For more reach: Your saw should pull full comp or skip with a 24" bar. You'd really want to try one loop of each to see which you liked better.

 

[Franny K]

You could try .325 both narrow kerf and skip pretty much forced into a 9 tooth On a Stihl 362cm to do that. Oregon Nk is 55cc and Oregon .325 is 62cc max if I recall. Not sure if the coming Stihl .325 narrow kerf would be considered an option for your 60cc.

Get a 24 or maybe 25 inch bar from Stihl, some various kinds of skip and semi skip chains and experiment. This being in the 3/8 7 and 8 tooth drive.

Start with the larger sprockets and existing bar and chain.

What power you have will only pull out so much chips.

 

[dmb2613]

18 in bar 325 stihl chain and8 tooth rim sprocket and let the chips fly, it will amaze you.

 

[JW51]

I have a 10 pin sprocket I would send you for the cost of shipping.... "Faster is funner" right? Why not really amp it up??? Just be sure to post before and after video

Will I need to hog out the side cover to make room for it?

 

[JW51]

The saw only reaches its rated HP at full throttle. If you bog it down with a larger sprocket or longer bar, the rpms will fall – and so will the horsepower created.

It's like putting a wheel with too much pitch onto a boat. The engine needs to spin up to its full WOT rpm speed under load to give the HP on the label.

Your car probably has "power to spare," too. But that doesn't mean you can start in 3rd gear.

Right. Understand you’re always giving something up. I was just curious how far you can push things before usability falls off a cliff.

 

[noodlewalker]

Will I need to hog out the side cover to make room for it?

Yes, but not much.. a wire wheel on a drill works just fine and removes the material at a reasonable, yet controllable rate.... You will however have to add 1 drive Link to the chain though.

 

[user 122190]

I wouldn't mess with sprockets unless I had a chain breaker/spinner. You might find an extra drive link is required with larger sprocket, and then you have to pay top $ (full price) to have chains made. Buying ready made chains is cheap, cheap, cheap.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

18 in bar 325 stihl chain and8 tooth rim sprocket and let the chips fly, it will amaze you.

Don't think it's possible, unless the 362 uses the mini spline drum. I'm pretty sure it's the large spline though, Wich means the smallest .325 rim you can use is 9 pin.

9 pin .325 might be kinda fun on there for a while. In my opinion 3/8 8 pin will not be fun. I've run 8 pin rims on a muffler modded ms460 and a stock 7900 Dolmar. Both were more fun with a 7 pin. Hands down. Only thing I've enjoyed 8 pin on is a ported 395xp.

Frankly, unless you can post up some pics demonstrating otherwise, @JW51 the improvement that you can find for cutting speed will be in the chain. There's almost always room to make a chain cut faster. Doesn't cost much either, until you go down the square rabbit hole, that is.

 

[noodlewalker]

I wouldn't mess with sprockets unless I had a chain breaker/spinner. You might find an extra drive link is required with larger sprocket, and then you have to pay top $ (full price) to have chains made. Buying ready made chains is cheap, cheap, cheap.

I can make one if you need it...

 

[ericm979]

I bought my 362CM with a 24" bar. After extensive use I think a 24" bar is too much for it. I switched to an 18" though 20" probably would have been better. I don't think the 362 overpowered for an 18" bar. A larger sprocket will make it easier to stall the chain or slip the clutch excessively. A 16" bar seems like it'd be kinda short, but I think some people's wood is more consistent diameter. If you have a lot of 12" stuff then it might make sense. My wood comes in a large range of sizes so specializing like that would be limiting.

Your best bet for fast cutting is doing a better job of sharpening the chain. To me that's the most important factor in a saw's cutting performance. A hot saw with a dull or poorly sharpened chain is still going to cut slow. If you want to geek out on tech, making the perfect chain can be an endless quest.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

I didn't have to change driver link counts on any of those saws that I ran both 7 and 8 pins on. Those were 72 driver link chains in all cases.

 

[noodlewalker]

I didn't have to change driver link counts on any of those saws that I ran both 7 and 8 pins on. Those were 72 driver link chains in all cases.

7 or 8 you won't have to lengthen, 9 or 10, you will

 

[JW51]

Yes, but not much.. a wire wheel on a drill works just fine and removes the material at a reasonable, yet controllable rate.... You will however have to add 1 drive Link to the chain though.

Oh I thought you were kidding....