I guess it depends on what you're cutting, and your expectations, but I won't even run 20" on an MS 361, without some big dogs on the saw to take the exposed length down to 19". Too slow, too easy to bog it in oak with a full 20" buried. On a saw as small as the MS 261, I'd run a 16" bar for cutting hardwood, maybe 18" if it was only doing softwood.
As I said, I'm not looking to set any speed records. Even though I cut three or four cords a year, a little extra time doesn't concern me at all. Heck, I sometimes run semi-chisel chain, which cuts a bit slower but also stays sharp longer--sharpening chains takes time as well. But in the woods where I cut, most of what's under the log is decomposed-leaf soil, and there's not much dulling grit in this clay soil, anyway. And if I get to a spot there the chain would have to go into the soil, I can usually measure down a few bucking lengths to a spot where I can saw the log without getting into the soil.
Now if I was doing a lot of off-site scoring, as I think you've done, maybe I'd want to cut as fast as I could. But when I'm out in the woods here, sometimes I'll just sit and look around for a while..not much rushing for this old boy, generally speaking. 🤗
There is no oak or hickory in NM the last time I was there. Pinion and some Ponderosa Pine was 99% of what was cut.
I think Pinon or Mesquite is harder wood, but probably not big diameter, so Ashful's bar-length concerns may not apply to her.
Maybe this depends on the manufacturer and materials. But I had both wood and metal, and my aluminum LogRite is way lighter than my wood-handled cant hook, despite being a foot longer. In fact, I gave the wood one away last year, since I only ever use the LogRite anymore.
Peavey's are a bad choice for most firewood cutters...
I had to go out and check whether my Logrite peavey was aluminum--it is. Still not gonna be light for a small woman to pack back into the woods, though. I'm always using the quad/trailer, so I don't carry it out there by hand.
The problem I've run into with the peavey is that the point will sometimes slip off a big round when trying to maneuver it into position on the power splitter. But cutting in the woods, I don't get a lot of really huge rounds--trees tend to grow up, not out, and most of what I get are medium-sized dead Ash and Oak. If I have to take the power splitter out there to split some rounds I can't pick up into the quad trailer, and don't want to bust down with a maul/wedges, I can generally flip them end-over-end onto the splitter. I really don't use the peavey much at all.
Now, the peavey point might come in handy for some of the log loads you've been getting lately, prying the piles apart..
If I had it to do again, I'd get a cant hook. But we've all made "bad choices," as you can well attest.. 😉😆
I like the biggest and heaviest peavey I can get. That way I have enough weight and momentum to do whatever I need to do with it. I can stab it into and between tangled logs to pry them apart. I can stab the point into the ground to stop a log from rolling toward me if I need to. Another thing is that when I am rolling a log and it starts to go over, I can jerk the straight point out easier than the hook, so it will not take the peavey with it and possibly break it.
I go mine many years ago, and like it. If I had gotten a cant hook, I would probably like it as well.
Yeah, I like being able to spear the peavey into the ground so I can just grab it again when needed. And I imagine it will come in real handy for the heaps I've got to pick apart this summer..
