Lightweight bars

[sierratree]

Anyone have experience using a lightweight bar, 36". Bend or tweak easily, etc?

 

[Sport Faller]

Anyone have experience using a lightweight bar, 36". Bend or tweak easily, etc?

from most reports the Stihl or Husky LW bars are pretty good, Oregon's on the other hand have gotten some pretty crappy reviews

 

[sierratree]

thanks jake...........just trying to lighten my load.........shoulder is taking a beating. would you know the upside and pitfalls of the lw bars? that's what i'm trying to find out................get bent easily,
can't horse it around in the undercut as much, etc? i'd be running it on a dual port 460.

 

[mdavlee]

I've not had a 36" lightweight bar but have had some 32" and 28". The stihl light bars are much stiffer than the oregon. You can use them to pry out the undercut. I've got 15 hours or so on my 28" stihl light bar with no problems. I didn't have any problems with the oregons but they aren't as stiff as the stihl.

 

[Sport Faller]

thanks jake...........just trying to lighten my load.........shoulder is taking a beating. would you know the upside and pitfalls of the lw bars? that's what i'm trying to find out................get bent easily,
can't horse it around in the undercut as much, etc? i'd be running it on a dual port 460.

EDIT: booyah

http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/171561.htm

 

[MacLaren]

I've not had a 36" lightweight bar but have had some 32" and 28". The stihl light bars are much stiffer than the oregon. You can use them to pry out the undercut. I've got 15 hours or so on my 28" stihl light bar with no problems. I didn't have any problems with the oregons but they aren't as stiff as the stihl.

IMHO, those Stihl light weight bars are a thing of beauty. If you took the "Light" off the bar, you would think it's a regular ES Bar.

 

[sierratree]

K................seems like it's the Stihl, so far

 

[mdavlee]

There's also the tsumura light and tuff if you can find them. I know our canadian brothers can get them but not sure about in the states. If you don't abuse bars any of them will last. If you like to pop out the undercut with the bar so far out of the ones I tried the stihl is the toughest. I just use them cutting firewood and some trees no one wants to mess with. I don't cut timber for a living so take it for what it's worth. Treeslingr and burvol used the oregons for years in a pnw environment.

 

[MacLaren]

K................seems like it's the Stihl, so far

yup, IMHO, you cant go wrong with a Stihl Light Bar.

 

[sierratree]

thanks folks.............i rarely get to cut a green tree...........usually always remove dead, hazard trees......so the tougher the better........:msp_scared:

 

[Gologit]

I've used the Oregon RW bars. I haven't tried the Stihl light weight bars. Yet.

The Oregon is a good bar but it's not very forgiving. I didn't have very good luck with them but I think it's mostly because I tended to be too rough in the way I handled them. They won't last long if you're prone to using them to pry with and if you tend to chase the hinge and get a little pinch going they'll wind up bent into some pretty spectacular shapes. If you hang one up bucking big wood and give them any side-load at all they're toast. I have a little pile of dead Oregon RW bars in my shop...each one is a testimonial to the fact that you can't use them the same way as a regular bar.

I still have 2 regular 36" Stihl bars and a brand new Oregon to wear out before I try the Stihl lightweight. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[coastalfaller]

Tsumura's are great! Used the Oregons's and like the rest of the reviews, not as great. As mentioned, you really have to baby them, especially when using your knee to put your chain back on after throwing it!

 

[dave k]

Only ever had one light bar, Stihl ES 28" and find it almost the same as the standard ES as in stiffness and durability. I have forgot myself a couple of times and levered stuff apart but no problems. We don't get the option of light bars here as the importers just don't want to bring in anything different so I have to get gear from US or Canada hence a TSU will be arriving soon !

 

[Slamm]

I used these two Stihl Lite 28" bars for the last 2ish weeks and boy, I'm convinced that I will not likely use anything else. If production is the key, and you have any excuse to use them in a capacity where they can "make" you money ....... I really think they will. I had a lot of fun using them.
One of the bars did get these weird ripples in it, and I haven't taken any photos of it. I want the dealer to look at it. I admit that I am hard on them and use the longer bars as a club to "bat" vines and branches and such out of my way, but the ripples are there. I don't know if they are heat related or what. The rails are straight or seem to be and there isn't any apparent bends in the bar so I'm no sure how it happened. That said, if I had to throw it away at this point, I feel they were an asset, LOL, but all I have to do is grind the bumps down an go to cutting. Stihl will likely just swap the bar out and off I will go.
Modded 441's

This is typically how I fuel/oil them up and they didn't mind that at all. I even bent the tip over pretty bad on one of them and just bored a slot into the next tree and bent it back and now can't tell or remember which bar it happened to.

I can get them pretty cheap, so they are worth it to me.

I laid several trees down and had to top them all. I thought I would use a 441 with a regular 20" bar on it, because it was "easier", I switched right back to the Lite 28" bar, as it is just a pleasure to use it, much better ....... don't know if it is lighter, but is certainly balances well and feels nice on a 70cc sized saw. One of these on a 660 would simply feel like you were hold the powerhead only, LOL.

I like them,

Sam

 

[hammerlogging]

you got me thinking there.

 

[dave k]

The member that got my ES light for me, WYK, weighed the ESL 28" and a Oregon PM 24" and the 28" light was the same weight as the 24"

 

[sierratree]

well.............ordered up a 36" stihl lw with a couple of loops of square.............so i'll let you guys know, when i try it out.......it'l be on a 460 dual port...