Help! I think I done killed my Poulan!

[turn_n_burn]

Well, in my infinite wisdom, I think I screwed my little Poulan 2055 up pretty good. I was out cutting some Tamarack, and for some dumb reason, I FORGOT TO REFILL THE BAR OIL. I noticed the RPM's seemed to start lagging, and a couple minutes later I shut it off, and the little gear the chain is attached to behind the bar was putting off little wisps of smoke. I let it cool off, and now I can't get the chain to rotate at all. This is a classic newbie question, I'm sure, but is there a way to fix this without having to buy a completely new saw? I'm hoping there is a way to repack/rebuild the bearing or buy a new gear/bearing unit. Any advice would be hugely appreciated.

 

[Wisneaky]

You can usually find used Poulan 2055 for around $50 on ebay or craigslist. It would probably cost more than that to fix it.

 

[Babaganoosh]

Chain might be too tight. Take it off or loosen it and see if that works.

 

[DougA]

At the worst, you probably just need a new bar & chain. I'd loosen it first and see if it moves. Almost always, it expands when hot and that causes it to seize. Once cooled & oiled, it should be OK.

 

[dougand3]

The "gear" is the clutch drum/spur sprocket. It has a bearing embedded. Does it move freely and quietly with chain off? If not, a new assy is $15 - HOP 530047061.
Here is the IPL: http://s30387.gridserver.com/partsDiagrams/Poulan 2055.pdf

 

[DougA]

Sorry, I re-read your OP and I missed some info. Doug&3 is probably right. If that's the case, I would take off the bearing and see if the piston/shaft still move freely. If the bearing is shot, my guess is that the damage is also on the crankshaft but you need to check. If it's only the one part ($15.), that's a cheap lesson. I've stopped cutting with smoke showing a few times on my Stihls. In my case, even with the oiler working properly and a very sharp chain, you can still get smoke occasionally when going through some really tough oak. I stop, take a break, check everything and let things cool down. I've gone through 3 Poulans and they really are great little chainsaws but not made for heavy work.

 

[kennyp2339]

make sure the chain brake is not on by pulling it towards the saw, next take the cover off an inspect for damage, you may want to put a little slack in the chain to make thinks easier before you take the cover off.

 

[lindnova]

Sounds like you wrecked your bar and chain with no oil. Engine and power unit are probably fine. Take off the chain and see if the engine will spin. Assess the damage on your bar from there.

 

[maple1]

Sounds like you wrecked your bar and chain with no oil. Engine and power unit are probably fine. Take off the chain and see if the engine will spin. Assess the damage on your bar from there.

Yeah, this. Might only be the nose wheel on the bar that is messed up, but that will likely require a new bar. Then would be a shame to put a chain that's been through that on a new bar, so new chain might be in order too. But if the drum/sprocket took some bad wear, might need one of those too, since it might wear your chain too fast.