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Ms440 perfect bar size

StihlEchoingHusky

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I'm porting and repairing a saw for a buddy. And I'm thinking about what would be ideal for it. Would anyone say a 24/25 stihl light bar or a 24 inch sughihara( apologies if I spelt that wrong) would be perfect size for a 440?

I'm sure a 20 inch would make it rip. I feel like that small would be powerhead heavy. Can Anyone with experience with 440s tell me what you've found to be the best match up? It will be mainly used as a firewood saw.
 

earlthegoat2

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A 28” lightweight is what I would run on a ported 440. 25” on an unported.

Of course it depends on what you are using it for. I like a long bar for firewood cutting, limbing, and bucking but prefer a shorter bar for storm cleanup. Of course I prefer a smaller 45-50cc saw for storm cleanup too.
 

SCHallenger

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Love a 20" on a ported 70cc saw! Run a 24" on them when cutting a little bigger stuff.
I'm guessing you are using an 8 pin rim with the 20in. I can just imagine what my 462 would do with that setup! I like the 24in. Tsumura for balance, & it doesn't gather any flies!
 

PA Dan

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I'm guessing you are using an 8 pin rim with the 20in. I can just imagine what my 462 would do with that setup! I like the 24in. Tsumura for balance, & it doesn't gather any flies!
Damn right! Hell yeah give that a spin on your 462! How you been buddy?
 

Catbuster

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It honestly depends on the wood you’re in and the chain you’re running. 20 was probably the most popular with a lot of people here (N-Central KY… AKA Horse Country) while I was young and most people ran what was called the 044. We cut a lot of various species Oak, multiple Ash species, Black Walnut, Sycamore, Shagbark Hickory… Yada. Midwestern hardwoods running round filed chains. Most guys who wanted to run a 24 or 28, like my Dad, who is pretty heavy handed & loves to dawg in and yard on the rear handle, & I ran the 046/460.

Out west? 32” was common, even on stock saws. And it does fine in Doug Fir, Cedar, Bigleaf Maple Sugar Pine, etc, especially with a good skip sequence square grind and not super agressive rakers. It was a lot more popular than the 046 out there and the MS 460 until it was discontinued.

The 044 or MS 440 is just a saw you can’t really lean on like the big 1128s. Nothing wrong with it, but where you are I’d run a 28 or a 32 for reach alone.
 

bogieboy

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The 044 or MS 440 is just a saw you can’t really lean on like the big 1128s. Nothing wrong with it, but where you are I’d run a 28 or a 32 for reach alone.
i disagree, with a few select mods... a light port job on an 044 (smoothing the lowers which have a notoriously large lip in them, and widening the intake and exhaust, and adding maybe a degree of duration to intake and exhaust, and not even touching the upper transfers) and a dual port muffler will turn the 044 into a tractor.... this is those mods done, and a 25" bar in rock maple....

 

maulhead

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IMO 20”-24” bar is the sweet spot for a MS440.
A standard weight 20” bar balances nice.
A light weight 24” bar also balances nice.
A MS440 doesn’t generally oil well enough to wear a 28” bar full time.

The difference between a 24" & 28" is only 7 drive links, an 3 cutters, on a full comp chain.

If a 440 can oil a 24, it can oil a 28, it's not a big enough diff IMO to notice. A 28 just feels better to me.

I got tired of having 3 flavors of bars around, 20, 24, 28. So I ditched the 24's, kept the 20's & 28's.
 

Nate.

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I have 28” light bars with skip chain on 2 of my 044’s. They feel good & don’t seem to have an issue with oil however most of what I cut is green wood.
 
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