Short bars on 50cc saws?

[Rossco]

Why?

Sell it and buy something like a 543. It is more suited to the small bars.

Or maybe just pocket the cash and take the wife out somewhere nice.

I run a 555 20" and wouldn't dream about buying anything within 30cc's of it.

 

[TMonter]

Sell it and buy something like a 543. It is more suited to the small bars.

Or maybe just pocket the cash and take the wife out somewhere nice.

I run a 555 20" and wouldn't dream about buying anything within 30cc's of it.

I think if you had two or more saws you might think differently. A 50 cc size is excellent for smaller work and limbing especially with a short bar on it and then having a second larger saw for bigger work is nice. If I had to choose just two saws I'd do my 372 XPW (75cc) and my 346xp (50cc).

Don't forget how big a deal weight is. A couple pounds might not sound like a lot but at the end of the day when you're tired, two pounds to be continually lifting can be a lot.

 

[TreePointer]

I'm not sure if the "they have smaller trees" theory holds water. Because if you're only cutting smaller trees, why not save some money on a saw and step down to the next smaller size? Heck, they pay more for gasoline than we do, so surely they'd want a smaller saw for the fuel savings alone!

Think of German engineers and cars. The same thing holds for chainsaws.

* Chain speed (linear distance)
* Throttle response (helps when doing a lot of limbing)
* Safety (fast cuts can prevent dangerous situations when felling)
* Efficiency (sometimes making faster cuts can use less fuel than multiple cuts with a smaller saw)

Why drive a Volkswagen when you can drive a Porsche?

 

[Rossco]

I think if you had two or more saws you might think differently. A 50 cc size is excellent for smaller work and limbing especially with a short bar on it and then having a second larger saw for bigger work is nice. If I had to choose just two saws I'd do my 372 XPW (75cc) and my 346xp (50cc).

Don't forget how big a deal weight is. A couple pounds might not sound like a lot but at the end of the day when you're tired, two pounds to be continually lifting can be a lot.

Yeah I can see the logic and 100% agree, but it all depends of circumstance.

When I go out looking for wood I ain't gonna carry three saws. I usually have no idea what I might find, so a nice 60cc with a 20" bar covers 90% of the bases. The wood i look for is either so dead the branches are gone or 90% of the tree doesnt have branches. If I Had logs delivered to my house IDE have 3 saws for sure.

I tell I little lie, I do have a 24" bar for The saw but, has seen little action as I won't mount it unless I have a lead on a tree that requires it.

Most cutters around here are solo saw guys and a popular unit is the timeless 365 special.

 

[CTBurner]

On occasion I do run into some big stuff, hence the 25" bar. My "normal" bar that does 85% plus of my cutting is an 18" on my MS361. The 361 with 18" of bar and a sharp chain is a wood cutting animal.

+1

 

[efoyt]

Sell it and buy something like a 543. It is more suited to the small bars.

Or maybe just pocket the cash and take the wife out somewhere nice.

I run a 555 20" and wouldn't dream about buying anything within 30cc's of it.

I don't have anything within 30cc's of it. The 550 is my only saw.

 

[Rossco]

I don't have anything within 30cc's of it. The 550 is my only saw.

NA I was aiming my posts at the OP.

He's got a 50cc and a 65cc. He prefers the 65 over the 50 for sure.

 

[bassJAM]

NA I was aiming my posts at the OP.

He's got a 50cc and a 65cc. He prefers the 65 over the 50 for sure.

As of last night the 64cc is now a 79cc. Mostly because I didn't prefer the Makita over the Husqvarna, that 550 puts out some impressive power for is size and handling and I found that I rarely used the Makita. Now I've got a beast of a saw that will normally wear a 20" bar (with a 28" when I need it), so why have 2 saws with essentially the same bar length?

 

[Rossco]

As of last night the 64cc is now a 79cc. Mostly because I didn't prefer the Makita over the Husqvarna, that 550 puts out some impressive power for is size and handling and I found that I rarely used the Makita. Now I've got a beast of a saw that will normally wear a 20" bar (with a 28" when I need it), so why have 2 saws with essentially the same bar length?

Awesome. So you have an 80cc and a 50cc?

Perfect.

