Husqvarna 339XP/338XP or eqivalent in 10lb or less

[HolmenTree]

Now Willard  this nose heavy business on a 200T ,just who is BS-ing who now . I've ran them with a light weight 12" with micro .043  ,with a standard 14" and with a 16" .None are what I would consider nose heavy . Now a 48" on a Mac 125 is nose heavy  in case anybody wants to know but that's another subject all together . 8)

Al you have to back up a few of my posts to understand what I was talking about a nose heavy bar. I shortened a old style Homelite narrow tail 16"Windsor Speed Tip bar with the heavy duty STA nose to 14" and ran it on my MS200 with the picco chain. On a little 7- 1/2 lb saw 50 feet up in a tree it was nose heavy when I was doing precision pruning cuts. The large radius nose was also too clumsy doing those cuts. Now a little laminated 14" mini bar is a different story.
I'm real happy with my new lightweight Windsor Mini- Pro bars at 16".,
Willard.

[Al_Smith]

Well okay but know my question would be why in the world would one adapt an odd bar for a saw where one could be purchased that would do the job better ???

Now don't get me wrong because I've adapted a lot of bars .For example a large mount 084 sized Stihl to a 2100 Homelite .The simple fact is it's next to impossible to find a sprocket nose bar for that big old saw which is vintage late 60's early 70's  so I had no choice .

[SawTroll]

Well, Cannon sure offer a lot of unusual bar designs, but they are a bit expensive..... ;D

[Kevin]

The only reason I wouldn't buy a 338 is due to the air cleaner being in front.

[SawTroll]

The only reason I wouldn't buy a 338 is due to the air cleaner being in front.

Yes, not a very good design in that regard - but not really a problem. The filter just have to be cleaned a bit more often than on the larger Huskys.

I guess the reason for it is weight distribution.

[Al_Smith]

    Hey Al I see your name on many other sites too. Heck maybe you use another name "down under". ;)
Willard.

Well I won't get into it but let's just say I can go any place on the internet I choose to ,just some places I choose not to . ;)

[Al_Smith]

Now to the subject,whatever it is or was .According to a few folks ,they say a 338 is a pretty good saw . I wouldn't know because I've never seen or ran one . The 335 was not so good . I think this has tarnished Husqvarnas image with regards to small arborist type saws .

Like it or not the Stihl 200T has became the standard by which all the others are compaired to just like the 066 was the standard of 100 or so cc saws .Just the way it is .

[SawTroll]

Now to the subject,whatever it is or was .According to a few folks ,they say a 338 is a pretty good saw . I wouldn't know because I've never seen or ran one . The 335 was not so good . I think this has tarnished Husqvarnas image with regards to small arborist type saws .

Like it or not the Stihl 200T has became the standard by which all the others are compaired to just like the 066 was the standard of 100 or so cc saws .Just the way it is .

You are mostly right, but the late 338s are not like the 335s and the early 338s - a lot of people have missed that point, it is not only you..... :(

[Rocky_J]

There is a reason why the 200T is by far the most popular pro top handle saw, even at $650 a pop. Funny how all the other brands can't seem to find a market for their saws at half the price.  8)

[Al_Smith]

I did like the balance of the 335's but the rest kind of left me not so impressed .

RB praises the later 338's but as I say I've never seen one . Husqvarna in these parts sealed their fate when they pulled franchises years ago so there are none  except what Lowes and Home Depot sells . No professional is going to buy something they can't get serviced . So they sell to home owners and are perfectly happy to do so ,a buck is a buck .

[HolmenTree]

Well okay but know my question would be why in the world would one adapt an odd bar for a saw where one could be purchased that would do the job better ???

The trouble is Al sometimes you can't buy a product that is no longer available to do the job right.
Like I said before I always file my chain's cutters as small as possible to get the full use out of them. With only laminated bars available for a top handle saw your stuck with rails that spread quickly and you can't tighten them up back to where they were, with teeth filed down to the laser marks you got a sloppy on- off cutting chain.
Solid machined bars you can retighten no problem plus hammer a bend out of them too.
I lucked out a while back and found a stockpile of brand new vintage 16" Sandvik Windsor Mini Pro solid body, replaceable nosed bars.
Now a 16" is the maximum length you'd want to go on a little top handle saw, but the Mini Pros are a narrow lightweight bar about the same weight as a 16" laminated bar like Oregons Pro Lite for example.
The beauty of the Mini Pro bar is the replaceable sprocket noses for that bar come in 1/4", .325", 3/8" LO PRO and 3/8" standard. I bought 3 of each of all 4 sizes. And now that I'm thinking of it I'll order more before their all gone.
My noses were still sealed in their plastic bags and it took a little WD40 to get the 25 year old grease in them loosened up. :D
Willard.

[HolmenTree]

The only reason I wouldn't buy a 338 is due to the air cleaner being in front.

Yeah I was concerned about that too. Rumor is I heard Husqvarna did improvements on the latest 338 model's air injection. I know 3 years ago or so there was a problem.
I have run 020/ Ms200s for years and their rear mounted airfilters are always dirty, easy enough to tap the dust off with the scrench though .
Well I'll have my new 338XPT in a few days so we'll see how fast its filter gets dirty.
Willard.

[SawTroll]

On my 339xp the air filter gets dirty faster than on my other Huskys, but still not as fast as on my other saws.