Beginner's Question about damaged chain

[George5000]

Hello, I put a new chain on my chainsaw and after a few seconds of cutting it came off. Now on a few of the links, the 'claw' which bites onto the clutch wheel is 'mushroomed' out slightly at the tip, and those links won't fit between the rails on the bar. What causes this? Can I just file them down and use the chain again? If so, what kind of file do I need?
Thank you

[DelawhereJoe]

Was the new chain exactly the same as the old one, a buddy of mine has a husqvarna 455 rancher when he goes to get a new chain, which is when his old one is dull, just goes to lowes sees 20" husqvarna and grabs it. He doesn't look to see if its the right chain for his saw or to see if the stocker just put things in the wrong place, he just grabs and goes. He has a few of the wrong chains sitting on the self in his shed cause he didn't pay enough attention to the plastic pack, it happens.

[dougand3]

Like Joe says, check if your new chain is correct. Compare to old chain:
Pitch: distance between drivers. Measure center to center on 3 rivets, then divide by 2. .375 or .325 will be answer
Gauge: thickness of driver. Probably be .050" but could be .058"
Drive Link: # of drivers

If chain is correct, you can use a flat file or dremel rotary tool to remove mushroomed part of drivers.
And set proper chain tension: Pull upward on chain in the middle part of bar - drivers should pull upward 1/4" or so but not clear the rail.

[George5000]

It's one of the chains that came with the saw so it's definitely the right calibre. It seems I might not have had it tight enough. I've also read that cutting small brush at an angle can often derail the chain, which is what I was doing. I'll try and file down the mushroomed parts. Thanks!

[SawTroll]

It's one of the chains that came with the saw so it's definitely the right calibre. It seems I might not have had it tight enough. I've also read that cutting small brush at an angle can often derail the chain, which is what I was doing. I'll try and file down the mushroomed parts. Thanks!

The combination of a loose chain and brush-cutting is an effective way to derail a chain.

You are right about filing the "mushrooming" away, just don't remove more material than needed.

[Texas-Jim]

when a chain comes off it often damages the drive links. Its easy fix, just tap the effected links, i use a hammer and a punch. to do away with mushroom effect.

[celliott]

Take your flat file and get the bur's off the drivers. Check it by putting the chain on the saw, tensioning it, and rotating it by hand. If it doesn't spin smoothly and catches somewhere, you still got more to fix.

[HolmenTree]

Most times when time is an issue when my chain derails and mushrooms a few of the drive links. I just put the chain back on loose with the damaged links in the sprocket nose, rev up the saw until chain is running completely between the bar rails .
Retension chain and it's good to go .

[George5000]

Finally got around to it and it went fine, very quick and straightforward task and the saw is now running smoothly. Thank you!

[John Mc]

Cutting brush with a loose chain is one of the worst for making the chain come off. Remember that with a brand new chain, it will often stretch and loosen up quite a bit after the first few cuts. Sometimes when you put on a new chain, just running it up to speed for a few seconds will loosen it up a bit. Definitely check it after the first few cuts and adjust as necessary. The frequency with which you need to adjust tension decreases a lot after a couple hours of use.

[George5000]

It's one of the chains that came with the saw so it's definitely the right calibre. It seems I might not have had it tight enough. I've also read that cutting small brush at an angle can often derail the chain, which is what I was doing. I'll try and file down the mushroomed parts. Thanks!

The combination of a loose chain and brush-cutting is an effective way to derail a chain.

You are right about filing the "mushrooming" away, just don't remove more material than needed.

Snart skal det Norske språket dø.

[John Mc]

Snart skal det Norske språket dø.

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[Kbeitz]

Snart skal det Norske språket dø.

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Soon the Norwegian language die