I was cutting Sunday and realized one of my bar nuts had loosened up and fallen off. Never happened before. Got me thinking. How often do you check the torque and check to see if the chain needs to be tightened or loosened? I generally check the chain before every start up but no much else.
Lost nut
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Sean McGillicuddy
Minister of Fire
This should be done when you start ..routine items , fuel, oil, sharp chain, chain tight .. PPE , cell phone etc...
agree with Sean, especially +1 on the cell phone. I have it with me anytime there is a risk of injury such as cutting, driving tractor, ect. I don't mind dying, I just don't want to suffer a long time in agony.
TreePointer
Minister of Fire
I store my saws with chains loosened, so I have to tighten bar nuts every time I take them out to use.
Why store with chains loosened? It prevents any chance for chain stretching or needless stress on crankshaft.
Why store with chains loosened? It prevents any chance for chain stretching or needless stress on crankshaft.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
That happened to me once . . . I routinely check the nuts now before firing the saw up.
That said . . . my new Jonsered has nut "keepers" that prevent them from falling off and getting lost if they do loosen up.
That said . . . my new Jonsered has nut "keepers" that prevent them from falling off and getting lost if they do loosen up.
I think they call them captive nuts. My 562XP has those.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
Somewhere here is a joke about why it's nicer to wear boxers instead of tighty whiteys.
Sawset
Minister of Fire
Not sure I've heard that before. Sounds reasonable, but necessary? Chains should be run with a slight amount of slack, so when they cool they tighten up to only slightly snug, no more?
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TreePointer
Minister of Fire
It's what I've learned and certainly I could be wrong. Here's how the thinking goes:
Run a saw on a 95*F day in August. All chains heat up from friction and metal expands. At some point, you may tighten it a little more to compensate for the heat expansion. Then you put your saw away in the barn and don't have a need for it until spring time. It sits through what could be -10*F in my area with a cold contracted chain pulling on the crankshaft. Will this stretch the chain? Maybe not. I don't think it's good for the crankshaft.
I will note that longer bars tend to need tighter chains while in operation.
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
I lost a bar nut from my dolmar once on a remote craigslist score. Found it in the sawdust but was lucky. Right then I took both nuts off and painted them flourescent blue to make them easier to find if they would ever fall off again. Now they never loosen up but I have had fun explaining my blue nuts.
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