climbing saw

[Dom]

I've been using a 16" bar for a few months now and have been loving it. I don't think I'll be going back to a 14" bar on the 200, now I'm used to 16 inches, I don't think a mere 14 would cut the mustard..

[geoff]

Any more than a 14 inch bar,& your better off getting a 346xp or the like up there,I have never fitted a 16 inch to a top handle saw,so I'm spouting blind,but I would rather a saw with the guts to let you chase a cut if you need to,especialy on big stuff,or speed up the work chogging down without over stressing your main climbing saw.

[Tom10]

I think a 14" is the way forward, the saw has the power and you don't need to mess about with swapping bars and chains. Just my opinion.....

 

Agree.

[Shane]

I think a 14' bar makes the MS200 a wee bit noes heavy, but you can cut that bit more with it. Anything over that, a bigger and more powerful 'ground' saw would be sensible.

 

Theres a lot of discussion on her about losing power on a bigger bar, I can see that the additional friction of a longer chain/bar MUST cause some loss, but surely the main loss of cutting speed is because you are cutting through a larger chunk of timber.

 

Maybe we need to conduct an experiment -

Cut a 3 inch diam. log (using any saw) with a 12inch bar

then cut another 3 inch log with the same saw and a much longer bar

I predict you would hardly notice the difference - apart from balance.

 

I have an old stihl 044 with a 25 inch bar which is slowish on the really big stuff but if I'm lazy and can't be bothered to get the 260 for smaller stuff the 044 rips through it.

 

Use what suits you best

[spudulike]

I think a 14' bar makes the MS200 a wee bit noes heavy, but you can cut that bit more with it. Anything over that, a bigger and more powerful 'ground' saw would be sensible.

 

Theres a lot of discussion on her about losing power on a bigger bar, I can see that the additional friction of a longer chain/bar MUST cause some loss, but surely the main loss of cutting speed is because you are cutting through a larger chunk of timber.

 

Maybe we need to conduct an experiment -

Cut a 3 inch diam. log (using any saw) with a 12inch bar

then cut another 3 inch log with the same saw and a much longer bar

I predict you would hardly notice the difference - apart from balance.

 

I have an old stihl 044 with a 25 inch bar which is slowish on the really big stuff but if I'm lazy and can't be bothered to get the 260 for smaller stuff the 044 rips through it.

 

Use what suits you best

 

Yup - you will lose a small bit of power from having a longer bar but will be most noticible if you try to cut with the full bar length.

 

I don't see many using a 16" bar on a MS200T or feeling th eneed to:confused1:

[Pete Mctree]

14in ok for pruning as the extra reach is always usefull, but when it comes to wrecking out trees go for a 12in if your not running a ported saw. It gives far better chain speed & performance. I presume wear on the engine would increase using the longer bars

[Paul Jenks]

You'd need really big forearms when using the saw one handed with a 16" bar too. On the rare occasion that this comes to pass, of course.

All our 200's have 12" bars. It means that the ground saw gets passed up sooner so less wear and tear on the little ones.

Personal preference I suppose. nicer balance IMO.

[alex_m]

the balance with 14" is completely off for me, so 16" would be horrible!

why use 16" on a 200t when 90% of the work will be upto 12" wood? any bigger and you would just use a 70cc ish saw with 18-20" bar.

[Mark Bolam]

I've been using a 16" bar for a few months now and have been loving it. I don't think I'll be going back to a 14" bar on the 200, now I'm used to 16 inches, I don't think a mere 14 would cut the mustard..

 

Best get some pics up of these massive trees you must constantly work on Dom....

 

[Pete Mctree]

With a 16" you need time lapse photography to record the cut!