STIHL Converting Stihl 3003 bar to 3002

[Thumper88]

Good evening all. I’ve been pondering on this for awhile. To my knowledge the 462 has 12mm studs and the 880 has 14mm studs. I’m interested in possibly converting a 32” ES light bar to run on my 880. Is it is a simple as milling out the slot to 14mm? Or is there some mods required to the chain tensioner hole and/or Oiler holes? Anybody that’s done this please feel free to chime in with pros and cons.

 

[huskihl]

Good evening all. I’ve been pondering on this for awhile. To my knowledge the 462 has 12mm studs and the 880 has 14mm studs. I’m interested in possibly converting a 32” ES light bar to run on my 880. Is it is a simple as milling out the slot to 14mm? Or is there some mods required to the chain tensioner hole and/or Oiler holes? Anybody that’s done this please feel free to chime in with pros and cons.

I’ve never done it, but someone just recently had a thread about it and I saw the pictures. The 880 oil output hole is right at the top of a 3003 bar, so it doesn’t seem like it would work very well

 

[Maintenance Chief]

When I first got my 088 I only had a 41" bar so I bought a cheap Oregon 32" from Amazon, I filed out the slot and elongated the oil hole in it . With these modifications it did oil some what but after I raised the slot in the bar plate it really gushed!
I got the bar from the return department so it was like 45$ and so if I messed it up I wouldn't be out much . I also changed the tip to .404 .
I've used it a dozen times or or more for felling some big lob lollies and bucking some oak .

 

[Al Smith]

The 42" I have for the 084 has had the slot milled out .It came from Rich Dougan of "Saw King " fame fairly inexpensive .It was already in .404 and most likely originally used on an 066 .I assume it came from Oregon . I'd have to look at it to tell what number it is as unlike some I don't commit them to memory .

 

[Moparmyway]

Good evening all. I’ve been pondering on this for awhile. To my knowledge the 462 has 12mm studs and the 880 has 14mm studs. I’m interested in possibly converting a 32” ES light bar to run on my 880. Is it is a simple as milling out the slot to 14mm? Or is there some mods required to the chain tensioner hole and/or Oiler holes? Anybody that’s done this please feel free to chime in with pros and cons.

Some bars can have the slot made larger and still oil correctly.
Some bars the tail is too narrow and the oiler will send oil above the bar.
Either way, as the chain stretches the problem will compound (gets worse) and the bar will get less oil as the adjuster is turned out to take up the slack.

I have cut the tail to get more meat on the bar pad, drilled new hole(s) and just had a shorter bar.

Getting just about anything to work is "possible" ............. it's just a matter of how much work you need to do to it to gettir done

 

[Al Smith]

Well of course with some ingenuity most times you can adapt about any bar to any saw .Saying that you certainly can't adapt a Mini Mac bar to an 084 Stihl .However for a short time I had a Stihl 066 size 32" on a Mac 250 .Believe it or not the old Mac could pull it .