500i bar length - 36" too big??

[AHPP]

I'd typed a load of stuff about bar lengths but deleted it because it just wouldn't advance mankind much. Suffice to say I don't think rip-snorting fast cutting matters in arb. It's mainly rigging and the logistics of moving a tree from a garden onto a truck. Forestry different.

[wyk]

1 hour ago, spuddog0507 said:

Things like a 170 with 25" bar to cut 6" softwood could only be in America, i dont know what it is over there but they all seem to need to have the biggest saw they can get there hands on but are only cutting small timber for firewood, One guy puts posts on another site and sorry but i have to laugh but he posted some photos of a FS350 pick up loaded with lengh,s of wood ready for splitting, this had took him and his 14yr old son from 9,30 - 3,30 and they were parked next to the stack of timber, but he did say they only had a short lunch break !, looking at what they had done and the shape of them 2 i tend to think the lunch break was from 11 - 3,

I dunno, I wouldn't think my productivity would increase by adding in a teenager in to the mix I had to look after.

 

My take is run a 28 if it's stock, 32 if it's ported. I assume it's mainly for stumping and large cross cuts, so dunno if a 500i will oil a 36inch bar well enough there. Good luck. I am not fond of using a saw with anything more than a 32inch light bar on it, tho.

 

I'm an American who used to live in the Pacific Northwest - mostly Oregon and Washington state. I've worked in logging there and forestry, and was the forester on a ranch in Oregon. I have also worked in the UK and am the forester on a large estate in Waterford, Ireland. I mostly keep a low profile here, and I understand it's a good time making fun of the yanks and painting them with one big brush, but when it comes to logging and forestry, the US doesn't mess about.

 

In the fast growing wood in the PNW, you can run longer bars, even in the maple there. It's not just that, but many local saw shops carry skip chain to help facilitate longer bars for better reach and to more easily cut the bigger trees that are there. My local shop in Oregon only carried 3/8 skip chain and nothing else. Unless you asked for different, you also got square chisel chain.

28inch bars are the norm there on 70cc saws. Some folks have a spare 20inch for firewood.

If they are professionals, they would rarely have a stock saw. Most are modified, some quite a lot.

 

By law in Canada(and it also defaults to saws for sale in logging in the States), all large saws used for logging or forestry must have large bucking spikes and full wrap handles. Thus, it is actually hard to find a 70cc+ saw without a full wrap and big spikes in the region.

 

One of the timber cruisers I worked with in Washington always had a ported 372XP with a 32 bar in his truck left over from his logging days. It made short work of the typical wood that would fall across our trails or roads. One of which was a 5 foot wide Douglas Fir after a storm.

 

My logging saw, a ported 385xp with an Oregon light weight 32 inch bar and relatively rare full comp square chain(I paid $250 used for this saw and ported and rebuilt it for work):

 

 

Some of our lengths weren't right, so I had to follow one of our trucks to the mill one day...

 

 

 

On the ranch in Oregon, my firewood could be this:

 

(That's a 24 inch bar on an MS361 with skip square chain)

 

Or this, depending on the day:

 

 

View from that ranch on a good day:

 

 

If you go to the coast, it looks more like this:

 

 

The jeep I used(for work and sleep) when up in the logging roads - 1980 Ford F150 Bronco, 5.8litre V8, dual locking diffs, 32inch tires, and 8mpg average.

 

 

 

[Rough Hewn]

I dunno, I wouldn't think my productivity would increase by adding in a teenager in to the mix I had to look after.
 
My take is run a 28 if it's stock, 32 if it's ported. I assume it's mainly for stumping and large cross cuts, so dunno if a 500i will oil a 36inch bar well enough there. Good luck. I am not fond of using a saw with anything more than a 32inch light bar on it, tho.
 
I'm an American who used to live in the Pacific Northwest - mostly Oregon and Washington state. I've worked in logging there and forestry, and was the forester on a ranch in Oregon. I have also worked in the UK and am the forester on a large estate in Waterford, Ireland. I mostly keep a low profile here, and I understand it's a good time making fun of the yanks and painting them with one big brush, but when it comes to logging and forestry, the US doesn't mess about.
 
In the fast growing wood in the PNW, you can run longer bars, even in the maple there. It's not just that, but many local saw shops carry skip chain to help facilitate longer bars for better reach and to more easily cut the bigger trees that are there. My local shop in Oregon only carried 3/8 skip chain and nothing else. Unless you asked for different, you also got square chisel chain.
28inch bars are the norm there on 70cc saws. Some folks have a spare 20inch for firewood.
If they are professionals, they would rarely have a stock saw. Most are modified, some quite a lot.
 
By law in Canada(and it also defaults to saws for sale in logging in the States), all large saws used for logging or forestry must have large bucking spikes and full wrap handles. Thus, it is actually hard to find a 70cc+ saw without a full wrap and big spikes in the region.
 
One of the timber cruisers I worked with in Washington always had a ported 372XP with a 32 bar in his truck left over from his logging days. It made short work of the typical wood that would fall across our trails or roads. One of which was a 5 foot wide Douglas Fir after a storm.
 
