Skip chain on short bars

[Aaron441]

I work at a Stihl/John Deere dealer. One of or customers has an MS260Pro. He switched it to a 3/8 16" bar. Now he thinks it does not have enough power with the 3/8 chain (which was also my opinion the time I ran a 260 with 3/8). Now he is going to put on rsf skip chain with the 16" bar. Have any of you ever tried this? I can't think it will make much difference, but I really don't know.

 

[matt9923]

Shortest I have ran with skip is 25" and its not much different. Id imagine on the 16" its goign to be grabby and not good for liming.

 

[blsnelling]

That's just a bandaid for the real problem. It's not going to cut as smooth either.

 

[056kid]

Alot of guys back east like to run skip on 20'' bars. Mostly cause there are less teeth to sharpen, outting an edge on a skip 20'' takes about a minute flat..

 

[showrguy]

I work at a Stihl/John Deere dealer. One of or customers has an MS260Pro. He switched it to a 3/8 16" bar. Now he thinks it does not have enough power with the 3/8 chain (which was also my opinion the time I ran a 260 with 3/8). Now he is going to put on rsf skip chain with the 16" bar. Have any of you ever tried this? I can't think it will make much difference, but I really don't know.

direct him to this site....

he'll smarten up within a couple a days of reading

 

[matt9923]

tell him to buy a bigger saw!

 

[blsnelling]

tell him to buy a bigger saw!

That's always a good answer

 

[mile9socounty]

It's gotta be an Right Coast thing. :greenchainsaw:

 

[Aaron441]

Id imagine on the 16" its goign to be grabby and not good for liming.

That was what I was thinking. I think limbing is a lot of what he will be doing with it, so we will see how it goes. I've tried to talk them into at least a 361/362, but he loves his 260.

 

[matt9923]

That was what I was thinking. I think limbing is a lot of what he will be doing with it, so we will see how it goes. I've tried to talk them into at least a 361/362, but he loves his 260.

hill learn on his own, he cant be doing much cutting if all he got is the 260 so maybe it will work out for him.

 

[valekbrothers]

That's always a good answer

I thought a bigger saw was the "only" answer........:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[pgg]

Skip chain on normal length bars, an utter waste of time and energy, skip chain cuts like crap, you've got to force the bar and it's harsh and blunt no matter what you do to it, might as well be using wally-mart safety junk :deadhorse:

 

[056kid]

Skip chain on normal length bars, an utter waste of time and energy, skip chain cuts like crap, you've got to force the bar and it's harsh and blunt no matter what you do to it, might as well be using wally-mart safety junk :deadhorse:

Thats why you take your flat file and lower your rakers down alittle.

What do they teach you over there in NZ any way??

 

[Meadow Beaver]

It's gotta be an Right Coast thing. :greenchainsaw:

No, I'm closer to the Right coast than he is and only use semi-skip square chain, hand filed of course.

 

[wendell]

That's always a good answer

Yeah, I heard somebody has an 066 for sale.

 

[Arrowhead]

Thats a kickback waiting to happen. Either go with .325 or a shorter bar. Going to be grabby also.

 

[WACutter]

My 260 with a 16" 3/8" and sharp chain cuts like a champ. Maybe his chain is dull, or he is really leaning into it.

He could always do a mild muffler mod; that would help a bit.

I agree that if he thinks the 260 doesn't have enough power, it won't matter what chain he has on it. Time to man up and get a bigger saw!

 

[pgg]

Thats why you take your flat file and lower your rakers down alittle.

What do they teach you over there in NZ any way??

Hey kid, skip chain is rubbish on anything but underpowered saws run by people with the clueless 'longer is better' mentality trying to grind their way through 3 foot diameter logs, where they should be running the proper size engine to do a proper job with 10 times less effort all-round. A 20" bar running skip chain is greenhorn stuff.

 

[splitpost]

.325" non-saftey

 

[WoodChuck'r]

The Ryobi 10532 (RedMax GZ400) comes with an 18" bar with low profile 3/8 full skip - kinda silly. It cuts pretty rough overall. I've got the 14" Carlton laminate bar with low pro 3/8 Oregon full comp on it now and it cuts much better. I wouldn't go full skip unless if it were on at least a bar 28"+.