Is there any advantage to using .63 over.50 3/8. I was looking for a 28” tsumara bar for a 661, but everything I found was .63, so I’m wondering why. There is a Sughi bar available in .50. I love Stihl light bars, but not the price. Has anyone used Sughi, Tsumara and Stihl light? Does one feel lighter than others? My buddy says .63 moves more oil. Is that fact or fiction? I’ve always used .50 Baileys has the 28” Stihl light at 197.99
I had heard that 063 didn't stretch as much as 050. I don't know. After we had the XS362 done, I got a Tsumara 28" light, 063 gauge, and 3 chains, almost new for $150. It had been used for testing mod work on a saw. It is lighter, balances well. When we got the MS461, got it with 32" 050 Stihl regular bar. Haven't noticed any difference much in stretching. I run mostly .050 gauge, myself.
Meh, probably no significant performance difference, especially for us amateurs. I've run both and never noticed a difference. I think one deciding factor for some people is what's most available locally. Apparently 0.050 in the East and 0.063 in the West, but with the internets now that is less important.
Some say .063 carries oil further down the bar. Some have tried both and see no difference. Sugi is a good bar that will last forever, but they aren’t very lightweight. I’d try the Tsumura
Found an old AS redbull660 thread of a detailed bar comparison that included different opinions on gauge. Talked to my buddy some more about it and his thinking is more power should also have thicker drivers. The 661 I just got has a 25” Forester bar and xring chain. I cut elm yesterday and it jammed up the bar sprocket with chips so bad I had to pull the bar and chain. That turned me off to both brands. I’m going to go check the chain gauge on that setup. It’s .50
I have .63 and .50 gauge bars for my Husqvarna saws, I have noticed no real difference in performance. Here where I live the stihls chain in .63 seems to be more popular. In my opinion the 90cc and up saws need .404 on them.
I’m glad you brought this subject up. One thing that I have been wondering about is, does chain gauge make a difference on the drive sprocket end. Will the same sprocket handle them all? .050 .058 & .063? I have Sugi bars on most of my saws. Really like the way they work and look. All are.050ga except the one that I just ordered last night from HLSupply’s year end sale. It is a 32” .063 x 3/8 for my 181. So I’ll be finding out if I can see any difference soon.
It seems like somewhere I read that .063 chain is better at not getting thrown off the bar if you happen to get in a bind with a slightly loose chain, vs. the .050. I don't know if there is anything to it. I run .050 on a 24" bar on my 362, and also my Jonesred 2255 with the 20" bar and I have thrown chains off of both of those saws, but it was my fault, anyway. I recently bought a Tsumura 24" lightweight bar for my 362 and it's .050 gauge. I have not thrown a chain on it. That bar works really good so far and balances out the saw very well. It's amazing what going to a lightweight bar can do to change the handling characteristics of a saw vs the solid steel bar, when the bars run longer then 20". I am glad I stayed with .050 on this bar, because I have a lot more choices on available chain locally. And I already had several .050 chains so I needed to stay with .050, anyway. A little later I bought a Tsumura 28" lightweight bar for my 462 and in the 28" I found the best deal and availability in the .063 gauge. It has worked fine also, but my local Stihl dealer didn't have much choice in chain. They only had full chisel, full comp chain available for it or square ground, and I am not ready to get into square chain right now, so I went full comp, but I have some Oregon Skip tooth coming from Bailey's in both full chisel and semi-chisel, just to see how they do. The Tsumura lightweight bars seem to be good bars, however, I don't have enough time on either one to really know how they hold up, but I really like them so far.
Thanks, didn’t figure it did as I’d never seen anything about it. But you know, seemed like a rookie question that I didn’t want to ask
No worries, I’ve used .50 Stihl for 25yrs and just started asking the same question. It’s just that I had already asked someone else earlier today.
I run a couple sumi bars on a couple bigger saws in .063. I see no real difference in the gauge performance, but I love the .404 chain. Tsumara bars have held up really well, & I ain't afraid to use em.
63 gauge is a fair amount stronger than 50 gauge. If your going to run a 28"on a 661. You want a strong chain. Tho the 066-661 isn't the chain and sprocket shredder that the 395 Husky is. It will still snap a chain if it hangs up several times. I've snapped several 63 gauge chains with my 460 Stihls. .
Cutting stuff like elm you need to keep your rpm up. When you come out of a cut b blip the trigger a few times to clean out the bar groove /tip and chain. In the early 70 s when hard nose bars were still very common. At least in central Maine. It was even more important. And roller noses were a real challenge with clogging up too. Can't just dog and Hog . Finesse is your friend.
In fact, I think redbull is who I got the Tsumura bar from. It was used on some testing Tree Monkey was doing on a saw.
For what its worth...I run .050 chain on my alcohol race saws that put out a lot more power than a stock saw and haven't had an issue. I would just pick one and go with it....all my 3/8 bars are .050 and .404 jumps to .063.
Good advice. I always do this on big wood, especially if I have the bar buried in a big round. Give the motor a couple refs. You’ll be amazed at how much comes off the bar before your next cut
Yup. And it gives it a bit of bar oil which cools things a bit and slicks things up. Drives me nuts when I see someone finish a cut and set the saw down without cleaning out the bar groove/chain and clutch cover by blippin the throttle a few times. I always let it get wfo / full no load rpm at least once between bucks.
