First chainsaw - bar length?

[WoodED]

I'm planning to get a 346XP as my first saw and had been wondering about bar length. I'm not really sure what sort of work I'll end up doing, but if all goes to plan I'll be mostly doing woodland work - coppicing, thinning, scrub clearing, maybe some hedge laying. There may be some bigger felling too, but I think that's likely to be less frequent.

 

Several people have mentioned how well the 346 works with a 13" bar, but presumably a 15" would be more versatile.

 

To a clueless newbie a couple of inches doesn't seem much, but I'm guessing it's actually quite a substantial difference. Am I best off getting a 15" to start with?

 

Thanks!

 

15 as its the bigest u can have for 30/31, honistly 15 is perfect

[Rupe]

15 as its the bigest u can have for 30/31, honestly 15 is perfect

 

Thats where I disagree then, NEVER go for the biggest bar a saw can take as it will under power the saw.

[Rupe]

Er, no 15 is the middlest length so thats fine then!

[WoodED]

Er, no 15 is the middlest length so thats fine then!

 

was about to say 18 is the bigest bar u can run on a saw, so 15 is perfect, i use that rule of thumb to

[Rupe]

15 it is then!

[rotax81]

i went up to 18" from 15" on my husky and got a small 14" McCulloch for the little jobs. that combination works fine for what i do and a do swop between them a lot during a day.

[Big J]

Get the 13!!!!

 

I have an MS260, originally bought with a 15 inch bar. Fairly recently got myself a 13 inch bar and now feel that the 15 is cumbersome and slow. Honesty, you don't need any more than that for general thinning and forestry work. Thursday and Friday this week I was thinning 60-70ft sycamore with 12-18 inch DBH with the 13 inch bar and never felt the need for anything bigger. To anyone who would say that the short bar slows you down, I would counter with 41 tonnes of thinnings!

[Stevie Mac]

I've always used a 15" bar with my 346xp. That has done me fine for all my work. If in the future you need to move up to a bigger bar I would look at getting a bigger saw. I've not used a 18" bar on my 346 but am sure it would struggle especially after 2 years of use.

[Nick B]

I have a 15" bar on my 346xp runs well with it on, I would find a 13" to small for most jobs I do.