My new Husqvarna 346 XP NE arrived. Now I have questions...............

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SawTroll

SawTroll

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SawTroll,

Wouldn't that posture leave you more prone to a kickback accident to the head because your not able to straighten the left arm? The only position my left elbow is in when cutting is locked out in front of me so I'm more ready to deal with kickback.

Just wondering as when I just tried it here in front of the computer, it seems like a very odd position.


Nope - just pay attention to what you are doing - and preferably use a Husky, by all means not a newer Jonsered.........:)

Btw, saws don't kick back at random - you must give them a reason to do it.........
 
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huskystihl

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Where you live the 20" bar will be just fine... My Stihl 028 has a 20" bar and it works just fine...

I live on the West side of WA... where you at in Eastern WA...

Sawtroll cuts 10 inch trees and lives in a barbie townhouse somewhere in Norway... so his take on bar length and saw balance are a little "off"...

Gary

Agreed! We have a 5100 in the truck that pulls a 20" with 3/8's and it does just fine and thats in hardwood. To many folk think you need 90cc's to run anything over a 16" bar, I like to feel the weight of the bar.
 
excess650

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Admittedly it doesn't take much, but you guys are quickly getting over my head in the great chain debate.:newbie:

The .325 X 7?

I live west of Spokane (Cheney/Medical Lake area) of eastern Washington (near northern Idaho) and cut almost exclusively softwood. Ponderosa pine, white fir, western larch (tamarack), cedar, aspen, etc. There may be the odd birch once in a great while but that's about as hard of a wood as this new saw will get to sink its teeth into. Is there a chain more appropriately suited for softwoods? Can I get away with a little more agressive chain since I will be cutting softwoods only?

I clear a lot of trails and I will rarely need the full length on my 20" bar but, when I will need it, I must have it. So other than carrying two saws (which is not an option) I need a light saw capable of cutting up the occasional large tree. Most of the stuff I cut will be smaller (tailor made for this saw) but occasionally the bar end won't be seeing the light of day.

Thanks again

Frosty

.325 x 7 is a reference to the stock spur sprocket. .325 is the chain pitch, and 7 is the number of teeth on the sprocket. Some of the guys are running an 8 tooth sprocket with shorter bars along with narrow kerf chain for the quickest cutting. With a 20" bar, I'm not sure that you want to go to 8 teeth as it will increase chain speed by 8/7ths, but also decrease torque, which will result in bogging.
 
Frostbite

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Excellent! We have found something you guys seem to agree upon!

It sounds like .325 / .058 21 LP (H21) chains are what I will be buying as replacement chains for my new 346XP.

Is this an Oregon/Husqvarna chain? I don't see it listed in the Husqvarna accessory catalog.

Where is the best place to buy three?

I will also need new files, right?

And of course some XP professional performance Oil..............

Frosty
 
parrisw

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Excellent! We have found something you guys seem to agree upon!

It sounds like .325 / .058 21 LP (H21) chains are what I will be buying as replacement chains for my new 346XP.

Is this an Oregon/Husqvarna chain? I don't see it listed in the Husqvarna accessory catalog.

Where is the best place to buy three?

I will also need new files, right?

And of course some XP professional performance Oil..............

Frosty

The last few times I bought chains off Ebay, there are allot of people selling on Ebay, which brings the prices down. The last time I bought 2 chains for my 345, they were 325 058, for like $30 shipped
 
peter399

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Excellent! We have found something you guys seem to agree upon!

It sounds like .325 / .058 21 LP (H21) chains are what I will be buying as replacement chains for my new 346XP.

Is this an Oregon/Husqvarna chain? I don't see it listed in the Husqvarna accessory catalog.

Where is the best place to buy three?

I will also need new files, right?

And of course some XP professional performance Oil..............

Frosty


Hello,

As others have said, you need a new b & c.
Here is my piece of advice:

1. Do not switch to 3/8 on a 50cc saw.
2. I would use 15-16 inch 0,325'.
3. Chain: 21LP if you do mostly frewood or bucking. 21BP if you do a lot of
limbing.

Following this, your saw will be a screamer. Congrats to the best 50cc saw on the market.

/Peter
 
peter399

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Where you live the 20" bar will be just fine... My Stihl 028 has a 20" bar and it works just fine...

I live on the West side of WA... where you at in Eastern WA...

