What's your maintenance/care "schedule"/approach for your saws?

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arborjunky
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I've learned SO much in the past 6mo Re chainsaws' operations and it's got me realizing just how terribly I used to treat them...

Aside from sharpening your chain / filing rakers, what do you do to keep your saws running well? Curious about everything whether daily stuff (ie fresh fuel), weekly annually etc!


FWIW, my thinking for my saws is:

- ethanol-free fuel w/ 45:1 synthetic (some saws ask 40:1, others 50:1, so I use 45 for everything...has worked so far, uncertain if it'll bite me in the ass down the road!)

- liberal carb-cleaner spray-downs every time I open either side of the casing (sprocket side, flywheel side)

- spark plug (clean/replace/gap etc)

- clean the area where the muffler connects to the engine-block to prevent that carbon-gunk-buildup from ever getting back-in!

- air-filters cleaned very frequently (also most of my saws have 'modified' air-intakes IE using foam-filter padding I'll drill holes/grind slots in the external housing of the saw so the intake can get more, cleaner air, I also "block" any air-entry with same filter-padding for instance the H&L slots)

- add HEET/gas-treatments to my fuel every so often


Would love to hear what you do with your saws!!
 
We clean the air filters every time we fuel/oil up. Usually about 5 times a day for our 241C or 345. Less so for bigger stuff.

Any time we have to adjust the chain or sharpen it, we pull off the side cover and clean all the nooks and crannies out fairly well, also flip the bar.

50:1 Stihl grey synthetic, no ethanol premium.

About 3 times a year we’ll do a more thorough disassembly and really clean everything out well.

Big thing I notice, the less you take care of your chain, the more work you have in the other areas. Dull=Dust=Downtime cleaning or repairing.
 
Flip the bar after every 5 tanks or so.
Clean out air filter couple times a day. Just hit off a rock or something, gets most of the dust out. Then blow it out with air gun at home.
When I stop for lunch I wipe the powerhead down with a rag to get immediate dust and crap off it. Same when I get home.

A lot of new saws have awful nooks and crannies under the side cover and around the chain break handle, absolute 4rse to clean out. You have to stay on top of it if your saw gets daily use, otherwise it all just goes hard and becomes even more difficult to remove.

I have started running 32:1 in my saws because of how much use they see.
 
I run em. If something breaks I fix it. Air filters get cleaned MAYBE once a month, fuel filters get changed MAYBE once a year, spark plugs almost never. Ive said it before, a chainsaw is a tool to me. My time is more important than having a saw that looks like it just came off the shelf new.
Edited to add: maybe that seems harsh, I know this is a chainsaw enthusiast site and I don't abuse my equipment but think about this a minute: An air filter filters particulates. Until it is restricted to the point that it affects flow, that fine dust actually serves to HELP IT FILTER BETTER. Spark plugs are fine until they aren't, either from fouling, (too rich mix) electrode breaks, (bad news for cylinders) or is misses. Changing an otherwise good plug is senseless. Fuel filters are pretty much the same story. Cosmetic cleaning is just that, COSMETIC. I promise you, if you've got it spotless and cut a load of logs its as nasty as it was before you cleaned it.
 
After every 3rd tank of fuel......touch up chain, blow out filter and cooling fins and clean bar.
I keep an eye on rakers but never exceed .025
 
I run em. If something breaks I fix it. Air filters get cleaned MAYBE once a month, fuel filters get changed MAYBE once a year, spark plugs almost never. Ive said it before, a chainsaw is a tool to me. My time is more important than having a saw that looks like it just came off the shelf new.
Edited to add: maybe that seems harsh, I know this is a chainsaw enthusiast site and I don't abuse my equipment but think about this a minute: An air filter filters particulates. Until it is restricted to the point that it affects flow, that fine dust actually serves to HELP IT FILTER BETTER. Spark plugs are fine until they aren't, either from fouling, (too rich mix) electrode breaks, (bad news for cylinders) or is misses. Changing an otherwise good plug is senseless. Fuel filters are pretty much the same story. Cosmetic cleaning is just that, COSMETIC. I promise you, if you've got it spotless and cut a load of logs its as nasty as it was before you cleaned it.

I was told about over-servicing air filters by Kubota 35 years ago while attending a service course.
Even today, guys look at me sideways when I try to explain. Some never get it.
Ever.
But, you are the guy I curse when a saw comes in for repair and cleaning takes longer than repair lol.
 
I run max flow filters on my logging saws and think cleaning them every day is a bit much. And expensive. If I have the green "falling" foam on it I dust it off at the end of a day and clean it the second day. White "landing" foam is a 3 or 4 day deal. I run full comp 3/8 or skip .404, the 3/8 makes it two days of falling the skip one day. The landing is hash on chain so it might get an extra sharpening. I am hip to be square and find it far out lasts the roundy round. Almost everything we cut has been burnt. We run 5oz mix to a 1.5 gal dolmar. I own my saws. Spark plugs generally outlast the starter cord. I am our "sawman" and fall merchandise, fall the black burnt vertical stick culls, work the landing and do almost all the lopping.

My buddy Bill our main landing pig ear chopper loader man never cleans the bosses 461 but runs hella thick oil so the fine dust inside his foam doesn't seem to be a problem. Boss's saws never get cleaned... Son in law runs the dullest chain ever. Maybe not ever but... Those guys don't use a saw every day, well Bill does, on the lunar dust landing whipping butts and such. He sharpens a few times a day with that round stuff.
 
