Please explain bar size and advantages/disadvantages

[moose5180]

I am researching saws and ready to pull the trigger on a Husq 372 or 576.
I have done quite a bit of cutting over the years but never paid much attention to the differences and efficiencies of saws.
In the past i figure if it starts and the chain runs around its good enough. Well this year i had an eye opener when i got to use a real saw for the weekend.

Question is what advantage does a smaller bar have? I would figure the bigger the better. I am looking at the 576 and it comes with a wide range of bar and chain sizes. Why would someone want a powerhouse like this with an 15" bar on it? Just for ease of handling?

Thanks!

 

[mdavlee]

I like 24" as a minimum on a 70cc saw. A 28" light weight bar like a husky techlite bar is lighter than the 24" with about 3" more reach. The 576 will do fine with either.

 

[HILLBILLYREDNEC]

A short bar on high CC saw with short bar means more power for the cut. For a 70cc saw the ideal bar is 28" full skip

 

[WoodChuck'r]

The bigger the bar the more wood you can cut thus saving time and doing so saves the life of your saw because it makes less cuts in the long run. Hence why I run a 60" bar on an MS250.

 

[Eccentric]

The bigger the bar the more wood you can cut thus saving time and doing so saves the life of your saw because it makes less cuts in the long run. Hence why I run a 60" bar on an MS250.

With a loop of full-comp 1/2" chain!

 

[Rudolf73]

The bigger the bar the more wood you can cut thus saving time and doing so saves the life of your saw because it makes less cuts in the long run. Hence why I run a 60" bar on an MS250.

Lol, what size bar mount are you running Woodchuck?


But on a serious note, it depends on what kind of wood you are cutting. I really hard wood mostly and hence my 70cc saws run 20" bars and maybe 24" if required. Anything bigger and I go to a bigger saw. Like the old saying goes, it's not the size that matters but how you use it. European guys for instance use really short bars in general and cut from both sides. I was talking to a local firewood cutter and he runs a 16" on his 660 and that is what he is used to/all he needs.

If I were to apply some theory to my bar size selection I would use a bar that is about 75% the length/diameter of the largest log I going to cut. Shorter bars are easier to handle and more balanced, however in the end it all comes down to personal preference.

 

[heimannm]

Longer bars provide more reach and allow you to get through a bigger stick, but weigh more, may be less handy in a tangle, and may tempt you to overload the saw.

I have a lot of different saw with all kind of bar set ups depending on the situation (20" on an 87 cc Jonsered 910 to 28" on a 60 cc McCulloch SP 60), but in the end you want to find a bar that make the saw balance out nicely and feels comfortable for you. If you cut more hardwood, go with a shorter bar and you will be pleased with the saws performance, if you cut more softwood you can manage a longer bar if the weight and balance work for you.

For my rapid firewood saws I have a 16" bar on the 036 Stihl (60 cc class) and 25" on the 066 Stihl (90 cc class).

Mark

 

[NORMZILLA44]

I agree comfort, weight, and balance are crucial. Even with bigger bar's you will find log's, and tree's you will have to double up on the cut. I choose the one that give's me a fair amount of reach, but won't feel clumsy or make the saw to heavy, and give's great balance.

 

[moose5180]

Thanks guys, some good info here!
All we have is pine and some aspen, so softwoods.
Your points make sense now. I could not figure why a big powerful saw would have a 15" bar on it.
I guess it all depends on what and how you are cutting. Thanks!

 

[Henry G.]

I run my 372 with a 28" bar. Makes limbing and cutting on the ground easier, less bending over, easy on the back. IMO more chain mean less frequent sharpening too. I would run anything less than a 20" on that saw, whats the point I cut 24" pine stumps all the time, I have a 357 for smaller stuff.

 

[SawTroll]

With a loop of full-comp 1/2" chain!

Why not full house when you are at it! :hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:

 

[SawTroll]

Long and heavy bars have a huge impact on the weight and handling of the saw, so don't use more bar than you really need as the main one on any saw. :msp_wink:

 

[Hillbilly1]

I agree comfort, weight, and balance are crucial. Even with bigger bar's you will find log's, and tree's you will have to double up on the cut. I choose the one that give's me a fair amount of reach, but won't feel clumsy or make the saw to heavy, and give's great balance.

I like this approach as well. I typically run a 16" on my 260, 20" on my 460 and 25" on the 660. To me these are the bars that balance best with each respective saw for all day cutting, and trying to keep the bar a couple inches longer than the wood diameter this approach pretty easily dictates which saw I use.

I also keep longer bars around if the need arises - 18" for the 260, up to 28" for the 460 and a 36" for the 660, but in general run the smaller bars because the saws handle better that way.

My $0.02.

 

[Slamm]

These are just some of my preferences:

I prefer bars no shorter than 20" on anything from 50cc on up to 90+cc if I'm going to run a shorter bar, so with that said, I don't own anything shorter than that for ease of keep larger stock of same bars and chains.

I don't cut 20" logs with a 50cc saw usually, as I just limb with it, so it pulls the 20" bar just fine through limbs and such, which is what a 50cc saw is for.

For logging here in the midwest, I have just really grown fond of the 28" bar length and the Stihl Lite bar to be more specific. We typically start at 18" DBH for bottoms ground (faster growing trees) and 20" DBH for hill timber. I found that when you cut these trees at the stump more times than not a 25" bar won't get all the way through and you end up having to go around and cut the other side, even if its just an 1", this is plain wasteful. If it is a bigger tree than a 28" at the stump level, then I usually have a little swing cutting technique that allows for cutting off the tree in two quick cuts after the face cut and I always found that the 28" bar allowed me to do that better, or at least I know where that tip is better.

That all said, we drop trees with 28" bars and buck them up with 20" bars, and I'm trying to get rid of or use up any 25" chains and bars that I have acquired while learning what is efficient for me and my way of doing things.

I understand that the 25" bar is the mainstay of the larger saws world, but I just never found them to be good at anything I did. They are too big for bucking up that top or last 2-4 cuts on a tree, when making logs, and they are too short for fast, efficient one sided cutting on common trees that I am trying to just blow through, and I like to limb with a 28" as crap happens and I like the distance, LOL.

I don't really need larger as I have dropped many a 50-60" tree with the 28" just by walking around it, and if the tree is that big, I don't mind taking a little time because the footage is going to be there pretty quick, and nothing was going to go through it that much quicker anyways, that I wanted to carry all day.

Thats the what and why of my selection of the 20" and 28" bars for logging use.

Sam

 

[tilenick]

The bigger the bar the more wood you can cut thus saving time and doing so saves the life of your saw because it makes less cuts in the long run. Hence why I run a 60" bar on an MS250.

are you serious? I didnt think mine should pull anything larger than 18"

 

[WoodChuck'r]

are you serious? I didnt think mine should pull anything larger than 18"

Well of course I'm serious. Why would I go through the trouble of typing all of that out if I weren't serious.

 

[Eccentric]

He's serious all right. Seen him run a 72" bar with a loop of 3/4" harvester chain on an 029...

 

[RandyMac]

You-all been hittin' the bottle?

 

[WoodChuck'r]

He's serious all right. Seen him run a 72" bar with a loop of 3/4" harvester chain on an 029...

It was actually an 017. I just used paint thinner to remove the paint on the badge and I used crayon to write "029" so everyone thought I was cool for having a bigger saw.

 

[WoodChuck'r]

You-all been hittin' the bottle?

Wassup RM!


Nah, I don't hit the bottle. I'm like this 100% of the time when I'm sober. I'm just naturally a retard.