Sawtroll cuts 10 inch trees and lives in a barbie townhouse somewhere in Norway... so his take on bar length and saw balance are a little "off"...

Gary


Gary, we just have a different understandings of how long it should take to fell a tree, get it limbed and cut into sections. A MS290 with 24" bar is, how should I put it, "slightly" out of the acceptable criteria... A 346XP with 16" is definately in . Remember: A 16" bar cuts 32" trees....
 
stevethekiwi

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Sawtroll cuts 10 inch trees and lives in a barbie townhouse somewhere in Norway... so his take on bar length and saw balance are a little "off"...Gary

:stupid:

lmfao

sorry troll but i found this very funny...! it is a big stereotype down here that nordic loggers use a 346xp to cut down vines, and the occasional tree...but it takes them a day to fell it :D:D

loggers here using 372 minimum, or 390 / 395, or 660. Usually 24" bar for every day plantation stuff
 
Kansas

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Frostbite, congrats on buying one of the lightest and most powerfull 50cc saws on the market! I have 1 1/2 seasons on my 346ne 16" and I really enjoy it and it runs better all the time!

As far as oils to use, its just me but I use regular old Husky 2 stroke oil like what the owners manual recomends, and the cheapest no-name bar oil they have.

JMO but I probably wouldnt ever recomend putting a bigger bar (20" and up) on a 50cc saw no matter how powerfull it is 16-18" is ideal. 60-70cc is where a 20" should start on IMO. Its to me anyway like trying to tow a semi with a volkswagen jetta yeah it may move it but a 3 1/2 ton Chevy C65 will get the job done a lot easier. Not saying it cant be done just may be a better way is all. I would rather have more power than I need than not enough. :)

In fact one of my pet peeves is the hardware stores have a habit of selling these under-powered saws with huge bars on them to home owners who think bigger is better but then they are sorry because those saws wont even cut grass. And then you hear them selling these like new (hardware store brand) saws on the tradio every spring and all they would have to do is put a lot smaller bar on and they could do their pruning etc but whatever. :) take care!


Kansas
 
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parrisw

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Where you live the 20" bar will be just fine... My Stihl 028 has a 20" bar and it works just fine...

I live on the West side of WA... where you at in Eastern WA...

Sawtroll cuts 10 inch trees and lives in a barbie townhouse somewhere in Norway... so his take on bar length and saw balance are a little "off"...

Gary

LMFAO Gary, now that was dam funny. You need rep for that!!
 
GASoline71

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Remember: A 16" bar cuts 32" trees....

On what planet??? Lilliput? :)

Remember... out here 32" bars cut 50+" trees...

My math may be a little off... but whatever works for you... :popcorn:

__________________
Frostbite... don't overengineer your setups... I run 3/8" (.375) .050 chain on all my work saws except the tophandles... that way I don't have to have 10 different chain sizes for 10 different saws...

EZPZ mang...

Gary
 
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04ultra

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On what planet??? Lilliput? :)

Remember... out here 32" bars cut 50+" trees...

My math may be a little off... but whatever works for you... :popcorn:

__________________
Frostbite... don't overengineer your setups... I run 3/8" (.375) .050 chain on all my work saws except the tophandles... that way I don't have to have 10 different chain sizes for 10 different saws...

EZPZ mang...

Gary


Gary you need to remember where Peter comes from........Bet he never saw a 50" or bigger tree....





.
 
stevethekiwi

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On what planet??? Lilliput? :)

Remember... out here 32" bars cut 50+" trees...

My math may be a little off... but whatever works for you... :popcorn:

__________________
Frostbite... don't overengineer your setups... I run 3/8" (.375) .050 chain on all my work saws except the tophandles... that way I don't have to have 10 different chain sizes for 10 different saws...

EZPZ mang...

Gary


lol just popped you a new nova ;)
 
Frostbite

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Guys, I went to buy the chain discussed above tonight at the local Husky shop. It sells "power tools" and chain saws are just one of their specialties so they didn't understand when I tried to buy the chain.

I was told all Husky bars are .050" and they don't know of the chain mentioned above.

Heck, I tried to buy locally but, I guess I'll just go on E bay and buy several and be done with it.

I did buy some Husqvarna bar oil, two stroke oil and a bar file kit.

Frosty
 
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