# Stihl 044 most functional bar size



## stihl044 (Dec 10, 2008)

I have a 28" bar on my 044 with a full skip chisel chain.  Would a 20" or a 25" bar be better with the same chain type?  I am cutting mostly green ash in northern SD and will do a lot of cutting this winter in green trees.  28" bar seems to bog down a bit when getting throught stumps 24"+.  I was wondering if anyone has experience using the smaller bar on this saw.


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## smokinj (Dec 10, 2008)

stihl044 said:
			
		

> I have a 28" bar on my 044 with a full skip chisel chain.  Would a 20" or a 25" bar be better with the same chain type?  I am cutting mostly green ash in northern SD and will do a lot of cutting this winter in green trees.  28" bar seems to bog down a bit when getting throught stumps 24"+.  I was wondering if anyone has experience using the smaller bar on this saw.


Man put a 20 in. no skip you will love it(full chisel) iam running 28 in skip and 20 in no skip your saw is close to mine!


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## Sealcove (Dec 10, 2008)

stihl044 said:
			
		

> I have a 28" bar on my 044 with a full skip chisel chain.  Would a 20" or a 25" bar be better with the same chain type?  I am cutting mostly green ash in northern SD and will do a lot of cutting this winter in green trees.  28" bar seems to bog down a bit when getting throught stumps 24"+.  I was wondering if anyone has experience using the smaller bar on this saw.



The general rule of the pro's is to always run the shortest bar necessary for the majority of your cutting.  If most of your cutting is under 30", then a 16" or 18" bar is ideal; more power, cheaper chains, less sharpening time, better balance, less weight, etc.  If you need more length on occasion take the 5 minutes to change to a larger bar.


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## smokinj (Dec 10, 2008)

Sealcove said:
			
		

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i hear you but that 28 in and 20 in combo sure works out nice and a saw that big anything smaller you should just buy a smaller saw(less weight)


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## kenny chaos (Dec 10, 2008)

I use a 25" bar on my 441 as the 28" seemed a little longer than I wanted to be swinging around.  I wouldn't want to go any shorter 'cause I bought the bigger saw to use a longer bar.  Just not too long.  I use the 33RSC3 chain.  It all works well for me.  I'm sure everyone has their own likes and dislikes for this sorta thing.


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## Sealcove (Dec 10, 2008)

smokinj said:
			
		

> i hear you but that 28 in and 20 in combo sure works out nice and a saw that big anything smaller you should just buy a smaller saw(less weight)



I agree that if you don't need a 70cc saw then you should be running a smaller saw and bar together.  70cc is actually way overkill for most firewood cutting (unless you get mostly 30"+ wood). On the bar size question I run a 372XP these days for heavy cutting and felling with an 18" bar and it is amazing (this is is a very common combination for professional loggers in the northeast).  The extra bar length is nothing but a liability both in cost and energy unless you are actually cutting wood large enough to demand it.  It is great to have a large bar available (24" is about all one could ever possible need in New England), but there is negative value in running it if the majority of the cuts don't require it.


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## smokinj (Dec 10, 2008)

kenny chaos said:
			
		

> I use a 25" bar on my 441 as the 28" seemed a little longer than I wanted to be swinging around.  I wouldn't want to go any shorter 'cause I bought the bigger saw to use a longer bar.  Just not too long.  I use the 33RSC3 chain.  It all works well for me.  I'm sure everyone has their own likes and dislikes for this sorta thing.


28in. is good around here because the softwood can go 56 in. is the biggest i have done but know of a few that have done bigger.(25 in would do for me in 85 percent of the time) silver maples get BIG around here!(lots of them as well)


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## kenny chaos (Dec 10, 2008)

smokinj said:
			
		

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Yeah I got some pretty big poplar but if I cut 'em down, then I have to split them.  I'm trying to stick with some slighter stuff.
On a personal note, I took that trip to Chicago a few weeks back and while going through Indy, we went under this overpass (I forget the name of the road now) and I saw where someone was cutting a lot of wood.  I thought of you and wondered how many of those free splits you could have loaded in the 08' minivan we were driving.


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## smokinj (Dec 11, 2008)

kenny chaos said:
			
		

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do you have a luggage rack?


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## loggie (Dec 11, 2008)

I found a 25" bar works the best on my 066 ,works 75% of the time no skip balances perfect,do not have to bend down as much as with shorter bars.A 32" skip is nice for felling the big stuff the other 25% of the time.


