Chainsaw maintenance tips

So I'm in my first year of home ownership and the proud owner of 2 acres of land chock full of trees that I don't want. I want to thin the herd and I've already cleared quite a bit.

Only one problem, I seem to go through chainsaw chains pretty rapidly. Granted, some of the stuff I'm cutting is pretty hard - Oak, Maple etc. I keep finding I'm getting to the point where the saw wants to cut a curve, not straight. I don't get it. I always keep plenty of chain oil in the saw and re-tension the chain when it looks to get too much slack but still, inevitably it seems, I eventually end up not being able to cut straight lines.

It's not a problem on the small stuff, but when I'm sectioning a 34" red maple I need to be able to cut straight to make it to the other side.

Tips?

Saw is an 18" Craftsman, but I also have a 16" Hitachi that did the same thing only quicker.

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When you say you go through chains quick, do you mean before you sharpen or before you replace?

Sharpen em till teeth start breaking off. Get one of the bar mounted electric sharpeners.

Before I sharpen. But sharpening only puts off the crazy cutting for a little bit.

Do the bar-mounted sharpeners really work?

Are you pretty good at keeping it out of the dirt?

A little bit of dirt will kill a chain in a heartbeat.

It's been years since I've used one for more than a small tree here and there, but I remember when we heated exclusively with wood (Ontario gets cold in the winter, we used LOTS of cordage). It quickly became apparant that buying the expensive chains paid off in the long run. They could be sharpened more times, and held an edge longer. Mainly cutting oak and maple.

If you don't keep the bar oil reservoir topped up, the guide will wear and cause the curving cut, as will a bad idler bearing at the end of the bar. You can have a saw shop replace the tip if needed but if the bar is worn bad you need a new one.

Every time you fire your saw up, rev it over a fresh stump or something white and watch for a good spray of oil. Sometimes you get crap in the reservoir when you top it up which can plug the oiler.

edit. You can replace the tip on a good bar. Cheap ones are throwaways.

My tip is that blood does not make a good chain lubricant.

my experience with cheaper saws is that the oil pumps suck. sounds like you're not oiling or not oiling enough.

Remember to flip your bar when you replace your chain (at least it works on Stihls). And be sure to avoid dirt and rocks like the plague...

Also, what do you use for bar oil?

I've been using echo bar oil. I'm also careful to not run it through dirt. I use Oregon chains too.

DaveEstey wrote: I've been using echo bar oil. I'm also careful to not run it through dirt. I use Oregon chains too.

Looks like you are doing all of that right. I would check the bar. Usually if the saw cuts crooked it is because the bar is worn or bent.

The will also cut crooked if both sides of the chain aren't sharpened the same. If you get one side sharper than the other it will try to cut circles.

Big +1 for quality chains and bars. Check to make sure the chain guides aren't bottoming in the bar as well.

Notprotip: Use your used motor oil as bar oil, its free and it works fine, just don't use the last inch where all the crap that was in your drainpan settles. Being multigrade, it flows better cold and protects better hot. Works great, my dad does this and buys a chain or two a year, maybe a bar every two years, has about 6 saws and heats exclusively with wood.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: Notprotip: Use your used motor oil as bar oil, its free and it works fine, just don't use the last inch where all the crap that was in your drainpan settles. Being multigrade, it flows better cold and protects better hot. Works great, my dad does this and buys a chain or two a year, maybe a bar every two years, has about 6 saws and heats exclusively with wood.

bar oil is very sticky and designed to stay on the bar as the chain passes over the tip. I would call the use of used motor oil false economy. You will have to buy a lot of bar oil to make up for early replacement of chains or a bar.

Are you sharpening the chains yourself or having them sharpened? The reason is that my father-in-law took his chains to be sharpened and they came back with only one side sharpened - which gives the symptoms you're describing (cuts on a curve)...

Every time you add gas, file the chain. EVERY time.

About every 10 times you file the chain sharp (only takes a few strokes) use your depth gauge and file the rakers.

Jigs and fixtures are a niftly way to waste time and money. A simple guide and a set of good files (Stihl is good and cheap), work faster and better.

Once you've used the chain enough to get teeth all snaggly, a grind squares them back away. The harborfreight grinder is ceap, and does a remarkably serviceable job of grinding. Don't demand and expect too much of the tool, it's not a pro-grade machine by any means.

About your chains. If you bought them at Home Depot and the like, throw them away. They only sell green "safety" chains, and they don't cut worth a darn. Go to a real chainsaw dealership and buy the dangerous yellow chains that actually cut.

bearmtnmartin wrote:

Kenny_McCormic wrote: Notprotip: Use your used motor oil as bar oil, its free and it works fine, just don't use the last inch where all the crap that was in your drainpan settles. Being multigrade, it flows better cold and protects better hot. Works great, my dad does this and buys a chain or two a year, maybe a bar every two years, has about 6 saws and heats exclusively with wood.

bar oil is very sticky and designed to stay on the bar as the chain passes over the tip. I would call the use of used motor oil false economy. You will have to buy a lot of bar oil to make up for early replacement of chains or a bar.

I used to think this, but after years of tearing down his saws for other reasons, the chain always comes off well oiled. I cant see thick sticky oil pumping well on a cold day or working its way into the chain pins either. I cant remember the last time he broke a chain when it wasn't already due for replacement on account of missing cutters.

foxtrapper wrote: Every time you add gas, file the chain. EVERY time.

That seems excessive.

I tried sharpening myself but wasn't convinced I was doing it right so I've just been buying new chains. They're not terribly expensive, but I also have quite a few used ones in stock now that I was going to drop off at the saw shop to have worked over.

^ No, it ain't. The pros all do this but they do it lightly. I really, really like the little Dremel-like rotary file that runs on a car battery. You leave the chain on the bar and just do a light touchup on the teeth when you fill it. It comes with an angle guide to make it nice and easy. Makes the chain cut like it's new, and when the teeth go to nubs, +1 on the yellow chain that actually cuts. I bought a cheap cheap Poulan "wild thing" 15 years ago when we first moved onto acreage, and I thought "well when it breaks in a year or two, I'll be able to afford to replace it with a Husky or a Stihl" and now we're on 5 acres and heat exclusively with the trees therefrom and I'm still waiting for it to break. Hell it still has the original bar, air filter, clutch, and berkelying spark plug. Recently I had to take the covers off and actually work on in for the first time ever, when a fuel hose fell off the carb. 5 to 8 cords a season that thing chews through and it's just amazing how deadnuts reliable it's been. I bought a chain last September and the last one before it was bought I think year before last so yeah ya shouldn't have to go through chains as quick as you seem to be. That stuff in your pic should not be any kind of a struggle for an 18" bar. I did use most of a chain up on the last maple I took down here. It was standing dead, and a bit more'n a yard across at the trunk. You know, the sort of rounds where when you get one of 'em split, it fills a wheelbarrow? That was a bit of a struggle for an 18" bar..

I'm going to purchase one of the good (dangerous) chains and try your filing method.

The stuff in the photo is the smallest section of the tree. The bottom 25' of it is about a yard across.

Mmmm yes 25' of yard across maple is going to be pain and suffering and just really pay attention with the yellow chain. Fantastic firewood though, and just think of the sense of accomplishment when it's all stacked up...

I cut down a 10" birch the other day just so I could experience easy cutting.

Oak and Maple burn great, but you work for it.