Echo Bar Question

[KE4AVB]

What the mount type for the following Echo bar: 20A0AD3378? Is it a K041? It also appears to be a .325 pitch bar. I know it doesn't appear to be an A041 and that it has no oil port as the A041 does. It was on a Poulan that uses the 3/8LP chain.

[bgsengine]

That's an Echo bar mount - They follow a similar format as Oregon but they have their own bars made by Oregon there's no direct cross reference, but 20 = 20" bar AOAD3378 is a .325 pitch double guard Echo used both A041 and K041 bar mount codes but as I said - there's no direct cross reference - the Oregon bar mount codes are more "generic" - the Echo bars are designed just for Echo, while the Oregon bar mount codes are "will fit" - so, you won't be able to exactly match up an Oregon (or other brand) bar mount code that is *exactly* matching the Echo bars.

[bobodu]

Heard of sushi bars,salad bars...even gay bars..but never an Echo bar. Maybe I outta take Tami to one because it seems I have to repeat myself constantly.

[KE4AVB]

Thanks for confirming what I thought. Someone must have put on a used bar and returned the saw to the store as a new one that they having problems with and no one check it before accepting and reselling it. I have seen things like that before and that pretty well what I have already told the customer.

And it is good to know that if I ever need a replacement bar for an Echo that I am stuck with them as a source as I do get a few to work on from time to time.

[bgsengine]

.

And it is good to know that if I ever need a replacement bar for an Echo that I am stuck with them as a source as I do get a few to work on from time to time.

Nah - That's just the Echo branded bar for Echo units - as long as your bar mount matches up and chain pitch (Oregon catalog online you can look them up) they will do very nicely The only thing with the Echo bar is they do not have the exact same oil holes (or lack thereof) as the Oregon bar mount patterns - So, if your echo saw uses a bar WITHOUT the oiler hole on the side, it would feed oil through the adjuster hole instead - depends on location of the oiler galley, so that is about the only thing to look out for when choosing between K041 and A041 bar mounts (as well as the pitch and gauge) - The Oregon catalog is very reliable though. Your problem stems from the fact that both Poulan and Echo may use the same BAR MOUNT so someone threw an Echo bar on it, without paying attention to the sprocket pitch and chain gauge specs. - Where Poulan may use an oiler hole drilled in the side of the bar, the Echo may use the bar adjuster hole for oiling.. so an OE Echo bar may not have that oiler hole that the Poulan needs. - stuff like that..

[KE4AVB]

Makes sense. The oil galley must had line up enough with the adjuster holes for things to work. And thanks for helping me get my mind set right. Until the last few years I only personally dealt with Homelites and McCulloughs that I owned.

One thing you didn't mention was that a 3/8LP won't accept the normal 3/8 due to bigger drive links that requires are deeper groove and a different bar sprocket tip. And the 3/8LP wont oil properly in a regular 3/8 bar and again sprocket won't match properly if my understanding is correct. Now I just to learn about those spur sprocket drums. BTW I seen my first Rim drive drum and a full skip tooth chain last week .

I do use Oregon cross reference a lot to help break down numbers so I can compare others AM bars. Currently Timber Ridge covers most my needs here. It just this bar I could not find the specs for. If I end up needing one I would probably order one of the Oregon or Carlton bars. Most of their cross require the saw's model number though and didn't have in this case.

It will be the big boy's saws that will be fun to work on later; sorta like the 36" C-52 I had 20 years ago. I probably couldn't work long with one nowadays (so heavy) but sure was nice to cut trees in one pass back then.

[bgsengine]

One thing you didn't mention was that a 3/8LP won't accept the normal 3/8 due to bigger drive links that requires are deeper groove and a different bar sprocket tip. And the 3/8LP wont oil properly in a regular 3/8 bar and again sprocket won't match properly if my understanding is correct. .

Well, yeah.. I thought we were discussing a .325 bar.

But yeah - 3/8 and 3/8 LP are 2 different animals - the pitch is the same but the LP stands for.. drum roll, please.. "Low Profile"

It has the same pitch but it is a smaller and much lighter weight of saw chain and the two sizes will not quite match up (the pitch will be the same meaning a 3/8 standard sprocket and bar can handle 3/8 LP chain, but why would you? - besides something powerful enough to run 3/8 standard would probably shred a 3/8 LP chain.) But a 3/8 LP bar and sprocket cannot handle heavier 3/8 standard chain as the links and cutters are taller and heavier so your drive link tangs of a standard 3/8 chain will bottom out on a 3/8 LP sprocket

3/8LP was designed for smaller displacement saws - that is about the only saw chain that comes in .043" gauge - most everything else will be .050, .058 or .063.. Used to be out here, 3/8 .050 and 3/8 .058 was the most common saw chain we ever sold (couple thousand feet a year) but these days in our area, it is now almost entirely .050 gauge - Ive read in places that the .058 or .063 gauge 3/8 chain is more common out west

We used to sell a lot of full skip and semi skip chain but not so much any more , as people finally realize that the benefit to skip tooth chain really does not show up until you're dealing with bigger bars - starting at 24" and on up , and it is fairly rare to see anything with bigger than a 24" bar out here in this particular market area , although I did sell an Echo CS-8000 with a 28" bar the guy was using on some old growth white oak on his property..

[KE4AVB]

Yes we did start with the .325 bar but I kinda morphed the topic a little.

For the most part you have answered my question which is normal customer and equipment related. I do try to stick with what most equipment came with just to it make easier for me and the next technician. For now it is just one customer that is swapping bars and chains without even considering that they are of different sizes. He currently have at least four different setups. 3/8 lp, 3/8 .050, .325 .050, and .325 .058; at least he is running mostly Huskies. I trying to educate him that he can't do that and expect them to work without problems.

And thanks for putting with my questions as I was in need to know this quick as it seems that I am getting into repairing a lot chainsaws here lately. Nobody around locally seems to able to repair these. I even get a few in from my larger repair shops where the customer was told that the saws were unrepairable. I not talking about with bad cylinders and pistons but simple things like carburetor problems and plugged mufflers.

As for old growth I have seen only one or two trees here that still living. One was a Red Oak about 6'-7' though at chest height so even a 28" would have been a stretch to get it cut. The other was what we call Hedge Apple or Yellow Wood about 5' though.

So now I can go back to being a shade tree mechanic. Customer came in yesterday while I was eating my lunch under my big shade tree joking with me about it.