Tree + House = Treehouse

[Ductape]

I'm headed down to my friends house this weekend to help him finish cutting up this maple. He is giving me all the big stuff as he is a nancy-boy and doesn't want to bother with all the work in cutting and splitting the big stuff.

My question : How long a bar/chain can i run on a stock 372, and still have it perform reasonably well? Only on occaision... this will only be a few times a year. I can get most any chain locally.... i was thinking along the lines of a 36" bar, full skip, or half skip chain. I don't recall exactly what the diameter of the tree is, its been since last fall that i was there.... but i'm thinking better than four feet at its widest.

Suggestions?

 

[troutfisher]

I use a 28" on mine quite a bit. That's hardwood your dealing with, don't be afraid to use skip chain and stay away from the really big bars.

 

[computeruser]

28" with skip would be about all I'd want to ask of a stock 372 in hardwood.

 

[BC_Logger]

is it still on the house if yes cut what you can and crane the rest off

on a 372 I wouldn't go any bigger than a 28 with full skip and be care full on your cuts

 

[Ductape]

Long since off the house.... happened last summer. Storm rolled through in about twenty minutes, this was the result.

FWIW ...... This was a sunday afternoon. He called Boisvert Brothers Tree Service, Manchester, N.H. ....... they were at his house within an hour ! Now thats service !!

 

[SawTroll]

28" with skip would be about all I'd want to ask of a stock 372 in hardwood.

is it still on the house if yes cut what you can and crane the rest off

on a 372 I wouldn't go any bigger than a 28 with full skip and be care full on your cuts

Agree, 24", feels like it is about enough, with full comp - but it is really up to the user, and his expectations......:help:

 

[zzrjohn]

longest bar

Groover,

I'm assuming your question is addressed to me. I have a 372xp, you mentioned a 272xp (typo?). In any case, I like the 372 a lot. I normally run a 24" bar on it, preferably with full comp semi-chisel (Bailey's SC or Oregon DP). I also have a 20" bar and a 32" Oregon Power Match bars. The 24 balances perfectly, but the 32" is a little bar heavy. If you go with a 28", consider a reduced weight bar. On the few occasions that I run the 32" bar I run full skip semi-chisel. I've raised the wrath of some for this preference, but it cuts faster on my saw, cuts smoother, and stays sharp, much, much longer than chisel in the type of cutting I do. The following video link shows my saw running with different chain types in really tough oak with a 32" bar:

http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/...rrent=Roger070127HQHusky372xpchaintrialsD.flv

32" is on the edge for this saw in hardwood, but it makes it when I need it to. I know that chisel chain is supposed to outperform semi-chisel, but for some reason it doesn't on my saw. Chisel chain tends to "bite" into the wood too much and gets it in a bind. I've read others having the same issue with this particular saw.

It is an extremely smooth running saw, but it takes about 15 tanks of fuel to loosen up. I also did a muffler mod which helped quite a bit. Magic started happening after the 10th tank and I feel like power went up about 20%, allowing me to pull the 24" bar with full comp chain and the 32" with skip. 32" is a lot of bar for this saw, it would probably be better suited for 28", but it pulls it pretty well.

20" works really well, but as you can see from my pictures, I like to run with a large set of dogs, which takes up another 1.5" of the bar length, hence the 24" works well for me. I will probably be ordering a few loops of 20" SC chain in the next few days. I'm about to retire my Eager Beaver 3.7 with a 20" bar and will use the 372 with that length more in the future when the wood is smaller.

Today I generally use my 346xp with a 16" or 20" bar when I get into lumber less than 16" in diameter. It's a few extra pounds lighter and cuts through the small stuff incredibly fast.

Feel free to look at the other video's in my Photobucket account while you are there.

hth

:greenchainsaw: