Thread: 404 v 3/8

High nifty
I don't think stihl or oregon make a standard .404 nose bar in 25" to suit a 660. They do make them for the 880 but thats a different mount. Sounds like someone "frankensteined" it to run 404 you might have to do the same if its got a replaceable nose. Otherwise find yourself a solid nose bar
carlton/tsumura still make em bought one recently for my 3120

Was it a replaceable sprocket nose?

Yes Bob I believe it is

Sounds like someone swapped the nose out.

BTW I'd be starting a new bar with a new chain and drive sprocket.

404 and 3/8 chain run on the same bar but require different sprocket noses. There's no actual difference in the bar itself. (There are exceptions but they aren't common : GB does a 404 specific bar, however as best I know all the others are the same bar with different noses installed.)

All thats involved in making a 404 bar from a 3/8 bar or vice versa - assuming its got a replaceable sprocket nose - is just changing out the nose cone.

Originally Posted by nifty

Now here's one that's got me jiggered. Boss man says to me after work can you get me a new bar for my 660... No worries mate!!
so I remove the bar and find it to be a 24 inch 3/8 Oregon bar. I leap in the cruiser and leg it into the local Stihl shop. No Oregon bars but of course have Stihl bars but 25 inch... No worries I'll have on of them and lengthen the chain if needs be.
Next day comes and go to fit new bar to chain around nose first as always... Chain runners don't fit around the nose..."you what?"
I then install spectacles to the bridge of my nose to see that the saw has a 404/7 drive sprocket and 404 chain...
Could this mean that someone may have installed a 404 nose to 3/8 bar and got it to somehow work?

Disclaimer 1; I have used chainsaws for more than half my natural life, I have used 404 gear on all my Stihls since I don't know when but this one made me look like a proper idiot.
Disclaimer 2; I could have googled to find answers yes.... But why not throw it on the forum for gurus likeBobL to explain I reckon

Simple just run a duromatic bar and then you can run 3/8 or 404 simply by swapping the sprocket! (they are cheaper than bars and chains)

Standard the 660 is issued with a 3/8 sprocket and bar, no point running 404 IMHO on a 660 at all unless you have 15 other saws and they all run 404 in which case the 660 would be the limbing saw anyway and does next to no work.

Originally Posted by BobL

Sounds like someone swapped the nose out.

BTW I'd be starting a new bar with a new chain and drive sprocket.

agreed, and 1 thumb you can buy 25 inch bars and chains and sprockets to suit a 660 in 404, I had a windsor one in my ebay watch list for a while and also an oregon one with carlton chain. they are made.

Originally Posted by Travis Edwards

agreed, and 1 thumb you can buy 25 inch bars and chains and sprockets to suit a 660 in 404, I had a windsor one in my ebay watch list for a while and also an oregon one with carlton chain. they are made.

Yeah ok can still get them but wouldn't expect to see them on the shelf at the local chainsaw shop as .404 takes a lot power away from a 660. I did run it on mine a while back with a 20" bar as I find its better than 3/8 in the thicker grittier bark.
Btw do they still make windsor, the last windsor chain I got was just rebranded carlton

Originally Posted by 1thumb

Yeah ok can still get them but wouldn't expect to see them on the shelf at the local chainsaw shop as .404 takes a lot power away from a 660. I did run it on mine a while back with a 20" bar as I find its better than 3/8 in the thicker grittier bark.
Btw do they still make windsor, the last windsor chain I got was just rebranded carlton

Yes you can still buy windsor in chains and bars but I think (and I stress don't quote me!!) that oregon carlton and windsor all sort of came together a few years back and they sort of homologated. I do not know the whole ins and outs of it but the last windsor chains I bought still have slightly different geometrics (and they seem to cut better for longer!) to the equivalent carlton ones but that was a couple of years ago now.

So fellas is it right to say that if I was to have a solid tip bar, no sprocket of course, I could run 404 or 3/8 chain on that bar?

Originally Posted by nifty

So fellas is it right to say that if I was to have a solid tip bar, no sprocket of course, I could run 404 or 3/8 chain on that bar?

YES, provided that you change your sprocket to suit. The tangs of 404 are 63 thou thick and the drive tangs of the 3/8 chain on a stihl bar and chain are also 63 thou. The only time you will have a problem is with a husky as they use 58 thou drive tangs, even though the actual chain links are 63 thou. Even then though you can run the 63 thou chain provided you have a bar to suit. With the 58 thou drives the body is still 63 thou but they grind the thickness of the drive tangs down. The slot in the bar is the only difference, any 3/8 pitch sprocket has the capability of running anywhere from 50 thou to 63 thou thickness. The sprocket on the tip of the bar is the restricting factor as this will be either 3/8 pitch or 404 pitch when you have a sprocket tip bar. You will also find that there are roller tip bars which allow the use of either 404 or 3/8 as they use a roller not a sprocket.

Travis