Chainsaw Issue

[EPS]

A few months ago I posted a thread indicating that I am a novice at wood cutting and everything that comes along with it. I had an issue with my chainsaw earlier this morning and I am curious if there are any ideas on how to correct it so I can get back to work cutting up trees.

I was in the woods behind my house and the chainsaw was working fine. I started in on a sort of knotty spot on a felled tree and the chain came off. As this has happened before I opened up the chainsaw and re-attached the chain. It came loose again almost right away, but I fixed it again and went back to work. The next few cuts were hardly doing anything! I barely was able to cut up a trunk that was just under 8" in diameter. I tried it on a few other trees and the same thing happened. Smoke even started coming out the cut a few times!

Is this an issue with how I reassembled the chain? Does it need to be filed? Admittedly this is a pretty small chainsaw--a little 14" electric one--but it has worked great in the past few months since I've owned it. I keep the bar and chain oil filled as directed and otherwise take good care of it. Please let me know what you think it might be so I can get back out there ASAP.

 

[claydogg84]

Did you put the chain on backwards? If you hit something (rock, dirt, etc), the chain will dull almost immediately, requiring sharpening. Inspect the teeth of the chain for damage.

 

[EPS]

I may have. I don't want this to come off as glib, but I didn't know it was possible to put it on backwards. How can I see if this is what I did?

 

[claydogg84]

I may have. I don't want this to come off as glib, but I didn't know it was possible to put it on backwards. How can I see if this is what I did?

The teeth should be pointing away from the saw.

 

[Osagebndr]

When you tighten the chain you should pull up on the nose of the bar. Also maybe have 1/8-1/4" slack after tightening the chain

 

[EJP1234]

what saw is it? Is it a stihl with a rollamatic bar? If so, I hate mine... The teeth on the bar get clogged up and cause the same symptoms on mine sometimes. They won't spin and when they lock up, then chain can jump, smoke etc etc... I replaced my bar with an oregon and never an issue since.

 

[HItz]

Check the raker depth, I've had the same "smoke coming out of the cut" issue and it was due to the rakers not being deep enough below the cutting edge so the chain was just sliding, not cutting, through the wood. You should have a raker depth guide and a flat file to use to fix the raker depth every couple of sharpenings. The chain coming off could be due to not having it tightened correctly. I've had it happen where I didn't have one of the guide teeth in the guide all the way so it looked tight, but as soon as the chain moved it came loose.

 

[David.Ervin]

I've found that if I'm running the chain waaay too loose, it'll sometimes roll over a little on it's side in the cut, and won't cut worth a darn any more. If I pull the bar out, and start cutting again, paying careful attention to put the chain down perpendicular to the wood, it'll cut like a champ again.

tl;dr: check your tension!

 

[EPS]

Problem corrected! Woodcutting resumed!

(I had the chain on backwards after all. What a noob move)

 

[David.Ervin]

 

[johneh]

Not to worry you are not the first person to do that

 

[DougA]

Just some info from my experience:

If you are cutting crooked into wood or especially if you are limbing, lots of people put too much pressure on one side of the bar and it wears the groove wrong. This causes more problems with chains slipping off, even when you think the chain is tight. The more this happens, the worse the bar gets and it's difficult/impossible to cut with it. Since it's badly worn on one edge, flip the bar upside down and put the chain back on and you should be OK. That way, the worn edge causing the problem is now on the top, where it won't be a big deal.

This will keep happening until you learn to keep the saw straight when cutting. I caught my son doing this last time we were cutting together and he had no idea he was cutting at an angle.

to EJP1234: clogging the rollmatic can sometimes happen but it's very rare. When it does, I unclog it by squirting in some wd40, then with the saw off or on idle push the bottom of the chain hard on a log and roll the chainsaw back & forth on the log. If you press hard enough, the chain will release the build-up and you're good to go. I've tried Oregon bars and I prefer Stihl, even at the much higher price. I find that if I have any chain or bar problem, it's almost always caused by operational error. IOW - I'm not doing it right.

 

[firefighterjake]

Not to worry you are not the first person to do that

And you will not be the last.

 

[sen166]

All part of the experience.... been there before.

 

[Osagebndr]

You also need to dress the edgeS if your bar with a file(if there is a noticeable rolled edge on it ) about every 3-4 sharpenings . The rolled edge can keep the bar from running smoothly thru the wood.

 

[David.Ervin]

dress the edgeS if your bar with a file(if there is a noticeable rolled edge on it ) about every 3-4 sharpenings

I've seen people have luck doing this with a belt sander and the bar mounted in a vice too, but every 3-4 sharpening sounds kinda aggressive.

 

[claydogg84]

I've seen people have luck doing this with a belt sander and the bar mounted in a vice too, but every 3-4 sharpening sounds kinda aggressive.

It depends on how tight the chain is, which in most cases, is too tight.

 

[Oldman47]

I hate to state the obvious but if I had smoke coming from a cut I would first check my chain oiler function. It doesn't take much to completely plug the oiler hole in your bar.

 

[brhorgan]

You also need to dress the edgeS if your bar with a file(if there is a noticeable rolled edge on it ) about every 3-4 sharpenings . The rolled edge can keep the bar from running smoothly thru the wood.

Can you elaborate on why and how you do this to the bar?

 

[claydogg84]

Can you elaborate on why and how you do this to the bar?

You need to check the bar with the chain off. If the metal where the chain rides has worn to the point of "rolling over", and creating an edge, it needs to be filed smooth. Once the edge gets big enough, it will prevent the saw from cutting a straight line, similar to sharpening the chain unevenly.

 

[Oldman47]

Dressing is easiest done by running a flat file on the face of the bar and letting it just take off any metal that is sticking out / rolled over.

 

[brhorgan]

And this is caused by not cutting straight?

 

[claydogg84]

And this is caused by not cutting straight?

It is caused by the metal on metal application. In time it will wear. If the chain is too tight, or the oiler isn't working properly, the bar will wear much faster.

 

[billb3]

Having done the backwards chain putting a new chain on in the field, cutting oak gumming the oak to death will create heat and smoke will come out of the "cut". Even with the oiler full blast with an adjustable one with the chain on backwards you're gonna heat the cut up trying to cut. The first time you do it it may take several WTF thoughts before you figure out WTF. If there is ever a second time trying to cut with the chain on backwards hopefully past experience will result in a DOH! thought rather than multiple WTF thoughts.

 

[Osagebndr]

You need to check the bar with the chain off. If the metal where the chain rides has worn to the point of "rolling over", and creating an edge, it needs to be filed smooth. Once the edge gets big enough, it will prevent the saw from cutting a straight line, similar to sharpening the chain unevenly.

Ditto