Oregon 'Pro-Lite' bars

[newforest]

I am curious about these. I have one on a saw a bit by accident. I bought a saw that comes with an 18" bar, stock, but my dealer lets me re-configure a new saw. I have always run 16", plenty of size for my work.

But the day I bought a saw in August, the only bar he had on hand to match was one of these one piece bars from Oregon. Normally I would get a replaceable tip bar.

I only started really using it this week, and it seems to have a problem - the hole for the bar oil is continually getting plugged. It looks to be twice as large as on other bars I have used.

It could also be a problem with the pump perhaps, not pushing the oil out with enough pressure?

I switched back to my other bar with a small oil port, and it seems fine.

I remember earlier in 2016 my shop was basically giving these Pro-Lite bars away - buy 2 chains, get a free bar, I think it was.

This makes me wonder if they had to be re-designed. I have never seen a hole for the oil be that large before.

 

[svk]

I have one and I've noticed it plugs up pretty quickly too. Never had it get to the point where the oil wasn't still coming out.

They don't seem to be made out of the hardest metal on the face of the earth. Mine has a touch over 20 cords through it and is already showing a decent amount of wear just before the nose.

 

[SawTroll]

The Pro-Lite bars are decent quality bars for laminated ones - but they also are quite heavy for laminated bars. They often are available with two nose sizes for the same mount, gauge, pitch and number of dl - the ones with the smaller noses are a bit lighter (and a tad longer for the stated "length").

 

[LoveStihlQuality]

I asked a member here about O prolite, he referred me to Nate @Ford150 . Got Tsumura light and tough. 6 thumbs up. Awesome to deal with!

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[SawTroll]

I asked a member here about O prolite, he referred me to Nate @Ford150 . Got Tsumura light and tough. 6 thumbs up. Awesome to deal with!

Tsumura light is among the best bars out there, possibly the very best.

 

[Chris-PA]

I have a couple in D176 mount, and I find they clog completely if I noodle with them. One of them is mostly worn out but I have learned never to use them for that purpose. It seems to be something to do with the tail design, but I don't really know.

 

[LoveStihlQuality]

Tsumura light is among the best bars out there, possibly the very best.

I bought a ragged out bent to hell rusted 36" from Maulhead. He really put one over on me[emoji3]

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[newforest]

What do you mean by 'noodle' ?

Unfortunately for my saw, I have to cut every type of wood - live, dead, small, large - not just nice clean logs all set up on a saw buck like in the chain saw catalogs.

And them sometimes to get a cut I need for a falling direction I need, I can use some unorthodox bar positions in the tangled natural growth I work in.

 

[Chris-PA]

What do you mean by 'noodle' ?

Unfortunately for my saw, I have to cut every type of wood - live, dead, small, large - not just nice clean logs all set up on a saw buck like in the chain saw catalogs.

And them sometimes to get a cut I need for a falling direction I need, I can use some unorthodox bar positions in the tangled natural growth I work in.

Noodling is slang here for cutting along the grain as opposed to cross cutting. When logs have knots or grain that is too twisted to split properly I will use the saw to cut them into blocks. It makes long wood strips that look like noodles rather than chips.

 

[newforest]

Ahh, thanks. Cutting steep open faced notches is partially cutting against the grain, definitely more work for the saw than straight across the grain, as on felling cuts.

I find those tall notches only make sawdust, mostly.

I get the best noodles right after sharpening, from cutting across grain, and in some species of wood more than others. Red Maple makes long ones but not Oak.

 

[Chris-PA]

I find that the longer strips and larger chips get pulled into the bar groove by the drivers at the top back end of the bar, and packed into the oil hole to bar groove notch. In normal cross cutting I don't see that. I have other bars I use on the same saws that don't do that. I do not remember who I was discussing this with some time ago, but I was not the only one to observe that with the Oregon bars.

 

[maulhead]

I bought a ragged out bent to hell rusted 36" from Maulhead. He really put one over on me[emoji3] View attachment 550912

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

Your going to have to let some of these past transgressions go soon.

They are just going to bring you down, if you keep dwelling on them....

 

[newforest]

Thanks. I think the larger hole makes it easier for debris to catch in there, until there is too much of it.

Though whenever I flip a bar every few days I always clean out the hole on the new side, I can't remember ever having the active side plug up completely.

Normally I have used the Husqy bar that came with the saw, and then Oregon 'Pro' bars.

 

[SawTroll]

I find that the longer strips and larger chips get pulled into the bar groove by the drivers at the top back end of the bar, and packed into the oil hole to bar groove notch. In normal cross cutting I don't see that. I have other bars I use on the same saws that don't do that. I do not remember who I was discussing this with some time ago, but I was not the only one to observe that with the Oregon bars.

That's something that I never have seen with any of my bars, including Oregon ones - but then I don't use the D176 mount or the saws designed for it.

 

[SawTroll]

Ahh, thanks. Cutting steep open faced notches is partially cutting against the grain, definitely more work for the saw than straight across the grain, as on felling cuts.

I find those tall notches only make sawdust, mostly.

..... .

Not a big surprise really, as such steep cuts are approaching ripping (cutting from the end of the log). It is one of the reasons that I avoid such open notches when I can - which is most of the time.

 

[Chris-PA]

That's something that I never have seen with any of my bars, including Oregon ones - but then I don't use the D176 mount or the saws designed for it.

It may well depend on the mount style, as it seems to be something to do with the tail and the oil hole shapes.

 

[SawTroll]

It may well depend on the mount style, as it seems to be something to do with the tail and the oil hole shapes.

I just fail to see any other possibilities...

 

[Franny K]

Pro-Lite means only SL and GL code? Things change over time. I have a pro lite hard nose small bar.

The size of the hole certainly varies in the chainsaw bar industry. Many just oil from the unused adjuster. Some bars have a rather small hole that kind of angles forward.

Is a chainsaw oil pump going to actually stop pumping or is the oil going to squeeze out somewhere not intended? I have not plugged up that solid.

If it really bothers you fill the slot behind the oil input spot with putty type epoxy and scrape it out partially cured with the drive links. That most likely will help.