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## stihl044 (Dec 11, 2008)

Thanks for the input, I was leaning to getting a smaller bar for firewood cutting.  The big bar is nice for dropping the big cottonwoods and box elders we have here, have to get them out of the way to get to the ash, but on the ground the 28" is too long.  I do some amatuer tree removal so I do need the larger bar, but I wasn't sure if the smaller bar would gain me much, but it sounds like it will thanks.


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## smokinj (Dec 11, 2008)

stihl044 said:
			
		

> Thanks for the input, I was leaning to getting a smaller bar for firewood cutting. The big bar is nice for dropping the big cottonwoods and box elders we have here, have to get them out of the way to get to the ash, but on the ground the 28" is too long. I do some amatuer tree removal so I do need the larger bar, but I wasn't sure if the smaller bar would gain me much, but it sounds like it will thanks.


smaller bars are faster and easier to run!and cheaper all the way around


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## Malatesta (Dec 11, 2008)

Put the 20 on you'll be glad you did,faster cuts then the 28. Ive never run anything bigger then a 28 and that was only for a huge popalar.


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## Gooserider (Dec 12, 2008)

I like a 20" bar, it's what I run on my Dolmar 7900 most of the time...  Seems to me like a good overall compromise for work on the ground - I might want to go lots shorter if I were climbing (which I don't do)   I like to mostly keep the saw powerhead around waist level and cut while rocking the bar up and down (not a good description, but...)  It is easier on the back as you aren't bending over, but also aren't carrying the weight of the saw on your arm muscles like you are when running a short bar and reaching out...  A lot of the time I can even rest the end of the throttle handle on my thigh to give a third point of contact for more stability and control...

For my height (5'9", 32" inseam) the 20" bar works really nicely - I can reach down to the ground at about a 40* angle w/o bending over, which gives me good cutting ability while keeping away from my feet and legs, and reach up to easily catch branches up to about chest height...  It is also big enough to handle all but the biggest rounds I need to cut, again w/ minimal hassles...

Needless to say, an 80cc saw like the Dolmar just screams through the wood with a 20" bar as well - cutting speed approaches free-fall speed - FUN!

Gooserider


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## computeruser (Dec 12, 2008)

In my experience, an 044 seems to be best with an 18" and 28" bar.  The 18" balances well, better than the 20" in my opinion, and a 28" with skip is a good choice for big logs, flush cutting stumps and such.


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## Bigg_Redd (Dec 12, 2008)

In my opinion there's no reason to have a big saw with a short bar.  I had a 28" bar on my 41 and loved it.


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## Sealcove (Dec 12, 2008)

Bigg_Redd said:
			
		

> In my opinion there's no reason to have a big saw with a short bar.  I had a 28" bar on my 41 and loved it.



Depends on the wood you cut.  As an example, your opinion is completely contrary to the vast majority of master loggers in Maine.  An 18" bar on a 70cc saw is extremely common in these parts, and more likely the pro's here will shake their heads at the obvious neophyte running a unnecessarily large bar.  You live in Washington so the equation is almost certainly different, but in the northeast a 28" bar is rarely used by professional cutters.  There simply is no need for it, but there is a need for power when you are plunge cutting hardwood all day.


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## smokinj (Dec 12, 2008)

I can agree with you on that but most of us are just cutting fire wood and plunge cutting no way!but with that said 16 in or even 18 in. its eaiser for the firewood guy to use a lighter saw at this point.I know that 440 can run from 16. in to 32in. "Master logger" this guy isnt.He has a 28 in. bar and just wondering what  size for a 2nd bar is?(not a master logger) he got a lot of softwood as well.


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## Sealcove (Dec 12, 2008)

No doubt. My comments do not apply to the average user, but I wanted to add a counter viewpoint to the idea that there is no reason to run a shorter bar on a large power head.


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## Gooserider (Dec 14, 2008)

I tend to agree w/ Sealcove - I think that an 18-20" bar is a good size for most of us, most of the time, in the wood we get most often...  I bought my 7900 Dolmar because I wanted a saw that would be big enough to handle ANY log that I got, including the occasional big monsters - but it's way overkill for most of my cutting, a Dolmar 5100 would have been a better match for 90% of what I do. (and if my Pull-on dies, the 5100 will be on the short list to replace it)

I have a 28" bar to use on my Dolmar, but I only put it on if I have a log to cut that's over about 30-35" around, which has happenned about twice in the last year that I've owned the saw - I have done about ONE tank of gas cutting with the 28" (and part of that was just running out the tank before I switched back to the 20") and about 10 tanks with the 20" bar...  With the 28" bar, it's a great performing saw, that is heavy, tip heavy, clumsy and awkward to use.  I would not want to cut much with a 28" bar.  With the 20" bar, it's wonderfully balanced, with reasonable weight, and performs even better...

