What Chainsaw do you run?

Ordered. I will put it to use, and report back, I recently bought some property in South Texas, lots of Huisache, Mesquite and Hackberry

 

Sweet! I remember it being 99.00 Black Friday :-/

 

yup,
I got 4 of the 5.0ah batteries on BF, it is what it is though.

 

Threw my first chain!!! Didn’t see it coming and bam! Off it went... :-/ damaged the chain... won’t fit in the bar unless I take the time to file the chain down in the area where it damaged. Have 5 other chains so I’m ok with this... just got a surprise ....

 

Sometimes you can put the chain on best it will go tighten it a bit, then run it and it will file itself. Not always

 

I’ll have a look when I have time.... brother joe was running the saw when it happened and he’s been running them longer than I have.... :-/

 

I would be tossing that chain in the trash,,,heard a couple of horror stories from my dad when I was growing up about what happens when one comes apart . When it comes to chainsaws,,,,Safety First!

 

There are only a few reasons why a chain would come off and they are ALL operator error. 1. Badly Worn out drive sprocket. 2. chain running too loose on the bar. 3. Wrong chain (too big). 4. Badly worn bar where the guide channel looks like a "V" instead of a nice "snug "U" This one is usually always a by-product of No. 2 (loose chain too often and neglecting it). 5 hitting something that does not give/cut like a rock or some embedded fencing. 6. Maybe a WAAAY dull chain, but this is a no-brainer (if you can't see this one, you should Not be using a chain saw.
There may be a couple more, but these are the obvious ones, and those are easily controlled by the operator, with the maybe exception of hitting something buried in the wood. BTW chain and bar mfr's love to have you do any of the above so they can sell more chains and bars
Anyone thinks of another, feel free to chime in.

 

I second all the cause/effect info above. A good early warning that bad things are ahead is when your cut will not go straight down. Instead, despite your close attention to trying to make it go straight down it still insists on wandering left or right (usually right), getting worse and the angle of the cut deflection increases the farther through the cut you get. (makes it dangerous to split the piece with an axe too) (anyone remember splitting with an axe?) It is not as evident cutting small diameter limbs, but shows up best in cross-cutting larger diameters. Well adjusted SAFE saws that have close drive link foot-to-bar channel tolerances will cut straight down when cutting through a horizontal felled tree trunk, and a cut that wanders is your early warning to stop and make it safe before proceeding.

Toss that chain in the garbage. Most important, GET A NEW BAR. You might think that you can turn the bar over and run it that way, and that usually stops the wandering (ask me how I know), but this does not stop the danger (again, ask me how I KNOW). Doing this actually makes it even more dangerous. A new bar is way cheaper and a lot more convenient than a trip to the emergency room and an extended convalescence. An old spark plug will not cause stitches. An old bar will.

If you have calipers or a micrometer, and spare time (who has that anymore), you could measure the thickness of the drive link foot on the problematic chain and groove of the old bar. Do the same with the new parts and then you have established future replacement metrics to monitor wear. If not, if it wanders, replace it.

 

Guys, one thing I continually find myself doing that is very dangerous and that I wanted to alert you about. As I get tired (that MS460 will challenge anyone's stamina who presumes to dominate it) I catch myself standing BEHIND my saw as it cuts rather than holding it to my right. If it were to kick back the chain would hit me in the forehead. Held correctly to my right side it would kick back and pass to my right and hopefully not injure me. If during a long cut you "wake up" (like I do) and you realize that you are looking directly down into the cut, please step left.

 

On bars...I always flip the bar over every 2nd sharpen/touch up. It also gives opportunity to clean out the gunk behind the attachment/chain brake assembly. The bar wears evenly, and you get a look at the bar's condition often.

 

That is about exactly what every Stihl saw owners manual tells you to do. On my old 310, which I just sold, I still had my original bar on it.
This bar and saw combo worked well for me for at least 15 years. Seeing as I burn about 5 cords a year, that would be about 75 cords of wood with that bar and saw. I will admit that once during that time I had the edges of the bar trued up (the little ragged outer edge filed off of the bar.

 

Still 028 Super ,over 30 years old and going strong

 

Ever had any oil leak probs with your 028 and if so what did you do to get it fixed? I have my FIL's well used/abused 028, and it leaks oil all over the bottom of it's carry case. The saw runs fine.

 

Should I start a new thread...

Anyone ever try ice sculpting (with a chainsaw) Ill need to build a water tight removable box.

 

I don't think you need bar oil. I've seen a chainsaw cutting waterlogged salvage wood, at lakeside, no bar oil since the water cooled and lubed the chain.

 

I do river clearing professionally and I run bar oil. I prefer waste veg oil with a few drops of sea foam since I’m on federal lands and like to protect the environment .

I need to re oil the blade even after painting lines with bar oil to prevent rust and bind up. I had to start this new procedure after the saws sat a week and were all blades were rusty. Water stayed in the chain and front sprocket.

 

I would check with the saw mfr. before I ran any standard saw without bar/chain oil -- of course I could see a "why not to" run oil -- it would stain and dirty the ice sculpture!
Interesting question we have here!

 

Doh! I never thought of veggie oil!

 

We used to trim power lines that went through multiple chicken/turkey farms and up in Yosemite National Park. Canola oil is all we could use. It’s thin but cheap and environmentally friendly. Forest Service still uses it in certain applications.