Poulan pro 18" vs 20"

Tough decision I have operated both saws and own a 5020 because I also own a limbing saw. If you decide to just keep the bar and use this as a primary saw I probably would just stick with the 18 and accept the power loss. The 5020 is heavy and over time can be potentially fatiguing to use as a limbing saw and thus prone to lost time sharpening chains when cutting limbs near the ground however if you decide to retrofit the 5020 with a 16 inch bar I would certainly pick this combination for the extra power and reduction in weight. For an idea of reliability my saw starts very easy cold but in its 3rd year already is starting to show some sighs of potential repair as the saw needs to cool off some in order to restart.

I have several of both the 18" and the 20" PP (Craftsman label, same saw though) I like 'em a lot. I use the 18s for limbing and cutting smaller stuff, the 20s do most of my felling/bucking. I have run plenty of the big name "pro" saws and for a firewood hack these PPs are plenty good enough, especially for the money...I have $230 total invested in all five saws. Bought 'em all either barely used or new surplus...or "refurbished"
Just FYI you can get these PP5020AVs on the "fleabay" for $140 (IIRC) shipped, there are several on there right now even less $, less than two hours to go, just search pp5020av

I agree with the previous poster who suggested Echo saws. I have two smaller Echo's and a Stihl MS310, the build and anti vibe is way better on the Echo than the Stihl. I'm sure I will get flamed for this statement but owning both brands of saws the Echo wins hands down. Yes my Stihl is one of there consumer grade saws and not a pro model but we are talking about sub $400 here. If you do not know how to tune a carb on a chainsaw just make sure you purchase from an authorized repair facility that will tune the saw before you pick it up. I think for emissions reasons or whatever, Echo products come set extremely lean and run like crap. This is how I got my two saws, customers returned because they did not run good. Both saws needed close to two full turns on both the low and high needles to run properly. Build quality blows away both Husky and Stihl's consumer grade saws and is worlds better than the Pulan Pro that you are replacing after only five years of use.

Jon1270 said:

There's surely an 18" bar available that could be slapped on, but we'd need to know the pitch of the chain on your 20" bar in order to tell you *which* 18" bar would work. Is it .325", or 3/8"?

FWIW, I'd suggest a 16" instead. 18" is so close to 20" that it might not seem worth the trouble to switch back and forth.

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Bar says 20 3/8-70 qt. 20 in. 3/8 chain, 70 links. Not sure about qt though. 16'' is a good idea. i just wanted it a bit shorter to keep it farther up. Tip get's close to the ground sometimes. TSC has Poulan 18'' bar/chain for $40. Other than Oregon, is there a better bar for general cutting?

One of these should work. Pay attn to bar mount - that's K095. (AKA small mount Husky).

Oregon 180SLHK095 .050" Gauge 3/8" Pitch 18" Pro-Lite Bar
Oregon 160SLHK095 .050" Gauge 3/8" Pitch 16" Pro-Lite Bar

dougand3 said:

One of these should work. Pay attn to bar mount - that's K095. (AKA small mount Husky).

Oregon 180SLHK095 .050" Gauge 3/8" Pitch 18" Pro-Lite Bar
Oregon 160SLHK095 .050" Gauge 3/8" Pitch 16" Pro-Lite Bar

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Thanks for the info. I'll look for them.