magnus333
ArboristSite Lurker
Using a MS 661 and my chains (STIHL/Oregon) won't stop stretching until I run out of room on the bar. It's EXTREMELY excessive, as in I tighten the chain and make 5-7 cuts on a puny 8 inch tree and the chain is already sagging so low it's flopping off the bar at a 45 degree angle and I can fit a finger or two between the chain and bar. Stuff I've done:
1) Verified the chain is not getting hot. First, it doesn't have time to, I use it for 30 seconds and it's already sagging off the track but I also carefully measured with an infrared thermometer numerous times, keeping the chain between 85-95F (30-35C) while the bar pushed 115-120F (46-48C).
2) I pushed the pin in and jacked up the oil to max. It's running 1:1 with fuel and never goes dry.
3) Replaced the sprocket & chain. Sprocket looked pretty worn after maybe 10 tanks of gas. Brand new sprocket with a new chain did the same exact thing and is already starting to look worn after maybe 3-4 tanks of gas.
4) Replaced the sprocket & chain & bar. Switched from a stihl 28 to oregon 20. Same thing.
5) Sharpened every chain like a boss to the point of idiocy, as many as 6 times per tank of gas. It's not dull.
6) Tried loose, moderate and too-tight levels of tightening. As in 1/8" sag, just barely snug to the bar and snug + another quarter turn. Zero difference between the three levels of tightening. I got so desperate I even tried never tightening which delivered the... "expected" results of a chain flying through the air like it just didn't care.
The saw cuts like a dream, smooth as butter with no force necessary and it murders trees like those Murder Hornets murder bees, but I literally spend more time tightening than I do cutting. Meanwhile my cheap CHINESE-CHOPPA!, a no-name brand 45cc, doesn't have these issues and cuts just fine, giving me some assurance I'm not a complete idiot, but it's... TOO PUNY of a saw!
I read that really dirty wood can cause chain stretch, but I assumed that was from heat buildup and dullness? I'm cutting shaggy bark juniper in a super dry and excessively dusty environment so maybe that's it, but I don't understand the physics of this nor why it wouldn't apply to the China-Choppa. Nor what to do about it. I'm about to start removing links but that doesn't seem like it'll solve the problem, just delay an inevitable break.
Please help me be less PUNY! I don't want my mom to like my brother better than me! I MUST CUT MORE WOOD THAN HIM!!! You are my only hope...
1) Verified the chain is not getting hot. First, it doesn't have time to, I use it for 30 seconds and it's already sagging off the track but I also carefully measured with an infrared thermometer numerous times, keeping the chain between 85-95F (30-35C) while the bar pushed 115-120F (46-48C).
2) I pushed the pin in and jacked up the oil to max. It's running 1:1 with fuel and never goes dry.
3) Replaced the sprocket & chain. Sprocket looked pretty worn after maybe 10 tanks of gas. Brand new sprocket with a new chain did the same exact thing and is already starting to look worn after maybe 3-4 tanks of gas.
4) Replaced the sprocket & chain & bar. Switched from a stihl 28 to oregon 20. Same thing.
5) Sharpened every chain like a boss to the point of idiocy, as many as 6 times per tank of gas. It's not dull.
6) Tried loose, moderate and too-tight levels of tightening. As in 1/8" sag, just barely snug to the bar and snug + another quarter turn. Zero difference between the three levels of tightening. I got so desperate I even tried never tightening which delivered the... "expected" results of a chain flying through the air like it just didn't care.
The saw cuts like a dream, smooth as butter with no force necessary and it murders trees like those Murder Hornets murder bees, but I literally spend more time tightening than I do cutting. Meanwhile my cheap CHINESE-CHOPPA!, a no-name brand 45cc, doesn't have these issues and cuts just fine, giving me some assurance I'm not a complete idiot, but it's... TOO PUNY of a saw!
I read that really dirty wood can cause chain stretch, but I assumed that was from heat buildup and dullness? I'm cutting shaggy bark juniper in a super dry and excessively dusty environment so maybe that's it, but I don't understand the physics of this nor why it wouldn't apply to the China-Choppa. Nor what to do about it. I'm about to start removing links but that doesn't seem like it'll solve the problem, just delay an inevitable break.
Please help me be less PUNY! I don't want my mom to like my brother better than me! I MUST CUT MORE WOOD THAN HIM!!! You are my only hope...