Did I Damage My Bar?

[lxskllr]

I had one last task for my Poulan Pro, but it fell flat. I have an ~20" limb that's half planted in the ground, so I need to buck a bunch of dirt too. Don't tell anyone, but Poulan Pro may have had some flight training after it quit, and wouldn't start  :^P  :^D

After that quit, I pulled out my 362cm. It had a chain that was pretty much done, so I thought I could get through it with that. Not much luck. Lots of sparks from the kerf, and a couple half-assed sharpening attempts later, I have ~2 cuts left. The old chain started off correctly tensioned, but was hanging at least .5" off the bar when I was done, and the second attempt at filing found the tooth remains hardened. The clutch cover was packed with burnt oily dust. The bar's missing more paint, but doesn't seem /too/ bad. The nose sprocket might be a little more gritty, but probably ok.

Did I do any damage I can't see? Too late now, but I'm a little sorry I used my good saw for that task. To finish up, I'll put my poulan bar on my echo. I have two spent chains I think I'll be able to finish with. Hopefully...

[sablatnic]

You most likely didn't hurt the bar too much, but you should do your best to get the dirt out of the nose bearing. 
A couple of years ago I had to install 300 meters of perimeter wire for my robotic mower, and used a chainsaw to dig the trench. The chain was shot, almost as bad as some chains people bring to get sharpened, but to my surprise the bar survived.

[lxskllr]

Yea, cleaning the nose sounds like a good idea. I can replace the tip, but I'd rather not if I don't have to. Maybe give it a good soak with penetrating fluid, then soak it in oil. It was dark when I was finishing up, so I didn't do a thorough cleaning job. Scraped the groove out, and cleaned the clutch cover with a toothbrush. I'll have to check it over when it's light out.

[mike_belben]

Scrape out the kerf with the back side of a razor blade or a snip of pallet banding clamped in vice grips for a handle.  put on some glasses and blast out the spocket area with a can of cheap ether then grease or gear oil the bearing.  

Dirt will wear out a bar groove really fast.

Tip for next time.  Axes and shovels always start.

[lxskllr]

Tip for next time.  Axes and shovels always start.

Seems obvious when you say it now  :^D  
Sometimes my brain gets locked into a course of action, and doesn't want to deviate from the original plan.

[Inaotherlife]

I got a four wheeled edger, a stick edger, and a cutter mattock that I've used to bury extension cords and dig small trenches.

Might have to get a cheap saw from the pawn shop as a dedicated trencher. Looks really effective for a little more depth.

As far as sawing roots into the dirt. I try to rake/shovel as much dirt out of the way as I can first.

Hope your bars are ok. 

[sablatnic]

I got a four wheeled edger, a stick edger, and a cutter mattock that I've used to bury extension cords and dig small trenches.

Might have to get a cheap saw from the pawn shop as a dedicated trencher. Looks really effective for a little more depth.

As far as sawing roots into the dirt. I try to rake/shovel as much dirt out of the way as I can first.

Hope your bars are ok.

The bar is about as bad as it was before, almost ready for the bin, but usable. 
An angle grinder might have worked better as trencher, but this was what i had.
 

[DelawhereJoe]

I had a stump to cut out one day, I was cutting about 6" above the ground, the saw would make it 2-3" into the wood before it stopped putting out chips and dust. After I sharpened the chain 10x before making it to the middle of the stump I just gave up and finished with a stump grinder.

[lxskllr]

It still surprises me how fast a chain can dull, and how useless it is when it does. I always figure it'll still cut /something/ dull, but it doesn't really work like that. Might as well have a bead chain from a toy saw on it  :^D


I bought a loop of semi chisel chain for my 362. I'm anxious to try it out. The chain I killed yesterday was the full chisel that came on the saw. Worked great when I was mainly cutting clean wood, but the edge wouldn't last with dirty stuff. I'm hoping the semi chisel holds up a little better. I *don't* expect it to hold up to the nonsense I put it through yesterday. I won't be doing that again with my good stuff.

[DelawhereJoe]

I was running stihl semi-chisel on my 362 c-m but in .325 not 3/8, 3/8 full chisel lasted about the same distance in the cut too.

