Bent brand new bar???

[George Zarifis]

I just remembered this little story and I thought I'd share it with you. In July 2015 when I got my MS 261 C-M, just before using it for the first time I noticed that the bar (18" Rollomatic E) was slightly bent. Placing a straight edge along its length revealed a small gap, a bit less than 1/8" in the middle. It was pretty easy to straighten with a couple c clamps but it seemed strange to me that a brand new stihl bar would come this way. Anyway, it's not a big deal but it could have caused some problems had I not straightened it. I would like to know whether slightly bent bars are something common and if you have had any similar issues or if I was just not very lucky.
                                                                     smiley_inspector

[Ox]

Was it a brand new saw?  If so, I would have taken it back to the dealer for replacement.  Unacceptable.  Glad you could fix it though.

[Texas-Jim]

Its an oddity, i would also have returned it.

[George Zarifis]

It was a brand new stihl MS 261. It had never been used. At least now it's straight as an arrow and it works fine.

[Texas-Jim]

Theres nothing wrong with fixing it, i just meant on a new saw you shouldn't have to work on it before use. Im a stihl dealer and i would happily give a customer a new bar.

[JohnW]

1/8"? I guess it would have caused trouble, but your powers of observation are way good.

[George Zarifis]

Theres nothing wrong with fixing it, i just meant on a new saw you shouldn't have to work on it before use. Im a stihl dealer and i would happily give a customer a new bar.

Believe me, my local Stihl dealer would not be very happy if I returned the bar. I'm pretty sure that half an hour after having left the bar to be replaced they would call me to tell me that they had fixed it. Oh, that wouldn't be very pretty... It would be bent like a potato chip with hammer marks all over it. And that's the disadvantage of living in a small island with only two stihl dealers and not that many trees. There is just not much to choose from. Anyway, thanks for the interest... Also, on second thought it might have not been that bent, but still, it was too bent to leave alone.