Light guide bars

[SeanKroll]

I'm looking for either a .325" or 3/8" x 20" light bar.

I generally run Stihl bars, but just need compatibility for my ms261.

What do you like enough to recommend?

 

[lxskllr]

Hard to go wrong with Stihl.

 

[SkwerI]

Stihls as a rule are very stingy with their oilers, so Stihl saws have much less lubrication for their bars and chains. Therefore Stihl bars and chains are typically much harder steel than the Oregon products (Oregon makes 90% of all other brands on the market). Because of the oilers, I only use Stihl bars on Stihl saws. Most anything made by Oregon will wear out much quicker with the low oil flow.

The exception would be the older MS440/460/660 'West coast' saws with the full wrap handles. They had high output oilers for the long bars typically used there. Living in Florida I had to special order those oilers to swap them out so my saws would oil more. I'm not familiar with the newest saws but I doubt Stihl has changed their corporate strategy of reducing oil output to the absolute minimum.

 

[stig]

I beg to differ.
We started out running Stihl, but the price made us look for something else.
Oregon's Versacut is only 70 grammes heavier and almost ½ price.

They last about 80% as long as Stihls.

Most of the bars we use are 20", we probably go through a couple of dozen a year, so it is a big saving.

We run Stihl saws, and while Brian has been on about their " Stingy oilers", forever, I have never had that problem.
They empty a tank of oil along with the tank of gas.

 

[SkwerI]

Stig, the size saws you run typically are wearing 28"-36" bars in this country. You are running short 20" bars on big saws. Sean is putting a 20" bar on a saw 1/3 the size of your saws. If we only ran 20" bars on 5-6 cube saws then we wouldn't have a problem with oil output, either.

That said, the Stihl lightweight bars are very good but extremely expensive. I used them on my 200T's for a few years but the price drove me back to the regular bars. IMO unless you are running the saw 4-5 hours per day then save your money.

 

[stig]

After I posted, I got to think about exactly that.
You got to me before I had a chance to clear it up.

I'd run a 15" bar on a MS261.

 

[lumberjack]

😂 I have a 20” ported 500i on the way.

#shortlife

No more than I run saws, I don’t know that I’d notice the benefit of the lighter bars unless I could see the difference.

 

[stig]

Get to my age and drag one around 8 hours a day and it really makes a difference.
Changes the balance in tyhe saw, too.
For the better.

 

[lumberjack]

If I put 8 hours on a saw in a day, the money would be exquisite.

It too wet to do today’s job, but the blowers would have had considerably more run time than the saws. Single ~36” pine.

I’d be interested in trying a lightweight bar, but not enough to actually buy one.

 

[Sven]

Stihl, Tsumura, and Sugi are similarly priced for lightweight. I like the angled Stihl oiler ports best but shouldn’t be an issue with that combo. I’ve got a 24” Tsumura light which has held up really well with very hard rails, not going through mult bars per year tho. This subject has been beat dead at ope if you want to search it.

 

[lxskllr]

I think light bars are more noticeable on the longer lengths, and it improves balance. If I were frequently using my 36" bar on the 661 for falling I'd certainly get a light bar. It's very nose heavy at that length, and makes it feel heavier than it is. Since I'm mostly using it for milling, it isn't worth the cost increase imo.

 

[BeerGeek]

I have the Stihl 36" ES Light bar for my 461s and above. Great bar and noticeably lighter/easier to manage than the standard 36". At 20", they offer it in .050 guage, meaning you'd probably need all new chains (the 2 261s I have both came standard w/.063 bars). The standard 261s also come with the adjustable oiler. My question for Sean is, why? At that length, you'd probably be saving less than 1/2 a pound. Is the standard 20" really that much of a concern for you in the air, or is it for your occasional partner in crime?

 

[Nutball]

Sugihara and Tsumura light bars do not feel light. I have a 32" Sugi that is more or less the same weight as a normal Stihl 32". I will say I was amazed by the one and only Sthil light bar I've ever had. It was 20" and weighed nothing. I don't think any bar gets as light as Stihl light, and you retain their durability and tight tolerances.

I recently saw an Oregon aluminum core laminated light bar and the lamination were all coming apart. I couldn't really see welds or rivets, it's like they glued the layers together.

 

[SeanKroll]

Bars are cheaper than shoulders.

A bit lighter there, a bit lighter there.

A 36" bar is a bear to wrestle in the tree. Worse 42" (one maple).


I can only remember retiring one 20" maybe, and non- replaceable sprocket climbing bars. I just maintain them.
Oh, there was that maccoughlah (sp) that got a crooked bar falling when the water knot on my lanyard came loose, at 50', on my first sidejob right after moving to WA and climbing in my rock climbing harness.






My accomplice was limbing a spring pole- rich, felled, green Western Redcedar...flexible and long branches suspending the log off the ground. A bit of weight savings is helpful.

 

[Magnus]

If you can run twice as long bars as needed, weight must not be an issue.
There is a small difference when comparing bars of same length between the brands and models.
A lot of difference in weight in length of bar.

If you have a 24" bar on a 261, weight of bar is not the larger problem.

 

[stig]

 

[SeanKroll]

20"

 

[Magnus]

Yea, right. 20"... That won't help much..

 

[Nutball]

Every bit helps, and those Stihl light 20" are surprisingly light.

 

[lxskllr]

About the same as the laminated bars in my estimation, but I didn't weigh them to compare.

 

[Magnus]

An Lightweight 16" is lighter than an Lightweight 20".
Why carry more than needed?

 

[SeanKroll]

8" is smaller than 16" by half. Even lighter.



20" has more reach.
The 261 hadn't a problem pulling that in softwood, and it will fit a 361, 461, and 661.

I'd like to replace my bigger bars, even more.

 

[Bermy]

18" max on 261....need a longer bar, you gonna need a bigger boat, oops, saw.

 

[SeanKroll]

I'm currently using a 20" with canola oil.

Have been for over a year.

 

[Bermy]

Softwood being the operative term.
Bury that in a casuarina or gum I anticipate some issues.
I'm tempted to put an 18" on my 462 for shits and giggles.