Dolmar bar wear!

[Ndc]

I just bought this saw and used it for the first time today. I cut roughly 2 cord of oak/cherry. It cut great until the very end when I noticed the saw trailing to the left and unable to make a straight cut. Now I have an uneven wear on the bar. Oiler was wide open. Bar seemed to be excessively worn for only a days worth of work! When I bought the saw it had a 2o" on it. I wanted a 18" so they swapped a 18" off a 5100. Could this be an issue?

 

[Ndc]

Forgot to mention its a ps 5105.

 

[stihlaficionado]

The paint is worn off the bar but are the rails worn as well? Is the metal curled over to form a lip on the bar?

 

[xtremez]

Just my assumption but I'd guess the chain didn't get sharpened therefore causing the bar to heat up and the paint to start wearing off

 

[SawTroll]

It shouldn't be an issue - but it looks like you had an issue anyway. Hard to say what happened without being there - but what is the condition of the chain? One possibility is that you forced a dull chain to cut, by brute force, and those overly large dawgs......

That will produce a lot of heat, that will lead to excessive wear.

 

[Ndc]

Rails are worn. The chain seems good and I did stop a few times to sharpen lightly with a file. One thing I am not used to is the large dawgs... Now you having me wondering if maybe Im over using them!?

 

[Skeans]

Your cutters aren't true side to side causing it to wear the bar by pulling to one side.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SawTroll]

Rails are worn. The chain seems good and I did stop a few times to sharpen lightly with a file. One thing I am not used to is the large dawgs... Now you having me wondering if maybe Im over using them!?

Those dawgs are not suitable for a 50cc saw,. I prefere to not use dawgs at all on 50cc saws.

 

[Philbert]

The length of the bar and the dawgs are not an issue. Most likely, your left and right cutters are not filed the same: different angles, different lengths, etc.

This will cause the chain to pull toward one side, and cause additional wear on one side of the bar groove.

It sounds like the saw was new? If the bar and chain were new, and you only cut 2 face cords, the uneven wear should not be hard to fix with a file or bar dressing tool.

Take at good look at the chain(s) too.

Philbert

 

[Skeans]

The length of the bar and the dawgs are not an issue. Most likely, your left and right cutters are not filed the same: different angles, different lengths, etc.

This will cause the chain to pull toward one side, and cause additional wear on one side of the bar groove.

It sounds like the saw was new? If the bar and chain were new, and you only cut 2 face cords, the uneven wear should not be hard to fix with a file or bar dressing tool.

Take at good look at the chain(s) too.

Philbert

I will add if the rakers aren't the same side to side it'll cause the chain to pull as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[w8ye]

Put a Dolmar PS-421 spike on it and leave the 5105 dogs on the shelf

 

[Skeans]

I'll be honest with you dolmar dogs suck I know here in the Northwest they were modifying 390 and 372 dogs for the 7900 and the 5105 we'd take them completely off since they were just used for bumping knots.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lasmacgod]

If you have to ask if you are over-using the dogs, you probably are. The way I use dogs, for general firewood cutting, is to pivot the saw in the cut for better control, such as when felling. They should never be used to force a saw to cut or in an attempt to cut faster. Imagine, if you will, that the anti-vibration springs/buffers are like the springs on a pickup. Just like on a pickup, you don't want to load the springs/buffers so much that you are against the stops. When bucking with a saw of this size, the lift provided by one finger in the rear handle is all that should be needed.

Dogs should be viewed (and used) more as a tool of finesse, not force.

With that being said, along with the question regarding condition of the chain, there are two issues I have not yet seen addressed:

First being that you state the oiler is maxed out. What I haven't seen stated is if oil was actually being pumped, and if so, if it is getting to the chain. Looking at the photos, the chain appears dry. Is oil being flung off the bar tip? How often did the chain need to be tightened?

Second being that it could be a defective bar. Where paint is missing, the heat treat line is visible, and that line seems to be very narrow and uneven. Could just be the photos playing tricks with my eyes, though.

 

[OldJack]

It's possible you hit a nail or some other junk and dulled the cutters on one side. As I understand it cut straight for most of 2 cords and then it went sideways. Turn the bar over so you're cutting with a good side, put on a sharp chain and see how it cuts. Check your oil flow as advised above.

Find one of those little belt grinders, square up the table and even up the worn part of the bar. Hopefully the bar groove isn't worn excessively.

Now if I can post this before the server times out........

 

[Gypo Logger]

It could also be from a bad batch of bars.

 

[SawTroll]

It could also be from a bad batch of bars.

Yes, and I don't know if the current Dolmar branded bars are Pro-Lites, or the lesser quality Pro-Ams?

Anyway, this shouldn't happen, regardless of the quality of the bar. Either it is an operator error, related to chain maintenace and/or the way the saw was used - or the oiler of the saw wasn't working properly - or a combination of all the above..

This doesn't "just happen", there is a a reason (or several).

 

[SawTroll]

Btw, are you sure the bar is a K095, with proper oiling holes - and not a K041 (meant for the 420/421 saws), that are supposed to oil via the upper adjuster hole.

A K041 will not be oiled properly (if at all) on the 5100/5105, despite it fits perfectly on the bar mount.....

 

[wde_1978]

I just bought this saw and used it for the first time today. I cut roughly 2 cord of oak/cherry. It cut great until the very end when I noticed the saw trailing to the left and unable to make a straight cut. Now I have an uneven wear on the bar. Oiler was wide open. Bar seemed to be excessively worn for only a days worth of work! When I bought the saw it had a 2o" on it. I wanted a 18" so they swapped a 18" off a 5100. Could this be an issue?View attachment 420746View attachment 420745

Judging by the worn paint on Your bar , You made excessive use of Your saws dogs!

My PS-6400's 9 years old original bar is showing less paint wear then Yours , and it is still in use.
What also can be noticed is that You haven't flipped Your bar , or at least not often!
On those pictures the top side of the bar is signifficantly less worn then the bottom side - flip the bar and sharpen Your chain properly and You will have it cut straight again.

I am recently cutting a variety of fresh cherry, hornbeam, beech and oak .
It cuts fast with a good sharpened well worn chain that was near and finally passed the witness mark on Friday. The use of the dogs is not necessary as the chain self feeds when sharp.

As others already suggested , dress Your bar and sharpen Your chain(s) and You should be good to go for another few cords as long as You lay off the dogs.

Congratulations on Your new saw!