MS 261 hard nose bar question

[StihlKicking]

I have wanted to put a hard nose bar on my 261 for a while now. I inquired about it at the closest saw shop and I use the term saw shop loosely (the closest REAL saw shop is a hours drive from me). They all told me that I would have to change my rim sprocket to a 3/8s pitch and buy a 3/8s 60 drive link chain to use a duramatic bar on my 261. They all strongly advised against this because they said the 3/8s chain would be to aggressive for a 50cc saw. Ok, today I was replacing bars on the saws at work and the boss let me bring home a 16" duramatic bar that he deemed "wore out". I dressed the bar with a flat file, put a 67 drive link .325 chain on it and put it in my saw. The 261 seems to like this set up and I'm happy with it. Is there something that I should be concerned about that I'm over looking or does this set up sound kosher to you guys? I am conflicted because of the advice I received from the local dealer. Thanks


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[CR888]

Saw shop is wrong, you can run 3/8 or .325 as long as the chain gauge is the same as the bar gauge. If you happy with .325 that's fine, you could also run 3/8 with success. I take it the bar is 16".

 

[Trickyputt]

I still would not run a hard tip on that small of a saw. It loses some longevity when you work them hard. Bearings are more efficient than a slide when you are plunging with the small saws anyways. They engineer up torque numbers and such when they design these saws, but we never talk that way, change things and in so doing change the design. While I like rebuilding small engines, I do not want to do it more than I need to from regular wear. At 10,000+/- rpm wear of 2 cycle engines occurs fast enough for me already.

 

[Franny K]

The solid hard nose bars are generally thinner than the replaceable nose solid bars and not much thicker than laminated bars. Is your bar a solid or laminated hard nose one "duramatic bar on my 261". What is the nose radius? At least for my Oregon solid hard nose bar the drive link count is for 72 in 3/8 but some places will advertise it also for 81 of 0.325.

 

[2dogs]

I ran 20" hard nose bars on MS260s and MS261s for several years with 3/8 full comp semi chisel. I switched to hard nose bars every summer when working in a river bottom in fine silty sand. Roller nose bars would last from a few hours to two weeks whereas the hard nose bars would last for years. BTW the company supplied full skip round ground chisel chain but those Stihl chains would only last a week before they were too stretched out and had too many links removed.

I also ran a 16" .325 hard nose bar and 25" hard nose on a MS361

 

[Trickyputt]

Yep heat is one of those things that stretch metal. I did not think about that silt issue as I was considering my usage which is wood, but I bet that was a bearing eating situation. I know the bearings are well made, but open for greasing and oil, and so to harder than steel minerals like silt might have in it.

 

[TreeswingerPerth]

261's here in the UK are prone to clutch drum bearing failure , I personally wouldn't use a solid nose bar on one , they are bad enough on sprocket nose bars .

 

[StihlKicking]

The solid hard nose bars are generally thinner than the replaceable nose solid bars and not much thicker than laminated bars. Is your bar a solid or laminated hard nose one "duramatic bar on my 261". What is the nose radius? At least for my Oregon solid hard nose bar the drive link count is for 72 in 3/8 but some places will advertise it also for 81 of 0.325.

It is a solid duromatic, not sure about the radius.


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[7sleeper]

261's here in the UK are prone to clutch drum bearing failure , I personally wouldn't use a solid nose bar on one , they are bad enough on sprocket nose bars .

There was a longer thread on a german site about a year ago about the problem that stihl had delivered the saws without the initial greasing of the clutch bearing and that dealers were advised to do this. So this is interesting that you still seem to have these problems.

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