Forester Bars

[Mack]

Never ran a Forester bar but considering. Any good?

[Patrick NC]

I've been using their bars and chains on my saws for awhile now. I like them. 

[Colonel428]

I've got a couple of their platinum bars and really like them.  I will absolutely buy others as needed.  I would recommend to steer clear of the green labeled bars (not good feedback based on the research I did) and go the platinum bars.

[Patrick NC]

I've had good luck with the green label bars. On 1 bar the oil hole wasn't big enough,  but that was a simple fix with a drill bit. I'm not a full time logger,  but they get used a good bit and I've been well satisfied with the forester products.

[PoginyHill]

How does a Forester bar compare to an Oregon or Stihl? I've used both, but can't really pick a favorite. Oregon has the greaseable nose sprocket - Stihl does not. But I can't see a difference in performance or longevity.

[barbender]

I never grease my sprockets anyways. Seemed like when I used to, then they would let go. Could've been mere coincidence🤷‍♂️

[Skeans1]

How does a Forester bar compare to an Oregon or Stihl? I've used both, but can't really pick a favorite. Oregon has the greaseable nose sprocket - Stihl does not. But I can't see a difference in performance or longevity.

I can't compare apples to apples of the Forester to Oregon or Stihl as mine are long bars, but I will say it doesn't hold up quite as well as a Cannon Superbar. With other long bars 60 plus you want the fat belly bars and the rails on Cannon bars are extremely hard.

[Spike60]

Can't lump the bars together simply by ink color. The Oregon powermatch knockoffs are pretty good bars. Same goes for similar bars of various brands, Rotary, Sabre, Archer, etc. Who knows, they may all come from the same place.

The Forrester bars with the small 3 rivet tip that are similar to the old Windsor mini-pro bars are pretty bad. Wore out very quick, even in limited homeowner use.

Don't know if they still have the knockoff of the Windsor Speed Tip bar with the 5 rivet tip, and red graphics. They were a very good bar.

The laminated bars also had green writing, but we never did that much with them, so can't say much there.

This info may be dated as I stopped doing business with Ahlborn back in 2016. EVERY order contained either mistakes and/or shipping damage. Got tired of having to correct it each time. Last time I said "I'm not walking any more of your mistakes over to the post office to send them back. If you want this junk, you can send a call tag."  That was the end of that.

[sablatnic]

I never grease my sprockets anyways. Seemed like when I used to, then they would let go. Could've been mere coincidence🤷‍♂️

The local forrester's school did some tests 30 - 35 years ago about greasing the sprockets. 
They never greased a third, greased a third once a day, and greased a third at every refueling.
Never greased and greased at every refueling lasted the same, but greased once a day would let go way sooner. They told that they believed the oil on the never greased would flush grit out from the bearing the same way the grease in the greased every refueling did. The greased once a day however would keep the grit in the bearing most of the day, as the oil or grease couldn't flush it off. 
Makes sense to me - I don't grease either!

[Guydreads]

I got one a while ago. 24" for my Jonsered 2071. It's good quality as are their chains. This one had green lettering. I sold it for more than I bought it for, because I really didn't need a 24". But yeah, they're good quality for the money. Stihl and Oregon are more expensive by far, you can get a Forester 24" with replaceable tip AND two chains for less than one Oregon 24" replaceable tip. Which will last longer? Can't give you a very good idea, but I like them. 

One thing I did notice was that the chain was very tight in the groove on the .058 bar. Hard enough that the saw's RPM's went down significantly. Like 1000 rpm less. And the chain wasn't too tight, just the bar being really tight. Also the coating on the bar is less durable than other brands, and it started fading quite quickly when put in a vise. 

All of this to say.... I would buy an Oregon. lol

[Fields]

I use a green labeled bar to cut up junk...  So far, not problems...  For the price, I can't go wrong... I am not a full time cutter, but cut a fair amount.  I'd buy another.