I have a Stihl 362 M with a 25 in bar. A friend said that I should replace the 7 tooth sprocket with an 8 tooth to get better performance. I have little experience with different methods of getting more performance out of chainsaws. To me, it would seem that a larger sprocket would translate to higher chain speeds but less power for full bar cuts. I use this saw for some of the larger Doug Fir trees that we encounter. Would a larger sprocket help or hinder on larger logs? Or does a larger sprocket do something else that I am missing entirely? Thanks for any help.
You're right, it's an upshift essentially. If you are using it for full-bar cuts, I'd stay 7 for sure. If you aren't running against the rev-limiter, an 8 pin sprocket is unlikely to help performance. There are some saws, especially if they are wearing .325" pitch chain, that do pick up a little performance from a 7-8 pin sprocket swap. But that's unlikely to be the case with a USA-spec 362 which is likely to be wearing 3/8" chain.
It will do just what you think, by increasing chain speed. Imagine on a 10 speed bike changing to a higher gear to go up hill. For juiced up saws (ported), they have the extra grunt to spin the chain faster, and keep that speed up in the cut. If you want to run a shorter bar on a larger cc saw, a+1 size pin is very effective. For a stock 60cc, you may not want to try it on a 24"+ bar. Yes, you could take less off the depth gauges... Bit of personal preference here too. The rim size will not change the engine performance one bit. A muffler mod certainly will, and a timing advance. Those 2 can be done easily. The rims themselves are not terribly expensive, so the best advice I could give is to buy one and try it our for yourself. If you don't like it, switch back to a 7.
I would keep the 7 tooth sprocket on the saw. I think it will bog down with a 8 tooth and then you gain nothing especially with a 25" bar.
Thanks for all the responses. They confirm what I had been thinking. I will leave things as they are!
I used to run an 8 pin on my 362. I could get better performance by improving my sharpening skills and keeping the 7 pin on. Now on my ported 288. It’s an 8 pin on a 24” bar. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
BTDT, complete fail on a 362. Then I got the saw ported & put an 18" set up on it, it does well with that, but by taking the rakers to .028 & running the throttle pinned it's a better saw with the 7 pin. Only saw I run an 8 pin on is my 064 with a 20" setup. It's a relatively low rpm saw with a good amount of grunt, it does good with that combo.
If I was feeling particularly ornery towards a smaller tree, the ported 441 with a 20" setup and 8 pin was a blast. I'm not sure a forestry mulcher would have dispatched 16-18" trees faster. It really had to be in just the right conditions though. 90% of the time, the 261 was just as fast or faster through the limbs, lighter to boot, and I'd be too lazy to swap the 28" and 7 pin off the 441 anyways.
