Husqvarna 350 bar choice

[LeonPyatt]

Hi all. I've just bought Husqvarna 350 15" of ebay. It's almost new, doesn't smoke much and runs nice. But the nose sprocket left the bar and the chain ant all that either, so i need new bar and chain. Which one should i buy? There're many choices 15" to 20" bar, full or semi chisel chain wide kerf narrow kerf 3/8 or 3/4 pitch, bar gauge and i'm sure there are more choices than that. I use the saw for mostly felling, firewood, sneding and clearing brush so not very broad usage. I am not that knowledgable about chains and bars so any help would be welcome.

[Stubby]

Hi all. I've just bought Husqvarna 350 15" of ebay. It's almost new, doesn't smoke much and runs nice. But the nose sprocket left the bar and the chain ant all that either, so i need new bar and chain. Which one should i buy? There're many choices 15" to 20" bar, full or semi chisel chain wide kerf narrow kerf 3/8 or 3/4 pitch, bar gauge and i'm sure there are more choices than that. I use the saw for mostly felling, firewood, sneding and clearing brush so not very broad usage. I am not that knowledgable about chains and bars so any help would be welcome.

 

I think it will be .325 pitch as standard . Someone may have changed the sprocket on the power head to 3/8 ( .375 ) . Check what it is running now and just replace with the same . As to full or semi chisel that is a personal thing . I prefer full . The width of the drive links will be dictated by the bar groove width you choose . I would say no more than an 18" bar on a 350 probably better with a 15" .

[spudulike]

It is most likely wearing a 0.325" sprocket, a 15" bar would be best for speed and balance of the saw, two options really 1.5mm full chisel which is standard kerf and ideal for heavier work or 1.3mm narrow kerf Oregon Micro Lite Pro with 95VPX chain, this set up is lighter but will speed the saw up as it will be taking smaller chips out of the wood.

 

Anything larger then 15" will slow the saw down and make it less easy to use IMO.

[SawTroll]

I think it will be .325 pitch as standard . Someone may have changed the sprocket on the power head to 3/8 ( .375 ) . Check what it is running now and just replace with the same . As to full or semi chisel that is a personal thing . I prefer full . The width of the drive links will be dictated by the bar groove width you choose . I would say no more than an 18" bar on a 350 probably better with a 15" .

 

I agree on staying with .325 and a 15-16" bar.

 

Regular .325 or narrow kerf is a matter on personal taste and priorities. The down side with narrow kerf is the limited chain options, with no chisel chain availiable (in most cases you can run 20LPX chain on the narrow kerf bars, but it isn't ideal).