My logging saw, a ported 385xp with an Oregon light weight 32 inch bar and relatively rare full comp square chain(I paid $250 used for this saw and ported and rebuilt it for work):
 

 
Some of our lengths weren't right, so I had to follow one of our trucks to the mill one day...
 

 
 
On the ranch in Oregon, my firewood could be this:
 

(That's a 24 inch bar on an MS361 with skip square chain)
 
Or this, depending on the day:
 

 
View from that ranch on a good day:
 

 
If you go to the coast, it looks more like this:
 

 
The jeep I used(for work and sleep) when up in the logging roads - 1980 Ford F150 Bronco, 5.8litre V8, dual locking diffs, 32inch tires, and 8mpg average.
 

 
 

Interesting.
In the uk ported saws are an insurance nightmare.
You won’t get it.
Or you’d invalidate it.
Therefore ported saws are illegal on uk work sites.

[Rough Hewn]

I should add, I have used many ported saws belonging to friends.
Honestly wish we could use ported saws at work.
I run 880/881 mostly with 50-80” bars.
Would love to have them ported...
[emoji106]

[Wonky]

I'm gonna add to this thread “it’s horses for courses”  there’s always more than one way to do a job.  Just because someone does it differently it don’t make it wrong.

There’s some comments that make me scratch my head .  The 20” bar on a 200t .. it was done for a reason  it was for fun and an experiment and it’s also 1/4 not 3/8 lopro . And it’s ported by rich aka the “saw king” so If you were up pine trees blocking down and it ment you could carryon using the 200 for a bit longer.👍  and he does say it’s not for everyone 😉 and he says some egghead will hate it in the vid...😂😂😂😂😂😂

 

and the length of bars on some other saws, some seem to forget oilers can be modified.  Or a high output can be brought.   some guys run lopro on long bars, ie smaller tooth = less drag and or add skip to the equation.

 

 

btw those invisible ear muffs you see peeps wearing are more than likely to be ear plugs somewhere in there, not always thou 🙄

 

 

 

anyway that’s my view, ymmv👍👍👍

 

[Paddy1000111]

Out of interest has anyone ever put in an insurance claim after an accident with a ported saw? I'm sure they would start firing questions at you if it was covered in "I'm ported" "X modded" stickers and obvious mods but has an insurer sent someone out who knows about saws and would know what they're looking at? 

Only sort of insurance stuff with mods I have any experience with is cars when a couple of friends had crashes, their cars were mapped, egr blocked etc etc. They just sent out a guy with a clipboard who wrote down what was damaged! 

Edited January 4, 2021 by Paddy1000111

[The avantgardener]

1 hour ago, Rough Hewn said:

I should add, I have used many ported saws belonging to friends.
Honestly wish we could use ported saws at work.
I run 880/881 mostly with 50-80” bars.
Would love to have them ported...

I use ported saws at work all the time, I have done for a few years.

[Rough Hewn]

Out of interest has anyone ever put in an insurance claim after an accident with a ported saw? I'm sure they would start firing questions at you if it was covered in "I'm ported" "X modded" stickers and obvious mods but has an insurer sent someone out who knows about saws and would know what they're looking at? 
Only sort of insurance stuff with mods I have any experience with is cars when a couple of friends had crashes, their cars were mapped, egr blocked etc etc. They just sent out a guy with a clipboard who wrote down what was damaged! 

I read somewhere (probably on here) that in the case of serious injury or death,
A mech will take the saw away for examination.
First on the list is depth gauges.
Remember you’re only insured if you follow their rules.
Any chainsaw which is badly maintained will be hazardous at best.
My insurance company asked me 3 times if I’ve modded my engine on my vehicle.
They even asked if I had any shelving in the back as that could invalidate my insurance.
My understanding of chainsaws is,
If you mod it in any way, your insurance is useless.
It takes years of R&D not to mention ce marks
Bs certification etc
Not worth the risk in a professional environment.
At home... yeah get the spudded saws out and cut discos or firewood.
[emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

[Rough Hewn]

I use ported saws at work all the time, I have done for a few years.

I think they’re great.
Know loads of people who use them in industry.
I’d love to send my saws to spud,
He does some really awesome work.
But until my ass is covered legally it’s a no no.
🥲

[Paddy1000111]

1 hour ago, Rough Hewn said:

I read somewhere (probably on here) that in the case of serious injury or death,
A mech will take the saw away for examination.
First on the list is depth gauges.
Remember you’re only insured if you follow their rules.
Any chainsaw which is badly maintained will be hazardous at best.
My insurance company asked me 3 times if I’ve modded my engine on my vehicle.
They even asked if I had any shelving in the back as that could invalidate my insurance.
My understanding of chainsaws is,
If you mod it in any way, your insurance is useless.
It takes years of R&D not to mention ce marks
Bs certification etc
Not worth the risk in a professional environment.
At home... yeah get the spudded saws out and cut discos or firewood.

I'm in no doubt that it would invalidate your insurance! As I have no experience of ARB insurance claims 🤞 I was just curious if anyone had their insurance invalidated or had issues from ported saws. It's not worth the risk like you say!