I am stumped

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Yup, he had never taken the cover off. He is going to be excessive in cleaning and maintaining the saw now going forward. :)


People often forget or over look blowing out the body of a saw to remove dust that can build up. All saws have a fly wheel that has fins that pull air through the saw for cooling. If neglected this can lead to a saw over heating. Make sure he does this after every use.
 
People often forget or over look blowing out the body of a saw to remove dust that can build up. All saws have a fly wheel that has fins that pull air through the saw for cooling. If neglected this can lead to a saw over heating. Make sure he does this after every use.

That is why I pulled the cover, to see if there was anything interfering with the flow of air. It was clearly evident that the cover had never come off before.

This can't be over. I have been racking my brains, and to many oddities are unanswered. But the guy seems happy as it is NOW working properly, and I got him to start taking care of his saw properly. I was surprised how well his saw cut. I had given him a file, and showed him a few times how to hand file, and his early efforts are impressive. Back in his Husky days he always paid the shop to sharpen his chains
 
That is why I pulled the cover, to see if there was anything interfering with the flow of air. It was clearly evident that the cover had never come off before.

This can't be over. I have been racking my brains, and to many oddities are unanswered. But the guy seems happy as it is NOW working properly, and I got him to start taking care of his saw properly. I was surprised how well his saw cut. I had given him a file, and showed him a few times how to hand file, and his early efforts are impressive. Back in his Husky days he always paid the shop to sharpen his chains


I'm like others that said the chain getting tight then loose is caused by a worn sprocket. Or it could be chips getting caught in the sprocket. I bought a brand new ms261 last year and from day one the chain would bind up almost immediately when cutting with the grain. I even took the saw back where I bought it along with a few rounds and showed them exactly what was going on. They tried a new bar and chain with no change. It would bind up immediately. It came with an .063 chain so they swapped it out with a .050 chain and the problem never repeated. I like the rim sprockets over the spur sprockets because they don't wear the same.
 
I'm like others that said the chain getting tight then loose is caused by a worn sprocket. Or it could be chips getting caught in the sprocket. I bought a brand new ms261 last year and from day one the chain would bind up almost immediately when cutting with the grain. I even took the saw back where I bought it along with a few rounds and showed them exactly what was going on. They tried a new bar and chain with no change. It would bind up immediately. It came with an .063 chain so they swapped it out with a .050 chain and the problem never repeated. I like the rim sprockets over the spur sprockets because they don't wear the same.

My reason for looking at the saw today was expressly to take a 2nd look at the Spur Sprocket, and it looks like new. If this situation reappears, then switching to a 3/8 0.05 B&C would be a positive step. The .325 chain is inappropriate for someone around here that heats primarily with firewood. I was going to sell the guy my 3/8 set up with an 18" bar, but the clutch spur sprockets clutch housings were of different sizes, so that deal fell apart. It might come back, but the guy will have to do his investigation whether or not a 3/8 sprocket (rim or spur) is available for his little rancher saw.

BTW, here is the picture of the sprocket from this mornings investigation.

CIMG4346 (1024x768).jpg
 
My reason for looking at the saw today was expressly to take a 2nd look at the Spur Sprocket, and it looks like new. If this situation reappears, then switching to a 3/8 0.05 B&C would be a positive step. The .325 chain is inappropriate for someone around here that heats primarily with firewood. I was going to sell the guy my 3/8 set up with an 18" bar, but the clutch spur sprockets clutch housings were of different sizes, so that deal fell apart. It might come back, but the guy will have to do his investigation whether or not a 3/8 sprocket (rim or spur) is available for his little rancher saw.

BTW, here is the picture of the sprocket from this mornings investigation.

View attachment 752893


The sprocket looks good but it does look like it has not been cleaned in awhile. I can run 4 or 5 tanks of gas and still not look as dirty as that picture. I'm sure the type of wood your cutting has a big effect on the type of chips and dust crated. If he was cutting very dry wood with a dull chain I suspect heat was causing the chain to stretch prematurely.That would account for it getting lose then once it cooled off it tightened up.
 
The sprocket looks good but it does look like it has not been cleaned in awhile. I can run 4 or 5 tanks of gas and still not look as dirty as that picture. I'm sure the type of wood your cutting has a big effect on the type of chips and dust crated. If he was cutting very dry wood with a dull chain I suspect heat was causing the chain to stretch prematurely.That would account for it getting lose then once it cooled off it tightened up.

That area of the saw was cleaned yesterday, blown with compressed air thoroughly. He did cut a good amount, and from what I could hear it was likely a tankful. There is no adjustment on the oiler. He might be running a thinner oil, but I doubt it. It is almost certainly Stihl oil. We did get an unusual amount of rain, inches the last couple of days, so that is likely why the area is so jammed up with wood. I did not lay the chain out and measure, but as I could tell from bending or visually seeing the sag, it is comparable to a new chain.
 
Check the points :crazy2:

Points and the Vacuum Tube is Okay :)

I took a picture of it also, since it is such a common fail part.

t-6l6gc-jj.png
 
No, I am just guessing that he ran the chains on a shot sproket for a little while, then realized that he needed a new sprocket too. Thus damaging the chians a tad. And it took some running to get the chains worked in. A few pics of the chains would verify this.
 

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