Best chainsaw bar and chain?

[future_vision]

I've got a Husky Rancher 460 and noticed that I have a bent bar. I went ahead and  ordered a replacement 24" off Amazon without reading the description. Even though it came up as the top listing for "Rancher 460 chainsaw bar" it is actually for the pro series. Unfortunately, I am passed the 30 day return. Since I am pretty sure I can't convince my wife that I need to buy a professional chainsaw to fit the bar my other option is to just buy the correct bar. The saw came with a 24" and I was going to replace with a 24" especially since I have a few good chains left. I was also going to play it safe and stick with the Husky brand. Here are my questions.

• Should I stick with Husky brand or is there a better brand. I've seen a lot of Oregon bars on pro saws.
• Do I stick with a  24" bar? I've ready I'd get more out of a 20" bar. Again, which brand?
• And for chains. What is recommended? I've got mostly pine but a decent amount of Oak, some birch, maple and beech.

[scsmith42]

I run Stihl's, but have had about equal performance from Oregon brand bars and chains.

Baileys sells Oregon as well as their house brand, and its pretty good.

[TreefarmerNN]

Make sure you match up the pitch and thickness or you will need a new sprocket as well as bar and chain. 

Oregon stuff is good.  Maybe not quite as good as Husky or Stihl but very, very close and there might be a price difference.

[barbender]

Just because it is a "pro" bar doesn't mean it won't work for your 460 rancher. You need to know some specifics.

Bars and chains can be very confusing. There are lots of different specifications, and some of them overlap but aren't cross compatible, with no real reason for the difference. I'll try and explain better.

 Your 460 runs a 3/8" pitch chain system I think (I'm not overly familiar with that model). So when you buy a bar, you need a Husky large mount (small mount would be .325 pitch) 3/8 pitch. Now in 3/8 pitch, you can have .50, .58, and .63 gauge, which is the thickness of the drive links and corresponding groove in the guide bar. You can run any of the three, but the BAR AND CHAIN have to match!

 The different gauges add a needless level of confusion to an already confusing situation IMO. 

 The drive sprocket on your saw will be set up for 3/8 chain, the gauge doesn't matter to the sprocket. I would suggest using whatever gauge is most common in your region- for me, that's. 058". 

 Anyways, as far as what I know, if the 24" bar you ordered fits a 562xp or 572xp pro saw, it should also fit your 460 farm/ranch saw as they share the same mount. 

 Husky and Oregon chain are both good, Stihl chain is harder and holds an edge longer. It is also much more expensive around here.

 

[Machinebuilder]

I also have a 460 rancher.

I have both the 24" bar and a 20" bar. I use the 24" when I need the lenghth but prefer to use the 20".

I got the 460 after i had an accident and crushed my 465. I then found out the bar mounts are different.

I buy this stuff at my local coop so I can't tell you the difference from memory. I also buy Stihl chains there when they are on sale.
I believe Baileys has a good bar ID guide.

[future_vision]

Just because it is a "pro" bar doesn't mean it won't work for your 460 rancher. You need to know some specifics.

Bars and chains can be very confusing. There are lots of different specifications, and some of them overlap but aren't cross compatible, with no real reason for the difference. I'll try and explain better.

 Your 460 runs a 3/8" pitch chain system I think (I'm not overly familiar with that model). So when you buy a bar, you need a Husky large mount (small mount would be .325 pitch) 3/8 pitch. Now in 3/8 pitch, you can have .50, .58, and .63 gauge, which is the thickness of the drive links and corresponding groove in the guide bar. You can run any of the three, but the BAR AND CHAIN have to match!

 The different gauges add a needless level of confusion to an already confusing situation IMO.

 The drive sprocket on your saw will be set up for 3/8 chain, the gauge doesn't matter to the sprocket. I would suggest using whatever gauge is most common in your region- for me, that's. 058".

 Anyways, as far as what I know, if the 24" bar you ordered fits a 562xp or 572xp pro saw, it should also fit your 460 farm/ranch saw as they share the same mount.

 Husky and Oregon chain are both good, Stihl chain is harder and holds an edge longer. It is also much more expensive around here.

 

Unfortunately, the bar doesn't fit. The tensioner hole is offset more. It's odd because if you do a bar search on Husky's site it comes up as one that should fit. Pretty bad when you can't trust the manufacturer's site.

[future_vision]

I also have a 460 rancher.

I have both the 24" bar and a 20" bar. I use the 24" when I need the lenghth but prefer to use the 20".

I got the 460 after i had an accident and crushed my 465. I then found out the bar mounts are different.

I buy this stuff at my local coop so I can't tell you the difference from memory. I also buy Stihl chains there when they are on sale.
I believe Baileys has a good bar ID guide.

Yeah. That have a basic Husky bar that is specifically for the Rancher at my local Tractor Supply. As hard as a tried I could not find an identical Husky bar that matches the one I had. The one I had had the replaceable sprocket. I'm guessing they don't make it anymore.

I am definitely interested in dropping down to a 20" bar. Problem is I've got 3-4 24" chains and don't really have the resources, at the moment, to get a 20" and chains.

[TreefarmerNN]

Any saw shop should be able to shorten your existing chains.  It's just taking out two rivets and putting one back on each chain.  If they make up chains from bulk chain, they will have a rivet spinner and rivets.

[barbender]

Hmm. That's good to know, and sorry if I'm giving bad info- I thought thought that Husky only used two different mounts. Small mount at .325 and large at 3/8". 

[John Mc]

Hmm. That's good to know, and sorry if I'm giving bad info- I thought thought that Husky only used two different mounts. Small mount at .325 and large at 3/8".

I thought the small mount and large mount bar styles were independent of the chain pitch.

I have a Husqvarna 357 XP which takes a small mount bar (Oregon K095). My Husqvarna 562XP takes a large mount bar (Oregon D009). Both run 3/8" chain.