Why I Keep Returning To 20 inch Bar & Chains For My Main Work Saws, Why A Light Saw Is My Preference
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2024
- Last "Discussion" on this topic for me.....and to the "Sharp eyed" Viewer why a heavy saw might have caused some serious pain not being able to carry it & move quickly in bush & tight quarters as an old man. TANGIBLE evidence. Too close for comfort.
Put a couple of "mistakes " in this video just to keep things "real" instead of always having things looking right, USUALLY would have cut some of this stuff out :)
![[TH] VALORANT Champions Seoul - Grand Final - EDG vs TH](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/WvObMc9VelI/mqdefault.jpg)
Been logging 42 years always used 20 inch bar , except for occasionally 24 or 36 inch for a monster tree
Here in Europe cutting mostly hardwoods, 20'' would be almost considered long! 14-16''' for thinning and loppping softwoods would be the ideal bar length, glad you got that shoulder sorted.
Same here I'm a big fan of 20 inch bars..a ported 660 with a 20 will load a pickup pretty fast..
Thank you sir. I’m from Vermont and couldn’t agree more with you. I always go with a 20. All the local shops here stihl and husqvarna seem to equip new saws 60cc to 80cc with the 20 on the shelf.
20 and 24 are my go bars for everything but felling the bigger tree's then its a 28 for me so I can reach thru. A YOUNGER version would just run around the tree with a 20 or 24....
I find a 24" is the best combination of fun and practical for me, if I really want practical I have my 193t with a 14" bar
Been bucking up big red fir for firewood, west coast, 60" diameter - 28" bar full comp, on a Dolmar 7900. Fills your truck in a hurry. I still need to cut from both sides of the tree, and 28" and 70cc seems small in that context. I usually noodle the big stuff in 1/2 or 1/4 round, just to lift it into my truck. Agree with everything you say. For most normal wood my main go to is a jonsred 2260 (small mount 562) with a 20" bar. Enough reach for most stuff, but light. Love that saw when I'm in tight brush, and need to move fast. I've noticed that the standard "west coast" long bar around here is 32", running skip on a 70cc minimum saw. But, the guys are usually a bit younger than me, and tall and strong, so that works for them. And, I love sharpening the 20", but hate doing the long ones - unless skip. If you are just standing and bucking on flat, the long bar is great. But, if you are climbing up the side of a steep bank, the 28" is plenty long.
Completely agree with you ! Use a long bar if you need to .
Longer bars actually make my back hurt less over the course of a day cutting. No bucking bent over, no reaching to limb, the saw always stays right by my body while I stand up straight. The only thing I use < a 28" bar on is my climbing saw and if I'm bucking small stuff in a saw buck where I can stand up the whole time. Like you said, what works for you might not work for everyone. Always do what works for you. Have a good one! Thanks for the videos!
in ireland we tend to use as short a bar as possible eg 550 13to15 560 15to18 572 18to24 ps love the fact that u discuss escape routes
I agree with you, farming has some of the worst injuries right up there with logging and mining. Maybe more with farming because more people do it. Great video as always 👍
I like a 28" bar on a 70cc saw for me but I'm a 6'6 Wildland firefighter so my uses are very different. For me a 28" is easier to carry all day on my shoulder and when you've got a line pack on all day it's way easier to buck standing up than to be constantly bending over and taking a knee.
What brand 70cc saw you run man?
You actually make a very good argument for the old Bow Bar of hated reputation, as far as bucking skidded logs. Very little bending over and no pinching on tangled branches.
I've seen some old manuals for felling with a bow bar but it looks like witchcraft and insanity to me.
The mico chisel stuff in .404 is pretty good for dirt and sand in my experience regardless of the length.
Bar length is just relative to the job for me , small tree = short bar ,small saw, big tree= long bar ,big saw.
I use 20” bars on 3 out of 4 of my 70cc saws. Perfect combo imo.
I put a 20 inch bar back on my 372, today. It is several pounds lighter. You are right, it is all I need on any saw. My longer bars are hanging up on my shop wall. If I need them for a specific task, I can always put them back on one of the saws. I still have a 24 on my 440 if I need a longer saw. I would put a 20 on the 440 but I do not have an extra 20 inch bar and chain for it.
Hi Walt, I have saws with 18, 20, 24 and a 28 inch bar, so my world is covered!!!
My son and I just like to play with them all as the season goes on just like you said!!!
I can’t believe you asked the question. We both know why you fall back to 20 inch bars and chains - weight and balance. When you put a longer bar ona saw it gets heavy and unwieldy. Anytime a saw does not balance on the front handle it becomes hard to use because it is nose heavy. 30 years ago, I cut a lot of big wood with a 16 inch bar on a 50+ cc saw with an old round nose nose bar. 20 inch bars were around but they were pricy. I cut a bunch of wood every year with my old Poulan 395 with a 16 inch bar with 3/8 chain.
