Not your typical "chain too tight" question

[Aaron Westley]

Greetings Helpful Experts,
I have a dilemma. I am admittedly a bit of a n00b but I have question that I can seem to find an answer for. I recently bought a new Oregon bar and chain per the suggestion on the Oregon's website. They should be a perfect match, both are .058" Gauge, 3/8" Pitch. The problem is the chain is WAY to tight. It is like they gauges are different. The chain just sticks in to the bar groove. This is resulting in way too much friction. No amount of oil will help. So my question are:

What gives?
Is there a fix for this?
How do I know if the bar is the problem or the chain?

Any help would be great!

Thanks.

 

[RedFir Down]

If both the bar and chain are .058 gauge like you are stating then measure the bar groove and drive link with a set of calipers to see where your problem is.
Im betting its your bar.

I have been very disappointed with the quality of the Oregon power match bars the last few years... I just received a 24" power match and the quality/tolerances were very piss poor!

Welcome to the site!

 

[Aaron Westley]

Thanks for the fast reply. Of course it has to be the more expensive of the two parts... I will try to measure them and see which is causing the problem. What would you suggest as an alternative to Oregon?

Thanks again.

 

[Jeff Lary]

Take your saw to a local shop that you, let them set you up with the correct Bar and chain. Then make a note of what they give you for future use. Take the bar and chain back to the place you got it from,.. if you have not damaged it. Good luck. Jeff

 

[RedFir Down]

Since the bar is new I would either contact the vendor you got it from or Oregon direct with this issue... you should not have to eat any of this cost issue!!!!
I have been kicking around the idea of starting a thread about my findings (pictures with measurements) with Oregon bars lately but I hasn't, this thread might have pushed me over the edge to do so!

 

[RedFir Down]

Here are a few quality bars... Total, Sugi Hara, Cannon, Tsumura, stihl.
If you are not looking for a light weight bar a Total super bar is probably your best bang for you buck.
Slightly more than Oregon but they are 2-3 times the bar of an Oregon IMO.

Check at weedeaterman.com he is a sponsor here.

 

[anlrolfe]

It's not impossible that either the bar or chain packaging was mismarked. If you still have the packaging match it to the order form. Its possible that you ordered what you expected but the warehouse pulled the wrong stock for shipment. I'm sitting on a mismatched chain for my Little echo that I looked up from the Oregon book at the hardware store. I found out the hard way that they made 2-gauges for my saw. Now I've got an 14" S52 3/8 pico .050" 91-profile. Guess what I needed?

If you ordered factory direct or major distributor try a gentle letter to their customer service and maybe they can help smooth things over.

 

[nhlogga]

I have had this problem due to too much paint in the bar groove

 

[griffonks]

Did you buy the bar and chain from Oregon directly? Send it back and tell them you expect them to pay for return shipment... this should never happen.

Sent from my SCH-R530C using Tapatalk

 

[jughead500]

Its probably the paint in the bar groove.

 

[MuskokaSplitter]

Whether or not it was mis matched packaging if the dimension are .58 on the bar and the code on the drive link represents .58 I don't see that being the problem.

Simply sound like a quality issue with the bar. Either not machined properly or paint in the groove. I'd be calling oregon, its not like a power match bar is a cheap box store bar. Im sure all brands have the "hiccups" with quality control but imo its how they deal with it that matters.

Or just buy a stihl es bar and be happy;-)

 

[z71mike]

What's the part number of your bar? And the chain.

 

[1Alpha1]

You would think that as a chainsaw bar manufacturer, it would be stupid to paint the inside of the bar groove.

I'm thinking that the bar / chain is mis-matched.

 

[z71mike]

Yup. That's why I want part numbers.

 

[MuskokaSplitter]

Should say 73 on the drive link for .58 3/8.

 

[northmanlogging]

Did you have to force it into the groove? or did you just push it in by hand? Seems that new bars are always a little on the snug side, if the the chain goes on without a hammer, and turns by hand, run it. Other wise take it back to the store and get mean...

Then buy a quality bar next time, Oregon is just cheap junk. It will cost a little more (ok a lot more) but you will get years of life out of a quality bar and you might get 1-2 seasons out of any oregon product.

 

[dboyd351]

Mike's right. Before we go through all this speculation why not just look at the bar and chain to see if they are both .058? Should say that right on the bar and it's easy enough to get the gauge off the numbers stamped on the chain. Could be a very simple solution to the OP's dilemma. Maybe it's just a .058 chain he's trying to fit on an .050 bar.

 

[Aaron Westley]

Thanks everyone for the help. The bar and chain were both the right size. I broke down and brought the saw into the shop. Turns out it was something foolish on my part. The sprocket was really worn. It was next to impossible to see because of the way it is setup on the saw. As a result the initial tightness from it being a new chain and bar caused the chain to jump. Doing so then damaged the drive links by smushing (the technical term) the tips of them (making them ever so wider). A $6 part and another new chain later the beast is alive and well.

 

[Aaron Westley]

Also for those who asked the saw is a Dolmar 111i. It is old as hell but it is a little beast.

 

[Marshy]

Thanks everyone for the help. The bar and chain were both the right size. I broke down and brought the saw into the shop. Turns out it was something foolish on my part. The sprocket was really worn. It was next to impossible to see because of the way it is setup on the saw. As a result the initial tightness from it being a new chain and bar caused the chain to jump. Doing so then damaged the drive links by smushing (the technical term) the tips of them (making them ever so wider). A $6 part and another new chain later the beast is alive and well.

If the tips wern't hammered too bad from the sprocket jump then you could take a couple strokes with a flat file to take the edge off the tip and bring it back down to size. No sense throwing a good chain away, or keep it for a backup... it all depends on how much the tips was mushed over and if it was every driver or not (I'd probably toss it if it was bad enough and every driver as it take a lof of time to fix'em)...