New Techlite Bar Nose Sprocket Locked Up Today

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BigDaddyR

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Okay so I'm out bucking up the largish oak 30" I dropped last weekend and all of a sudden I go to put it in the next cut and the saw just honks at me and chain not moving. Hmm set the chain brake and pulled it back off and still the same thing.

Take it to the truck, loosen the bar nuts, loosen the chain and still no travel. Hmm. Take off clutch cover and bar and chain and RIM sprocket is turning fine. Hmm. Okay, let's try it again. Put it all back together and now still not turning. Okay time to look at something else. Take bar and chain off again and touch the clutch, it's hot but rim turn and then I start looking at the bar and notice the sprocket on the nose is not freely turning.

I free it up pushing it against my tailgate, lubing it, cleaning out as I go along with a toothpick. Finally get it turning pretty good and lube it well. Of course now I'm trying to find the bar nuts and they're no where to be seen. In all my concentration I swept them off onto the ground, luckily it only took me 4-5 minutes to find the:dizzy: Grrrrrr.

Start it up and now I'm good to go. Lube it one last time and get back to work.

Now I lubed this every time I filled it up with gas and bar oil. I also didn't pinch it. Do the longer bars need to be lubed more often? Lubed more when bucking wood as long as it is? Is this something I should see if I can get a replacement for under warranty?
 
OK, your going to hear both sides of the issue on this one but here is what I think happened.

I am not one to lube the sprocket tip. I feel the oiler throws enough lube for the sprocket. If your adding more grease to it, IMHO, you only increase the ability of dirt, chips and grit sticking in there. I have only had my tip stick once and it never froze up completely and I never add extra lube to it.

Kind of the same principle behind not greasing up the internal workings of any firearm. Only invites dirt to hang around.
 
It might've just been packed with saw dust.

Good to know. I didn't get that much out of it but something happened. It likely was saw dust as the chain was a little loose. Had switched to my other new one to break it in also.

Do most people not lube the bar nose sprocket?
 
No Grease

I've never greased em, never had a problem with em.

I would think something got wedged in it pretty good. With the tolerances between the sprocket and the bar...wouldn't take much, and too much grease, or any grease IMO, would allow dust and chips to build up and do just that.

Same way the bar oil builds up with dust and chips under the clutch cover. Makes a sticky mess.
 
Well then let me ask another dumb question. Does everyone lube the clutch needle bearing? Did that today as manual says every week. Does that mean every week if you cut 6 days a week?
 
I lube mine after each use while cleaning the saw. Others here don't. If you're using your saw 6 days a week, check it and see if it's "dry". I've noticed the grease cooks off after only 4-5 hours of use, so I re-grease regularly. Can't hurt and only takes a couple of minutes.
 
I have only had my tip stick once and it never froze up completely and I never add extra lube to it.
 
The only time the needle bearing is in action is when the saw is idling, engine running chain not moving. Or if the brake is on, which is NEVER on my saws.
So lube in that bearing is not a big deal.
 
Well then let me ask another dumb question. Does everyone lube the clutch needle bearing? Did that today as manual says every week. Does that mean every week if you cut 6 days a week?

All day 6 days a week most likely!

Actually that bearing isn't taking much of a load, so it doesn't need to be lubed very often.
 
It doesn't take much to lock up a tip sprocket -- could just have been a stray chip. It happens more often when noodling in my experience.
 
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I agree with everyone who said don't grease it very often, once in awhile is enough. Also ive noticed one other thing that hasn't been mentioned in this thread, so I'll throw my two cents in. Im a full time arborist and cut here in the northeast, oak, maples, ash, locusts, hickory, tulip, pines and so on. You get the picture. Well of all hardwoods and wood in general I've noticed oak, when fresh cut tends to bind saws a bit. Its a very moist dense wood. So when cutting sometimes no matter how sharp your saws are you throw a mix of chips and sawdust. With that happening that sawdust can easily build up in the bar causing a bind here and there. My fix to this problem is every so often take and back off the cut for a moment and let your bar clear itself of any build up. Maybe im the only one whos noticed this? I especially notice it running 36" bars. Just a theory of mine. I mainly run stihl saws and bars. But I also run a few huskys too. So it happens with both bar types. Just my two cents folks...
 
I agree with everyone who said don't grease it very often, once in awhile is enough. Also ive noticed one other thing that hasn't been mentioned in this thread, so I'll throw my two cents in. Im a full time arborist and cut here in the northeast, oak, maples, ash, locusts, hickory, tulip, pines and so on. You get the picture. Well of all hardwoods and wood in general I've noticed oak, when fresh cut tends to bind saws a bit. Its a very moist dense wood. So when cutting sometimes no matter how sharp your saws are you throw a mix of chips and sawdust. With that happening that sawdust can easily build up in the bar causing a bind here and there. My fix to this problem is every so often take and back off the cut for a moment and let your bar clear itself of any build up. Maybe im the only one whos noticed this? I especially notice it running 36" bars. Just a theory of mine. I mainly run stihl saws and bars. But I also run a few huskys too. So it happens with both bar types. Just my two cents folks...

This sounds like what most likely happened to me. The chain had bound up with chips in the bar a few cuts before the nose locked up. I'm sure it didn't help with me pumping grease in there every tank.

I did notice that the oaks I'm cutting blow chips as well as a good bit of sawdust. I kept seeing sawdust and would look back at the discharge and see decent chips flying. I thought maybe it was because the tree had been dead for a while and there is about a 1" layer of punk on the outside. Thanks for the two cents, I'll add them to all the others I'm collection and see how much knowledge I can add up.
 

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