0.50 vs 0.58 bars

[Thor's Hammer]

A while back I bought some Carlton / Tiger guide bars from baileys, but never ended up using them. Just recently I've been back at treework so decided to fit one and use it. Stupidly I bought bars with 0.50 gauge instead of 0.58.
I can get 0.50 72LPX chain, but is it worth it? is there a performance / wear advantage to using 0.58 chain?

 

[HolmenTree]

A while back I bought some Carlton / Tiger guide bars from baileys, but never ended up using them. Just recently I've been back at treework so decided to fit one and use it. Stupidly I bought bars with 0.50 gauge instead of 0.58.
I can get 0.50 72LPX chain, but is it worth it? is there a performance / wear advantage to using 0.58 chain?

Ed only advantage running .050 b/c I can see is slightly beefier bar rails for durability. But just run what is a better deal and availability. I have a couple .050 -36" Oregon bars I run on my 395XP and have to say they are holding out real nice for me .

 

[Reddog]

Never have had a problem with ether.

Most of my stuff is .050 from owning stihls in this area.

 

[Al Smith]

I doubt it makes a difference .Again gauge seems to be what's popular in a certain geographical area .

 

[HolmenTree]

Up here in my neck of the woods it is either .050 for Stihl and .058 for Jonsered/Husqvarna. Kinda like a loyality sizing for either brand for their market share. The .050-36" Oregon bars I run on my 395 Husky are Stihl mount I ran on my 066, now have clip adapters on them to run on the smaller diameter Husky bar studs.

 

[Dave Shepard]

Did you have to open up the slot at all to run on Husky? I bought one of those little adapter doohickeys from Bailey's years ago. The bar would go on the Husky, but would not slide far enough back to get the chain on. It's .050 for Stihl and .058 for Husky around here. I just run .050 on everything now, as I only run Stihl chain, unless something else is all that's available.

 

[Reddog]

Did you have to open up the slot at all to run on Husky?

Yes for me, I did it with a 4" grinder using cutoff wheels.

 

[Dave Shepard]

I might have to modify one of my Stihl bars then. I seem to get so much better service from Stihl b and c than the stock Husky stuff. A carbide cutter in a Bridgeport should open that slot up nicely.

 

[Reddog]

A carbide cutter in a Bridgeport should open that slot up nicely.

That's just mean mentioning that option.

 

[Al Smith]

You can do it with a die grinder .

 

[Burnham]

Never an issue with 50 gauge here, Ed. It's all I use, except the .404 on that 084, back when I was with the USFS.

 

[HolmenTree]

Did you have to open up the slot at all to run on Husky? I bought one of those little adapter doohickeys from Bailey's years ago. The bar would go on the Husky, but would not slide far enough back to get the chain on. It's .050 for Stihl and .058 for Husky around here. I just run .050 on everything now, as I only run Stihl chain, unless something else is all that's available.

I never bothered lengthening the bar slot , just made up loops to match bar. One nice thing about buying rolls of chain and making your own loops.
Normally Husky adds 2 DL counts more to their bar length versus Stihls specs.

 

[Dave Shepard]

That's just mean mentioning that option.

I had to drill and tap a part on the 3-53 for a block heater. It was either do it in my cold garage with the wrong size drill bit or go to my friend Don's and have him poke the hole on the Bport and start the tap using a center in the chuck. Yeah, I drove the 6 miles to Don's. He has a wood stove, too.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Use it just fine. .050 is the most available here. They often run out of .063

 

[Thor's Hammer]

Thanks guys. I can buy .50 easily enough. These are Carlton and Tiger bars made for Husqvarna. Be interesting to see how they hold up.

I just discovered also the Iggesund of Sweden make saw bars. Their harvester bars are superb, so I might try one of their saw bars, maybe a 30" on my 394 or something.

 

[Magnus]

I sell Iggesund bars. Sadly they quit making their best bar with replaceable nose same as Power match.
The solid bars are cost efficient. I keep bugging them to make another run....
They don't make laminated bars either anymore.

With .050/1,3 bars there can be issues. I noticed lubrication/cooling issues on some .325 here that I don't see on .058/1,5 bars.
Not sure if it is the guage, chain related or bar design...

 

[Thor's Hammer]

Thats good to know Magnus. Next time I need replacements I'll come to you. Just out of interest, how much would a 75cm bar for a 394xp be?

 

[Magnus]

I don't think they have any left with replaceble tips so big solid bars with fixed nose is what there is at the moment.
Not sure how long they have, but 24" I have ordered.

 

[Thor's Hammer]

Whats your opinion on the Carlton Bars? They're stamped 'made in germany'

 

[HolmenTree]

Whats your opinion on the Carlton Bars? They're stamped 'made in germany'

I got one of those bars from Baileys in 20" , looks good with the polished/varnished look but when I eye balled down the bar rails from the nose end I could see the rails were ground down to match the smaller tip. So both sides of the bar/nose joint weren't a smooth level contour. Great bar for the price otherwise.