Interesting looking clutch bearing
- Thread starter altair
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
Does the clutch drum and surrounding plastic show sign of overheating? Usually this kind of overheating is caused by the operator loading the engine down while cutting to the point where the RPM is so low that the clutch starts to slip. Slipping clutch will produce HUGE amount of heat.
smokey7
jack of a lot ace of a few
Or does or did the saw spend a ton of time idleing? Was the bearing greasex well? It looks kinda dry to me.
It's only melted on one end. Looks like it was rubbing against the cage at idle.
altair
ArboristSite Operative
Hi all, no it does not idle much, and I keep it sharp, so not loading it up or pushing hard on it, but yes, the clutch drum is discoloured too. The bearing is dry cos I'd just washed it out in gas.
I am meticulous about keeping the chain very sharp, and bar groove/oil hole clean, although it does have a stupid small oil hole in the bar, I might try to enlarge it a a little. I run Stihl bar and chain oil which is fairly runny. But I never overload it, here in NZ I cut mainly Pine which would be considered a softwood.
I've taken it off a few times and washed it, lubricated with high pressure grease too..I'm blown away by it, have ordered a new one so will have to inspect it a lot more often. But I take care of this saw (cost me $2500 here) and never push hard or overload it so I'm dumbfounded.
Cheers guys, out of interest is there a better quality bearing available than the Stihl one? The 038 has a steel caged bearing, yet this is plastic? Cost cutting maybe?
I am meticulous about keeping the chain very sharp, and bar groove/oil hole clean, although it does have a stupid small oil hole in the bar, I might try to enlarge it a a little. I run Stihl bar and chain oil which is fairly runny. But I never overload it, here in NZ I cut mainly Pine which would be considered a softwood.
I've taken it off a few times and washed it, lubricated with high pressure grease too..I'm blown away by it, have ordered a new one so will have to inspect it a lot more often. But I take care of this saw (cost me $2500 here) and never push hard or overload it so I'm dumbfounded.
Cheers guys, out of interest is there a better quality bearing available than the Stihl one? The 038 has a steel caged bearing, yet this is plastic? Cost cutting maybe?
smokey7
jack of a lot ace of a few
Im sure if you had the dimensions (specs) of the bearing you could go to a bearing house and get a steel caged bearing. Many times you can gain rollers (good for more load capacity) if you shop around. Koyo is a bearing i would look for at Motion Industries in my neck of the woods.
Buying a better bearing won't cure the basic problem with overheating. Is it possible that the brake is still rubbing a bit on the clutch drum even after it is released? With the brake off, if you pull the chain along the bar, does it move freely and are there any strange sounds coming from the clutch?
