Cannon or Sugihara on your top handle?

[Flex Abednego]

roached the 16" rollermatic on my 200t yesterday. thinking about buying a cannon supermini or sugihara this go around. cannons look about double the cost of a stihl supermatic. only know of the sugiharas from that vid Reg did a while ago. honestly ill probably go buy the stihl no matter what because i have work and im not into the 260 while i wait. any thoughts? anybody run a 20"?

 

[JeffGu]

I run a Cannon SuperMini 20", 7-tooth sprocket, Oregon clutch, PS3 chain, etc. on a Stihl MS-261C-MQ saw. Very fast cutting and the Cannon bars are very good. To be honest, hot saw mods aren't much of an economically efficient choice in a production environment. Buying saws that are sized right for the job you're doing is the way to go. I'm not a young guy, out there trying to make my fortune cutting trees into smaller pieces, so I'm in no hurry to get anything done. If I was, I'd probably stick with stock bars and chains, which are anti-kickback, and keep a couple of sharp spares on hand. I'd buy a bigger saw before I'd waste time and money on modding the hell out of the saw. That 261 of mine, I have to be very careful with it. The kickback potential is greater than it was before I changed stuff out. That's not really what you want if you're up in a tree or if you let less experienced people/groundies use it. Just thought I would point this out, in case you hadn't considered it. I'm actually thinking about putting the stock bar/chain back on the 261 and use that stuff on another saw that I only use on the ground.

If you're only going to change the bar, and use the stock chain, that's another matter. The Cannon bars are pricey, but they're better. Can't speak for the Sugihara bars. On the tophandle saw, the Cannon bar will run true and not deform during a cut and will outlast the Stihl one. But I'd stick with the PM3 chain.

 

[Flex Abednego]

i guess what im wondering is if these bars are more efficient or just last longer. i am hoping for increased efficiency and add 2-4 inches in length on my 200t so i can cut trunk wood longer before i gotta send up the bigger saws

 

[JeffGu]

Usually, you only increase the bar length if you need more reach in the tree, not to cut bigger wood. The problem with a tophandle saw is leverage... you don't have nearly enough to control kickback with a longer bar. The Cannon bar with a PS3 chain is more efficient, but you're not going to see a huge difference. You'll notice it, but it won't turn a 200T into a wood-chewin' monster, or anything. For bigger wood, bring up a 20" saw with a bigger engine. A 16" bar on the 200T or 201T is pushing it. If you're needing that, you need a bigger motor. The Husky T-540XP can pull the longer bar easily, but you'll have to watch the kickback. Both hands on the saw would be an especially good idea. Kickbacks in the tree quite often can end up in your face, because that's usually what's in line with the saw. An 18" bar on a 200T would not only be dangerous, you'll ruin the engine in no time at all.

 

[Serf Life]

Bump

 

[27RMT0N]

That's an old bump! I've always ran a 16" on my 200/201s and never found it to be underpowered. Maybe it's different in other species, but with a decent chain it chews through doug fir trunks all day, which is 90% of what I work with. Looking at other guys in the region, it seems to be the standard bar length people use. I'd say anything bigger than that is too much though.

As far as light weight bars, it's something I'm also interested in. While the numbers are surprisingly hard to find for whatever reason, the numbers I found online indicated the Sugihara bars are hardly lighter than the 'normal' Stihl bars, although they are potentially better in other characteristics? Rather than buying a 16" Sugihara for $80, I actually just ordered a 'WoodlandPRO 16" ArborMAX Lite Bar' and chain combo for $38 together. The bar appears to be the lightest 16" around and it drops the chain down to .043 instead of the standard .050. Honestly I've always found WoodlandPro chains to be a little crappy compared to Oregon or Stihl chain, but for only $38 together I figured I'd try it out. After I receive it and get some hours on it, perhaps I'll share some thoughts in the chainsaw forum.