What bar type for Homelite sxl 925

[Remle]

Just picked one up a few days ago. It runs great, has 170 psi compression and is gonna be a keeper. The muffler on it was toast and was held together with baling wire and a hose clamp, but I also found an xl901 for $25 that I'm going to use as a parts saw, (120 psi compression on that one).

It's going to need a new bar and chain though. I'm thinking a 24" full comp would be good. It's got an 8 pin sprocket on it. Considering that the actual bars for these are getting hard to find and somewhat pricey, I'm thinking I'd rather modify a Tsumura bar. Problem is, I'm not sure on the details of that. Which type bar is the closest and what needs to be done with it. Any help is appreciated.

 

[chainsawlady]

Just picked one up a few days ago. It runs great, has 170 psi compression and is gonna be a keeper. The muffler on it was toast and was held together with baling wire and a hose clamp, but I also found an xl901 for $25 that I'm going to use as a parts saw, (120 psi compression on that one).

It's going to need a new bar and chain though. I'm thinking a 24" full comp would be good. It's got an 8 pin sprocket on it. Considering that the actual bars for these are getting hard to find and somewhat pricey, I'm thinking I'd rather modify a Tsumura bar. Problem is, I'm not sure on the details of that. Which type bar is the closest and what needs to be done with it. Any help is appreciated.

 

[chainsawlady]

Remie
Stiill have 7 original 24" Homelite hard nose bars GW324001-G5.
chainsawldt

 

[Remle]

Thanks, but I'd rather go with a sprocket tip.

I've been digging online for the past hour or so and it seems the issue here is the bar tail. The common bar sold for these saws is the d196, but the tail is narrower and the oiler holes don't line up and there can be wear on the saw. The bar the saw came with was a 20" d176 and you could see where the chain was rubbing on the shims. There didn't seem to be any noticible wear on them, but when stationary the chain was in contact. The proper bar pattern for these saws is f014.

It seems that a 3002 pattern Stihl bar can be adapted. It will need an adaptor plate, (pretty sure I can figure that one out), and new oiler and adjuster holes.

 

[Remle]

So what I'm going to try is taking the 3003 bar off my 066, adding some bushings to the 8mm studs on the Homelite in order to bring it up to 12mm and then see how the oil holes line up and how the clearances are and if it all looks feasible I will order a new 3003 bar. Hopefully it's a good fit as the 3003 bars are much more common than 3002.

 

[Acornhill]

I have a NOS Homelite 24" SN bar $50 plus shipping PPFF only


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[Remle]

Ended up buying a NOS bar from Acornhill, but for anyone considering this, here's a summation of what I've learned.

The issue with common replacement bars is that the tail is too narrow, causing the chain to rub on the oiler plates or the saw itself. The oiler holes actually looked to line up well however. Had I not been offered a bar, my next plan was to file off a few hundredths of an inch from the saw where the chain rubs and either modify the oiler plates or find substitute plates. Do that and you should be able to run a D176 bar. If you also shim out your 3/8" studs to 12mm then you can mount a 3003 Stihl bar. That's the same bar used on most larger Stihls, like the 461 or 661 and is widely available.

If you don't want to file on the saw, my understanding is that a 3002 Stihl bar can be modified to fit, but will require 3/8-14mm bushings plus redrilling both the oiler and tensioner holes. That's the really big bar mount used on the 880's. Not quite so common, which is why I was modifying the saw itself.