"burn" marks on bar

[flyank]

was cutting rounds of fresh pine in half for splitting today and I know I was pushing harder than I should of but when I was done I noticed the bottom part of the bar along the rail was black like burnt. Was having problems with the pine pitch gumming up in the clutch area and was thinking it was clogging the oiling.. Took off the clutch cover and the was a wad of chips, gunk that ran from the clutch to about 3-4" up the bar.. I know the oil ports are on the back side of the bar and didn't really see anything blocking them but just looking for thoughts. Last cut the saw was dogging, bogged down and smoking more than normal. Pic doesn't due justice of how it looked, has been cleaned up a it... just looking for ideas..

 

[flyank]

forgot to add, I did check for build up in the rail to prevent oil flow and it was ok. Chain is Stihl RSC and bar is Oregon Pro-Lite

 

[CTYank]

Bar doesn't look that bad to me. I've seen bars with much wider discolored area that still had a long life ahead. They were of good quality steel.

My bet is that you'd do well to stop more often for some filing; works better than pushing harder. Sure helped life-expectancy of mine.

You might want to see if the bar needs dressing- if it has a burnished knife-edge flaring out where it was cooked. Easily filed off, keeps the bar from hanging in the cut.

 

[flyank]

been racking the brain on it, chain was touched up, bar is new, only about an hour on it before this... Like I said, it was fresh pine just dropped and had a lot of sap, just hoping it got gummed up and made everything work harder.. thanks for the ideas

 

[HorseFaller]

I just did much of the same, only in spruce. I believe it's discoloring from the sap. I have seen it in grand fir also with the discoloring covering the intire bar. I would only worry when it's a small burn or heat spot close to the rails. This will come from a pinch spot that causeing excess wear.

 

[dave k]

It's hard to see in the pic but is it not just the "blueing" when the bar is tempered ?

 

[RacerX]

It's hard to see in the pic but is it not just the "blueing" when the bar is tempered ?

That was my first thought too, although it really hard to tell from the photo. Here's a photo of a bar with some of the paint worn off and the hardened edges visible.

 

[flyank]

I'll try amd get a better pic but the discoloration goes beyond where paint has wore off.

 

[flyank]

what made me think this might be something else was just when added to the saw getting bogged down and smoking when it got packed with sappy crap around the clutch and bar end area.. wasn't shooting chips out like normal, never had this with any other wood, just this very wet pine

 

[J.W Younger]

Oregon makes pretty good bars,paint ani't anything too write the folks about tho.
When your in stuff with a lot of pitch and the bar is pretty much buried such as the noodleing you were doing,good idea too pull out and rev too cool it from time to time.Most everybodys bars are kinda stingy with oil nowadays.

 

[RiverRat2]

Yeah I've seen it before,,, this time of year cool weather in most conifers/evergreens the sap is pulled back in the trunk of the tree so the pitch is abundant to say the least,,, actually even the deciduous hardwoods same deal more sap/pitch in the main trunk,,,,

just gotta clean a little better, swap out chains a little more frequently etc...

 

[flyank]

thanks all.. kinda figured thats all it is, just pizzes me off with it being a brandy new bar.. oh well. still cuts fine, all that matters.

 

[RandyMac]

Some diesel or ATF added to the bar oil will help with the sap.

 

[flyank]

beginning to think something wasn't matched up right... cut again today and went easy and cut good for about 15mins and then heated right back up and started over working the saw... changed out to the stock bar and chain and it ran perfect and cut perfect.... so now I know it's an issue most likely with the bar, the saw it's on is a Husqvarna 455 and the new bar package only said to fit a 55 but specs were correct and all holes matched... live and learn.