My Chainsaw Let Me Down

[Wood Wules]

It is probably my fault. I have a Sir John Red 2240 that is small in size but has the heart of a champion. Here is my tale of woe. My 5 ton splitter wouldn't handle a large round from the very base of a tree. So I started to noodle it. I have a new chain so it was cutting it rapidly. I noticed it was spitting out large slivers of wood which I took as a good sign.

Suddenly the chain stopped although the chainsaw motor kept going. I noticed a large clump of wood slivers under the bar. I removed them and tried again. No joy. I opened it up and there was more wood slivers. I took care of those but when I put the chain back on it would stop at the tip sprocket. They seem to be frozen. Is there any fix for it or am I out a new bar?

 

[Tom123]

Hi: put the bar in a vice, spray the sprocket area with penetrating oil liberally. Take a block of wood and rest it against a tooth and tap the wood with a hammer to free the sprocket. They get bound up from chips etc. turning it in the opposite direction is a good thing too. I had to free up my Stihl bar a few weeks ago and it worked fine after. Once it starts rotating be sure to pour bar oil in the sprocket area.

 

[Jazzberry]

Sometimes banging it on a log with a forward motion on the chain with the throttle on gets it going.

 

[Wood Wules]

Thank you guys you saved me some money. I immersed the tip in chain oil then put it a vice. I took a very thin screwdriver and inserted it behind the sprocket. I tapped the screwdriver with a hammer and it started moving immediately. It was stiff for a while but then was good as new. Thanks again. Too bad you're not near me I'd give you a few trees.

 

[jb6l6gc]

Is there a grease hole on your bar? Keeping it greased helps

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

Is there a grease hole on your bar? Keeping it greased helps

This is important. The high speeds that part experiences can cause high heat and friction if not lubricated constantly. This will cause it to overheat, expand, and seize. Go to your saw dealer and get a bar sprocket lubricator. It's a little grease device that introduces thick blue grease into the grease ports on the end of the bar. I give it a squirt in each port every time I refuel.

 

[Sean McGillicuddy]

Another thing to do is flip then bar after you have cleaned your saw , it will run the tip in the other direction.

 

[Jags]

Be aware that not all bars have a grease hole in the sprocket tip anymore. Two schools of thought on this...
First - bar oil lubes the sprocket as well as the chain.
Second - if you grease a bar, continue to grease it. The grease needs to be replaced with new so that it doesn't harden and the extra little chips that are attracted to grease continue to be pushed out with the new grease.
I don't use bar grease anymore....

 

[Chimney Smoke]

I have experienced this as well only when noodling the butt end of large logs. My theory was a combination of excess dust/chips with nowhere to go and excess heat generated when doing this. Since I first had it happen, when I'm doing any cutting where the tip of the bar is buried in the wood I always take the bar out every 15-20 seconds to clear it and give it some air. For whatever it's worth, I haven't had the problem since I started doing this.