Can anyone explain the difference between the two different bars? I understand the green "low kick-back" concept with the safety chains but what about the bars?
I now about the yellow and green chain but haven't heard of yellow or green bars the bar on my 290 is all white with no color on it .the green chain is low kick back and the yellow chain ia way more agresesive with no kick back protection.
It has a narrower tip. The E bar (non replaceable tip) is normally considered Green and ES and ES Light (replaceable tip) are yellow. All 3 of these 16" bars are Green (E) And all of these are yellow..
damm I guess I learned something new that's why fHC rocks. I'll check my bar tomorrow to see what color it is .thanks fellas
Dex is right. The yellow bars look cooler to be there fatter at the tip and have a larger diameter end sprocket which increases the area kick back can occur on. The green have a narrow diameter tip so therefore less area on the tip to contact wood for kickback to occur, this making it " safer". Your (not meaning any member here just a generalized statement) farm boss comes with green tip bars.
ES bars are heavier and more "heavy duty" with replaceable tips like Dexter says....the E bars are less expensive laminated bars.
But dont get it wrong the green bars are still pretty durable. If you keep your bar groove clean so it can oil, use quality oil and a sharp chain there is no reason a bar won't last years. I am 10 years on a green tip bar. It did not cut much wood its first 5 years or so of life but was abused those years with duller than should of been chains. I pit a lot of wear on it those years!! It still has many more left in it though.
Just to add to the confusion there were two versions of the yellow ES bars, a std and a Wide-nose. Green label bars are laminated construction and the yellows are solid.
Dex is the only person I know who can cut 10 cords with even a cheap bar with little more than a small paint chip. And that was probably from a factory imperfection. The only bare shiny metal on his bars is the rails!
Then there's hardnose bars too. I read up on those a little last night. Those are good for dirty wood cutting, but I think they have more downside for most types of cutting. They are expensive too from what I saw.
Hard nose take more power to spin the chain around than roller nose. Or should I say you loose more power running a hard nose.
That's what I figured. No sprocket, is more wasted power. It's just hardened. One came up on craigslist, but the lack of a sprocket, and me needing more power makes me not want that. I've only got an 029 super.
Stihl puts green bars and low-kickback (safety) chain, also with a green link, on all of their "homeowner" grade saws. That's somewhat of a generalization, but I owned an 025 and a MS390 and both came with Rollomatic E bars and low-kickback chain. Neither chain ever got used but I kept the bars. They're not bad. Current saws both equipped with Oregon bars and chain. I don't cut professionally so that's my best "bang for the buck".
There's nothing wrong with the Rollomatic E bars. I actually prefer them on my saws 60cc and smaller. The bar is lighter than an ES, and generally, I don't need the extra strength in a shorter bar. Some people can make an argument for the tips being replaceable on the ES bars. Well, I got used saw and the tip was shot on the 20" ES bar that came with it. I thought I'd take it to the saw shop to get a new tip and all would be good. Long story short, the cost to replace the tip was about the same cost as buying a whole new bar.
