What chainsaw bar in your opinion is the longest lasting ?

[Barnie]

What chainsaw bar in your opinion is the longest lasting bar, I see the normal more common makes but have any of you tried the bars being sold on ebay and such, such as Tsumura, woodland pro, laser or Sugihara. Some of these bars are pretty pricey but I'm wondering if they are worth the extra money. I cut a lot of firewood and I usually run an 18" bar for my smaller saws and a 20" for the bigger ones..

 

[ericm979]

I have some Tsumura and woodland pro bars. I think the Tsumura are well made and use slightly harder steel than say a Stihl bar. Woodland Pro maybe the same as Stihl or a little softer.

The weight difference between Tsumura light weight and a regular bar in a 20" will be ~3-4 ounces (from memory, but it's not half a pound). It's a small change in the saws balance.

"worth" kinda depends on the situation. With tree services and propane both being expensive here, I can justify spending pretty much what ever I want, within reason, to enable me to do it myself (a cord of wood replaces about $875 in propane at the prices I'm paying).

 

[Thumper88]

Cannon hands down. Ive run Stihl ES and ES light, sugi, Oregon, and Husqvarna and the Cannon 41" on the ported 880 was the best bar I have ever messed with

 

[rancher2]

I pretty much cut hardwood only mostly hedge and normally cut a lot in the warmer part of the year. I have had good luck with the Stihl bars. I run a Oregon 36 inch on my big saw and its held up well. Back when they would run the woodland pro on sale I ran them some and they held up well. I can't say I have ever run a high dollar bar. We mostly run 20 inch bars for cutting fire wood. Have a smaller Echo with a sixteen on it and its just running a factory Echo bar on it. I wanted a nicer bar for it last year and everyone was out so I put a factory bar back on it I think they are made by Oregon.

 

[Colonel428]

I've got 3 or 4 Tsumura bars that are holding up well. Most recently bought a Forester Platinum 28" bar and it reminds me a lot of the Tsumura bars. Heavy but I'd definitely buy another one. I haven't tried a "lite" bar because the small amount of weight saved isn't worth the extra price, at least to me.

 

[Goostoff]

I have never had to replace a Stihl bar. I bought my first Stihl in 2007 and it still has the original bar on it. For the record I heat 100% with wood. I have no back up system so its not like I am only burning a couple loads a year

 

[BlackCoffin]

I think it’s going to be a tough argument, most don’t wear out bars. Someone who does a lot of milling or cuts timber for a living will have the best answer. My cannon bars for milling show significantly less wear than a Oregon I use for firewood…that has probably 1/20th of the time in the cut on it. If it’s a new bar for general use I’m not too picky. But for milling I’ll fork out the cash for a cannon any day of the week.

 

[husky455rancher]

If you have enough saws all you have to do is just keep rotating what saw you use that way the bars don’t get used up.

 

[nathan4104]

I get ~150 cords of firewood out of Oregon bars. Same as Husquvarna bars. My processor runs a Husky mount so I’ve yet to try a Sthil bar. I can’t imagine anything else lasting any longer at a price point that makes it worth it. (For this application at least)
I usually replace them cause I notice the grooves get wore and the chain must wander, on a saw you’d cut a bit crooked I suppose but the processor won’t allow that and it just makes me think the chain is dull when it is not. I file the bar sides down and ‘level/straighten’ them a few times on a belt sander. I run the chain a bit tighter than I would on a saw so that may increase wear a bit but I think this amount of cutting is acceptable on a $100 wear item.