New Saw Day on Sat...

I'm 6'1".

 

Both my top handles have 12" bars. Came with them. I do have a 14" on my 201 rear handle i could swap out if i wanted. Very agile in a tangle or limbing.

Go with 16". You can cut a lot of wood with that size. Up until four years ago i never ran a saw with a longer bar.

 

This ^^^^^

I can’t believe I am in the same camp as this Husky loving, Elm hating fella but he makes good points.

I run 3/8” x 16” on my 261, I swapped everything over to 3/8” x .05” for the same reason: simplicity; except the 36” chains they are .063”. I don’t have any problems with the 3/8”, if a fella gets too ham fisted then it can be a problem.

System you have a 20” bar on your other saw no reason to run an 18” on the 261” just leave the 16” on in for agility then if needed you can pull out the 500i & it won’t feel left out or be lonely.

 

I put an 18" on my ported 261. It'll pull an 18" just fine. I like it.

 

.325 is for girls

 

Trade the echo... and never lend a saw out!

 

I gotta agree here too, I run two 026's one ported & one stock. 3/8 .050 gauge 16". Keeps sharpening pretty standard & those saws do a lot of cutting. Light & fast. I've got a .325 set up laying around somewhere that I've never used. 261C-M is plenty of saw to pull a 16" 3/8 setup really well.

 

Change to 3/8s it comes with a floating rim clutch drum. Or at least my 260s all did. I think I had an 026 also. And it did.
Why only a 16" bar ? Not that there's anything wrong with a 16 . I run a 16 on my little 251s . But my 193T also has a 16" which is ok. It gives me a bit more reach for when I climb with it. But it's not made to have that length bar filled. The 260s do well with a 20" bar. I have a 20" on my 271. And it does ok. The 260 is a more powerful saw than the 271.
I pre commercial tree thinned with many saws over the years. My last contract all I ran was 260s . With 20" .

 

Why in the world would you put a 7 tooth 3/8 sprocket on a 395 ??? I've fell and bucked several Ship loads of old growth timber with 394s . I've had and wore out 5 of them.
A 36" bar is a normal , standard bar for a 394/395. I've fell some with a 42" on my 394s. But always had my 3120 if I needed a long bar for a while . Fell lots of 6 to 7 " on the stump timber with 36 and 32" bars.
Even with a 8 tooth sprocket. The 3rd or 4th time the chain hung up putting a face in a hemlock, the sprocket would shatter or the chain would get ripped in half.
Some guys I cut with ran 8 tooth 404 on their juiced 394s and 5s with 36" bars and full comp , chisel ground chains.
And I know that a friend fell limbed and bucked 105,000 board feet scribner woods scale one 7 hour day with one of his 394s with that combo.
A 394/395 is a Boss Hoss !
It really doesn't take a back seat to any saw in the woods.
The over 100 cc saws don't get packed around all day . They are for getting big wood off the stump and taking the butt log or 2 off.

Anyway. I don't mean to be rude. But a 7 tooth 3/8 sprocket is far too whimpy for a 395.

 

I've never run a 7 tooth sprocket on any of my 460s and most of them were stock. My normal bar length on them was 32" running semi skip chisel chisel.
They cut Great.

 

Totally disagree !

 

I'll be the odd guy out (normal?). I like the 18" on my 261. Hoping I get it back soon.

 

Maybe I put it in my hands both ways tomorrow (16 and 18) and see if one feels different from the other...

 

I wonder if my shop will have those two to demo?

 

I really don't think you will notice very much diff between 16 and 18. Only reason I have 18 on mine is I have plenty of bars and chains from my 026's.

 

I meant the girls...

 

If so, I may change saw shops.