If I was shopping for another saw then IDE go with a Husky 395 or something and keep a long bar on it. Just for the odd 3' Tammy or fir.

 

[bassJAM]

Awesome. So you have an 80cc and a 50cc?

Perfect.

If I was shopping for another saw then IDE go with a Husky 395 or something and keep a long bar on it. Just for the odd 3' Tammy or fir.

There's actually been a HD Makita 6421 listed on Craigslist for about 6 days now, it's tempting to pick it up and convert it to 79cc just to leave a 28" bar on, maybe do a little milling with it too. But I think my next saw purchase will be a 50cc pro saw for my dad. He has a MS310, but since using my brother's 026 he clearly prefers the 026.

 

[smokedragon]

You need to stop by our farm and cut treetops from a timber harvest all day or at least an afternoon. At sundown, I'll ask you if you still like your short bar. Reach and balance are important during longer cutting sessions.

Well, that's my perspective. I do recognize that not everyone cuts the same type of wood and the same way. Other than shelling out cash, there's no reason not to try a short bar and chain. It's an easily reversible change. On a 50cc saw, I'll vote for a 16" NK bar (weighs less) and regular kerf .325 chain as it's sweet spot.

You know it is funny you mention that. I run my MS290 with a 16" bar (the shortest Stihl suggests). I like it because it doesn't bog down for much with that short b/c combo.

I have a 066 with 25" b/c on it, and if I am not in really thick nasty stuff, I prefer to limb the tree with that (because I can hold the saw in a comfortable position close to my body and cut limbs without bending at all).

But the 290 is a must for anything overhead (cause you ain't gonna hold that 066 up there long).

 

[Freakingstang]

I ran a Dolmar 5100 for years with a gb pro top 13" bar. I still have a couple of those bars. I now have a 550 with a 16"

I also got made fun of for year for the short bar. Faster chain speed, less teeth to sharpen and wicked performance. Balance is fine. Then again I ran 20" on modded 70-80cc saws too. If I need a big bar, I grab a bigger saw.

 

[computeruser]

With a 13" bar that saw will feel (and be) unbalanced. If you need/want a 13" bar, sell the saw and buy a smaller one. As stated by others, limbing is much lower effort with a long bar - you might want to consider trying to change your technique if you do a lot of it.

The trouble with generalizations is that, well, they don't always hold true.

For the work I do removing invasive trees (buckthorn, honeysuckle, ailanthus), a 13" bar is ideal. Currently running them on a 238se, 242xp, 346xp, 346xpg, and 545. Even for firewood and larger felling work, they're still fine if proper technique is used for felling. The shorter bar keeps weight down, keeps the bar tip out of the dirt (I like to leave my stumps 2-3" off the ground), and makes sharpening super quick and easy. And the balance is, to my taste at least, great. If you think of the saw less as a saw and more as a scalpel, it might make more sense why this setup works.

For "limbing" in the softwood tree sense of things, I think a short bar makes life a lot easier - lighter, less momentum to redirect, less bar tip bumping into stuff, etc.. For breaking down open crown hardwood trees, I think it depends more on the particular tree. But a lot has to do with the technique used. If you watch some of the European saw videos on YouTube and elsewhere, it is clear that their style of working a tree from felling through processing is different from the prevailing techniques used here in the US and Canada, particularly by non-professional sawyers.

I guess my point in this is to offer the suggestion that a blanket statement re: 13" bars on 40-50cc powerheads being ill-advised. Don't knock it until you try it. Maybe it won't work for your particular cutting needs, but maybe it will work very well.

 

[bassJAM]

Thanks for your input computeruser. In spite of most of the advise on here, I'll probably pick up a 13" bar this winter and give it a try. I do tend to think of the saw as more of a scalpel, and in that way an 18" is overkill, especially when I already have an 80cc saw with a 20" bar. I'll have to check out some of the vids you mentioned on European techniques, I never even thought of looking at youtube for limbing techniques.

 

[Danno77]

This is such a cheap experiment that I can't see why one wouldn't try it. Never hurts to have an extra bar and chain setup even if you decide not to run it on a regular basis.

 

[JRHAWK9]

I run a 16" on my ported 346XP and a 24" on my ported 390XP.