20" VS 24" BAR ?

dastevoe

dastevoe

Wood Hacker
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
135
Location
Norwood Ontario,Canada
Here's one for ya? You guys who are regulars arround here have seen me posting questions on the 038 Mag I am going to do , WHEN I get this done will it pull a 24" bar with ease ?? I'm thinking full skip(?) chain.
24" may be overkill but with the BIG 066 spikes I have on order it will LOOK pretty cool!!
I'LL port it and reduce squish to ~ .020", a basic "Woods Mod".
Can you explain the skip/full skip, regular chain differences to POOR OLD ME(read...."uneducated"). and what gains or differences to expect ?
Thanks
Steve
 
Where are you at? A 38 Mag will pull a 24" in soft wood no prob. May slow it down a bit in big eastern oak.
 
And then as far as skip chain, you've got full-skip and semi-skip. Normal chain goes with a cutter on every other driver, where as full skip, omits a cutter, and goes left right left right left right...

Semi-skip omits cutter from every other pair, if that makes sense. Brian or Al can get on here and explain it better.

But basically it's for chip clearance, and reduced drag on longer bars. Longer bars in thicker wood carry more chips through the cut, and you need room on the chain to carry the chips out. And fewer drivers mean less resistance, and allows you to keep your RPM's up in a thicker cut.

But LMAO, here's a pic that came up when I Googled full-skip chainsaw!! :lol:

image.php
 
My very first Stihl 038 Magnum wore a 27" for the first several years of it's life. I wouldn't consider using that long of a bar on that size saw today, but a 24" wouldn't be out of the question. The restored 038Magnum I sold to Skwishey was wearing a 24.

In real life use I would be shocked if you could tell the difference in performance between full comp and full skip chain. The biggest advantage to skip chain is less teeth to file on long bars.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10
Oh My !!!!.... now you've done it you threw in a new WORD, FULL COMP. I was just starting to get the "skip" term in my head !!!!
Like I said 038 mag....woods mod 24" bar. Now I'll add 28" frozen oak,maple,ash,white elm and any "scrap" softwood for the BOILER to digest !
026 (stock), 044(stock),038super(newly woods modded by yours truly),then these new projects coming soon!!!(026 woods mod.,038Mag woods mod.)Stockers to be modded in the future,more than likely:D
Thanks,
Steve
 
Full comp(osition) is what some of us call regular chain that is NOT skip or semi skip. Full comp has a cutter every other link. Full skip has a cutter every third link. Semi skip is halfway in between, the sequence goes left cutter, link, right cutter, two links, et cetera.

The 038 mag has the same displacement as the early 044, so they should be very close in power. I'd run a 24" on both of those and a 20 on the 038 super.
 
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  • #13
Thanks sqwerl,that helps clear things up a bit.So.. for firewood cuttin' would I see any advantage to buying a semi-skip or full-skip vs. a full-comp(regular) chain ??Based on what I'm cutting.
What about the square chain I've heard about here and there ?? Whats up with that? Race chain?,not necessarily for Joe Firewood Cutter like me??
I guess I should concentrate on the saws for now and worry about the chains later.
Steve
 
For firewood, no no difference in skip, semi, or full comp. Other than number of cutters to sharpen. I run full comp even on my timber saws when I'm using a 24" in soft wood. 28"-42" all get skip.

And I typically avoid square cut chain on firewood, but use it in timber. Square is more aggressive, but will dull and lose it's efficiency faster than a round (that's what I call it, like a Stihl RM cutter.)

Race chain, no. Not for firewood. Not even for timber. It is what it is, race chain. And you can add to your vocab; we call it "full house." Some call full comp, full house, but it's not. "Full house" is a cutter on every link.
 
I could likely pull a 32" on the Rocky special .That thing has some guts ,more than my 048 .:D

I don't really see the point though .It does a fine job with a 20" full comp round chisel .Besides I have larger saws if I need them .

Just me I suppose but I see no need to over tax a saw engine by loading it down with a long bar unless really needed .As far as a 24" ,it should pull it no problem .
 
Having run 038's for a coupe thousand hours, I can say for sure that saw will pull a 24 with comp or semi just fine. The guys that say there is no appreciable difference between skip and comp are mistaken. Full comp, and even semi are going to cut much better in harder wood on shorter bars.
 
woodworkingboy said:
Dastevoe,

Are you entering the saw in a beauty contest? Unless you need the extra length, just leave it at 20" and get max power.
Click to expand...


I have run my 32" bar on my Husky 66 in red oak. With full comp chain, it did not have enough power to clear the chips as fast as needed, but if you didn't bear down on it too hard, it would pull it without over stressing the motor. There's nothing wrong with running an over-sized bar, you just have to accept that a saw is only going to cut so much surface area of wood per HP per hour, regardless of bar size. It sounds like you want to chunk up some big wood for a boiler. I'd just put a big bar on and go easy on it, and not file the rakers too low. Find a raker height that lets the saw run the bar without grabbing or overloading. I can't advise on skip type chains, I've never run them.
 
Oh it most likely would but it's just not common practice on this side of the country .

That's one diff .A west coaster might trip heaven knows how many trees on the slopes where an easterner in hardwoods wouldn't do nearly as many .

I dunno ,you hear tales of two hundred a day flopped by a west coaster .Is that internet BS or just a urban legion :? I can't say myself ,never saw a west coast operation .

I do know there is no way on God's green earth you could do that in these hardwoods .Entirely as different as day and night I'm sure .
 
Wow, 200 a day. I know of around 150, if a guy is tree length only. That means you are cutting a little over 20 an hour to get that. 200, averaging 200 is impossible I think. But, AL you are right. West Coast cutters can crush any fella from the East.:P
 
Well ,they sould be able to .I mean after all there are a sight more in the west than here abouts ,damned few here as a matter of fact .

I've never really did much other than the 5 acre cut we did back in the 80's on 2 foot hickorys .I'm thinking 15 was a good day usually less but we not only log lengthed them but cut the firewood out of the tops also . Never the less we didn't get them all out before a pair of D8's come spring had it all piled into a big heap ,on fire .

Even at that we must have cut enough to supply half the U S with axe handles unless they were like me and break half a dozen per year .:lol:
 
wiley_p said:
The guys that say there is no appreciable difference between skip and comp are mistaken. Full comp, and even semi are going to cut much better in harder wood on shorter bars.
Click to expand...

If you're referring to my post, I was referring only to his firewood cutting, assuming shorter cuts, not in timber. For timber purposes, I agree.
 
I must be missing something Jeff, I figure if a fella is cutting firewood, that's a lot of cuts. All the more reason to cut smoother and faster.
 
Nope, not missing anything. Maybe it's just a personal preference or opinion thing. Maybe it's just that I've never given much thought to my firewood chain, other than using RM.

I've never thought skip felt appreciably rougher or slower than full comp. Maybe I've just not noticed.

But far beit from me to contradict you. Really. You've got more time on a saw in a week than I do in a year.
 
Maybe, but it don't mean much if I'm doing something wrong. I've wondered if the reason I like semi, or full comp on harder wood is cause my grind is a bit aggressive. If I cut Oak, or such with skip, its rougher, and no as fast as a slightly shorter bar with semi using the same grind.
 
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