is it a chain or a bar problem?

[Lablover]

Newby to this forum but have spent time "making wood" with a question. I was cutting up some long dead oak last weekend and noticed that the bar was smoking and very hot. It seemed to be getting oil on the bar, I checked this by running the saw against a chunk of wood, I can see oil spots. The chain was not dull to the point where it was making saw dust, I was still getting chips. The bar and chain are factory manufactured, no off the big box shelf parts. What am I doing wrong or where do I start looking for something to fix or change. Thanks for your help

[shelbycharger400]

dry anything  you need a super sharp chain,  dull chains heat up fast!
What are you doing to sharp your chain?  file or grinder?

[bill m]

Welcome to the forum Lablover. Some questions. Is the bar turning color? If it is in one spot the rails are pinched  When it gets hot does the chain get tight? If it does it is not getting enough oil. Is just the tip getting hot and is it turning color? If it is the bearings are going bad. How big in diameter is the pieces you are cutting? When cutting for extended times in big dia. wood the bar can get hot and with the right conditions ( and a dull chain )you could see smoke. It also could just be steam.

[1270d]

If you are only seing spots of oil its not oiling enough.  It should lay a stripe of oil if you rev it with the tip near a piece of wood.   You should use roughly a tank of oil per tank of gas.   

Does the chain appear dry? Are you sure your not trying to run a .058 chain on a .050 bar?  Did you blow a tip?

[thecfarm]

Lablover,welcome to the forum. A correctly sharpened chain should draw itself into the wood too. the chips should have some size to them too. With gloves on move the chain by hand. it should move easy. If your tip is going it will move hard or the chain is binding on something.And the saw should be going straight down through the wood too,no cutting off to one side.

[fuzzybear]

Try cleaning the groove in the bar. If you have a build up of saw dust in there the oil hole will become clogged to the point that only a small amount of oil is being forced into the bar. This groove and hole must be kept clean so the chain draws the oil into the groove and lubricates the chain.  If you have a build up of dust in the clutch cover, you have it in the bar.
FB

[Krieger91]

Welcome to the forums!  A few things I would check.

1)Check to make sure your chain is sharpened properly and the rakers are not too high.  I was taught by an ol' fella that you should never have to push on a saw, it should pull itself through the wood.

2)Are you cutting where it's cold?  As 1270d said, you should see a stripe of oil off the tip of the bar, if it's cold out and you're using standard bar oil, it may be too thick to oil properly.  As most of my cutting is in the cooler weather, I always keep a jug of low temp bar oil on hand.

3)Are you sure you have the proper sized chain?  If you try and run a .325 chain on a Stihl picco bar, for example, it will bind and cause intense heat.

The last thing I can offer is to pop the bar off and physically look it over.  I have a Stihl MS180C that I was using to fell a tree and when the tree fell it pinched the end of my bar a bit.  I noticed the same thing, that my chain and bar were getting very hot and not cutting well.  When I looked at it, I noticed that not only was the end of the bar pinching the chain, it was torqued a little bit to one side. 

Hopefully this post helps, and sorry if it's a bit long winded.

[Al_Smith]

If you have a couple bent drive lengths from a chain derail that can cause some heat also .

You have to leave a little slack in the chain too,not tight as a bango string .About the thickness of a nickle .

The chain has to be able to allow the cutter to rotate a little bit as it is cutting .If not it won't cut right .

[submarinesailor]

Try cleaning the groove in the bar. If you have a build up of saw dust in there the oil hole will become clogged to the point that only a small amount of oil is being forced into the bar. This groove and hole must be kept clean so the chain draws the oil into the groove and lubricates the chain.  If you have a build up of dust in the clutch cover, you have it in the bar.
FB

I use an old hacksaw blade for this.  It works really well.

Bruce

[clww]

Try cleaning the groove in the bar. If you have a build up of saw dust in there the oil hole will become clogged to the point that only a small amount of oil is being forced into the bar. This groove and hole must be kept clean so the chain draws the oil into the groove and lubricates the chain.  If you have a build up of dust in the clutch cover, you have it in the bar.
FB

I use an old hacksaw blade for this.  It works really well.

Bruce

I use the back edge of my knife.

[Lablover]

Thanks to everyone that offered help. It turned out to be a plug of sawdust in the oiler.

[Krieger91]

Thanks to everyone that offered help. It turned out to be a plug of sawdust in the oiler.

Gotta love the odd places that sawdust and wood chips get in to.  I've had them plug an oiler, and I had one get stuck in the sprocket on the end of the bar on my Stihl MS180.  That one was a pain to fix.  I'm glad to hear you figured it out and got your saw running!