Just saw I am a "Lurker" What the **** does that even mean?!
images
You can change it in your personal details settings.
 
Sharpen them when they get dull. Clean them when they get dirty. Fill them when they run out of fuel/oil. Blow them out once in a while. Flip the bar if I'm feeling especially feisty.

Cleaning air filters is way overdone. Not sure what people think they're accomplishing by blowing out an air filter 25 times a day, other than beating up the air filter and blowing holes in it. If you read between the lines, you'll see that the same people who blow out their air filters 30 times a day – or beat them on a rock to knock off the sawdust – are the same ones who gripe because their beaten-to-crap air filters are leaking fines. The truth is that the dirtier an air filter is, the better it filters the air, and unless the saw is choking out for want of air, there's no reason to clean them more than, say, 15 times a day – or with anything stronger than a wire wheel.;)

- add HEET/gas-treatments to my fuel every so often

HEET = alcohol. Alcohol attracts water. When it absorbs enough water, it falls out of solution with the gasoline (phase separation) and becomes a layer of muck, rust and trash at the bottom of the tank. And we all know what that garbage does to chainsaws. I use non-ethanol FRESH gasoline, but rarely use any additives other than maybe the minimum dose of Seafoam. YMMV...
 
Air filter maintenance is dependent upon which saw we're talking about, big difference.
My Husqvarna's filters go 4 times as long as my Echo's.

My brother services the Stihls so can't make comparison.

Oh, is air filter maintenance really that difficult? Lol
Maybe 30 seconds on Echo's.
 
Yeah, the stihl HD2 filters fill up with dust fast and if you are cutting soft wood then that crap will turn hard and be very difficult to remove and wont let much air through.
Hardwood dust is not as bad imo.
 
dull chain = dirty air filter
I prefer to sharpen in the shop so I have 4 sharp saws minimum in the under body box. 2x 372's and 2x 50cc saws so if I dull a chain I have a backup in each size. It is not uncommon to run 6-10 tanks in one saw in a day with only some sharpening.
I used to be a fanatic about keeping my saws clean and in showroom condition, now they bounce around in the under body box and don't get cleaned all that often.
In the past I flip my bar every few sharpenings but now I just flip it when it starts to show some wear, again sharp chain = less bar wear.
I don't think I have ever changed a fuel filter in a saw that I bought new and own.
The 372's air filters don't seem to get a dirty as the Stihl 362 and 066 filters. I check them every few days but only clean when they look more than a little dirty. The local commercial mower shop tells us all to just change the filters in our mowers annually and not to try and clean them.
I have good access to non-ethanol 91 octane ($5 gal) but out of convince usually run 91 or 93 octane pump gas since I'm already there filling up the truck and chipper. I usually have a can of non-ethanol for equipment that gets used less frequently.
All that said, this thread reminds me it is time for all my saws to get cleaned this weekend.
 
Daily use;
At the end of the day, sharpen the chain, check rakers, clean the airfilter, grease sprocket nose. Top off gas tank, oil tank, every night after a day of work.

Weekly maintenance;
Pull clutch cover , pull the recoil housing clean area, check rim for wear, grease clutch brg. Blow out the carb , recoil area and cylinder area on the saw. Dress bar if needed.
Then bar nose, sharpen chain, cr rakers, clean airfilter.

Anytime the air filter (mesh) is cleaned its washed with ether to get the oil film off of it.

Every gas/oil up during the day I make one pass on the chain with the file n guide.
 
Daily use;
At the end of the day, sharpen the chain, check rakers, clean the airfilter, grease sprocket nose. Top off gas tank, oil tank, every night after a day of work.

Weekly maintenance;
Pull clutch cover , pull the recoil housing clean area, check rim for wear, grease clutch brg. Blow out the carb , recoil area and cylinder area on the saw. Dress bar if needed.
Then bar nose, sharpen chain, cr rakers, clean airfilter.

Anytime the air filter (mesh) is cleaned its washed with ether to get the oil film off of it.

Every gas/oil up during the day I make one pass on the chain with the file n guide.

That's some serious dedication.
 
Non-ethanol fuel with Sta-bil and Sea Foam.

Drain and run dry before going into storage.

Blow down with air after use.

Clean bar groove.

Sharpen and adjust chain as needed.

Clean air filter.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I put gas and oil in the things and they cut wood. When it doesn't cut wood anymore I sharpen the chain.

Pretty much it.

Clean the air filter once in a while.

I've got way too much on my plate as well as no desire to be polishing tools.
 
I am pretty much hands off besides keeping the chain sharp and adding gas and oil.

Here is my schedule:
-Flip bar every few tankfulls/de-burr rails as needed
-Inspect air filter and drive sprocket a few times a year
-Perform additional maintenance if the saw isn't running right
-Clean exterior of saw as needed

I drain the fuel if the saw is going to sit more than 6-8 weeks.
 
Cada día de uso:
Afilado de cadena ,volteado de barra, soplado de filtro de aire (1 vez al día) soplado general para quitar la mugre y polvo ,gasolina 98 octanos y aceite 50/1 Husqvarna XP
 
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