Chainsaw Bar Length?

[Egon]

Length of bar really has nothing to do with the size of chain. In one way you are right, shorter bars _usually_ go on smaller saws and use smaller chain. However in the OP's case the same size chain will be used with both the longer and shorter bar.

I now have 3 sizes of chain, 3/8" 050
.325 ???

and some really small chain for my top handle 182T Stihl.

Harry K

Change chain size and you have to change the drive socket. Short bars are easier to handle than long bars.

For the OP I'd. Recommend a 13 in. Bar with narrow kerf aggressive chain. Less interference from other stacked logs when cutting to length.

 

[MossRoad]

Length of bar really has nothing to do with the size of chain. In one way you are right, shorter bars _usually_ go on smaller saws and use smaller chain. However in the OP's case the same size chain will be used with both the longer and shorter bar.

I now have 3 sizes of chain, 3/8" 050
.325 ???

and some really small chain for my top handle 182T Stihl.

Harry K

I think some folks are confusing chain size with chain length. You can get the same size chain in different lengths and there's no need for a different sprocket. You just pull two nuts, remove the long bar and chain, set in the short bar and chain and put the nuts back. Tension, tighten and off you go. Takes a couple minutes.

 

[Egon]

I think some folks are confusing chain size with chain length. You can get the same size chain in different lengths and there's no need for a different sprocket. You just pull two nuts, remove the long bar and chain, set in the short bar and chain and put the nuts back. Tension, tighten and off you go. Takes a couple minutes.

By chain size I was not referring to length.

To me size = gauge and pitch. Length = length

 

[MossRoad]

By chain size I was not referring to length.

To me size = gauge and pitch. Length = length

Yeah, but to me, proper terms = confusion! :laughing:

 

[Egon]

Yeah, but to me, proper terms = confusion! :laughing:

Sooo, why should you be different from the rest of us??

 

[turnkey4099]

I think some folks are confusing chain size with chain length. You can get the same size chain in different lengths and there's no need for a different sprocket. You just pull two nuts, remove the long bar and chain, set in the short bar and chain and put the nuts back. Tension, tighten and off you go. Takes a couple minutes.

Of course and if you reread my posst you will see that I said that...sorta...confusedly

Harry K

 

[andrehoude123]

Idk about a shorter bar length I jut got a 28 inch on my 441 and my back does not hurt anymore! Really nice when your cutting in the winter the bar can touch the snow and you don't need to sharpen your chain

 

[Will_C]

I only saw one answer dealing with the size of the saw-a Stihl 290 really cries out for a 16"bar if you are sawing hardwood-which I think the OP is doing. Although a second saw is an expense, I can't imagine anyone who plans on cutting much wood not having two saws. No matter how careful you can be, there is always a chance of pinching a saw-much easier to cut it free with a 2nd saw.

I know my father worked seasonally as a self-employed logger-I remember carrying a 2nd saw in and out of the woods when I weighed 100pounds and the saw weighed 20-thought it was a stupid thing then, but have learned the wisdom of it as I grew older.

Will

 

[2458n]

Will C you have to remember when we were kids a Chainsaw was a torque monster and did in fact weigh alot more than they do now.

 

[vtsnowedin]

Will C you have to remember when we were kids a Chainsaw was a torque monster and did in fact weigh alot more than they do now.

One of my first memory's is my father trading in his saw that had a handle on the bar end for the second man, for a lighter saw that only weighed twenty pounds and had 3/8 pitch teeth instead of the 1/2" pitch of the old one. It was still manual oil though with a button you had to push three or four times a minute to pump oil out to the bar.
An old timer I was talking to yesterday was reminiscing about a 28 pound saw he used to own that he could (and did) block up thirteen plus cords of eighteen inch cord wood in a day when the landing was set up right. My back hurts just thinking about that.