Husky 346 XP

[eurosteve]

First of all I am new to the forum so hello to everyone.

Hi , Have had the 346 XP for the last 7 years or so and bought it with a 50 cm oregon pro lite guide bar & chain .325 with 78 teeth.

My use is a mix of felling trees on my land / garden and cutting this into firewood.

Firstly i find the chains lose sharpness in less than a day and filing is a chore on a long chain like that.
also if i have to cut with the far end of bar due to access then its slow and requires some pressure.

In prep for some work due to a tree that came down in a storm i am wondering about other bar / chain options that would offer better cutting and quicker access if shorter.

open to suggestions ? ?

just noticed Oregon do a bar called powermatch for this saw  - anybody using this combo ?

Thanks

[LeeB]

Try a 40cm bar. That is what is recomended for this saw I do believe. That is what I run on mine and it came with the saw.

[Knute]

I have a powermatch bar and it has been a good bar.

[celliott]

Welcome to the forum 

346xp should do fine with that setup. The powermatch bar is a solid milled, replaceable tip bar. Good bars, but would be more expensive. If you're not using the saw ALOT and know how to dress a bar, a regular laminated sprocket nose  bar will last you a long time. Like LeeB said, a 40cm (16") would probably work well on your 346xp also. Less teeth to sharpen, which it sounds like that's what you want.

First of all I am new to the forum so hello to everyone.

Firstly i find the chains lose sharpness in less than a day and filing is a chore on a long chain like that.
also if i have to cut with the far end of bar due to access then its slow and requires some pressure.

Thanks

If your chains are losing sharpness, maybe try to be more careful with hitting dirt, etc.
Just cutting wood, under normal conditions, a properly sharpened chain will not dull for awhile.
It is much harder to bring a dull chain back to sharp, than it is to keep a sharp chain sharp. So sharpen before the saw is dulled to the point it requires "some pressure" as you say. After a tank or two of fuel, hit each teeth with a couple filestrokes, just to touch them up and keep them sharp. It's alot quicker than bringing back a very dull chain and it will keep you cutting quicker, and easier on the saw and yourself.

[isawlogs]

 Cutting from the tip of bar is slow... you may have a burr on the lower bar rail that is slowing down the cut, file the burr off if there is some.

[John Mc]

... i find the chains lose sharpness in less than a day and filing is a chore on a long chain like that.
also if i have to cut with the far end of bar due to access then its slow and requires some pressure.

If I'm putting in a solid day of cutting, I expect to have to sharpen my chain during the course of the day (I'm cutting mainly hardwoods). Chains tend to last longer when I'm felling:  I'm not making as many cuts per hour, and the wood is up off the ground. When bucking firewood, my chains don't last as many hours: I'm making a lot more cuts per hour, and there's more chance I'll push my luck and hit the ground or I have to deal with logs that may have been dragged around and picked up some dirt.

If you are having to put pressure on the bar, odds are you have waited too long to sharpen your chain, or perhaps had some issues with how the chain was sharpened (or with the bar, as isawlogs mentioned).

I do agree with those who said a 40 CM (16" bar) is a good match for the 346XP. It will run a 50 CM bar, but to me, the balance seems better with the shorter bar, and it seems a better match for the power (at least in hardwoods).  Manufacturers seem to love to pair a chainsaw with the longest bar it will handle. Often, this is not the BEST match for the powerhead.

[SawTroll]

......

Firstly i find the chains lose sharpness in less than a day and filing is a chore on a long chain like that.

.....

That does of course have nothing to do with which saw you are using, but with how and how much you are using it.

Sharpening (or swapping chain) more than one time a day is normal though, even without abuse.

If you have an issue with sharpening chain, there isn't much anyone can do for you - but at least keep the chain out of the dirt. A long bar is more prone to occationally hitting the ground than a shorter one.

[Knute]

For me, it is almost impossible to buck wood lying on the ground without hitting dirt. I make several cuts from the top and roll the log over to complete the cut. Works for me, but others may have a better method.

[John Mc]

For me, it is almost impossible to buck wood lying on the ground without hitting dirt. I make several cuts from the top and roll the log over to complete the cut. Works for me, but others may have a better method.

If I think ahead (and the lay of the area I'm thinning allows it), I drop a tree or two perpendicular to the direction of the later trees, so they act like a bucking bench.

I do the cut and roll method sometimes as well. Another one that works (and is especially handy when a tree is too big or gnarly to roll easily) is to start the cut, then tap a wedge in once the bar gets deep enough to allow it. You can "bend" a log up out of the dirt by tapping the wedge in from above. A bit time consuming to do in every single cut, but in a few strategic places, it lets you break up that big monster into more manageable lengths.

[SawTroll]

For me, it is almost impossible to buck wood lying on the ground without hitting dirt. I make several cuts from the top and roll the log over to complete the cut. Works for me, but others may have a better method.

That is a good way to do - when you can roll it over. As long as you can do that, you shouldn't really hit the ground at all, but a longer than needed bar makes it more likely to happen anyway.

[Hitchcock Woods]

We run an 18'' bar on our 346xp.  It can handle a 20'' but cuts a little under powered compared to the 18'' bar.