Gooserider


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## kenny chaos (Dec 14, 2008)

Bigg_Redd said:
			
		

> In my opinion there's no reason to have a big saw with a short bar.  I had a 28" bar on my 41 and loved it.




You write that in the past tense.  What happened to it?  If it isn't too personal.


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## Bigg_Redd (Dec 14, 2008)

kenny chaos said:
			
		

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It was a early 70s model that I got it at a garage sale for $50 about 15+ years ago.  I used the crap out of it and gave it away about 5 years ago.  It's sill running.


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## smokinj (Dec 15, 2008)

Gooserider said:
			
		

> I tend to agree w/ Sealcove - I think that an 18-20" bar is a good size for most of us, most of the time, in the wood we get most often...  I bought my 7900 Dolmar because I wanted a saw that would be big enough to handle ANY log that I got, including the occasional big monsters - but it's way overkill for most of my cutting, a Dolmar 5100 would have been a better match for 90% of what I do. (and if my Pull-on dies, the 5100 will be on the short list to replace it)
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> I have a 28" bar to use on my Dolmar, but I only put it on if I have a log to cut that's over about 30-35" around, which has happenned about twice in the last year that I've owned the saw - I have done about ONE tank of gas cutting with the 28" (and part of that was just running out the tank before I switched back to the 20") and about 10 tanks with the 20" bar...  With the 28" bar, it's a great performing saw, that is heavy, tip heavy, clumsy and awkward to use.  I would not want to cut much with a 28" bar.  With the 20" bar, it's wonderfully balanced, with reasonable weight, and performs even better...
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> Gooserider


Ok goose would you run a 16 in. bar on that 7900?


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## Gooserider (Dec 15, 2008)

smokinj said:
			
		

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Probably not - it would cut like a demon, but it already does with a 20" and I'd be concerned that the 16" wouldn't put enough load on the engine to keep it from over-revving.  The other thing I find is that I like to keep the powerhead close to me rather than working at full arm extension most of the time.  The 20" bar lets me do that, I suspect a 16" might be on the short side.  Lastly, Dolmar reccomends a 20-32" range of bars for that saw, and I don't see any reason to go outside that range - to either side

Gooserider


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## downeast (Dec 15, 2008)

Ok goose would you run a 16 in. bar on that 7900?[/quote]

Probably not - it would cut like a demon, but it already does with a 20" and *I'd be concerned that the 16" wouldn't put enough load on the engine to keep it from over-revving.*  The other thing I find is that *I like to keep the powerhead close to me rather than working at full arm extension most of the time. * The 20" bar lets me do that, I suspect a 16" might be on the short side.  Gooserider[/quote]

Bar length has nothing to do with "over-reving" in a tuned saw of any cc or HP. The saw is tuned to tach specs on the high speed screw for WOT ( wide open throttle )cutting.

No one ever cuts "at arms length"; ain't safe-- except in instances when necessary e.g limbing.


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## computeruser (Dec 15, 2008)

16" bar on an 80cc saw...maybe for racing, or some unique use - if I was cutting up used telephone poles and running carbide chain, for example.

Back when I did more cutting for cash than I do nowadays, I found that I tended to do my best felling on larger trees with a short bar.  36-40" tree with a 20" on the 7900 or 066, for example, produced better results than I got with a 28" or longer bar.  In these instances, you were plunging, doing your back cut from both sides, and having the power to really dig in and cut FAST with that bar was essential to getting everything to fall as desired.  

Even for firewood, the shorter bar is nice - you can block your firewood out of a stack of logs still sitting on the trailer without having to hold the saw off from the log you were cutting and without worrying about sticking your bar into the trailer sides or floor, for example.  Especially helpful ability to have when the logs were loaded on the trailer with a loader, but you don't have one at home to unload the logs with.

I should also add that the East Coast/Midwest versus PNW logging technique thing has a lot to do with the fact that the "limbing" required of a straight Oak, Cherry, or Maple trunk is of an entirely different sort than you'd see on a conifer in the west.  We don't wear calk boots, don't walk down the trunks of our trees and limb off dozens upon dozens of branches.  So we don't need a long bar to save bending over as we walk the trunk, because we're probably going to cut the top off just below the first branch, skid out a clear, branch-free stem, and leave the top for the landowner to collect for his firewood.   And even when we're doing softwood pulp cutting here in the midwest, and particularly on commercial manage stands, the trees tend to be small enough that you're not walking on them, you're walking alongside of them, and the ability to limb both sides of the tree with a short bar is advantageous and much less fatiguing than with a big saw/long bar, since you're operating in the knee-shoulder height range.


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