Ms660 Bar size

[wv311]

Back in July some low life stole all 4 of my saws out of my garage. I've since gotten a nice 046 that looks and runs great and a little ms250 for limbs and such. Today a guy i work with said he had a ms660 that he bought last month and ran it for one day before he realized it was way too much for him. It's had 3 tanks of gas through it and don't have a scratch or blemish anywhere. I got the saw with the 32 inch bar and four RCS chains for 900 bucks. My question is would a 20 inch bar feel way off balance on this beast ? I will be using it to buck firewood most of the time. I just don't have a need for that 32 at all. Also what would be a fair price for me to ask for the bar and the four chains, three are still in the packages?

 

[Hinerman]

If you want to run a 20" bar use your 046. Keep the 32" bar on the 660 for bigger wood. My .02

To answer your question, Yes, I think it would be off balance.

 

[singletrack100]

+1^^^
I've got an older 066M, and years ago I ran it with a 25". I don't remember if I ever ran a 20" on it. I'm not sure about the off balance part really, but it really is overkill for a bar that size. Mine balances well with a 28", though currently sports a 36" .404. The price sounds like a screaming deal though and I would pounce on it.

Duane

 

[groundup]

I run a 20" on my 661 for noodling and consequently some regular cutting. Obviously it's a little overkill, but as long as it's in heavy wood is fine. Keep in mind limbing with a saw like that is not good on the machine as it entails a lot of running with little to no load

$30 bucks for brand new chain would be fair

 

[cgraham1]

20" bar on a 90cc is dumb.

 

[singletrack100]

Clint is right, blunt but right. I was tryng to be nice, but yah, a saw with half the motor is 20" stuff.

Duane

 

[mdavlee]

28" light weight and thank us later

 

[fearofpavement]

The 20" on a 660 wouldn't be any faster than a 20" on the 046. You could run an 8 pin sprocket on it which would help.

I would leave that longer bar on the 660 and if what you're cutting doesn't need the long bar, then you don't need the big saw for that task.

All that said, if you just want to run the saw from time to time, run a tank through with the 20".

You have a pretty large gap in your line up and could benefit from a good 50/60cc saw which would probably be the most used one.

 

[cgraham1]

I took a break today and cut down a 24" Fir with my 2188, and I remember thinking that the 24" bar was too short, and the saw was too heavy, for that job. I would've been better off with a 70cc, with a 28" LW bar, but I just wanted to use the 2188.

IMO, an 85-90cc saw should have no less than a 28" bar, and should be able to pull a 36" when necessary. But do what you want... It is your saw, after all. Pack that thing around for a while and you'll look like this....

 

[Honest John]

My 066 wore a 32" bar for a long time....and I never used it. I put a 20" bar on it and I use it all the time now. I'll probably put a 25" on it at some point but for now it cuts great and tears right through everything I sink it into.

 

[treesmith]

What are you cutting? We run 20" on 70cc in hard gum

 

[Wood Doctor]

I even know several loggers who claim that if they had to throw all their bars away for their MS 660 and keep one, it would be a 28" bar. One guy said 32", but most said 28". They all cut mostly cottonwoods, so that may be a factor. The shortest and strongest guy of the bunch said 36".

 

[fearofpavement]

What is cottonwood used for? lumber? chips? firewood? I've never dealt with it much.

 

[Wood Doctor]

What is cottonwood used for? lumber? chips? firewood? I've never dealt with it much.

Mostly pallets. It also gets shredded for chips and it makes really good campfire wood -- easy to light and goes out when you go to sleep.

Biggest problem with cottonwood is processing it. Takes forever for large trunks to dry and they have to be dry in order to split them, otherwise the splits are stringy and don't co-operate. So, I generally try to buy tops from the loggers. The top branches dry in less than a season. I guess the only reason eastern cottonwood was named the NE state tree is because there are so many of them.

I seldom use cottonwood for fuel wood, except perhaps for kindling. It's heat content is about the same as willow and basswood, but those can be split green. Most elm is a better fuel wood, and it takes about the same patience to process as cottonwood.

 

[Full Chisel]

Most cottonwood is cut for pulp wood from my understanding.

A 20" bar on a 90cc is really not necessary when you have a 046, it's just extra dead weight.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Most cottonwood is cut for pulp wood from my understanding...

That's true especially further north (MN, WI, etc.). The ones we process here are much larger trees, some reaching 5' in dia (rare but still usable).

That's a 660 with a 36" bar on board.

 

[Wolfcsm]

I have two bars for my 066: a 36" for any large wood I need to cut. I use a full comp RS chain with an 8 pin sprocket. Cuts very well in the oak we have here. I also have a 25" inch bar I use for all the other uses I have for the 066.

Hal