Guage question from a new member

[cuttingedge]

Hello,

I am new to the Forums and would like to introduce myself. My name is Jason and I own a landscape contracting business. I currently live in NY >:( but am moving to Maine in January.  I plan on selling some firewood as a source of income when I get to Maine as I have a 100 acre wooded lot. Here is my question. I have recently purchased a new Husqvarna 346XP that came with a 16" .325 50 guage Bar. I set it up and used it for a few days for limbing some smaller trees and fell in love. So naturally knowing that they are getting harder to find I just took delivery of another 346XP as a back-up and it came set-up with a 16" .325 58 guage Bar. What do I have to change on the saw to run the .50 guage chain? Just the bar or do I have to change the sprocket too?

Thanks,

Jason

[Joe Kidd]

Just the bar. Both chains are the same pitch. The .058 just has thicker drive links.

[cuttingedge]

Thank you Sir

[thecfarm]

cuttingedge,welcome to the forum. What town in Maine are you moving too?

[cuttingedge]

cuttingedge,welcome to the forum. What town in Maine are you moving too?

Thank You for the Welcome.
We are moving outside of the town of Bucksport. We actually just got back from moving a bunch of our stuff up in a 26' Uhaul truck. That was not a fun ride. But at least I got one of my splitters and my ATV up there so I was able to do some splitting of downed wood on my vacation/ move ;D Moving in January should be fun as we have one more 26' truck of stuff to go and then I need to bring up my pick-up and dump truck with all of my equipment. I am very exited to move and really enjoy the area.

[Joe Kidd]

I didn't realize until recently that Maine was so timber rich. One of the largest in the states I understand.

[thecfarm]

Maybe timber rich but we don't have the walnut,cherry,pecan and sweetgum either. I have about 170 acres,150 woods that I play on. I did have ALOT of big white pine. Still have ALOT of small white pine. Waiting for it to get big. I do have alot of hard wood,red oak and maple. Some white birch and a little yellow. Up North,as I say,is really where the wood is.

[cuttingedge]

Maybe timber rich but we don't have the walnut,cherry,pecan and sweetgum either. I have about 170 acres,150 woods that I play on. I did have ALOT of big white pine. Still have ALOT of small white pine. Waiting for it to get big. I do have alot of hard wood,red oak and maple. Some white birch and a little yellow. Up North,as I say,is really where the wood is.

We have a lot of the same. I will miss the Cherry as I use it to smoke meat. We do have an abundance of Red oak/ Ash/ Maple/ White Birch on the property as well as a ton of White pine and Douglas Fir. Do you happen to know of any loggers in the area that deliver tree length green wood? approximately what can I expect to pay for a load or per cord?

Thanks

[old guy]

If your older .50 bar has a lot of time on it you might try the .58 chain on it, usually .58 fits quite well in a worn .50 bar

  John

[AdkStihl]

I'd personally stick with the .058"
But to each is own

[sharkey]

I agree with Adk Stihl.  Why dont you wear out that bar and chain and then swap it out?

[mad murdock]

Welcome to the Forestry forum cuttingedge!  The low profile chain is some nice stuff, IMO.  I have started using it on my bigger saws, as it does allow a saw to cut and does not take the power of a bigger chain. Growing up in the Northern Great Lakes Region, I thought that the Lake states and the northern tier states to the east were all timber rich, until I got to the PNW, Alaska, Washington and Oregon.  Really not much of a comparison, IMO.  The bd ft density per acre of the tree growing ground out here is CRAZY!! 

[Philbert]

+1 on just changing the bar.

You might want to check around where you live, or where you buy your stuff from, and find out which chain is more available.  Around here, you can find the .325, .050 gauge chain even in the hardware stores and home centers. The .058 chain is harder to locate - usually have to go to a Husky dealer.

If the bar and chain from the second saw are still new, you might post them on CraigsList, or even find a dealer who will give you some credit on them towards a bar and chain that matches your other saw.

Philbert

[thecfarm]

cuttingedge,I think $100 a cord. I really don't know of any loggers that do that. But many do,I bet. The guy that cuts on mine land cuts for the paper mills,so he has to fill them contracts.