I'm only 45 and still strong enough to break almost anything. And I'll still use the shortest bar and smallest saw I can every time. This is also why my 372 only has a 20 inch bar.
I Love Chainsaws!
I buck a lot of 12” to 20” wood and to say I have a bad back is a understatement. Cutting hunched over with a small bar all day and I’m crippled up for the next few days. Longer bars allow me to stand up straighter and take alot of bad pressure of my spine. 372 with a 24-28 is ideal for my cutting.. 20” bars were all I used for along time and still have their place on most of my saws.
I take it a step further and use a 16" bar for the same reasons any time the tree lets me, even on a Stihl 500i (80cc fuel injected). I have 25" standard and 36" light bars/chains at the ready when needed for that saw. If I can get away with it, a small top handle saw is even easier on me, but you have to be careful if you're not cutting often enough to know the dangers associated with a top handle saw. Those that say "stand up and buck" often use a 28" bar, but I found that I often just crouch down like a baseball catcher instead of bending over, so it's not as hard on my back, at least for now. 25" is a bit short for "stand up and buck" and 36" is ok at an angle for that if that's what you want. I find that the 36 isn't used all that often.
Injuries. I want say anything except I am a service connected, disabled veteran. We left Nambut the dying did not stop. I don’t know if I ever said but I am a Marine.
Thank you for your service, because I mean it! Semper Fi leather neck. Looking for to Nov. 10
With a rim sprocket, I always use the thick sprocket washer, instead of the thin one. The thin one is for a spur sprocket. The thick sprocket washer helps to keep the rim sprocket in place, too. It marked getting the E clip on the sprocket washer a little more difficult but it will snap in the recess of the sprocket washer. I use an old pair of kitchen pliers to install the E clip - put it on the top side of the slot and squeeze it down. Using needle nose pliers can put the E clip into orbit in a heart beat.
Best video you have done. Agree with your philosophy now but would not have when I was twenty five. We grow too old too fast and too late smart!!!!
Changed my name from Tom Bennett to tree bender thought I might post a few videos on some ozarks fire wood this year just for fun your place is like prairie compared to my place first you need one leg 6 inches shorter that the other and I settle on a 20 inch bar a long time ago I don't even have to try a long bar now thanks for putting that out there glad you found time to post some vids I really enjoy your channel looking forward to you and Bob doing a Gtg soon it always a treat
I'm from the ozarks as well.
Done a lot of cutting for Mo DNR in the Ozarks I know what you mean
Right, long bars just find their way into the dirt faster than shorter bars. I keep most of my big saws loaded with 20 inch bars because they will handle most of what I cut. I only keep a 24 inch bar on my ms 440, just in case I need a longer bar. My longer bars are hanging on the wall in my shop. They are sharp and ready to go and will fit on any of my saws with a Cannon adapter. Any chain get hit if you get it in the dirt.
Funny, you mention old injuries, yet for me the best argument for shorter bars is the lower likelihood and severity of kickback. A long bar with the tip buried in brush is more prone to contact unseen wood, and the longer the bar, the more leverage that kickback has. I mostly use old man's saws nowadays too.
The best chainsaw guys were formerly Dirt Bike racers! I know two, you and Ironhorse!
I hung a light 24” bar on my ported 2252 once for grins. Pretty nose heavy but cut fine on smaller stuff. Had stock oregon square on it and the rakers were pretty high.
When I put a 36 inch bar on my ms 660 I didn’t have to wrestle it. I was looking for someone to tote it for me. That 36 inch bar is hanging on a nail in the shop and I put a 20 inch back on it. Any chain gets dull in a micro second if you get them in the dirt. Bucking, even 20 inch stuff puts you into a situation where anything longer tha 20 inch can end up in the dirt. Even if you are vigilant.
The 20"ers are to way to go, for all the reasons you mentioned. Those big bars look cool and are a bit of fun, but not too practical here on the East coast. Another entertaining video.
I find a 20 is fine for me, I don’t cut down huge trees.
Hail, I have some that are 18 inch but I prefer a 20.
My biggest bar is a 24 I rarely use it.
Too good.😆! !!!! AGAIN Nice.😆 mate😆.💪 😎 👍
i Like a 50cc pro saw with a 16" bar super light weight and hammer time
I use for 5:50 husky for the tops xcut chain absolute fun saw to use cuts like a diamond with sharp chain and very easy on the body and that's with a 15in bar
Dont have to justify bar length to us buddy...my wife been thinking 6 is 9 for years
Whoops 😮
Well said. I really enjoy your content.
I appreciate that!
