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bar size question

Started by woodsrunner, November 30, 2008, 04:11:35 PM

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woodsrunner

Hi guys,
I'm thinking of doing some chainsaw milling and wondered what bar size you folks think would be maximum for a 395xp Husky. The wood would be hardwoods (red oak, white oak, chestnut oak, walnut, cherry, poplar). I sold some timber this spring and the stuff I would be milling would be the cut offs from the butt logs. Some of those butts are in the 48 inch diameter range and are too nice to let go to waste or get busted up for firewood. I have a 385xp and could easily trade up to a 395 for not much money. I don't really want to go with a 3120 unless absolutely necessary, because I want to use the saw for other chores as well. Let me know what you think.

Woodsrunner

Rocky_J

IMO a 36" bar is about as big as you'd want to go on a stock 395XP. You can go bigger but performance will suffer. I run a 32" with skip chain on mine.

If you want to go with a 48" bar then a 3120 is your better choice. But you'll want another saw for your daily woodcutting activities because the 3120 gets heavy real quick.

woodsrunner


Al_Smith

 48" is a lot of wood to rip with a chainsaw . You might think about squaring the log and cutting cants then proceed further .

Kevin

Cant cutting is what I prefer, the chain is entering fresh wood and stays sharp longer.
If using an Alaskan, the bar will cut about 4" shorter than the mill, so a 24" mill will cut a 20" cant.

rebocardo

I was on a mission for a 48" bar to cut wide slabs a few years ago, but, I gave it up for three good reasons.

1) bar and price for six chains would be more then I pay for most cars  :D

2) rolling around 48" x 120" white oak logs is no small task, been there done that. Of course, I didn't own a Logrite peavey at the time either  ;)

3) no way to move a 48"w x 3"T x 120"L white oak slab without a lot of help or equipment such as a Bobcat. I did some 16" slabs like that myself and I had a hard time just moving them off the log, even with the wedges stuck in there to keep the kerf open.

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