How big a bar will a 441 or 460 handle?

[OneWithWood]

I have stacks of slabs laying around that are between 36" and 48" wide.  I need to cut these up into firewood size lengths.  The job would be much easier and go much quicker if I could mount a long bar on one of my Stihl saws to accomplish the task.
I have three saws to choose from, 038AV, MS441, MS460.
Has anyone used any of these with a 48" bar?  Full comp or skip tooth chain?

[leweee]

Robert.....28" is probably max. for the saws mentioned.......without smoking the clutch.
     use a 28" bar & semi-skip , or 24" & full comp........Keeps the rpm's up and the saw will cool more efficiently.
   or rent a bigger saw & bar for the job at hand. ;D

[Ed]

Stihl says 32" max for a ms460. I probably wouldn't go further than that when cutting logs.
Since you aren't cutting solid wood (you will have spaces in the slab wood pile) you should be able to go with a longer bar.
If it were me, I would add a dual port muffler cover to the saw, this will provide a noticable increase in power. (it was discussed here recently). A 36" bar shouldn't be a problem after that for what you want to do. Skip chain would be the route I would take, semi chisel cutter (Oregon 72DP). The semi chisel should cut better with the "loose" slab wood since it might not grab and pull boards around as much as a chisel chain will.
As far as going to a 42" bar...........I'm not even going to guess.

Ed

[redprospector]

I used to have an 044 that I ran a 28" on all the time (Pine & Fir), I don't have it anymore.
I have ran a 36" on a 372 once in a while.
I've never ran a 460 but my bet is that a 42" bar will be a little more than it will want to pull.
On a 42" full skip would be the only way to fly in my opinion. I think you'd be a lot happier with a 100+cc saw running a 42" bar.

Andy

[rebocardo]

How thick are the slabs? Can you use a circular saw?

Home Depot
Bosch 8-1/4" Circular Saw - 15 Amp

Model 1656

$180.00/Each

2.9 inch cutting depth.

[OneWithWood]

Rebo, I'm trying to save myself some work - not create more  :D

Ed, I have the dual port muffler on the saw now.  I may go with a 28" bar and cut from both sides or just use the 25" that is on it now and cut from both sides.  I just have to eliminate a bunch of multi flora rose behind the pile.  I need to do that anyway.

I have some time to cogitate on this.  The slabs aren't going anywhere and the heating season appears to be behind us. 

[Ed]

I have some time to cogitate on this.  The slabs aren't going anywhere and the heating season appears to be behind us. 

The slabs might not go anywhere.......but they will reproduce!  :D
Before you know it you will have twice as many!  :D

Ed

[little Bark]

Just think when your done you will have 25X more slabs then when you started 8) 8)  W/ 8X less work.

[ErikC]

   I put a 36" bar on my 044 sometimes and it cuts fine. Full skip, square or round chisel, just keep it sharp. On the 044 I would say it is all it should do. I use a 28" most of the time, it is way faster but when you need the reach....

Erik

[Danny Dimm]

I traded a 26' timber to a fellow sawmiller for his 51" bar. He was using it to trim the ends of his banded slings of rr ties.He had it on his stock 046 and he isn't the greatest filer. Worked ok for him. I've got it on my modified 066. If you can file a saw well, you won't have a problem cutting slabs with a long bar. I'd go for the 46 over the 44 though. More torque. And for sure a seven tooth sprocket.