Stihl 361 W/28" Bar?

[50:1]

Will the Stihl 361 run a 28" bar?

 

[West Texas]

Yes, after it has been 'modified' by one of the AS pro's. But the longer the bar, the slower the chain is moving for a given rpm. I am running a .325x9t sprocket and a 16" bar on my 'woods' modified 361 and it screams through the dead oak out here in West Texas. If I was going to run a 28" bar, I'd go back to a .325x7t sprocket and run a full skip chain.

 

[Diesel JD]

It will run it, but I bet you will be disappointed with how it performs. I ran one on my 390 at the beginning but it was very very slow and I was worried that I might tear it up. That being said the 361 has a few less Cu. Inches than the 390 but it has a bit more HP and it is a better designed saw. You could get away with it probably for softwood with a very sharp full skip chisel chain. But for everyday use 25" is probably the practical limit.

 

[computeruser]

And I thought that 28" was pushing it on my 7900...

Though you might be able to mount it up, doing so would not be in keeping with the big motor/small bar theory of chainsaws, which I subscribe to. I think that 20" is the practical limit for a stock or muffler-modded 361, and suspect that most who use the 361 on a regular basis will agree with me. In certain softwood situations a 24" might be workable with full-skip chain, but unless I had a reason for needing a smaller/lighter powerhead, I'd probably want a bigger motor pulling a 24" or 28" BC setup...

 

[wagonwheeler]

Will the Stihl 361 run a 28" bar?

I wouldn't keep a 28 on it, but if you absolutely had to make some cuts w/ 28" bar run the 7t w/ full skip as WestTexas said, and take your time. Watch the oiling as well - dunno if the output is sufficient for a 28" bar? That's 460 territory...

I keep an 18" on mine and have a 24" just in case I need it (w/ full skip). I'd really like to have an (operable) 440 or 460 for the 24" bar but my saw money was recently hijacked by a transfercase rebuild...:bang:

 

[Lakeside53]

They cut fine out West in softwoods with 28 inch bars, full skip chisel and 7T sprockets. More to the point, what size wood are you cutting? Performance with a 20 inch bar on 20 inch wood isn't a great deal different to a 28 inch bar in 20 inch wood. Sure there is some difference, but if the aim to to cut wood without a stopwatch, what does it matter?

And, it doesn't' "have" to be modified to use a 28 bar...

 

[Lakeside53]

But the longer the bar, the slower the chain is moving for a given rpm.

hey West, I think you may have mis-stated this.. for any given RPM, the chain moves at the same speed no matter what bar you have. One revolution of the saws moves the chain 1 sprocket full of teeth... Yes, BIGGER WOOD takes more power to cut so it's advantageous to use a 7 tooth sprocket, but only then will a chain "slow down".

 

[SawTroll]

Yes, with the same sprocket, the chain speed is directly related to the rpms. The "loading" of the saw has nothing to do with this relationship.

...but the longer bar, and other increses in the "loading", will slow down both the chain speed and the rpms, and eventually pull the saw out of its power band when the combined load is high enough.

Short bars are more fun!