Yet another chain saw question

I have a 16" bar on my Husky 345. Can I just change that to an 18" or 20"?

Where can I check that?

Steve

Hell, put a 48" bar and chain on it and be done with it. After all that

32cc engine could power a crop duster plane.

Chainsaw repair shop can make you a chain of any length from bulk chain of the right width and pitch.

Paul

Sure you can do that, but the length of the bar is usually matched to the power of the engine. If you do it anyway, you will want to reduce the height of the depth gages or you will stall the saw in the cut with large logs.

Pete Stanaitis

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Steve B wrote:

Thank you for helping.

It is generally more logical to go down since the power is matched to the blade. A shorter blade puts less reactive force from a tree... back to the saw.

To long and you can't sling the chain and cut wood.

Research like you are doing!

My Husqvarna (Swedish made) 50 rocks with a 20" blade.

Mart> I have a 16" bar on my Husky 345. Can I just change that to an 18" or 20"? >

As others have said, you got to watch not having enough power. That said, I've routinely went up two or four inches in bar length. A roller nose helps reduce friction - your enemy. Also buy TOP QUALTY chain. The difference is, they stay sharp much longer. A slightly dull chain makes saw dust not chips. I always buy three with each bar. Then the bar and three chains wear out at the same time. Plus you can cut wood for a long time without going back home to sharpen chain.

Maybe too advance a topic, but you can learn to sharpen a chain so its far better than new. I was lucky enough to know a fella that cut wood for a living twenty years ago. He showed me all his tricks and has saved me hundreds of hours of labor.

Karl

Karl, I'd like to see a list of your tips and tricks if they can be explained without hands-on demonstrations. Mouse

No problem. I can tell you need all the help you can get. Of course if you weren't so cheap you would have bought the right tool for the job in the first place. A bigger bar and chain isn't going to turbocharge that piss ant motor.

Do you really believe the manufacturer is too stupid to match the bar/chian to the proper motor or are engineers too dumb to do the math?

How about an answer bunkie? Or is it just going to be more stupid questions?

It's surprising that no one has asked what he is cutting! If he cuts dry hickory, bad idea to upsize the bar as the combination will be under powered for difficult to cut wood. If most of what he cuts is fresh, wet, and soft such white pine, sweetgum or poplar the longer chain will likely work out all right.

CarlBoyd

Steve B used his keyboard to write :

The chainsaw I have has a range of recommended bar lengths.

So a quick google search came up with 13-18" for yours.

I went to the Husky site and downloaded one of the manuals for a 345, but I don't know what year yours is. Under Technical Data it lists 13-18"

Sounds like 18 is ok, don't do 20.

Watcha cutting? I do trail maintenance and I've never needed more than 14.

Wayne D.

=A0Can I just change that to an 18" or 20"?

I looked into a 20" bar for my Husky 350 and found that I'd have to change the drive sprocket from 0.325" pitch to 3/8", to match the tip sprocket. 18" was the longest bar listed at the time for 0.325" pitch.

Several small engine repairmen have warned me not to increase the bar length.

Recently a pro logger showed me how to cut a 2'+ tree with a saw like mine. In addition to the notch and cut in from the back side he plunged the blade through the middle to cut out the center of the hinge. Then he dropped the tree exactly where he wanted, by knocking it over with his skidder.

jsw

This is risky. I've been logging in Michigan's U.P. for a lot of years. Just cut your notch in the front, cut your center cut an inch or so above the middle of the notch that is in front. Looking up at the tree from the base, you can get a good idea where the lean and the weight is, and tell pretty much which way it's going to go. If you aren't sure where it's going to drop, it's best to get a rope on it maybe 10 or 12 feet up and use a come along and a pulley to put some tension on the tree. If you are starting your final cut towards the hinge and the tree seems to be leaning back towards the saw it's a good time to drive in a plastic wedge behind the saw blade. I don't know if this post makes any sense or not, I'm not the best at describing things.

The U.P. is where I do trail maintenance. I don't have to worry about any techniques for cutting down trees though, they are already down.

Wayne D.

It makes sense, that's what I have been doing. In addition to the long rope I bring some 1/8" cord and a few old chain links to throw over a high branch for better leverage. I think it's safer to tension the rope and then complete the felling cut.

jsw

I'm cutting a large white oak that slid down trees onto my metal wire fence. Normally they slam down crushing all. The fence is holding it up! The part on the fence is 18-19" in diameter. I'm glad I got through that - picked a route of flat and bulge. Nice. Powered through cutting from the bottom into a V and then doing like cuts on the top. Cut inward a little - the trunk being only brushing on a tree and on the fence.

Today I touched it with the 50 and it did a mouse flop on the ground. Phew - not on my feet - I was at arms length - wish I had a bucket...

Now I'm bucking up the trunk - might get the bottom end - county land - but it is getting big. I'll likely cut it off the fence and deal with what I have.

Hurricanes crack off trees around here every few years.

Mart> Steve B used his keyboard to write :

Ropes are used to guide or pull over - they are not strong enough to keep them from falling the wrong way. People think they can cut and pull it into a spot - but the tree is very heavy and won't wait. Constant pressure - using a far tree and tacking off to the side so as not to pull it on yourself - this will help in starting it - once started - just let go!

I use plastic wedges and a 5# sledge hammer (hand sledge) to drive it and often that pressure is enough to crack the wedge.

Mart> >>

On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:10:02 -0500, the infamous Mouse scrawled the following:

LJ, raising hand for a copy, too, Karl!

-- Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will. -- George Bernard Shaw

I see the same model offered with either a 16" or 18" bar FROM THE MANUFACTURER.

I'm soooooooooo confused.

Since you don't really have any useful information to add to the discussion, or real answers, why don't you just shut the f*ck up?

Steve