Looking for the best 20” bar out there. I’ve been using the husqvarna farm tough bars and they wear out to quickly. Tried an Oregon bar and wasn’t overly impressed with it. Wasn’t a true 20” bar. What else do you guys use???
I think Stihl Rollomatic ES is high quality. Had bad luck with an Oregon Versacut bar recently. Also, same with a small Husky bar.
Husqvarna = Oregon. I like the Sugihara a lot. Wear is excellent, the Japanese steel is very good! Yes, they're a bit more but worth it in the long run. Tsumura is very similar, I like them both. Stay away from these. They're cheap chinese and don't last long.
I have never used the Sugi’s but as The Wood Wolverine & others have said the seem to be good bars. I have several Tsumura bars & like them as well my GB bars also. GB Chainsaw Bars 3/8
Those GB bars are on sale for less than 1/2 of a stihl es! A fella might want to stock up on those prices. I have a 20” GB that I haven’t used because I have so many 20” Stihl bars. I’m going back to look at these GB bars. Going to need some 16,18,24,28,32
Stihl, Cannon, Tsumara, or SugiHara. That's your best bets. Also, IMO, stay away from laminated bars, go with a solid bar/replaceable tip. That's harder to do with smaller bars used on climbing gear saws, but good bars are out there, and yes, they cost more, but you will see the difference in wear performance. And make sure your saw is oiling good. Keep those oil holes and rails cleaned regularly.
Biggest problem I’ve been having is the left rail is wearing out a lot faster than the right. Purchased a bar dresser and tried to even it up some but couldn’t tell that it really did a lot. Saw seems to be oiling as it should. Every fuel fill up or chain change I always check the oiler holes to make sure they are clean and clear.
I have sugihara on almost every one of my saws. Pricey, yes, but seem to be holding up well. Not enough experience with anything else to comment about. Except the factory bar that came on my Husqvarna 345, finally wore it out about 2 years before I joined up with you fine people
I have over 20 mostly 24" tsumura many since the 80s they are still my favorite. I've had good life out of Stihl and Windsor. Of course canon and sugihara are considered the premium bars But I'm too cheap for those.
That sounds like you could potentially be sharpening one side of the chain more aggressively. How do you sharpen? Either that or the way you are handling the saw. It's not normal to wear one side a lot faster. Might want to put some miles on one before going crazy. I've had one and while they are better than the Oregon/Husky I've had, they are no where near the Tsumura/Sugi. The old adage applies, you get what you pay for. IMO quality is better than quantity.
I’ve got a Chicago electric chain sharpener. From what I can tell both sides of the chain sharpen evenly.
How about raker maintenance? The progressive style guides/gauges keep each tooth taking the same amount no matter if one tooth is the whole way back to the witness mark and the next is brand new. Those kinds that ride on top don’t. You simply lay it on the chain like this and file even.
I've been pretty impressed with tsumura bars. Although I keep telling myself I need a cannon duralite.
Cannons maintain their rails etc better than anything else I have ran. Regular ones aren’t light or cheap but if you cut a lot of wood…
