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Bar Grease

Started by Kevin, March 14, 2004, 06:16:56 PM

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Buzz-sawyer

I have spun TWO tips out of my bars since reading this thread ...which is really odd since I think the last time I did was in the 80's!!!!
I came back to read up and see what I am doin wrong?!?!
    HEAR THAT BLADE SING!

Frickman

Rocky,

Almost banjo string tight. In another words, I can still turn the chain easily by hand, but it is not sagging away from the bottom of the bar. In days gone by we used the solid nose bars and had to leave some slack in them. Some of the old timers thought that if a little was good than alot has to be better and they'd have them so you could put your fingers between the chain and the bar. Now with the roller nose bar you can run the chain fairly tight, which extends the life of the bar. That loose chain slapping around wears out a bar in a hurry. We keep them tight, but you can still roll the chain around by hand easily and even pull it away from the bar a bit.

Years ago I attended a seminar at a logger show put on by a Stihl rep. He was talking about buying your bars, chains, and sprockets in lots and allowing them all to wear out together, so you don't put a new chain on an old bar. He said that Stihl figures you should buy 1 bar, 2 sprockets, and 6 chains together. I don't keep too close of track of my chains, as I rotate them between felling and yard saws, but I know I'm getting more than 6 chains out of a bar. I buy about 1 bar a year unless I smash something, and even then sometimes I really don't need it. My dealer says it is probably because of the way I use and maintain my saws.  He has some old-time loggers that are getting less than half the life out of their bars as I am because of the slack they leave in the chain. They are still thinking of the solid nose bars and beating their bars to death. Stihl might not be too happy with me as I don't buy many bars as they say I should, but if I listened to big companies I'd be driving a new pickup every year too.
If you're not broke down once in a while, you're not working hard enough

I'm not a hillbilly. I'm an "Appalachian American"

Retired  Conventional hand-felling logging operation with cable skidder and forwarder, Frick 01 handset sawmill

Pretend farmer when I have the time

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