[quote=AK Timber Tramp]That's weird to bend a sugi hara, they're tempered very hard. I've cracked a couple of the 36"s from letting the saw hang in the kerf while I go about other business (not an issue until it vibrates it's way out to where you have a 661 hanging 34" out of a cut and the bar hits it's flex limit) I cracked a lightweight cannon the same way. So I don't run alot of lightweight bars these days, but if I do, I don't leave the saw to idle in a tree while I drain my bladder or go move my backpack or find my axe, etc.[/quote.

Ya I have no idea what happened to it. I had been cutting a lot of small stuff for a while well the boys were and I had then learning to notch and fell them also. when I got into a larger log I noticed it was bent. It was needing the edges ground down again and likely near the end of its life anyway. was only a 24" being run on an old 361 stihl.

I also have all my Saws jetted and ported and exhort opened up. I have been wanting to buy a 70cc husky I don't remember the # of but It's lighter than my 361 and 10cc bigger if memory serves correctly. But My Saws are only personal use use cutting fire wood these days and I'm not likely to wear my old one out and can't justify spending $1100+ the jetting and porting work on another one I don't really need. Heck I still have an old 029 I bought at 18 I have not used in 10 years I should do something with but it sucks being heavier, less power, and I like the anti vibration Handel's on the 361.

I buy a new saw every 6 months so I'm constantly rotating through a fleet of new reliable saws. I just can't pack a saw a few miles (plus all my other junk:axe, backpack, gas/oil, wedges, cut-out bar) just to have it let me down, especially because parts and such are generally a couple weeks away via mail. So 2x a year I pony up an go get another 661 or 500i and pay Mr.Egan to make it go faster and make more noise lol. I've mixed it up and thrown a few bigger saws into the mix also (088, 880, 090) but I find that I never use them. I cut a steady diet of spruce, cedar, and hemlock that's 4'-6' on the stump, so unless I run into a patch of hooters, I'm not gonna pack in the big iron with a 50" bar just to cut a single 9' tree, I can beaver it down with a 661 and a 36"