Sprocket Vs Hard nose

[woodburn]

Hello and thankyou all for this newsgroup

Have been lurking this group for some time and I hoped that some one would give me some ideas as to the advantages - disadvantages of Hard nosed bars versus Sprocket nosed bars.

I have a new Stihl ms290, which came with an 18 inch” sprocket nosed bar. I have also adapted a 20 inch” hard nosed bar from my old Homelite 330 (broken crankshaft after 22 years).

I usually cut dry firewood and found that the 20” on the Homelite was the most suitable mainly as it will hold its cutting edge (more teeth) for a full tank of fuel. Sprocket nosed bars I have had in the past have all been difficult to keep straight and so with advice from a local salesman tried the Hard nosed bar and I haven’t looked back since.

Bye now
Keith McPherson

[Kevin]

Hello  Keith and welcome.
Solid -nose bars are generally for cutting in dirty conditions.

[SasquatchMan]

What do you mean "keep straight"?  What kind of wood are you cutting that one tank of gas dulls things so noticeably?  I have a very similar setup and have had no trouble at all with the sprocket tip, and in fact think it's a great leap from the hard tip on my other saw (which admittedly is a POS).

[woodburn]

Thanks Kevin that is probaly why I am getting on better with the Hard nose Bar.
SasquatchMan I usually cut Limbs and trees that have fallen (naturaly) at least 2 years prior to me cutting them so that thet can go straight into a wood heater. To add a little more grit (dust) from our naturaly dry summers much of my wood comes from flood prone areas. Sometimes the timber has been dead for a considerable time say 20 years.
Trees around here are River Red Gum, Grey Box, (eucalyptus) and Buloke (casuarinaceae).
I know what I am doing is far from ideal for cutting but lifes like that.
Keith

[SasquatchMan]

Reason I asked, woodburn, is that I cut standing dead out in the forest, and I do a bit of demolition with my saw, and haven't found the sprocket any kind of problem.  But you are cutting much denser woods than I am.  I hardly ever have to sharpen - just touch up here and there.  My biggest problem is sap - some of the trees just seem to spurt the stuff.  Makes for a hell of a sticky saw.  My 290 is speckled with black now... kind of looks like a leopard.

[Lucky]

Hi there Woodburn.   I cut some cured wood too.  I know how tough it can be too keep things sharp.  Are you using semi chisel chain?

When you say, "difficult to keep straight"  are you refering to a laminated sprocketnose bar?   A bar with solid contruction will be less likely to bend whether it's a hardnose or a sprocketnose.   The advantage to a sprocket nose bar is less friction.

Is your oiler turned up?   Hope this helps.  John

[SasquatchMan]

Yeah that's worth mentioning on the ms290... crank the oiler all the way up so it's just barely functioning!
 Woodburn, how often do you clean your air filter on that saw?  I find mine gets really dirty right away, but seems not to affect the saw very much... I used to clean it all the time, now I hardly ever do.

[sawguy21]

A worn hard tip can be built up and reground on a Barshop but that is the only advantage.I see. I would much rather have the safety of a tighter chain and the bar lasts a lot longer if it is properly maintained. There is a reason the H.T. is almost extinct.

[Minnesota_boy]

I've found that I throw the chain off the bar less on a hard tip when cutting underbrush around the tree I'm about to fall, but the reduced drag of the sprocket tip outweighs the advantage of the hard tip for almost all other cutting.  I can cut with top or bottom of the bar with about equal HP to the chain with the sprocket tip.

[woodburn]

 The last sprocket nosed bar I had on the Homelite was a laminated one so that could of also been my problem.
I have not done enough work with my new saw to give any valued judgement of how it will perform longterm but it is cutting very well now after the intial run in period, it was very tight for the first hour.But given time I may well conclude that the sprocket nosed bar is the way to go.
Not much sap in the timber that I cut although I had some Green Sugar Gum the other day and it caused some build up on the chain.
As to the air cleaner I clean it every 3 tankf fulls but I think it could go a lot longer. I guess I am servicing it like my old saw needed.

[SasquatchMan]

That saw should work pretty well for you.  Opinions are definitely split on that series of saw, but the consensus seems to be that it's pretty reliable for the non-pro cutter.
I've had mine a year now, and cut piles of wood with it, and it's worked well on hot days and reasonably well in very cold weather as well (I suspect the air density at -10C makes the thing a bit lean...).