Well I use echo chainsaws, mainly because I have a reliable dealer where I can get parts. I have the cs 800 p with a 32 inch bar and the echo cs7310 p with a 28 inch bar. I did order two 24-in bars. For my big chainsaws. Now I have a CS 590 timberwolt with a 20-in bar. They work great they all have a purpose in the woodyard. I also had my hip replaced 2 years ago. I'm feeling a lot better run faster jump higher. I'm 60 years old.
Great video 👍. Alot of people get caught up in the saw world with some youtubers that harvest a specific species of trees. Where I live I have a saw specific for each job same as axes. And yes the stihl rs chain I think lasts the longest and cuts the best also.
Very true!
Even though that is a 24 inch bar it is one of the new laminated OregonVersa cut bars. I would get one but can only find it, locally, in .325 and I am not changing my sprockets just to run one of these bars. There may be some benefit to running it but it is a pita if you run nothing nut 3/8 chain. I finally have all of my saws running 3;8, .050, 72 LGX or RS chain and I do not like throwing a different pitch chain into the mix.
If it is on the ground and no one gets hurt or something damaged it is a good cut. You may have cut a little much of the hinge wood out but you got it down and that is all that matters.
I only buy Chisel Point chains. The only Semi Chisel I have, came on the saw!
The shorter the bar the shorter the chain the difference between a 20-inch bar and a 30-inch bar 20-inchs of chain less to pull
Shorter the bear the faster the chain that's nearly 2-ft less chain in every
Revolution
i use 20"on 4 of my saws and apperently stihl has come out with a chain like husquvarna xcut
You really called that limb! That would have killed you!
Think you are the only one who tagged that so far, but there are a few little "issues" scattered in that video :) Waiting for the "OCD" types to pick them out. And yes, that was a case of habits and procedures saved my butt on that day.
@@afleetcommand,
Impressive thought process Sir!
Lots of Poison Ivory around that dead Cherry!
Hello from Piqua Ohio.
No doubt we all catch the draft... we fall into the idea 💡 I need to do that 😎.
Thinking 🤔 💭 why does everyone in my area not do that. Lol here in Arkansas north east we have rock. Sandstone lime stone, cedar glades quarts sand etc. No way does a man use a 36 or 28 bar here. Matters if your in cedars or in the oaks on saw size and blade length. However rare to fined guys here with more then a 20-24" bar. Just like you say it's sharpening and ergonomics in these woods. ? Maybe out west 🤔 but not here.
I'm 6'2" ... 24" or 25" is perfect for my height for bucking .... Stand up and Buck as Bucking Billy Ray say's. With those bars I can stand straight with my knees very slightly bent and my bar tip is 1" off the ground. Its all to do with that 1" off the ground ... If I had a 20" bar I'd be bending over ...my backs wrecked enough as it is. I have bigger bars for big wood ...run 36" and 42" on my MS880.
Why I generally us a tractor to bring the wood to me after skidding :) I hardly ever have to bend even with a 16 inch bar.
Cuttin it close there Walt!
Yup...imagine if I was dragging a big ling heavy saw :)
@@afleetcommand yeah, I’ve been spearminting with different saws and bars recently with the cutting firewood logs individually on the ground vs. in a pile at the GTG and then getting back home to the hardened desert woods. What worked there doesn’t work so well here. Good thing we have lots of (too many?) options right? :-D
Hello Mr Walt!
I agree totally
I Ialways run the shortest bar I can to get the job done. Second i run the lightest bar I can afford.
I'm only cutting windblown small stuff upto 2ft max, mostly 12" so a 15-18" bar is ideal on a 66cc motor. Would you use 7T or 8T sprocket?
Felling trees, bucking them up and cleaning up the mess is never fun. It is always work. Hunting deer or quail can be fun, nut it can also turn into work.
Shouldn' t the cutting tooth numbers be the same on long and short bars, so that the numbers of tooth that are cutting the wood are same and have the near constant cutting speed?
Didn't you take a long bars, to get clear cuts, or less cuts?
nope. think you are over analyzing a bit. If you are running out of power but need the long bar either get a more powerful saw or go to a semi skip or full skip chain. But don't do any of that if your setup can pull a standard chain.
Why not just run a 50cc saw to reduce weight and fuel consumption?
For fun might build a snappy 550 and find a light weight 28 to put on it for ground work
If you all like 20 bars and light why dont you just use a 50cc saw which is light, a 70cc saw is quite heavy in comparison and a 50cc saw will pull a 20 bar, just sayin
Lots of folks just say stuff :) because hard wood uses up the 70cc power. Frozen hard wood eats up a 390's power with a 20 or 24. 50cc ... simply can't hang with a 70 in hard wood with a 20 unless it's less than 10in dia.