[Al_Smith]

You could probably use a pressure washer on the bar then oil it .Pressure wash the chain too ,you're not going to hurt it .File the teeth then toss it in a bucket full of oil for a bit and hang it up and let it drip .You didn't kill it you just wounded it .

[DelawhereJoe]

The problem I had was inclusions inside the tree, hidden pockets of highly compressed dirt and bark where the multiple roots had grown together into one large root.

[lxskllr]

That chain was already done when I used it. That was the deciding factor in using my good saw. The teeth were back to the witness marks. I figured I'd have one more session in good wood, sharpen it one last time, and save it as a stump chain. The teeth are too hard to sharpen now that they got heated up. Not worth the effort for one last cut.


I figure I'll put the bar in water to get it cleaned out good. I have the remains of some gear oil I'll douse the nose in, then use the bottle to hold bar oil. The echo is a real pita to fill with fuel and oil using my big bottles/epa fuel can, so the gear oil bottle will work good to fill it. I have a 1L Nalgene fuel bottle I used to fill the poulan. I'll fill that, then transfer it to the echo. The epa can works great with the Stihl. I can get the whole spout in the tank, and  it doesn't slop at all. The echo holes are too small, and I end up slopping fuel everywhere. It glugs out of the spout, and won't pour smoothly.


edit:
on the subject of old chains/files... Anyone have any clever uses for them? I'm getting a nice collection of files, and I'll soon have a small cache of spent chains. They almost seem too good to get rid of, but they aren't good for their original purpose anymore.

[Grandpa]

Somewhere I saw a picture of a chainsaw chain made into a damascus style knife. Seem like it may have been here on the forum and the poster may have been Loggah. The guy with the Lombard log haulers.

[lil171]

As a newbie here, I have to ask. You made mention the the teeth are too hard to sharpen as they heated up ( I did see that you also mention the teeth were back to the witness marks, but lets pretend they were not please). Were you reffering to hand sharpen with a file? If so, I understand. Then in that case, would a bench mounted chain grinder still be able to sharpen them, or would the chain still be toast? Thanks.

[lxskllr]

I'm pretty new myself, but I imagine you could do it with a grinder. With enough teeth left to be worth the effort, a file should work too, but take longer. I would guess harder teeth would be more prone to chipping, especially in hardwood/dirty conditions, as well as being difficult to sharpen in the field, but in good clean wood, they should hold their edge longer.

edit:
You can also overheat the teeth using a grinder if you get carried away with it. I don't use a grinder, but you want to go slow, and don't take too much off at one time. Dunno if you can use fluid to cool while you grind. I haven't read of anyone doing that.

[mike_belben]

if your cutting dirt and rock dont even take them off the bar.  Just use up your junk chains and touch em with a 4" angle grinder right on the saw.  The angles wont matter since theyll be worn down in seconds anyway.  Again, your bars take a beating in the dirt.  Liberal garden hosing probably would help flow the trash out of the saws way.  Its how they drill wells. 

[mredden]

Air compressors are wonderful for blowing the dirt off stumps, roots, bar channels and nose tip sprockets. Heck, add the chain sprocket to the list.

I live in sandy soil region and bark anywhere near the ground it's full of sand. I take the air compressor everywhere - dadgum generator too.

[Saw Finding]

You most likely didn't hurt the bar too much, but you should do your best to get the dirt out of the nose bearing.
A couple of years ago I had to install 300 meters of perimeter wire for my robotic mower, and used a chainsaw to dig the trench. The chain was shot, almost as bad as some chains people bring to get sharpened, but to my surprise the bar survived.

what he is doing with his saw!!!!!!bull [I have typed a profane word that is automatically changed by the forum censored words program I should know better] man!

[sablatnic]

You most likely didn't hurt the bar too much, but you should do your best to get the dirt out of the nose bearing.
A couple of years ago I had to install 300 meters of perimeter wire for my robotic mower, and used a chainsaw to dig the trench. The chain was shot, almost as bad as some chains people bring to get sharpened, but to my surprise the bar survived.

what he is doing with his saw!!!!!!bull [I have typed a profane word that is automatically changed by the forum censored words program I should know better] man!

I simply had a job to do, and I could hire somebody to do it, I could rent a machine with which to do it or I could use what I had at home.
By far the fastest and cheapest option was to use an old chainsaw with a worn out chain and bar.
The chain was this one with two more sharpenings on it!